I like to try to relate to the stuff I'm studying, it helps to remember something by having it relate to your own personal experience. Also, take a ton of notes because your going to need them. I like to try and remember the words and their meaning by sounding them out or creating some type of thought related to them. I remember the difference between the protagonist and the antagonist because I pair the word antagonist to antagonize. So I know the antagonist antagonizes the protagonist. I hope this helps, these are just some of my tactics to remembering English. If your trying to remember novel content or authors, try to buy one of their books and keep it on hand. Once you reread something a few times, you should understand it. :)