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"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.