"Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard" (1751)

Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard" (1751) was an immensely popular meditation on mortality that had a major influence on the early Romantics. The work has led Thomas Gray to be classified among the pre-Romantic Graveyard Poets.

"Elegy" is almost guaranteed to show up on the GRE Literature exam. Read this full text at least three times.

The poem is in four-line stanzas (ABAB), iambic pentameter.

Associate the following quotes with "Elegy:"

1. "Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest / Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."

2. "The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

3. "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife"

William Cowper (1731-1800)

William Cowper (1731-1800), pronounced "cooper," was an popular English poet and hymnodist. His focus as a poet on the everyday life of the English countryside influenced the early Romantics. He famously suffered from severe depression. He was also a zealous evangelical Christian.

Cowper also translated Homer into blank verse--don't confuse him with Chapman.

On the GRE Literature exam, you're mostly likely to need to identify the following Cowper quotes:

1. "variety's the very spice of life"
2. "God made the country, and man the town"
3. "God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform"

Cowper is not worth adding to your GRE reading list.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was a German poet and prose stylist, often considered the most important German poet of the 20th century.

One of the following works may appear on the GRE Literature exam. Read each linked summary once; read "Der Panther" twice.

1. Letters to a Young Poet

2. The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (Novel)

3. "Der Panther" (Translation)

Rilke is not worth adding to your GRE reading list.

"Tintern Abbey" (1798)

William Wordsworth's "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey" (1798) is one of the major early texts of the Romantic movement.

It is a textbook example of Wordsworth's definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings from emotions recollected in tranquility."

This poem is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam. You should read the full text (Wikisource) of the poem at least twice before the exam.

The Lucy poems (1789-1801)

William Wordsworth's Lucy poems (1789-1801) are five short lyrics originally published in the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads alongside the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The Lucy poems were central in establishing the early popularity of Romantic poetry, and one or more is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It's almost worth memorizing them. (Luckily, each mentions Lucy at or near the end.)

1. "Strange fits of passion I have known"
2. "She dwelt among the untrodden ways"
3. "I travelled among unknown men"
4. "Three years she grew in sun and shower"
5. "A slumber did my spirit seal"

The Prelude (1805, 1850)

William Wordsworth's The Prelude, aka the "Poem to Coleridge," is one of the major works of English Romanticism.

It exists in three versions, of which the unpolished, radical 1805 version and the posthumous 1850 version are the most commonly used for modern publications. (The 1799 version is much shorter.)

The poem, written entirely in blank verse, is a kind of "spiritual autobiography" (Wikipedia).

Famous passages include:

1. Opening journey to the Vale of Grasmere
2. Crossing of the Alps near Mont Blanc in Book VI
3. Climactic ascent of Snowdon in Wales

The poem is important in that it considers man's own mind, as opposed to history or the will of (the) god(s), a worthy subject of an epic.

The Prelude may be worth adding to your GRE reading list, but not as a high priority. I recommend William Wordsworth - The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics).

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a major English Romantic poet. His Lyrical Ballads, published with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, is widely credited with launching the Romantic movement in England.

He famously sought to write poetry in "the real language of men," and defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings from emotions recollected in tranquility."

Wordsworth is a major figure on the GRE Literature exam.

1. "It is a Beauteous Evening (Calm and Free)"

2. "My heart leaps up (when I behold)"

3. "The world is too much with us"
-loosely follows the form of an Italian sonnet

4. "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey"
-Part of the Lyrical Ballads
(link goes to separate entry)

5. The "Lucy" poems
-Part of the Lyrical Ballads
(link goes to separate entry)

6. The Prelude
(link goes to separate entry)

The Prelude may be worth adding to your GRE reading list, but not as a high priority. I recommend William Wordsworth - The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics).

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) was an English Romantic poet. Despite his literary celebrity, Byron is not a major figure on the GRE. He's as famous for his tumultuous lifestyle--and for his namesake brooding "Byronic hero"--as he is for his poetry. He died of a fever while fighting for (oddly enough) Greek independence from the Ottomans.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following with Byron.

1. "She Walks in Beauty"

2. Manfred (dramatic poem)
-Part of a ghost story craze; based on the Faust legend

3. Childe Harold's Pilgrimages (narrative poem)
-about masculinity; protagonist is typical Byronic hero
-four of the cantos are written in Spenserian stanzas

4. Don Juan (narrative poem)
-identifiable by its distinctive rhyme scheme: ab ab ab cc (link)

Byron is not worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list.

A.E. Housman (1859-1936)

Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) was an English poet whose most famous work was completed in the late 19th century. His melancholy, bucolic poem cycle A Shropshire Lad was extremely popular in the years before and after World War I, and was frequently set to music.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Housman. Read each linked poem at least once.

1. "When I was one-and-twenty"
2. "To an athlete dying young"
3. "Terence, this is stupid stuff"

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet. He was a major innovator in the use of free verse. Politically, he was a strong supporter of abolition. Some of his work was unusually sexual for his time.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Walt Whitman. Read each linked poem at least once.

1. Leaves of Grass
-Grew with each new edition published during his lifetime

2. "Song of Myself"

3. "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"
-A poem about Lincoln's assassination

4. "O Captain, My Captain"
-Another poem about Lincoln's assassination

5. "Pioneers! O Pioneers"

6. "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"

George Herbert (1593-1633)

George Herbert (1593-1633) was a Welsh Metaphysical poet and a priest. His work is known for complicated visual metaphors and the frequent use of "shape poems" (see "Easter-Wings" and "The Altar" below).

