Familiarize yourself with major and some minor writers. The CLEP is designed to cover the equivalent of a full year-long English literature survey course. Therefore, a familiarity with major authors from all periods post-Beowulf will be vital to succeeding on the exam. Look at syllabi for these kinds of survey courses, many of which can be found online, and become comfortable with writers from Austen to Ishiguro, Shakespeare to Phillip Roth. Minor writers can also be tested; focus particularly on authors who may have been overlooked in the "canon" due to race or gender.
Review literary terms. Knowledge of such terms, and particularly poetic terms, will be vital on the CLEP English Literature test. Use a reference guide (AP English textbooks often work well for this purpose) to study common literary terms such as metonymy and metaphor, as well as literary and poetic forms, including sonnets, ballads and other forms.
Develop your analytic skills. The CLEP will require you to analyze passages of writers' works, commenting on things such as symbolism and style. The best way to develop these skills is to take a short passage from a work and to identify the major literary terms that are used, symbols used in the passage or poem (and what the significance of these symbols is), and the major themes of the work. Finally, situate the passage or the larger work in its historical context, thinking about other authors and works from this era that inform or contrast with the work.
Take a practice test. Before taking the exam, you need to be familiar with the test and its techniques. You will have 95 questions to answer in 90 minutes; therefore, speed will be essential. You can take practice problems by reviewing free problems on the College Board website. However, for a more authentic test-day experience, order the paid practice tests from the College Board; take at least one before you take the real test to make sure you are familiar with the format, so you don't waste time being confused by the test when you take it for a score.