<p>i've come to realize that it is nearly impossible and perhaps unwise to go directly from undergraduate to graduate school for English literature. however, I was wondering if anyone has any advice regarding how to prepare sufficiently for the English subject GRE (since I've been told my undergraduate English program, though strong, does not provide survey courses and thus doesn't adequately cover the entire English cannon) during the time off. also, what kind of jobs are meaningful and accessible to college grads with a BA in English who are planning on working towards PhDs?</p>
<p>when I took it hundreds of years ago, it was mostly based on the Norton Anthology -- get the newest edition...
Any job that involves writing skills would be appropriate -- how about working in a law firm as a legal assistant?</p>
<p>I have a slew of links I could give to you, but a simple Google search will probably do the same thing. Try searching for Vade Mecum, Hapax Legomena, Reed Lit GRE, "Recommended Reading List for the GRE Subject Test in Literature," Googobit's How to Master the Lit GRE, Number2 and Wren Lanier's GRE Literature Study Guide. Vade Mecum is the most popular reference, but most of those links will give you a glimpse of the bigger picture of what material the test covers.</p>
<p>Jobs for BAs in English? Anything requiring a BA and writing skill. Honestly, unless you're looking at going into literature-related fields (publishing or writing), you're going to have to use the "liberal arts school" approach to job hunting. That is, be proactive, sell your skills (not your degree), and cast a wide net according to your interests.</p>
<p>many thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>undecided: would teach for america be a bad choice? i realize it's a two-year program but i think it's noble, at least in principle.</p>
<p>also, i presume you are at berkeley for your PhD? my advisor recommended either berkeley or cornell for me. what have your experiences been like thus far?</p>
<p>have you thought about applying for fellowships (Marshall, Fulbright, etc.)?</p>
<p>I think the most helpful thing that I did to prepare for the Lit exam was to teach and to tutor, either part- or full-time, for five years between undergrad and grad. As a medievalist, I don't think I would have known much of anything about Anthony Trollope or Harriet Jacobs, for instance, except that I had been helping teenagers on their English homework for years. (I ended up with a 760 on ETS' previously administered practice tests; still waiting for the real score, but I think it was in the same range, maybe slightly better if I'm seriously lucky.)</p>
<p>I think Teach for America is a fantastic program, and you should consider it seriously if it appeals to you. You could also consider applying for jobs teaching English at private high schools: at many private high schools, you don't need a teaching certificate, just a degree in the subject you're planning to teach. In general, I think you should do whatever you'd enjoy most, but if you feel like you're a teacher at heart, you'd have a number of opportunities in that general direction. </p>
<p>For prep, I second everything that undecided said: those links are super-helpful. A small number of other miscellaneous points: </p>
<p>a) to prepare for the poetry, I used the audio companion to the Norton Anthology of Poetry called 81 Famous Poems. The readings are not great, but the selections are really canonical, and I thought that the 2 CDs really helped me in recognizing works and authors on the test. It was also helpful because it allowed me to "study" while I was walking around doing errands or whatever. I know there's another good collection of 100 major poems released by the BBC (supposedly better readings) available on iTunes, which would probably work just as well. I thought that it was much more helpful to know 80-100 major poems really well than it would have been to read several huge anthologies.
b) the Princeton Review book is quite helpful if you use it in conjunction with the other resources listed above: they have some good summaries and some great tips about the theory questions, for instance.
c) Names are really, really important: names of characters, names of authors. You really have to know the names of major theorists, too, I think, rather than just the names of movements (like structuralism or whatever). </p>
<p>Whether you decide to teach professionally or not, I'd try to do some tutoring on the weekends, either for free or for paying students: you will probably find that they bring you a far greater range of literature than you would otherwise encounter.</p>
<p>Finally, don't stress too much about the test: as long as you end up with a respectable score, it's almost certainly not going to make or break your application. (Frankly, I wish it were a lot more important than it is :) , but it's really not a huge part of the application at most places.) Get to know the names of characters in major novels, familiarize yourself with the major poems listed above, get to know something about all the works on the list at hapax legomena, and take a couple practice exams, and you will really be fine.</p>