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with George Herbert. Read each linked text at least once.

1. "The Pulley"
-"yet wearinesse may toss him to my breast"

2. "The Collar"
-"I will abroad"; "Call in thy death's head there" ; "Childe: And I reply'd, My Lord."

3. "Easter-Wings"
-Shaped like angel's wings, rotated 90 degrees.

4. "The Altar"
-Shaped like an altar; altar = heart

Richard Lovelace (1618-1657)

Richard Lovelace (1618-1657) was an English Cavalier poet.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Richard Lovelace. Read each linked text at least once.

1. "To Lucasta. Going to the Warres"
-"I could not love thee Dear so much, / Lov'd I not honour more"

2. "To Althea, From Prison"
-"Stone walls do not a prison make, / nor iron bars a cage."

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer. For the GRE Literature exam, he's mostly referenced as a playwright, but sometimes the fact that his stories included early experiments in stream-of-consciousness shows up.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Anton Chekhov. Read each linked plot summary at least once.

1. The Seagull (1896)
-Irina Arkadina (fading leading lady); Konstantin Treplyov (experimental playwright); Trigorin (famous middlebrow fiction author)
-Strong intertextual relationship with Hamlet

2. The Three Sisters (1901)
-Olga, Masha, Irina, & Andrey Prozorov
-Left stranded in a provincial backwater after the death of their father, a General; starts on the first anniversary of his death

3. The Cherry Orchard (1904)
-Lyubov Ranevskaya, adopted daughter Varya & daughter Anya; nobility in decline; lack of money; family cherry orchard sold

4. "The Lady with the Dog" (1899, short story)
-Adultery in Yalta between young married woman and banker on vacation.

Chekhov may be worth adding to your GRE reading list--his plays are short, and you're almost guaranteed to get a Chekhov question or two on the exam. I recommend Chekhov: The Major Plays, which has all three plays above in one volume.

Henry James (1843-1916)

Henry James (1843-1916) was an American novelist who spent most of his career in Britain. He was a realist, and his work is remarkable for its creative use of interior monologue and unreliable narrators. His essay "The Art of Fiction" argued for greater creative freedom for writers.

Henry James has many works that could appear on the exam. For the GRE Literature exam, focus on the following. Read each linked summary at least once.

1. Daisy Miller (1878)
-Seduced into improper behavior by the cad Winterbourne

2. The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
-Heiress Isabel Archer in Italy

3. The Turn of the Screw (1898)
-Ghost story; unreliable narrator.
-Flora, Miles, Miss Jessel, Quint

4. The Beast in the Jungle (1903)
-John Marcher & May Bartram await the grand fate John is sure will befall him, but which never does.

5. The Ambassadors (1903)
-Lambert Strether; the Newsomes; Chad Newsome; Countess Madame de Vionnet
-Strether tries to bring Chad back to New England from Paris.

Several of Henry James' novellas are worth adding to your GRE reading list. I recommend the Signet Classics Edition, which includes Daisy Miller, The Beast in the Jungle, and The Turn of the Screw.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970)

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) was an early-20th-century English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He was a secular humanist. His Aspects of the Novel broached the idea of "flat" and "round" characters.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with E. M. Forster. Read each linked summary at least once.

1. Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905)
-Caroline Abbott; Lilia Herriton; Lilia falls in love w/ Italian on trip to Italy; marries, starts family, dies.

2. A Room with a View (1908)
-Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy Honeychurch, Mr. Emerson, George Emerson, Mr. Beebe, Eleanor Lavish, Cecil Vyse; young Englishwoman's romantic encounter in Florence impedes marriage.

3. Howards End (1910)
-Maragaret, Helen, & Tibby Schlegel; Charles, Paul, & Evie Wilcox; Schlegel (sentimentality) vs. Wilcox (pragmatism); epigraph: "Only connect."

4. A Passage to India (1924)
-Dr. Aziz, Adela Quested, the Marabar Caves; murder plot

E. M. Forster's Howard's End may be worth adding to your GRE reading list. I recommend the Dover Thrift Edition.

George Eliot (1819-1880)

George Eliot (1819-1880), aka Mary Anne Evans, was a Victorian realist novelist. Her works usually take place in the English countryside.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with George Eliot. Be sure to read the linked plot summaries at least twice before the exam.

1. Adam Bede (1859)
-Seth, Dinah, Mr. Irwine, Lisbeth, Hetty, Arthur

2. The Mill on the Floss (1860)

3. Silas Marner (1861)
-Silas Marner, Godfrey Cass, Molly, Eppie

4. Middlemarch (1871-2)
-Dorothea Brooke
-famously admired by Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people"

Middlemarch may be worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list. I recommend the Barnes & Noble Classics Edition.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) was a Victorian novelist.

Don't confuse him with the 17th-century poet who wrote Hudibras.

For the GRE Literature Exam, associate the following works with Samuel Butler:

1. Erewhon (1872, aka "Nowhere")
-Satire of Victorian society; parody of Utopia; similar to Gulliver's Travels

2. The Way of All Flesh (1903)
-Four generations of the Pontifex family; attacks Victorian-era (sexual) hypocrisy

Samuel Butler is not worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list.

Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was a Southern Gothic novelist.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works and characters with Eudora Welty.

