- Each edition of the test consists of approximately 230
questions on poetry, drama, biography, the essay, the short
story, the novel, criticism, literary theory, and the history of
the language.
- Some questions are based on short works reprinted in their
entirety, some on excerpts from longer works.
- The test draws on literature in English from the British
Isles, the United States, and other parts of the world. It also
contains a few questions on major works, including the Bible,
translated from other languages.
- The test emphasizes authors, works, genres, and movements.
The questions may be somewhat arbitrarily classified into two
groups: factual and critical.
- The factual questions may require a student to identify
characteristics of literary or critical movements, to assign a
literary work to the period in which it was written, to identify
a writer or work described in a brief critical comment, or to
determine the period or author of a work on the basis of the
style and content of a short excerpt.
- The critical questions test the ability to read a literary
text perceptively. Students are asked to examine a given passage
of prose or poetry and to answer questions about meaning, form
and structure, literary techniques, and various aspects of
language.
The approximate distribution of questions according to content
categories is indicated by the following outline.
- Literary Analysis: 40-55%
Questions that call on an ability to interpret given passages of
prose and poetry. Such questions may involve recognition of
conventions and genres, allusions and references, meaning and
tone, grammatical structures and rhetorical strategies, and
literary techniques.
- Identification: 15-20%
Recognition of date, author, or work by style and/or content
(for literary theory identifications see IV below).
- Cultural and Historical Contexts: 20-25%
Questions on literary, cultural, and intellectual history, as
well as identification of author or work through a critical
statement or biographical information. Also identification of
details of character, plot, or setting of a work.
- History and Theory of Literary Criticism: 10-15%
Identification and analysis of the characteristics and methods
of various critical and theoretical approaches.
The literary-historical scope of the test follows the
distribution below.
| 1. Continental, Classical, and Comparative Literature
through 1925 |
5-10% |
| 2. British Literature to 1660 (including Milton) |
25-30% |
| 3. British Literature 1660-1925 |
25-35% |
| 4. American Literature through 1925 |
15-25% |
| 5. American, British, and World Literatures after 1925 |
20-30% |
Because examinees tend to remember most vividly questions that
proved troublesome, they may feel that the test has included or
emphasized those areas in which they are least prepared. Students
taking the GREŽ Literature in English Test should remember that in
a test of this many questions, much of the material presents no
undue difficulty. The very length and scope of the examination
eventually work to the benefit of students and give them an
opportunity to demonstrate what they do know. No one is expected
to answer all the questions correctly; in fact, it is possible to
achieve the maximum score without answering all the questions
correctly.
The committee that develops the test is aware of the
limitations of the multiple-choice format, particularly for
testing competence in literary study. An examination of this kind
provides no opportunity for the student to formulate a critical
response or support a generalization, and, inevitably, it
sacrifices depth to range of coverage. However, in a national
testing program designed for a wide variety of students with
differing preparations, the use of a large number of short,
multiple-choice questions has proved to be the most effective and
reliable way of providing a fair and valid examination.
The committee considers the test an instrument by which to
offer supplementary information about students. In no way is the
examination intended to minimize the importance of the students'
college records or the recommendations of the faculty members who
have had the opportunity to work closely with the students. The
committee assumes that those qualities and skills not measured by
a national multiple-choice test are reflected in a student's
academic record and recommendations. However, the test may help to
place students in a national perspective or add another dimension
to their profiles.
A test intended to meet the needs of a particular department
should be constructed specifically to measure the knowledge and
skills the department considers important. A standardized test,
such as the GRE Literature in English Test, allows comparisons of
students from different institutions with different programs on
one measure of competence in literature. Ideally, a department
should not only investigate the relationships between the success
of students in advanced study and several measures of competence,
but also conduct a systematic evaluation of the test's predictive
effectiveness after accumulating sufficient records of the
graduate work of its students.
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