GRE English Subject Test Help!!!!!!!!!

[Emma...12]

I have just completed my first semester as a sophomore, but I know for sure that I want to pursue a PhD in English Literature. I am embarrassed to admit that up until recently I was totally clueless about the GRE Subject Test in English. I know it might seem precocious and naive of me to say so, but I would like to try to get admitted to a top-ranking school - several of which schools do require the subject test. That being said, I really need some advice on how, in fact, I should study for this insane test. I have all the Norton Anthologies on British Lit only from my British Survey course that I took in my freshman year, and I have in fact started studying the first one on the Middle Ages quite diligently. I started a couple of days ago, whenever I didn't have to study for school, and I am more than halfway through it. The thing is, I am not sure whether this is a wise strategy to follow - reading the whole anthologies (not just the intros to each author). I believe that if I take the test in two years, I might be done with all the British anthologies by then, but the more I think about this, the more stupid it sounds for some reason ?. What is particularly fortunate is that I happened to read the whole of Paradise Lost and The Canterbury Tales, in addition to David Copperfield and a collection of Percy Shelley's poetry over the summer for pleasure. I am still highly deficient in the breadth of my knowledge though, and I have tons of things to cover. I have also started a Word document with bullet-point summaries of the medieval things that I've been reading. Also, I don't really know to what extent I should try to memorize stuff. Is, for instance, the definition of wergild as it applies to Beowulf an important concept to remember or not? Is it important to remember that Chaucer's Summoner has boils on his face and looks repulsive? ? Should I be able to recall that John Gower's Confessio Amoris involved the story of Philomela taken from Ovid?

I really need someone to help me and give me advice on what I should do because I feel kind of lost. My English professors, strangely enough, never once mentioned the test even though they know I would like to go to graduate school, while none of my friends of people that I know have any clue about it. I am really frustrated about this and although I generally study a lot, I kind of shudder at the prospect of having to dedicate a large portion of the upcoming years of my life to this thing. Is it really worth it? Should I put more weight on other aspects of my academic performance? As of now, my overall GPA is a 3.9 (a 4.0 in terms of my major), I am in an Honors student, and all the English professors that I have worked with are extremely encouraging and enthusiastic about my work.