1. Delta Wedding
-The Fairchild family; George. Whole family voices the story.

2. The Optimist's Daughter (Pulitzer winner)
-Laurel Hand, Fay McKelva, Judge Clint McKelva, Becky McKelva

3. "Why I Live at the P.O." (short story)
-Sister (that's her name) tells why Mr. Whitaker broke up with her to marry her sister, Stella-Rondo.
-Sister said she was bigger-breasted on one side.

Eudora Welty is not worth adding to your reading list for the GRE Literature exam.

Gothic Novels (18th Century)

The Gothic novels of the 18th century were a combination of horror and romance. Almost universally, they contain some apparently supernatural plot elements, usually associated somehow with Catholicism, that later turn out to have natural explanations, a technique known as the gothic explique.

These novels were often criticized (and parodied) for their melodramatic tone.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following authors and works with the Gothic novel:

Horace Walpole (father of the form)
-The Castle of Otranto: Manfred, Conrad, Isabella

Anne Radcliffe (cited most often in the 19th century)
-The Mysteries of Udolpho: Montoni, Emily
-The Italian: VincentinoVivaldi, Ellena Rosalba

M.G. Lewis (events actually were supernatural)
-The Monk: Ambrosio, Mathilda

Jane Austen (parodying Radcliffe)
-Northanger Abbey: Catherine Morland, the Allens, Henry Tilney, John Thorpe

Reader-Response Criticism

Reader-Response Criticism and the related Reception Theory focus on the ways readers create meaning from a text. They are fundamentally opposed to the other linguistic criticisms, which exclude the reader's experience from literary analysis.

Associate the following ideas and people with Reader Response Criticism:

-reader's experience = central literary event
-books have an "implied reader" or "ideal reader," discernible through the book's implicit assumptions about how the reader will read
-aesthetic impact (breaking the "horizon of expectations")

Note that Reception Theory and Reader-Response Criticism makes heavy use of terms and ideas from a variety of other critical fields.

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction is the most prominent example of the post-structuralist criticisms, which both use and critique structuralism.

Deconstruction focuses on the displacements and gaps in the meaning structures generated by structuralism, which structuralists dismiss as exceptions. In other words, every text includes irreconcilable differences in meaning, and is therefore essentially meaningless--which is why people hate Deconstruction so much.

Associate the following terms and people with Deconstruction:

-erasure, trace, bracketing, differance, slippage, dissemination, logocentrism, indeterminacy, decentering
-(Structuralism) mimesis, alterity, marginality, desire, lack
-Jacques Derrida

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Structuralist Criticism

Structuralism operates from the assumption that meaning is not inherent in any word, sign, type, etc, but rather that meaning is produced by the structure of relationships among terms.

In literary criticism, the focus is on the "grammar of literature," or the set patterns of plot and character that recur across time and genre.

The classic example compares Romeo & Juliet and West Side Story:

(boy +LOVE girl)(boy's group -LOVE girl's group)

Associate the following terms and people with Structuralism:

-Ferdinand de Saussure & Semiotics
-sign, signifier, signified, relative difference
-binary oppositions, spatial metaphors, equations

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

New Criticism

New Criticism, an outgrowth of Formalism, was the dominant mode of criticism in the English-speaking world from about 1920 to 1960. It is still widely practiced at an undergraduate level today.

New Criticism focuses on features of the text to the total exclusion of authorial intention or socioeconomic influence. Ambiguity is a major criterion for evaluation; close reading is the main method.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following terms and people with New Criticism:

-intentional fallacy, affective fallacy, the heresy of paraphrase, close reading
-T.S. Eliot, Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, I.A. Richards, John Crowe Ransom, F.R. Leavis

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Formalist Criticism

Formalism, especially as practiced by the Russians, was a predecessor to Structuralism and New Criticism in that it focused primarily on the features of the text itself.

The goal was to find objectively discernible features that made a work of literature Literature.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following terms and people with Formalism:

-defamiliarization; devices
-Viktor Shklovsky

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Identity Criticisms

Identity Criticisms, like Marxism, are sociological criticisms in that they see literature as primarily the product of social forces. However, instead of focusing on class struggle, they allow for various forms of identity beyond that of the social class.

There are three main types. Each is a vibrant field of critical debate, but on the GRE Literature exam, you'll rarely be asked to do more than identify a caricature almost certain to include the buzzwords below.

1. Feminist Criticism
-phallocratic hegemony, patriarchy
2. Black Criticism
-Euro-American patriarchy
3. Post-Colonial Criticism
-subaltern; marginalization of the other
-Edward Said, Orientalism

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Linguistic Criticisms

Linguistic Criticisms focus on the language of the text itself, with "language" referring also to internal structures, signs, styles, etc.

There are five main types:

1. Formalism
2. New Criticism
3. Structuralism & Semiotics
4. Post-Structuralism & Deconstructionism
5. Reader-Response Criticism

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Psychological Criticisms

Psychological Criticisms treat literature as the expression of universal attributes of human consciousness. They can focus either on aspects of the work itself, or on the work as the psychological expression of the author.

There are two main types:

1. Freudian/Psychoanalytic Criticism
-Oedipal complex, libido, id, ego, superego, subconscious, repression, resistance
-Harold Bloom: strong-poet theory (authors subconsciously react to predecessors)

2. Archetype/Myth Criticism
-"collective unconscious" revealed through archetypes
-some overlap with Formalism & Structuralism
-Jung; James G. Frazier, The Golden Bough; Joseph Campbell; Northrop Frye

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Marxist Criticism

Marxist Criticism treats literature as the product of social and economic pressures. Marxists believe that literature tends to reflect the ideology of the socioeconomic class in (or sometimes for) which it was produced.

