GRE subject tests are designed to measure your knowledge of a particular subject. You can take this test for any of the 6 subjects offered by ETS – Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. Depending on the program you are applying to, you may be required to take one of these subject tests instead of or in addition to the general GRE test.

In most cases, these tests are meant to show that you are ready for graduate-level studies in a particular field even though your undergrad is in a different field. The “Literature in English” test consists of some 230 questions on topics such as poetry, drama, biography, the essay, the short story, the novel, criticism, literary theory, and the language’s history.

The questions in the literature test are derived from the following four areas in different quantities.

• Literary Analysis (40-55%)
• Identification (15-20%)
• Cultural and Historical Contexts (20-25%)
• History and Theory of Literary Criticism (10-15%)

To get a complete breakdown of the syllabus, go here. This article will list the ten best books you can use to study for your GRE literature test. However, do note that the field of English literature is extensive, and if you are serious about the test, then no one book from this list will thoroughly prepare you for it. I would advise that you read all the books on this list and even more for a thorough review.

1. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader

This book will cover content areas from the “literary criticism” part of the test. It is an introduction to the essential texts from the post-colonial era.

Key Features:

• Include 121 extracts from key works in the field.
• Includes sections on nationalism, hybridity, diaspora, and globalization.
• Covers more debates, topics, and critics than any comparable book in its area.
• An ideal starting point for students and issues a potent challenge to how we think and write about literature and culture.

Get it here.

2. Critical Practice

Critical Practice by Catherine Belsey is the go-to book for those who want to learn the relationship between poststructuralist theory and literary criticism. How should meaning be derived from a piece of literature, and how our values play into it? Such are the questions that the author tries to answer in this book.

Key Features:

• Critical Practice guides the reader confidently through the maze of contemporary theory.
• It merely and lucidly explains the views of key figures such as Louis Althusser, Roland Barthes, Jacques Lacan, and Jacques Derrida.
• Critical Practice argues that theory matters because it makes a difference to what we do when we read.
• Assumes no prior knowledge of poststructuralist theory.

Get it here.

3. The Norton Anthology of English Literature

The Norton Anthology of English Literature offers a compilation of must-read English short stories from classic literature. You will find a wealth of knowledge regarding classical authors and their styles.

Key Features:

• Supports survey and period courses with NEW complete major works.
• Includes new contemporary writers.
• Offers dynamic and easy-to-access digital resources.
• It is also available as an ebook featuring exciting, teachable core selections of some of the very best English literature.

Get it here.

4. Dictionary of Poetic Terms

The GRE Literature test is notorious for testing students on the meanings of various literary and poetic terms. Some of these words like “chiasmus” are so obscure that you may not run into them by reading literature alone. Hence, this book is a must-have for the technical questions that you will encounter.

Get it here.

5. The Norton Anthology of Poetry

Poetry is a big part of the GRE English literature test. You will be asked questions about a plethora of different poets from the classical era. This book is an excellent resource to brush up on your poetry knowledge for the GRE literature test.

Key Features:

• Includes more than 1800 poems from famous authors.
• Offers digital resources for further reading.
• 26 contemporary poets are representing the Commonwealth literature tradition
• consists of a greater diversity of American poetry, with double the number of poems by African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian American poets.

Get it here.

6. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory

The dictionary of literary terms and literary theory is a crucial resource for any GRE literature test-taker. It covers a variety of literary traditions and technical details that are asked on the test.

Key Features:

• Covers all aspects of literary theory, from definitions of technical terms to characterizations of literary movements.
• Explains critical jargon (intertextuality, aporia), schools of literary theory (structuralism, feminist criticism), literary forms (sonnet, ottava rima), and genres (elegy, pastoral).
• Examines artifacts, historic locales, archetypes, origins of well-known phrases, and much, much more.
• Scholarly, straightforward, comprehensive, and even entertaining.

Get it here.

7. The Norton Anthology of American Literature

The Norton series on literature is a crucial resource for the GRE literature test. Since the test covers a broad period of literature from different regions, it is paramount that you know about all the famous works.

Key Features:

• The Norton Anthology of American Literature features a cover-to-cover revision.
• The Ninth Edition introduces new General Editor Robert Levine and three new-generation editors who have reenergized the centuries’ volume.
• A new scholarship, new authors-with an emphasis on contemporary writers.
• New topical clusters and a new ebook make the Norton Anthology.

Get it here.

8. Cracking the GRE Literature in English Subject Test

This is the only “test-prep” style book on this list. I am adding this because it offers great insight into the format and structure of the test. Moreover, you will find great tips and strategies on how to approach the test.

Key Features:

• Strategies and techniques to boost your accuracy.
• Perfect your pacing and familiarize yourself with the test format.
• Understand the books that are most likely to appear on the test.
• Differentiate literary themes and schools of thought.

Get it here.

9. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are such crucial literature works that you are sure to come across a few questions about these two books. This version offered by “The Essential Books” does a great job of bringing Barry’s translations together. B Powell into a single volume.

Key Features:

• Uses well-modulated verse and accurate English that is contemporary but never without dignity
• Powell’s introduction sets the poems in their philological, mythological, and historical contexts
• Features unique on-page notes, facilitating students’ engagement with the poems
• Embedded illustrations accompanied by extensive captions provide Greek and Roman visual sources for key passages

Get it here.

10. Plato: Complete Works

Plato’s writings are regarded as a hallmark of western civilization. Any GRE literature test-taker must read and learn about the various Plato books, and what better way to do it than in a consolidated volume?

Key Features:

• Includes the entire surviving corpus of works attributed to Plato in antiquity.
• The introduction covers the presentation of these works, discusses questions concerning the chronology of their composition.
• Includes author’s comments on the dialogue form in which Plato wrote and offered guidance on approaching the reading and study of Plato’s works.
• Includes concise introductions by Cooper and Hutchinson to each translation, meticulous annotation designed to serve both scholar and the general reader

Get it here.