English Lit! Sounds like fun, right? Right?! The English Literature CLEP is actually a pretty straightforward exam—especially if you’ve already taken the American Literature CLEP or the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP. As you’ll see in the breakdown below, nearly half of this exam focuses on the same skills you used in Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. You’ll be identifying the meaning of passages, figuring out the author’s intended tone or mood, and recognizing literary styles. The catch? You’ll be doing all of that with works that go all the way back to Beowulf. The other major portion of the exam requires you to identify authors and their works. Compared to the American Literature CLEP, this one goes into more depth. You’ll need to be familiar with a handful of key authors. I thought I knew Shakespeare pretty well, but I could’ve definitely used more study time there. The same goes for major English poets. You’ll often be shown a passage or a few lines of poetry and asked to identify the author. Fortunately, even if you don’t recognize the exact line, sometimes the subject matter will give you enough of a clue to make an educated guess. If you breezed through the American Literature and Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEPs, then with a little focused review, you should be in great shape for this one. If you haven’t taken those yet, and your degree plan allows it, I’d recommend starting there before diving into English Lit.