Associate the following terms with traditional Marxism:
1. Base & superstructure
2. Class; proletariat; means of production
3. Bourgeois
4. (Capitalist) imperialism
5. Dialectical materialism

Major writers include:
Karl Marx; Friedrich Engels; Georg Lukacs; Walter Benjamin; Raymond Williams; Frederic Jameson.

Marxism influenced the later New Historicism & Sociological Criticism as well as Identity Criticism in that they all treat literature as primarily the product of external, historical forces.

For more information, I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Literary Criticism

The GRE Literature exam will assume that you know the basics of several prominent schools of 20th-century literary criticism. They can be divided roughly into three major groups, as follows (with more information if you follow each of the links):

Marxist Criticism

1. Identity Criticism
2. Historicism & Sociological Criticism
   

Linguistic Criticism

1. Formalism
2. New Criticism
3. Structuralism
4. Post-Structuralism & Deconstructionism
5. Reader-Response Criticism

Psychological Criticism

1. Freudian Psychoanalysis
2. Archetype/Myth Criticism

If you didn't get a lot of theory as an undergrad, it's worth adding at least one short theory survey to your reading list for the GRE Literature exam. I recommend Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. It's short, but enough to get you through the exam.

If you have the time, though, every aspiring grad student in literature should read A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. It's a little more thorough.

Jane Austen (1775-1817)

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the most popular English novelists of all time. Her work is known for its realism and its subtle irony. Some have called her the founder of both the modern romance novel and the modern romantic comedy.

Any of Jane Austen's work is likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. Read the Wikipedia entry for each of the following works at least once and familiarize yourself with the main characters.

1. Sense and Sensibility (1811)
-Elinor & Marianne Dashwood; Lucy Steele; John Willoughby; Colonel Brandon
2. Pride and Prejudice (1813)
-Elizabeth & Jane Bennett, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charles Bingham, George Wickham
3. Mansfield Park (1814)
-The Bertrams; Fanny Price; Mrs. Norris
4. Emma (1815)
-Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, Miss Bates, Frank Churchill, Harriet Smith, Jane Fairfax
5. Northanger Abbey (1817, posthumous)--her first completed novel
-Catherine Morland, Henry Tilney, John Thorpe, Isabella Thorpe; parody of the Gothic novel
6. Persuasion (1817, posthumous)
-Sir Walter, Elizabeth, Anne Elliot, Frederick Wentworth, Kellynch Hall (estate)

For the GRE Literature exam, it's worth reading any Jane Austen novel you haven't yet read, though don't read more than 2. In declining order of importance: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park.

If you're pressed for time, or if you've already read them and want to review, there are also pretty faithful film versions of Pride and Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was an American novelist. She was from aristocratic New England stock; she lived and worked in France between the wars. Her work often depicts the suffocating society of the New England wealthy.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works and characters with Edith Wharton. In each case, a summary knowledge will suffice.

1. The House of Mirth (1905)
-Lily Bart, NYC socialite seeking husband; title from Ecclesiastes 7:4
2. Ethan Frome (1911)
-1900s New England; Zenobia (Zeena), romance with Mattie Silver. Told through townspeople's eyes.
3. The Age of Innocence (1920; Pulitzer winner)
-1870s NYC. Newland Archer engaged to May Welland; May's cousin Ellen Olenska intrudes.

Edith Wharton is not worth adding to your GRE reading list unless you find yourself with some extra time and you haven't read any of her work. In that case, I recommend the Oxford World's Classics edition of The House of Mirth.

David Copperfield (1850)

David Copperfield (1850) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It was originally published as a serial.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with David Copperfield. You will also want to read a short plot summary (above link).

1. David "Trotwood" Copperfield
-Protagonist; followed from childhood through maturity
2. Edward Murdstone
-Young David's cruel stepfather; sends David to Salem House (a private school) under Mr. Creakle.
-Sends David to work in a blacking factory when his mother dies.
-Shows some hints of repentance when David is an adult.
3. James Steerforth
-David's close friend; popular, a romantic
-Seduces and abandons Emily
-Drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who tries to save him.

The plot is quite long and complicated, so if you haven't read David Copperfield, you should consider adding it to your GRE reading list if you have the time. (But beware--it's a very long book.) I recommend the Penguin Classics edition.

Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a Nobel-Prize-winning American novelist, born in Canada to parents of Russian Jewish descent.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Saul Bellow. In each case, a summary knowledge will suffice.

1. Herzog
2. Seize the Day
3. Henderson the Rain King
4. The Adventures of Augie March

(He has some important later works, but they're too recent for the GRE folks.)

It's probably not worth adding Bellow to your GRE reading list.

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909)

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) was a Victorian-era decadent poet. He was friends with Dante Gabriel Rosetti, the founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

There's a distant chance Swinburne's work might appear on the GRE Literature exam, but it's more likely you'll simply be expected to know the following facts:

1. His work was extremely controversial in his day.
2. Works often include sadomasochism, lesbianism, anti-religious outrage, and an implied death-wish.

His work is not work adding to your GRE Literature reading list.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the preeminent British novelist of the 19th century. He's immensely popular: none of his published books has ever gone out of print. He's also a GRE Literature heavyweight: there is an enormous amount of Dickens material that could show up on the exam.

