GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Identification of Plays

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 #2 : Identification Of American Plays After 1925

Which 1959 play takes its title from the Langston Hughes poem “A Dream Deferred”?

Possible Answers:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

The Philadelphia Story

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

A Raisin in the Sun

Glengarry Glen Ross

Correct answer:

A Raisin in the Sun

Explanation:

The play in question is A Raisin in the Sun, a work that portrays the experiences of an impoverished black family in mid-century Chicago. It is known for its cast of almost exclusively African-American characters as well as its involvement in a U.S. Supreme Court case about racist housing policies.

Example Question #31 : Identification Of Plays

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

Possible Answers:

Broadway

talkies

vaudeville

burlesque

satire

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 #32 : Identification Of Plays

Who wrote Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Possible Answers:

Edward Albee

Tom Stoppard

Leonard Woolf

Tennessee Williams

Tony Kushner

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 #33 : Identification Of Plays

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

Possible Answers:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Glengarry Glen Ross

Arcadia

Waiting for Godot

Not I

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 #34 : Identification Of Plays

Glengarry Glen Ross was written by which American playwright?

Possible Answers:

Tony Kushner

Tom Stoppard

Edward Albee

David Mamet

Tennessee Williams

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.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Plays 1660–1925

Determine the title and author of this passage based on its content and style.

“But I can't stand saying one thing when everyone knows I mean another. What's the use in such hypocrisy? If people arrange the world that way for women, there's no good pretending it’s arranged the other way . . .”

Possible Answers:

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw

An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly

Educating Rita by Willy Russel

The Maids by Jean Genet

Correct answer:

Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw

Explanation:

These lines are from the 1893 play Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw. This quote is by Mrs. Warren (a former prostitute and current brothel owner) during a conversation with her daughter, Vivie. Vivie has returned home from college and is finally aware of her mother's occupation, causing much debate throughout the course of the play.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Plays 1660–1925

Identify the author and title of the excerpt.

"The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.”

Possible Answers:

An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde

The Maids by Jean Genet

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Correct answer:

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Explanation:

These lines are from George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion. The play centers on Eliza Doolittle, a seemingly simple Cockney flower girl, who Professor Henry Higgins attempts to transform into a sophisticated and well-spoken lady who can pass as a duchess. The name of the play comes from the Greek mythological character, Pygmalion, a sculptor who falls in love with his sculpture when it comes to life. The passage contains two majors clues as to its source material: it mentions "Eliza" and it discusses manners.

Passage adapted from Act V of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1913)

Example Question #2 : Identification Of British Plays 1660–1925

“True, 'tis an unhappy circumstance of life that love should ever die before us, and that the man so often should outlive the lover. But say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved. To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old. For my part, my youth may wear and waste, but it shall never rust in my possession.”

Identify the title of the work from which the passage is adapted.

Possible Answers:

The Way of the World

The Tempest

As You Like It

Doctor Faustus

The Alchemist

Correct answer:

The Way of the World

Explanation:

These lines are adapted from of William Congreve's play The Way of the World, first performed in 1700. The play's main characters, Mirabell and Millamant, are lovers attempting to marry, but Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort, tries to foil their plans by getting her own nephew, Sir Wilfull, to marry Millamant instead.

Adapted from The Way of the World by William Congreve, II.i (1700)

Example Question #161 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."

"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."

"I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.” 

Identify the title and author of the passage.

Possible Answers:

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

The Way of the World by William Congreve

Correct answer:

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Explanation:

These lines, exchanged between Jack and Algernon, are from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play, whose full title is The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed in 1895. It is a satirical look at Victorian social rules and obligations. The word "bunburying" is famously used in its plot to mean to assume an alter ego in a different locale so as to get out of social obligations. Much of the play's plot and repartee centers around identity, and in particular, confusion surrounding the name "Ernest."

Passage adapted from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

Example Question #161 : Identification

"You silly Arthur! If you knew anything about . . . anything, which you don't, you would know that I adore you. Everyone in London knows it except you. It is a public scandal the way I adore you. I have been going about for the last six months telling the whole of society that I adore you. I wonder you consent to have anything to say to me. I have no character left at all. At least, I feel so happy that I am quite sure I have no character left at all.” 

Identify the title and author of the excerpt based on the content and style of the writing.

Possible Answers:

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer

The Way of the World by William Congreve

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Correct answer:

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Explanation:

These lines, spoken by Mabel Chiltern, are from Oscar Wilde's 1895 comedic play An Ideal Husband. The play centers on themes of political corruption and honor.

Passage adapted from Act IV of An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (1895)

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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