GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of World 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 #1 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following is not another work by the author of The English Patient?
Divisadero
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems
Oryx and Crake
In the Skin of a Lion
Coming Through Slaughter
Oryx and Crake
Ondaatje wrote Coming Through Slaughter (1976), In the Skin of a Lion (1987), Divisadero (2007), and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems (1970). He did not write Oryx and Crake, a 2003 novel by Margaret Atwood.
Example Question #2 : Contexts Of World Prose
What country is the author of Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage from?
Canada
Scotland
Denmark
New Zealand
Ireland
Canada
Alice Munro is a Nobel Prize-winning Canadian writer.
Example Question #3 : Contexts Of World Prose
Who is the author of The Handmaid’s Tale?
Ursula K. Le Guin
Alice Munro
Angela Carter
Margaret Atwood
Pat Barker
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale is Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s sixth novel.
Alice Munro (also Canadian) wrote Lives of Girls and Women (1971), Ursula K. LeGuin wrote The Dispossessed (1974), Pat Barker wrote The Regeneration Trilogy (1991, 1993, 1995), and Angela Carter wrote The Passion of New Eve (1977).
Example Question #4 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following fields of study is most relevant to studying the The Handmaid’s Tale?
Chemistry
Archaeology
Religious studies
Race studies
Feminism
Feminism
While it does contain some religious references, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) is first and foremost a feminist novel that discusses gender dynamics, power, sexuality, and reproductive rights.
Example Question #5 : Contexts Of World Prose
What country is the author of The Handmaid’s Tale from?
Japan
Chile
England
Canada
South Africa
Canada
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet, and essay writer. She was born in 1939 in Ottawa. Atwood continues to live in Canada, now in Toronto, and is active on the Canadian literary and eco-political scenes.
Example Question #6 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following genres does The Handmaid’s Tale belong to?
Mystery or Crime Fiction
Western Fiction
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Dystopian Fiction
Dystopian Fiction
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) is set in a futuristic, dystopian society. While it does contain some science fiction elements, Atwood herself has resisted this classification, preferring her work be termed dystopian or speculative fiction. The Handmaid's Tale is not a fantasy novel: there is no use of magic by any of the characters in the story.
Example Question #7 : Contexts Of World Prose
Who is the author of The English Patient?
Mochtar Lubis
Michael Ondaatje
Joseph Boyden
Margaret Atwood
Alice Munro
Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient is Michael Ondaatje’s 1992 Booker Prize-winning novel.
Canadian author Joseph Boyden wrote The Three Day Road (2005), Indonesian author Mochtar Lubis wrote Maut dan Cinta (Death and Love) (1977), Canadian author Margaret Atwood wrote The Edible Woman (1969), and Canadian author Alice Munro wrote Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You (1974) (She has also recently had a Canadian postage stamp commisioned in her honor!).
Example Question #8 : Contexts Of World Prose
What war is The English Patient set during?
World War I
the Cold War
the French and Indian War
World War II
the Iraqi War
World War II
The English Patient (1992) concerns four characters (a nurse, a thief, a burn victim, and a British soldier) flung together in a dilapidated Italian villa towards the end of World War II.
Example Question #9 : Contexts Of World Prose
Of which country is the author of The English Patient a citizen?
Indonesia
Iceland
Bangladesh
South Africa
Canada
Canada
Although he was born in Sri Lanka in 1943, Michael Ondaatje is a Canadian writer. He moved to Canada in 1962.
Example Question #10 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following is not another collection by the author of Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage?
Dance of the Happy Shades
Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You
Lives of Girls and Women
The House of the Spirits
Runaway
The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits is a 1982 novel by the Chilean-American author Isabel Allende. All the rest are titles by Alice Munro.
Dance of the Happy Shades was published in 1968, Runaway was published in 2004, Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You was published in 1974, and Lives of Girls and Women was published in 1971.
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