Associate the following facts and ideas with Dickens:

1. Vivid, often exaggerated characterization; borderline onomatopoeic names
2. Published almost exclusively in serials; cliffhanger endings
3. Many works preoccupied with poverty and attempted upward social mobility
4. A wide range of comic and serious tones

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Dickens:

1. Oliver Twist (1837-9)
2. The Pickwick Papers (1837)
3. Nicholas Nickelby (1838-9)
4. David Copperfield (1850)
5. Bleak House (1852-3)
6. Hard Times (1854)
7. Great Expectations (1860-1)

Don't fall into the trap of spending too much time on Dickens--the page to points ratio isn't good. Consider adding one Dickens novel to your list, no more. (See the links above for recommendations.)

Hard Times (1854)

Hard Times (1854) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It was originally serialized in Dickens' periodical Household Words.

-A state of the nation novel; serious in tone
-Set in fictional Northern city of Coketown (not in London, like Dickens' other works)
-Divided into three parts: "Sowing," "Reaping," and "Garnering"

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with Hard Times.

1. Thomas Gradgrind
-Utilitarian (satirized as such); educator/school founder; brutally practical
2. Josiah Bounderby
-Gradgrind's bombastic assistant; marries Louisa
3. Louisa "Loo" Gradgrind Bounderby
-Unemotional, distant eldest child troubled by "unmanageable thoughts"
4. Stephen Blackpool
-Indigent worker; fired, accused of crime, dies falling into pit

Hard Times may be worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list. I recommend the Enriched Classics Edition.

Bleak House (1852-3)

Bleak House (1852-3) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It was originally published as a serial.

The novel centers on the fictional legal case Jarndyce and Jarndyce, and serves as a critique of the slow, antiquated British system of chancery law. Jarndyce and Jarndyce is commonly used in allusion as an example of a long, tortuous legal dispute.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with Bleak House.

1. Ester Summerson
-Orphan; stands, possibly, to inherit money in Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
2. Caddy Jellyby
-Ester's friend and confidant

The novel has a large cast. For more detail, check out this list of characters.

I would not recommend adding Bleak House to your GRE reading list.

Nicholas Nickelby (1838-9)

Nicholas Nickelby (1838-9) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens that could appear on the GRE Literature exam. The novel was originally published as a serial. The tone is largely comic.

The following mnemonic rhyme, penned by my dear wife, was quite enough for the GRE Literature exam:

Nicholas Nickelby's father died.
His uncle Ralph did him deride.
There's not much more to his career
Except his acquaintance with Wackford Squeers.

For more detail, you can check out this character list.

I wouldn't recommend reading the book in its entirety for the GRE.

The Pickwick Papers (1837)

The Pickwick Papers (1837) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It is an episodic comic novel originally published as a serial. It follows the travels of a group of well-to-do old gentlemen through the English countryside.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with The Pickwick Papers.

1. Mr. Samuel Pickwick, protagonist and founder of the Pickwick Club.
2. Mr. Nathaniel Winkle, member
3. Mr. Augustus Snodgrass, member
4. Mr. Tracy Tupman, member
5. Alfred Jingle, troublemaker

If you have already read the other Dickens books outlined on this site, you might consider adding The Pickwick Papers to your GRE reading list. I suggest the Oxford World's Classics Edition.

Oliver Twist (1837-1839)

Oliver Twist (1837-1839) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It was originally published as a serial, and is widely considered to be the first novel in English wholly centered on a child protagonist. The work is largely concerned with the state of the working poor and child labor in England at the time.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with Oliver Twist.

Oliver Twist
-orphan; protagonist (see below)
Noah Claypole
-apprentice; bully; drives Oliver from his employment
Fagin
-Infamous Jewish criminal; Dodger's handler
Bill Sikes
-the Dodger's brute
The Artful Dodger (Jack Dawkins)
-boy criminal mastermind
Mr. Brownlow

Otherwise, read the Wikipedia plot summary and know the following main points:

-Oliver is born in a workhouse; mother dies in childbirth.
-Oliver falls in with the Artful Dodger before finding more respectable employment.
-Oliver turns out to be Mr. Brownlow's niece's son, and comes into an inheritance.
-Oliver's sheming half-brother dies in an American prison.

Oliver Twist may be worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list. I recommend the Dover Thrift Edition.

Don't be lured into watching the movie instead: the plot is quite different.

Great Expectations (1860-1861)

Great Expectations (1860-1861) is one of a number of novels by Charles Dickens likely to appear on the exam. It was originally published as a serial in two-chapter installments; the story takes place from 1812-1840.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following characters with Great Expectations.

1. Pip
-orphan, protagonist; trained blacksmith; tries to rise above station to marry Estella
2. Joe Gargery
-Pip's brother-in-law, father figure; poor but honest life, modest expectations
3. Miss Havisham
-Wealthy spinster; manipulates Pip for her spiteful plans, while Pip thinks she's his benefactor
4. Estella Havisham
-Miss Havisham's adopted daughter; represents a life of wealth and culture; ability to love ruined by Miss Havisham; warns Pip, but he doesn't believe her

If you haven't read it already, Great Expectations could be worth adding to your test prep reading list. I recommend Penguin Classics, though the Dover Thrift will do in a pinch.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), aka Dr. Johnson, was an English essayist, critic, poet, and novelist. He is probably most famous for the glowing biography written by James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, or for compiling the first modern English dictionary. He was destitute and unrecognized well into his forties, at which time he achieved a certain literary celebrity.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Samuel Johnson. In each case a summary knowledge will suffice.

