GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Identification of American Plays After 1925

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

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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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Example Question #151 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

What theatrical genre is characterized by its series of unrelated music, magic, comedy, dancing, and/or circus acts all on one playbill?

Possible Answers:

satire

Broadway

talkies

burlesque

vaudeville

Correct answer:

vaudeville

Explanation:

The theatrical genre described in the question is vaudeville, a genre that developed in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America. It has its roots in a range of different disciplines, including stage magic, burlesque, circus sideshows, and musical theater.

Example Question #152 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Who wrote Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Possible Answers:

Edward Albee

Tom Stoppard

Tony Kushner

Leonard Woolf

Tennessee Williams

Correct answer:

Edward Albee

Explanation:

The author is Edward Albee, an award-winning American playwright who was born in 1928. The play follows the disintegration of the marriage of an impotent middle-aged couple and is remarkable for its interplay of reality and illusion.

Example Question #153 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Which of the following is the title of an absurdist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard?

Possible Answers:

Arcadia

Glengarry Glen Ross

Waiting for Godot

Not I

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Correct answer:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Explanation:

The play described in the question stem is Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which follows the offstage adventures of Hamlet’s two hapless friends. The conceit is that the eponymous characters are confused by the plot of Hamlet, which they aren’t privy to, and this conceit allows Stoppard to pose strong existential questions about human purpose and determinism.

Example Question #154 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Glengarry Glen Ross was written by which American playwright?

Possible Answers:

Tony Kushner

Tom Stoppard

Tennessee Williams

David Mamet

Edward Albee

Correct answer:

David Mamet

Explanation:

Glengarry Glen Ross was written by David Mamet and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. It centers on the machinations of four unscrupulous real estate agents in Chicago who are trying their best to sell the two pieces of real estate in the play’s title. It is known for its exquisite dialogues and attention to language.

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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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