MA Comprehensive Exam Reading/Study Guide

I’m currently working towards a MA in English Literature at a major US state university, focusing on the literature of the medieval period, notably Chaucer, the Pearl Poet, and the generally anonymous cycle of Northeast Midlands poems centered on Sir Gawain. For an overview of an undergraduate website I produced during an independent study, see my website.

The following reading list is broken down into 5 major periods: Medieval, Early Modern, Eighteenth century, Nineteenth century, and Twentieth century.

The list is comprised of 102 works of literature, ranging from short poems (like Jonson’s To Penshurst) to enormously long works (like Sterne’s Tristram Shandy).

The formal list breaks down as follows:

Time Period	Percentage of List
Medieval	14%
Early Modern	25%
Eighteenth Century	10%
Nineteenth Century	21%
Twentieth Century	30%

This institution is probably more geared toward modern literature than medieval.

If you’re reading this site, most likely you’ve either taken or are preparing for the GRE subject test in Literature, and some of the information presented here will likely duplicate notes presented on UCLA’s GRE Literature Test Preparation (though parts of it are lifted—notably the notes on Dr. Faustus, originally presented on Arnold Sanders’ website).

See the MA Exam List and Notes