GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of American Prose
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #51 : Contexts Of American Prose
To which famous American musician is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” dedicated?
Aretha Franklin
Bob Dylan
Ray Charles
Elvis Presley
Arlo Guthrie
Bob Dylan
According to Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (1966) was inspired in part by four real murders in Tucson, Ariz., and in part by Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (1965).
Example Question #52 : Contexts Of American Prose
Who is the author of The Fountainhead?
Kate Chopin
Leon Trotsky
Ayn Rand
Anton Chekhov
Barbara Kingsolver
Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead (1943) is Ayn Rand’s best-selling second novel. It concerns the independent, cutthroat architect Howard Roark; his idealistic lover, Dominique Francon; and his competitor, the sycophantic Peter Keating.
Leon Trotsky wrote My Life (1930), Anton Chekhov wrote The Duel (1891), Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening (1899), and Barbara Kingsolver wrote The Poisonwood Bible (1998).
Example Question #532 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
What is another novel by the author of The Fountainhead?
Atlas Shrugged
Tender is the Night
The Stranger
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s third and final novel, is arguably her most famous work and was published in 1957. Tender is the Night (1934) is by F. Scott Fitzgerald, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is by Ernest Hemingway, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)is by Carson McCullers, and The Stranger (1942)is by Albert Camus.
Example Question #533 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
During what decade was The Fountainhead published?
1930s
1960s
1920s
1950s
1940s
1940s
The Fountainhead was published in 1943 after being rejected by a dozen publishing houses.
Example Question #116 : Contexts Of Prose
Which of the following is a central subject of Naked Lunch?
Drug addiction
Pedophilia
A cold case murder
Transvestitism
A famous abduction
Drug addiction
Through a series of loosely connected, non-chronological vignettes, Naked Lunch (1959) portrays the adventures and struggles of the drug addict William Lee.
Example Question #533 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Who is the author of Naked Lunch?
Ernest Hemingway
Thomas Wolfe
William S. Burroughs
Henry Miller
Hunter S. Thompson
William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch is a novel published by William S. Burroughs in 1959.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), Thomas Wolfe wrote the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Henry Miller wrote Tropic of Cancer (1934), and Ernest Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast (1964).
Example Question #118 : Contexts Of Prose
During what decade was Naked Lunch originally published?
1970s
1950s
1940s
1940s
1930s
1950s
This is a tricky question. Naked Lunch was first released in Paris in 1959, although it could not be published in the United States until 1962 because of American obscenity laws.
Example Question #534 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Which of the following was not one of the reasons that Naked Lunch was censored in the United States?
Anti-Catholic language
Depiction of drug addiction
Depiction of pedophilia
Depiction of the murder of a child
Obscene language
Anti-Catholic language
Burroughs’ highly controversial work did not include anti-Catholic language, although it did include a parody of anti-Semitic language. Burroughs was notably supported in his obscenity trial by writers Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg, among others.
Naked Lunch was published in 1959.
Example Question #535 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Who is the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”?
Joyce Carol Oates
Mary Robison
Ayn Rand
Kate Chopin
Barbara Kingsolver
Joyce Carol Oates
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (1966) is one of Joyce Carol Oates’ best known short stories.
Mary Robison wrote Believe Them: Stories (1988), Ayn Rand wrote We the Living (1936), Kate Chopin wrote "The Storm" (1898), and Barbara Kingsolver wrote Animal Dreams (1990).
Example Question #536 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Which of the following is not another work by the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”?
them
The Wheel of Love and Other Stories
What I Lived For
Too Much Happiness
Black Water
Too Much Happiness
Too Much Happiness (2009) is a short story collection by the Canadian writer Alice Munro. All the other titles are works by Joyce Carol Oates.
Black Water was published in 1992, What I Lived For was published in 1994, The Wheel of Love and Other Stories was published in 1970, and them was published in 1969.
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