I got my B.A. in English in May, and I’ve finally decided to get ready for grad school.
First step: Take the GRE (both the general test and the English Subject test) in August.
Second step: Apply to schools in the fall.
Despite having taken all the classes to fulfill my major requirements (and a good deal of literature electives as well), I scored in the 49th percentile on the practice exam of the English Subject test (to put this into perspective, I generally do very well on standardized tests [I got a 33 on my ACT], and I graduated summa cum laude). I find this rather disappointing and can’t help but feel cheated by the University of Minnesota. Shouldn’t an undergraduate degree in English prepare me to do better than that? While I was taking the practice test, I didn’t think, “Yes, the novel/poem/play in this question sounds really familiar, but I can’t quite place it.” It was more like, “I have never seen anything resembling this in my life.” Most of my problems were in the areas of critical theory and contemporary literature (but I highly doubt these topics constitute half of the test material - in other words, I obviously have problems in many areas).
Since the board is peopled with all sorts of educated smarty-pantses, I figured some of you might be able to suggest a study plan. I’ve heard “read all the Norton anthologies,” and I’ll do that if no one has a better idea. I work full time, so reading those cover-to-cover by August will be difficult. I’d especially like to hear from those of you who did study for and take this test (comments, suggestions, etc.). I’d also like to hear from anyone with an interest in literature who can recommend books on critical theory and/or any shorter anthologies that would still give a good overview.
I had trouble deciding where to put this, and I picked Cafe Society since it has to do with literature. Feel free to move it (with my apologies) if I’m wrong.