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Fun with the GRE Literature Subject Test.
I took my first practice test yesterday, and while it mostly 2.5 hours of soul crushing inanity--interrupted by brief glimpses of the romantic sublime and the warming of my feelings for somebody's mistress who, frankly, seemed a little fey--a few questions stood out as particularly mocking the very idea of this test in the first place. The worst example:
- "Are you not happy in Hertfordshire, Mr. Raskolnikov?" asked Elizabeth. "Would you be happy," he replied, "if you had killed a miserable pawnbroker?" "How easily may a bad habit be formed!" cried Elizabeth, and with this in mind, though she hoped he was not in earnest, she very soon afterwards too leave of him.
- Which of the following titles would be most appropriate for a work containing this passage?
- (A) Murder at Thirteen Rue de Toot
- (B) Elizabeth and Anna Kremlina
- (C) The Importance of Being Elizabeth
- (D) Pride and Punishment
- (E) The Golden Fawn
This was from a real test, by the way. I love the idea that somewhere deep in the heart of ETS, presumably in a room with only one light to illuminate the smoke lingering over a large conference table, a group of adjuncts from local universities meet, exchange the secret handshake, and proceed to throw out title puns for hours. Howards End of the Affair? Accepted. A Room With A View To a Kill? Rejected - reason: Too many Bond questions already.
At times, this test doesn't test how much you know about literature as much as how good you are at Before and After questions on Wheel of Fortune. This may, however, actually be a greater indicator of future success.
Another:
- His hero Septimus Harding, a benign clergyman, plunges into a crisis of soul when the sensational press unjustly assails him as an avaricious wastrel. No sooner has this tiny storm abated than the new bishop, Dr. Proudie, arrives with his despotic wife and slimy, ambitious chaplain, Obadiah Slope.
- The passage above is from a discussion of novels by:
- (A) Dickens
- (B) Trollope
- (C) Fielding
- (D) Thackeray
- (E) James
According to the answer key, only 17% of test takers answered it correctly, tying it for the most difficult question (and making it the most difficult not tied to an excerpt).
Sadly, I didn't know the answer either. You?
6 comments:
Fuck. Thackeray?
That's what I guessed too. Which, incidentally, costs us 1/4 of a point.
I want my 1/4 of a point back.
There's no way it's Dickens. Dickens is the complete red herring among those culprits. So Trollope?
No way it's Fielding either.
And I s'pose I could just Google the thing rather than wait for you to someday unveil the answer....
Trollope. Just need to read Barchester Towers. Most useless ~400 pages I have ever read except for answering that question. Thank you for the use. Now it's gone.
By the way, is it weird to use this old gamer tag? Hmmm ... yes. Old habits are hard to break.
I also find it weird that the first question would be better with 'took' as a verb as well as the first sentence of this post.
How dare you show me up with your superior literary knowledge, Sasquatch.
Did you know I'm going to be in Des Moines next week? I've been meaning to email. Will do.
I did know that. Cowles is calling for the famous and talented to return. So nice of you to answer that call.
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