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Title: The Best Test Preparation for the Gre: Literature in English by James S. Malek, Thomas C. Kennedy, Pauline Beard, Robert Liftig, Bernadette Brick ISBN: 0-87891-346-7 Publisher: Research & Education Assn Pub. Date: January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 1.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: a more recent take
Comment: It seems the flurry of GRE prep book reviews were in 2001, but since ETS hasn't updated the test since then, none of the major publishers have come out with a new book. I've tried both this one and McMullen's Princeton Review book, and Princeton's is far superior. I usually don't write reviews, but I feel morally compelled to prevent you from spending your money on this book.
Comparisons aside, even if I had never laid eyes on any test prep book before, I would recognize REA's book for the shoddy and unprofessional publication it is. A good example is the exact same question that appeared twice in the same practice exam. Most publishers prefer to edit their books before publication, but clearly REA has their own awful way of doing things.
Half of the practice exams more closely resemble the AP English Literature test than the GRE, with questions that test high school favorites, distracter choices that border on satire to the extent that they are incorrect, and (IMHO) more obvious references to Satan (in Paradise Lost) than an Ozzfest concert. Honestly, I half-expected to see a John Grisham quotation on their practice exams. The other half of the questions test material only specialists would be expected to know. Many questions focus on knowing obscure vocabulary (NOT literary terms) and plot details that would never appear on a real test. (Can you remember if King Arthur gave his sword to Sir Bedivere or Sir Galahad? You think ETS cares?) Also, in a surprising twist, these practice tests were even MORE Eurocentric than the ETS-authored sample tests I've taken. (One question asks you to identify Frederick Douglass not as a memoirist or author, but simply as "an escaped slave.")
If you're like me, and you think maybe you'll just get the book for the practice exams because the ETS book is out of print, think again! Honestly, you'd be better off with Norton anthology flashcards. (If they made them.)
Rating: 5
Summary: Good preparation with timeline
Comment: The best test preparation gives you some guidance in how to prepare. Simply having a sample test and a list of all the works of literature that you could be tested is not helpful. Although these tests were not created by ETS (the makers of the GRE), REA did base the tests on past subject tests. This also gives you some guidance on what, and when, to study.
This book contains three samples tests and some drills. For the tests, the answers are explained so you know which answer is right as well as why the other answers are wrong. This is a big plus in studying. The drill questions are designed to see if you are learning the information from the study pages in the front.
The study pages are helpful. They discuss the main ideas and writers for the different periods of literature. As most books, they recommend going to the work itself, but if you do not have time, this information is helpful. With the writer, you get what the person was famous for, and if that work was very influential, what the main ideas of it were. It also discusses the major theories of literary criticism.
With the study pages and the tests is the timeline. I think this is the under-rated part of the book. It is designed for eight weeks of study, but it mentions that it could be condensed to two weeks. Although it is rather general, it still provides you with a guide to help calm you through the stress of studying.
I would recommend getting this book to help practice and prepare for the GRE Subject Test in Literature.
Rating: 2
Summary: Save your money
Comment: As part of my preparation for taking the GRE Literature Subject Test, I bought this book, in addition to McMullen's "Cracking the GRE Literature" and the official ETS study guide. My advice: save your money and buy the latter two books, the "Best Test Prep" is nothing of the sort, providing no strategies for reviewing for the Test. Instead, the reader gets six exams that inaccurately reflect the questions most likely to appear on the test. Read the McMullen book or the ETS book for a better reflection of what the actual test will look like. The reading list, for all its prodigious length (seven pages) actually seems inadequate for reviewing for the test.
I did, however, find the explanations for each question in the book useful and if nothing else, the book provides a wealth of questions and answers on English, American, and World Literature to supplement your study elsewhere. Borrow it from a friend rather than buying it.
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Title: Cracking the GRE Literature Test, 4th Edition by Jr. Doug McMullen ISBN: 037576268X Publisher: Princeton Review Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Gre: Practicing to Take the Literature in English Test (3rd Ed) by Educational Testing Service (ETS) ISBN: 0446396184 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (Oxford Paperback Reference) by Margaret Drabble, Jenny Stringer ISBN: 0192800396 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by J. A. Cuddon, Claire Preston ISBN: 0140513639 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Cracking the GRE Literature, 3rd Edition by Jr. Doug McMullen ISBN: 0375756175 Publisher: Princeton Review Pub. Date: 15 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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