GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Identification of British Poetry 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 Questions

Example Question #11 : Identification Of British Poetry After 1925

Which British poet began a poem with “April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing” and that also included such lines as “I will show you fear in a handful of dust”?

Possible Answers:

Ezra Pound

T. S. Eliot

e. e. cummings

Ted Hughes

W. B. Yeats

Correct answer:

T. S. Eliot

Explanation:

The poem, T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” is often cited as one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. It is a polyphonic conglomeration of Arthurian legend, classical myth, modern social satire, and religious vision, and it discusses themes of disillusionment, despondency, death, and mortal judgment.

"April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing": Adapted from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, l.1-2 (1922)

"I will show you fear in a handful of dust": Adapted from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, l.30 (1922)

Example Question #12 : Identification Of British Poetry After 1925

This Irish poet is better known for his plays Waiting For Godot and Endgame, but his verses show similar qualities: fragmentation, absurdism, deceptively simple diction, and a disregard for grammatical conventions. Who is he?

Possible Answers:

Seamus Heaney

Samuel Beckett

Jonathan Swift

Oscar Wilde

W. B. Yeats

Correct answer:

Samuel Beckett

Explanation:

The poet and playwright in question is Samuel Beckett, who (along with Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, and Tom Stoppard) is one of the key members of the Theatre of the Absurd. Works that belong to this so-called movement typically include nihilism, wordplay, elements of vaudevillian comedy or downright nonsense mixed with horror or tragedy, and frustration at the apparent meaninglessness of humanity’s place in the world. Although Beckett’s poetry is perhaps the least read of his various creative works, his contributions to the genre were not insignificant, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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