GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of Prose

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English

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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

Example Questions

Example Question #46 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Which of the following is not another work by the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”?

Possible Answers:

Black Water

What I Lived For

The Wheel of Love and Other Stories

them

Too Much Happiness

Correct answer:

Too Much Happiness

Explanation:

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.

Example Question #121 : Contexts Of Prose

What philosophical system did the author of The Fountainhead engender?

Possible Answers:

Logical Positivism

McCarthyism

Objectivism

Nihilism

Existentialism

Correct answer:

Objectivism

Explanation:

Objectivism, which has been described variously as rational individualism and monomaniacal solipsism, claims that the pinnacle of human accomplishment is personal success and happiness. These philosophical views are developed most thoroughly in Atlas Shrugged (1957).

The Fountainhead was published in 1943.

Example Question #62 : Contexts Of American Prose

When was Sophie’s Choice published?

Possible Answers:

1940s

1930s

1970s

1960s

1950s

Correct answer:

1970s

Explanation:

Sophie’s Choice was originally published in 1979, although it did not win the National Book Award until 1980.

Example Question #51 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Who is the author of The Grapes of Wrath?

Possible Answers:

John Steinbeck

Philip Roth

Richard Ford

Jack Kerouac

John Dos Passos

Correct answer:

John Steinbeck

Explanation:

The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is the fifth major novel by John Steinbeck (1902-1968).

Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road (1957), John Dos Passos wrote A Pushcart at the Curb (1922), Richard Ford wrote Independence Day (1995), and Philip Roth wrote The Prague Orgy (1985)

All of these authors are American novelists who were active in the 20th century.

Example Question #52 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Which of the following is not another novel by the author of The Grapes of Wrath?

Possible Answers:

Of Mice and Men

East of Eden

Cannery Row

In Dubious Battle

The 42nd Parallel

Correct answer:

The 42nd Parallel

Explanation:

In Dubious Battle (1936), Of Mice and Men (1937), East of Eden (1952), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and Cannery Row (1945) are all by John Steinbeck. The 42nd Parallel is a 1930 novel by John Dos Passos.

Example Question #53 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Which of the following is a novella by the author of The Grapes of Wrath?

Possible Answers:

In Watermelon Sugar

Billy Budd

Miracle on 34th Street

The Pearl

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Correct answer:

The Pearl

Explanation:

While all of these titles are novellas, only The Pearl (1947) is by John Steinbeck, who also wrote The Grapes of Wrath (1939).

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) is by Valentine Davies, Billy Budd (1924) is by Herman Melville, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) is by Truman Capote, and In Watermelon Sugar (1968) is by Richard Brautigan.

Example Question #54 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Who is the author of Angle of Repose?

Possible Answers:

John Hawkes

E. Annie Proulx

John Fowles

James Michener

Wallace Stegner

Correct answer:

Wallace Stegner

Explanation:

Angle of Repose (1971) is the tenth novel of American author Wallace Stegner (1909-1993).

James Michener wrote Tales of the South Pacific (1947) (he was also a noted patron of the arts and the founder of the Michener Foundation), E. Annie Proulx wrote Postcards (1992), John Hawkes wrote The Cannibal (1949), and John Fowles wrote The Collector (1963).

Example Question #65 : Contexts Of American Prose

When was Angle of Repose published?

Possible Answers:

1940s

1950s

1980s

1960s

1970s

Correct answer:

1970s

Explanation:

Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose was published in 1971 and won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Example Question #55 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

Which of the following is not another work by the author of Angle of Repose?

Possible Answers:

The Spectator Bird

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

A Confederacy of Dunces

On a Darkling Plain

All the Little Live Things

Correct answer:

A Confederacy of Dunces

Explanation:

The Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943), On a Darkling Plain (1940), All the Little Live Things (1967), Angle of Repose (1971) and The Spectator Bird (1967) are by Wallace Stegner. A Confederacy of Dunces is a famous 1980 novel by John Kennedy Toole.

Example Question #56 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

With which region is the author of Angle of Repose most closely associated?

Possible Answers:

The South Pacific

Continental Europe

The American Southwest

The American Midwest

The American West

Correct answer:

The American West

Explanation:

Wallace Stegner has been known as “the dean of Western writers” and had close ties with the University of Utah during his life. Angle of Repose (1971) is one of his many works set in the American West.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept
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