GRE Subject Test in English Lit - best study guides/texts?

[wintergirl]

I'm signed up to take the GRE subject test in lit in October as part of my PhD (English/AmStud) application process.

I've got the Princeton Review book to help me prep and am planning to get Vol. 1 & 2 of the Norton Antho too. (Thank god for used copies on Amazon!) But does anyone have other suggested texts you've used to prep for this monster? Or any other tips in general?

Right now I am a bit petrified at the amount of stuff you need to know. Yowza.

[dimanche0829]

I'm also using the Princeton Review. I received a lot of recommendations for it and have found it nice that they help you learn what books should be read cover to cover, and what books can be read in snippets.

Don't be petrified, though. Sure, it's going to be tough, but you're not going to be expected to know everything! If you think about it, we've already learned a great deal of stuff from undergrad and you'll be amazed at how much of that comes back to you in using the practice books. I'm sure you'll do great!

[runonsentence]

The most helpful resources I found were websites. Here are two:

http://lasr.cs.ucla.edu/alison/hapaxlegomena/index.html

http://www.duke.edu/~tmw15/

[bigjumps]

I used the Princeton Review book and found it really useful, but I also used the REA book, which a friend of mine gave to me after she finished with it - I found they complemented each other well, as the REA book listed quite a few authors (and key texts to know) which the Princeton Review didn't (or didn't have as much info on). I wouldn't recommend REA on its own though - its practice tests were especially unhelpful. They didn't seem to follow the actual test format as well as Princeton Review's practice test, and I scored horribly on all 3 REA ones, even though I did fine on ETS's practice test, and on the actual test day (although it didn't feel like it at the time).

The other thing I found really useful was Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia (there are similar Oxford and Cambridge ones, and they should all be available at university libraries), which helped me to narrow down the major texts to know by particular authors, and has plot summaries for many of them, which are VERY helpful. You won't have time to read everything, but knowing character names, settings, and major plot points means you can recognize some texts you've never read.

Good luck!