1. "The Vanity of Human Wishes" (poem)
2. The Lives of the English Poets (literary biography)
3. The Rambler (journal)
-in which Johnson published essays frequently
4. Dictionary of the English Language
5. Rasselas (novel)

Johnson's work is probably not work reading in full for the GRE Literature exam.

Gulliver's Travels (1726)

Gulliver's Travels (1726) is a satiric novel by Jonathan Swift. The work is also a parody of the travel narratives popular at the time. The target of the satire is both humanity in general, and the specific social injustices of Swift's time.

Gulliver's Travels is complicated enough, and common enough on the GRE Literature exam, to merit its own entry. Read a summary and know the following key words from the novel:

1. Liliput
-A land where everyone is 6" tall
2. Brobdignag
-A land where everyone is enormously tall
3. Laputa
-A flying island
4. Struldburgs
-Unhappy immortals who wish they could die
5. Houyhnhnms
-Intelligent, clean-living, right-thinking horses
6. Yahoos
-Idiotic, dirty, violent creatures (humans)

Gulliver's Travels might be worth adding to your exam prep reading list. I recommend the Penguin Classics Edition.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was a Irish-born English satirist. His work is very likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Jonathan Swift.

1. Gulliver's Travels
-Worth knowing Liliput, Brobdignag, Laputa, Struldburgs, Houyhnhnms, and Yahoos
2. "A Modest Proposal"
-Swift ironically suggests that poor Irish infants might be sold to the rich as food.
3. A Tale of a Tub
-Religious satire: Peter (Catholicism) vs Jack (Calvinism & Dissenting Protestants) vs Martin (Luther, but also, confusingly, Anglicanism)

Gulliver's Travels might be worth adding to your exam prep reading list. I recommend the Penguin Classics Edition.

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American novelist. His Moby-Dick and Billy Budd are considered by many to be the greatest ever American fiction.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Herman Melville. In each case, a summary knowledge coupled with a familiarity with the style of writing will suffice.

1. Moby-Dick
-Characters: Ishmael, Ahab, Queequeg, Dashoo, Tashtego, Starbuck; the Pequod
2. Billy Budd
-Titular character is a handsome sailor stock-hero falsely accused of mutiny by Claggart, then convicted by court martial and hung by Captain Vere; last words are "Long live Captain Vere."
3. "Bartleby the Scrivener"
-A novelette; Bartleby increasingly refuses to do any work around the office, saying "I'd prefer not to."

While Moby-Dick may be a bit too much to tackle for test prep, Billy Budd, and there's a half-decent movie version, too.

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French novelist, essayist, and critic. He's a titan of French and world literatures, but don't get sucked in--you're studying for an English literature test.

For the GRE Literature exam, it's enough to know some general facts:

A la Rechere du Temps Perdu
(or, In Search of Lost Time; Remembrance of Things Past)
-A sprawling, largely unplotted fictionalized autobiography.
-Memories often flow from present sensory details.
-The opening discusses memories sparked by the flavor of a madeleine.

Proust doesn't show up often enough on the exam to make him worth reading for test prep, but he's a such a huge influence on so much 20th-century literature, it's worth dabbling on your own if you have time. You can start here.

Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)

Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) was a French Decadent poet and a notorious libertine.

For the GRE Literature exam, it's enough to know that:

-He was a prodigy: stopped writing poetry at 21.
-Victor Hugo famously called him "an infant Shakespeare."

His work is unlikely to appear on the exam, but a biographical question might.

Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was a Welsh essayist and minor poet. It's also notable that he knew Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley personally.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Charles Lamb.

1. Essays of Elia
-Conversational personal essays; Elia = Charles himself
2. Tales from Shakespeare
-Adaptations for children, written with his sister, Mary Lamb

John Skelton (1460?-1529)

John Skelton (1460?-1529) was one of the first major poets to write in Early Modern English.

For the GRE Literature exam, all you need to know is that he lent his name to "skeltonic" or "skeltonical" verse, which is a term for rhymed couplets of irregular meter used for comic effect.

Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864)

Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) was an English poet best known for his short love lyrics, his Latin epigrams, and his prose collection Imaginary Conversations.

For the GRE Literature exam, it is enough to associate Landor with:

1. Imaginary Conversations
-Fictional conversations among historical figures.

R. H. Dana, Jr. (1815-1882)

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882) was an American lawyer and politician. For the GRE Literature exam, all you need to know is that:

1) Ralph Waldo Emerson was his school teacher, and
2) He wrote Two Years Before the Mast
-Account of his travels around the world as a common sailor
-Highlights the suffering of poor, oppressed sailors
-Quickly became a bestseller

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English Modernist novelist and essayist. She was one of the major figures of the Modernist movement.

She was a pioneer of the modern stream-of-consciousness techniques, though in her hands the effect is less pronounced as in other modernist works, such as Joyce's Ulysses.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Virginia Woolf. In each case, if you haven't read the book already, a general knowledge of plot, character, and style will suffice.

1. Mrs. Dalloway
-1 day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, in post-WWI England
-A famous example of stream of consciousness
2. To the Lighthouse
-Follows the Ramsay family, plus Lily Briscoe, before, during, and after WWI.
3. A Room of One's Own
-Book-length essay on barriers faced by woman writers of literature.
-Hypothetical "Judith Shakespeare;" coined the term "Oxbridge"
-Examines Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and George Eliot in detail
-Tone is heavily ironic/sarcastic

There's the off chance that the GRE folks will expect you to know that Woolf, who could be more than a bit haughty, once dismissed Joyce's Ulysses as "illiterate" and "underbred."

