Cracking the GRE Literature, 3rd Edition

This book describes the way the test "feels" to a tee. The test feels like a cocktail party full of people who haven't actually _read_ any of the books mentioned but have read the Encyclopedia of Literature and know character names, places, titles and authors. I'm a comparative literature major and i blew the test (there's _very_ little of anything but British literature-- it's even skimpy on American literature. The only non-English language literature that you should really know is that Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment). Anyway, it's really not worth too much effort-- the test is like a serious of inside jokes that you have to pretend to understand. This review guide tells you the basic stuff you need to know to get the ETS' clever little jokes about Milton without ever having opened Paradise Lost. If you're going to review anything other than this guide, I'd suggest reviewing major Shakespearean plays and the more significant of the Canterbury Tales; also for some reason there were 2 questions on Vanity Fair (this is really a major piece of literature?). Get this book, the Norton Anthology, and perhaps an Encyclopedia of Literature (or look over a good time-line online) and you should be perfectly fine.

Another testimony to add to the other success stories. I used the lists in this book to prepare for the November, 1999 test in combination w/ Frank Magill's *World Masterpieces* series and the Norton Anth. of Poetry. For my month and a half of studying I ended up with a 97% score. The test is a bear, but this book WILL help you. The Princeton Review does a fantastic job of prioritizing the vast amount of material covered on the test, and makes this whole thing about as painless as a standardized test can be.

I bought this book the summer before I took the subject test in English Literature and it turned out to be an absolutely invaluable resource. I used both volumes of the Norton Anthology of English Literature and also the McGill series to augment my studying. By the time test day came, I was able to finish the exam half an hour early--with a score of 93%. Beware, however: the actual test included more questions about theory and 20th century authors than the Princeton Review book warned. But this a decidedly minor flaw on the whole. Indeed, anyone who says it's impossible to crack the subject test in literature hasn't read this book!

The "Cracking" series are valuable for whatever test you are taking. I've used this one and the GRE Cat, and they work without wasting your time like so many others. May I offer you all a suggestion? I came across the Magill series on Literature (usually found in reference sections of the library) and found them invaluable for getting a concise, well-written synopsis on the novels, poetry, drama etc. that will be covered on the test. I zeroed in on the suggested reading list offered by the "Cracking" book, studied for about 4 weeks, and got a 96% on the test. Good luck to you all, and let me know if you've used my sage advice,ok?

If you're signing up to take the notoriously awful GRE Literature in English test, invest the extra cash (a fraction of test registration costs) and buy this book. It will not only remind you how to distinguish a Shakespearean sonnet from a Petrarchan sonnet, but also outline test-taking strategies, explain the basics of literary theory, and list the surprisingly few works you should study to maximize your score. The author has a sense of humor that will make all of this seem more bearable, even while you're slogging through practice questions. You should also buy ETS's Practicing to take the GRE Literature in English Test and do the practice tests it contains, but if you're only going to buy one book, buy this one. Avoid having to pay those outrageous ETS fees more than once--study this book, and you should get a great score the first time you take the test.