cao1980

Hey Alissaroot, I don't want you to throw away all lit that isn't theory, bible, old English or grammar, just saying that the study guides de-emphasized those areas and I felt that the test did not. Thinking back I'd say that the ETS breakdown saying that literary theory comprised 15-20% of the test was true. That being said, Princeton guaranteed nice big dumbed down chunks (signifier, bourgeois, phallo-whatever) and I didn't really find that, either. The grammar would not have been overly difficult if a) I were remotely familiar with it and b) it wasn't based on old English (i.e. "find the past participle in this piece from Beowulf" or whatever). Don't freak out though, the truth is that I could probably have gotten the lit theory with one heavy duty weekend studying it and looking back, I don't think I did as poorly on the Bible as I thought that I did. You'll do fine! I will probably be retaking the test in April myself so good luck to both of us :) And thank you for the call in info.

Hi guys, So I have a BA in Mass Communication, am seeking admission into either an MA or PhD program in English/American literature. I have been a prolific reader my entire life, wanted to get a BA in Lit or English but was dissuaded by naysayers :( but am thrilled with my new direction :) Anyway... I studied for four months for the GRE subject test. Skimmed every Norton's anthology, read in depth and memorized first and last stanzas of the 500 most "important" poems, studied old tests (1989 test, the ETS free test and Princeton Review test as well as the useless worthless REA tests), memorized every drop of info on the Vade Mecum site and Hapax Legomena site and generally made myself sick over Shakespeare. I was, however, under the impression that grammar/syntax, old English and the Bible really didn't show up that much so I barely glossed those. Well, to my remembrance, the test was comprised solely of these things, as well as a huge dose of theory. The only theory I studied was what the Princeton Review had me study, so the name Lacan, I shudder to say, meant nothing to me :( So...some questions.... Did anyone else feel like they studied for a literature test and got an English and Lit Theory test? If I call in for my scores, will it tell me just my score or will it also tell me the percentile? Because from my understanding of this test, the percentile matters and score not at all, since the high score changes from 800 to 990 from year to year. I would call but not if I'm left with a number that gives me false hope or makes me suicidal because I am improperly calculating my percentile. Oh, and any tips other than what I mentioned above for how to study should I have to take this damn test again? Thank you so much!