Reddit reviews The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Penguin Dictionary)

How many months do you have? I took it a few years back and read as much as I could for six months solid. I didn't have a job for most of those months, so I got a LOT of reading done. I didn't do poorly, and from what I've heard I even did well for a first timer, but my score didn't blow anybody away. That said, tips:

• Get that stupid awful Kaplan practice book. It's the thinnest one on the shelf, and that's not a good thing. Basically the entire book just says "we can't help you study for this, you just have to read everything you can." However, it does have some great tips about how to read and has some practice exams that are actually really helpful.
  
• Norton Anthologies are your best friends. Read as much of as many of them as you can. Start with the general English Literature, then America, and then whatever your weaknesses are.
  
• Make flash cards. For instance, you will be given a passage from a poem written in the early 1600s and, unless that's your bag, you'll say "well fuck, is that John Donne or Ben Jonson? What the fuck are the differences between these guys anyway?" Flash cards with any kind of identifying traits, biographical notes, big poems/titles, and anything else you think might even remotely have a chance of showing up will really really help in the end. And for that matter:
  
• Google. A bunch of people have taken this test and subsequently pulled their hair out, and then written about what they could have done differently. They have a lot of great tips about what to focus on and what you can let slide a little more.
  
• The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms & Literary Theory
  
• Don't get specific. The people writing and grading the test know that they're asking an impossible task. They know how broad the field is, and how limited the time was we had to study it. They'll generally stick to big names and big works, but there will be a few more obscure things to throw you off. Don't get bogged down in those! It's not worth getting high marks with a rifle when you could be blasting away with a shotgun. For example: picking up the Norton Anthology of African American Literature was really helpful to me, but reading all of One Hundred Years of Solitude was not. I spent a lot of time on that one work when I could have been reading the Nortons and making flashcards of a whole bunch of other things.
  
• By the same token, don't worry too much about anything modern. Again, they know how broad the field is, and they know that the only things they can trust everyone was required to read are the older, bigger works. And by bigger I mean more famous, not longer. The Fairie Queene doesn't take up too much space. They'll probably ask about a few contemporary poets (maybe Nikki Giovanni and Toni Morrison) just for laffs, but there honestly shouldn't be too much of that.
  
• Get a handle on the major movements. Know what magical realism is. Know what mystery plays are. Know the differences between the different kinds of sonnets. Know how to identify more obscure forms of poetry.
  
• Cliff Notes. Hate to say it, but they help. Pick up a copy of the real deal at a library, read enough to get a handle on the style, finish up with the Cliff Notes to get the plot.
  
• Don't drink coffee on the morning of. It's a three hour test and if you leave the room you forfeit your score. You'll regret the coffee no matter what you do.