If you're interested in reading more, I recommend starting with this annotated To the Lighthouse.

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was a British Victorian poet and humanist critic.

Besides familiarity with "Dover Beach" (his most famous poem), for the GRE Literature Exam, it's enough to know that he was a Classicist with a special fondness for the Greeks, his critical works often have moral or ethical overtones, many of his critical works deal with strongly personal themes, and he liked to bash philistines.

1. "Dover Beach"
-Often seen as an early example of modern sentiments.
-Laments the loss of (religious) faith.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a British Victorian essayist, philosopher, and political economist. He was a classical liberal and a leading proponent of utilitarianism.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with J. S. Mill. In each case, a summary knowledge of the content will suffice.

1. On Liberty
-Most famous for its concept of the tyranny of the majority.
2. The Subjection of Women
-Co-written by his wife; an early argument (1869) for the equality of the sexes.
3. Autobiography
-All you need to know is that it includes an extended account of a bout of depression ("melancholia"); the GRE folks like to trip you up with this one, since it's not typical Mill.
4. "What is Poetry"
-Link goes to a summary of the central arguments.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a British Victorian essayist and theologian. He began his career in the Anglican church and later became a Roman Catholic cardinal.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Newman. For each of the works below, a general knowledge of the content will suffice.

1. Apologia Pro Vita Sua
-Newman's explanation of his decision to convert to Catholicism.
2. The Idea of a University (link to full text--skim only)
-Outlining a Catholic approach to education and the liberal arts

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a Scottish Victorian essayist and satirist. He's most famous for calling economics "the dismal science."

Sartor Resartus is the work most likely to appear on the GRE Literature Exam.

Sartor Resartus (Latin, meaning roughly "The Tailor Re-tailored" or "The Tailor Re-clothed") is intentionally difficult to classify: it flits between satire and serious philosophy, between fact and fiction. The word was published in Boston with a preface by Emerson, where the work had a major effect on Transcendentalism.

For the exam, it's usually enough to be able to recognize the following characters and keywords as belonging to Carlyle's Sartor Resartus:

-Diogenes Teufelsdröckh (Latin, "God-born," and German, "Devil-shit")
-The Wanderer (another name for Teufelsdröckh)
-The Everlasting Yea (roughly, spiritual faith)
-The Everlasting No (roughly, spiritual doubt or cynicism)
-Weissnichtwo (Teufelsdröckh's hometown; German, "know not where")

If you want to go deeper, I recommend the Oxford World's Classics Edition.

Five-day Hiatus

The GRE Literature Study Blog will take a five-day break from new posts (from today, 3.22, until Friday, 3.27), during which time blog's keepers will be out of touch. Stay tuned for more study cards after the break!

"Ulysses" (poem)

"Ulysses" (1833, pub. 1842) is a dramatic monologue by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam.

For the test, know that Ulysses serves as a kind of epilogue to Homer's Odyssey. The poem takes place three years after Odysseus returns to Ithaca, at which point Odysseus begins to yearn for adventure again, though he doubts his strength in his old age.

You should know the following lines well:

"It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me."

"Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods."

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was an English Victorian poet and one of the most popular English poets of all time. Example of his work, often identifiable by its classical and Arthurian influences, are almost guaranteed to show up on the GRE Literature test.

For the test, associate the following works with Tennyson. For In Memoriam A.H.H, a summary and an excerpt will suffice; poems in bold should be read multiple times before the exam.

1. "Ulysses"
-An imagined epilogue to Homer's Odyssey; in blank verse
2. "Break, break, break"
3. "The Lotos-Eaters"
-Spenserian stanzas; an episode from Homer's Odyssey
4. In Memoriam A.H.H.
-The "In Memoriam" stanza: ABBA iambic tetrameter
5. "The Lady of Shalott"
-Arthurian
6. "Mariana"
7. "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
-Probably his most popular, but unlikely to appear on the exam.

"To His Coy Mistress" (1681)

"To His Coy Mistress" (1681), by Metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam.

The poem, an injunction to the speaker's mistress to forfeit her virginity in light of the couple's mortality, is often interpreted as a parody of the Cavalier style, marked as such by its metaphysical themes.

The poem is written in iambic tetrameter couplets.

Know the following by memory:

"But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity."

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet influential in the beginnings of the Romantic movement. He wrote poems in English, Scots, and Scottish dialect. Outside of Scottish and literary circles, he is best known as the author of "Auld Lang Syne."

Don't spend too much time on Burns--if you see Scottish-looking spellings, and Burns is a choice, pick him. However, it is worth at least skimming the following poems before the GRE Literature exam, and some of them are quite fun to read.

1. "A Red, Red Rose"
2. "Tam O'Shanter: A Tale"
-long; written in Scots; link goes to summary
3. "Ae Fond Kiss"
-Written in Scottish dialect
4. "Scots Wha Hae"
-Written in Scots; was an unofficial national anthem of Scotland

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1722-1834)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1722-1834) was a major British Romantic poet and a close friend of William Wordsworth. He and Wordsworth are both considered "Lake Poets."

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Coleridge. Works in bold should be read twice. For the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the Biographia Literaria, a summary will suffice.

1. "Frost at Midnight"
2. "On Donne's Poetry"
3. "Kubla Khan"
4. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
-In ballad stanzas.
5. Biographia Literaria

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1884-1889)

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1884-1889) was a British Victorian poet. He converted to Catholicism and became a Jesuit priest. He has been more popular in the 20th century than he was in the 19th.

