GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of World Poetry
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #2 : Contexts Of World Poetry After 1925
Who is the author of the poetry collection titled Unattainable Earth?
János Pilinszky
Tristan Tzara
Joseph Brodsky
Osip Mandelstam
Czesław Miłosz
Czesław Miłosz
This is the Nobel Prize-winning Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004). In addition to Unattainable Earth (1984), he is also known for his collections City Without a Name (1969), Native Realm (1959), and Road-side Dog (1997) as well as for a famous anti-Stalin nonfiction work, The Captive Mind (1953).
Example Question #3 : Contexts Of World Poetry After 1925
The writer of Unattainable Earth was known for several collaborative English translations with which American poet?
Frank O’Hara
Robert Hass
James Wright
Robert Lowell
Gary Snyder
Robert Hass
Along with poet Robert Pinksy, Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass (1941-present) is known for his translations of Miłosz’s works, including Provinces (1991), Facing the River (1995), The Separate Notebooks (1984), and Road-Side Dog (1997).
Example Question #3 : Contexts Of World Poetry After 1925
Which of the following poets is not a contemporary of the author of Unattainable Earth?
Zbigniew Herbert
Tadeusz Różewicz
Stanisław Barańczak
Wisława Szymborska
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski
Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998), Wisława Szymborska (1923-2012), Tadeusz Różewicz (1921-2014), and Stanisław Barańczak (1946-2014) were all 20th-century Polish writers. Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) was also a Polish poet, but he lived and wrote during the Renaissance.
Example Question #4 : Contexts Of World Poetry After 1925
Who is the author of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair?
Pablo Neruda
Jorge Luis Borges
Isabel Allende
Elena Poniatowska
Gabriel García Márquez
Pablo Neruda
This is the Latin American poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and the International Peace Prize. Neruda published Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair in 1924.
Example Question #31 : Contexts Of World Poetry
What country is the author of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair from?
Uruguay
Venezuela
Argentina
Mexico
Chile
Chile
Pablo Neruda was born in Chile. In addition to writing collections such as 100 Love Sonnets (1959), The Book of Questions (1974), and Canto General (1950), Neruda served as a politician and poet-diplomat (a role played by other Latin American writers such as Octavio Paz and Miguel Angel Asturias Rosales) for his country for many years.
Example Question #32 : Contexts Of World Poetry
What is the best descriptor for the type of poems in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair?
epistolary
epic
erotic
elegiac
epicurean
erotic
As is hinted at in the title, most of the works in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924) are erotic love poems. Although Neruda wrote in many different styles and forms (including prose, poetry, realism, surrealism, autobiography, and political manifesto), he is perhaps best known for his love poetry, including various sonnets and odes.
Example Question #163 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
During what decade was The Labyrinth of Solitude published?
1920s
1930s
1910s
1950s
1940s
1950s
The Labyrinth of Solitude, which explores Mexico’s heritage and the behavior of Paz’s countrymen, first appeared in 1950.
Example Question #31 : Contexts Of World Poetry
When was The Striders published?
2000s
1980s
1960s
1990s
1970s
1960s
The Striders was first published in 1966, making it one of A. K. Ramanujan’s earlier collections. (The poet lived from 1929 to 1993.)
Example Question #33 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Who is the author of Autobiography of Red?
Seamus Heaney
Mary Oliver
Anne Carson
Adrienne Rich
A.E. Housman
Anne Carson
Autobiography of Red (1998) is a work by Anne Carson.
A.E. Housman wrote Last Poems (1922), Seamus Heaney wrote Death of a Naturalist (1966), Adrienne Rich wrote Twenty-one Love Poems (1976), and Mary Oliver wrote The Night Traveler (1978).
Example Question #361 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
What country is the author of Autobiography of Red from?
France
Canada
Spain
Scotland
Trinidad
Canada
Anne Carson is a Canadian poet, translator, and nonfiction writer.
The Autobiography of Red was published in 1998.
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
