GRE Literature in English Test


The GRE Literature in English Test is a standardized test administered by the Educational Testing Service. It is intended to evaluate applicants seeking admission to a graduate program in English Studies. The test surveys a wide range of topics related to literature in English, but the focus is on works long
accepted as part of the canon.
Scores are scaled and then reported as a number between 200 and 800; however, in recent versions of the test, the maximum and minimum reported scores have been 760 and 320 respectively. The mean score for all test takers from July, 2009, to July, 2012, was 549 with a standard deviation of 99.

Content specification

The test contains 230 questions, grouped in four broad categories. Since many students who apply to graduate programs in English do so during the first half of their fourth year, the scope of most questions is largely that of the first three years of a standard American undergraduate English curriculum. A sampling of test item content is given below:

Literary analysis (40-55%)

This section tests the ability of examinees to perform recognition of date, author or work by style and/or content. The literary-historical scope of the test is as follows:
Identification and analysis of the characteristics and methods of various critical and theoretical approaches.