Study Suggestions for the GRE Subject Test in Literature

   Okay, so someone from my Youtube channel emailed me and asked me some questions about preparation for the test, and I thought I would share my advice publicly, in case it was valuable. So if you’re wondering about how to study, and you don’t feel prepared, please read on.

   

    Firstly, having read a lot of books is probably more important than taking a lot of classes. Do you have a general idea about famous novels? (i.e. do you understand who I'm referencing when I say something like "It is commonly accepted that a young gentleman of fortune will be in want of a wife"? [Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, btw]). If not, it's easy to come by in quick form in certain memorable ways:

     a) movies! You remember them, and (as the study books will tell you), NAMES are a gift on the GRE. What book is Heathcliff in? Tom Jones? Lily Bart? Edna Pontellier? You can learn this stuff easily (and remember it) by watching a movie adaptation such as A Farewell to Arms, The House of Mirth, etc. (movies are also really good for brushing up on knowledge of plays!)

    b) audio books. These are also a real blessing, since you probably spend time driving, and you might as well spend that time studying too. I get them at my local library. Before doing this, I suggest you take a practice test to find out where the largest gaps in your knowledge lie. That way you can address those gaps with the audio books.

   c) Greek legend! Okay, so the Princeton GRE book tells you that you only need to know the basics of the Greek goods (Hera and Apollo and all that), but really, you want to know the legends too. Get a lecture on it and listen! The lectures are usually helpful because the professors will usually drop information about other time periods, thus contextualizing the lecture in ways that will help you during the test.

   d) Shakespeare. Know his major stuff.

   e) Be able to identify Paradise Lost. 

   f) Use the Princeton Lit GRE book to help you study the poems! It seriously does tell you the most important ones.

   g) For poetic structure and literary theory, I don't suggest the Princeton GRE book at all. If you can, find a lecture series and listen to it while driving. If you can't, find a couple of youtube videos to cover poetic forms (once you understand the basics, memorizing them won't be difficult). For literary theory, I know of a really good text book that i used in my lit theory class. I don't have it in front of me right now, but if you email me at GREchicks@gmail.com, I can send you the title. I also have my old notes from that class, which provide fairly good summaries of the major theories.

   I know this sounds absurd and overwhelming, but believe me, you can absolutely do it. Add variation to your studying so that your brain doesn't fry, try to talk it out with someone (I'm game, over email!), and when you read a book/poem, think about it as though you're analyzing it. That way it doesn't seem like a chore so much as an opinion you're formulating. Within a week or two, you'll begin to realize how much you've learned.

   Oh, and a great way of studying for the regular GRE at the same time?? Well, a lot of 'older' literature uses uncommon language. So whenever you find a word you don't know, look it up and write down the definition in the margin. If you actually copy down the definition, you're much more likely to learn it. Also, doing that helps you to notice certain quirks about the author you're reading, which helps you to identify him/her on the GRE. (You begin to notice that a certain author is very stilted, or very ironic, or very lucid, or less prone to adjectives and thus not given over to much detail [think Hemingway]).