He's known for formal experimentation, especially with prosody. His sprung rhythm gives his works a very unique sound.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Gerard Manley Hopkins. Poems in bold should be read multiple times before the exam.

1. "Carrion Comfort"
2. "The Windhover, to Christ our Lord"
3. "Pied Beauty"
4. "Spring & Fall"
5. "Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend"

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was a modern American poet. The GRE folks will occasionally expect you to know that, like contemporary Wallace Stevens, he wasn't a professional poet--Williams was a pediatrician.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with William Carlos Williams. Read each poem at least once; poems in bold should be read multiple times before the exam.

1. "Spring and all"
2. "Aspodel, that greeny flower" (excerpt)
3. "Tract"
4. "The Red Wheelbarrow"
5. "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) was a major American modernist poet. The GRE folks will expect you to know that he worked for an insurance company in Hartford--he wasn't a professional poet.

*Wallace Stevens is almost guaranteed to appear on the exam.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Wallace Stevens. Each poem should be read at least once; poems in bold should be read multiple times before the exam.

1. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
2. "The Anecdote of the Jar"
3. "The Emperor of Ice Cream"
4. "The Snow Man"

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner. His work usually features colloquial language and depictions of rural life in early 20th century New England coupled with complex social or philosophical themes.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Robert Frost. Read each poem at least once; poems in bold should be read multiple times before the exam.

1. "Mending Wall"
2. "Design"
3. "Meeting and Passing"
4. "Mowing"
5. "Spring Pools"
6. "Once by the Pacific" (sonnet in 7 couplets)

("Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Road Not Taken" are usually considered too well-known for inclusion on the GRE Literature exam.)

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) was an American poet and two-time Pulitzer prize winner--once for his poetry and once for a biography of Lincoln.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following poems with Carl Sandburg. Read each poem at least once before the test.

1. "Chicago"
-epithet: "hog butcher for the world"
-looks more like a Ginsburg poem than a typical Frost poem
2. "Fog"

Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Robert Lowell (1917-1977) was a major postwar American poet and the founder of the confessionalist school. He taught Anne Sexton & Sylvia Plath; he was friends with, but often criticized by, Elizabeth Bishop.

Robert Lowell is slightly more likely than other late-20th-century American poets to appear on the GRE Literature exam. Read the poems below at least once; poems in bold should be read at least twice.

1. "The Drunken Fisherman"
2. "Skunk Hour (for Elizabeth Bishop)"
3. "Mr. Edwards and the Spider"
-A reference to the colonial American preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards.

John Milton (1608-1674)

John Milton (1608-1674) was a major English poet and writer of the Commonwealth period. He is guaranteed to show up on the GRE Literature exam.

His two most important works are also his longest & most famous:

1. Paradise Lost
-Distinctive style: Latinate, syntactically-complex, heavily-enjambed blank verse
2. Areopagitica (treatise against censorship)

If you're doing any heavy reading to prepare for the GRE, and you haven't read them before, these should be on your list. You can get both in one volume if you buy the Norton Critical Edition.

Otherwise, you can rely on summaries and a sense of the styles of the works.

One or two of the following works may also appear on the exam. The poems listed in bold are particularly likely to show up. Read the short works at least once. For the long ones, simply read the summaries.

1. "On Shakespeare"
2. "When I Consider How My Life Is Spent"
-On Milton's blindness
3. "How Soon Hath Time"
4. "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont" (sonnet)
5. Comus
-An early masque; young girl seduced by supernatural being
6. Of Education
-A treatise in support of the liberal arts
7. Samson Agonistes
-Play; Hebrew Samson, after betrayal by Delilah
8. Lycidas (long--read excerpts)
-Most famous example of the pastoral elegy; to colleague Edward King
9. Paradise Regained
-The sequel to Paradise Lost; temptation of Christ; not terribly important

"My Last Duchess"

"My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue in 28 heroic couplets by the Victorian poet Robert Browning (1812-1889). Browning was particularly renowned for dramatic verse.

In the poem, the speaker, an Italian duke, describes a portrait of his last wife, whom he may or may not have had murdered. His audience is there to negotiate a new marriage for the duke. (Wikipedia summary here.)

This poem is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature test--read it multiple times. Know the famous lines below by heart:

-"She had a heart--how shall I say?--too soon made glad"
-"I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together"

Thomas Carew (1595-1640)

Thomas Carew (1595-1640) was an English Cavalier poet, whose works were usually typically sexual.

However, his one work likely to appear on the GRE Literature exam is an exception:

"An Elegy upon the Death of the Dean of St. Paul's, Dr. John Donne"

Because the GRE is in love with poems about other poets, read this one at least twice.

Post-1945 American Poetry

In general, the GRE Literature test does not weight post-1945 literature heavily. The poets below are most likely to appear in a process-of-elimination ID section. It's enough to recognize the names and read the listed poems at least once. (Poems in bold should be read multiple times.)

1. Sylvia Plath
-"Daddy"
-"The Mirror"
2. John Berryman
3. Amiri Baraka
-"Poem for Half-White College Student"
4. Anne Sexton
-"The Truth the Dead Know"
5. Elizabeth Bishop
-"One Art"
6. Robert Lowell (link to GRE Lit Blog post)
7. Gwendolyn Brooks
-"The Mother"
-"Gay Chaps at the Bar"
-"We Real Cool"