Although my incorrect to correct question ratio was quite bleak for Charles Dickens's Bleak House, I was able to discern certain strengths that I had throughout the passage. These strengths were consistent in Richard Wilbur's The Writer, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and George Herbert's The Pulley. In all of the passages, I could easily pick out symbols, themes and tones. Thus, I was able to "get the gist" of each passage. However, I cannot grasp the passage completely. Most of my issues lie in my inability to identify inferences, organizational structures, and allusions. Also, I missed nearly all of the questions that required any vocabulary of literary devices because I simply lack the knowledge of what trochaic trimeters, iambic trimeters, dactylic trimeters are (I actually got that question right, but we all know that it was a fluke). In order to improve, I plan to practice, practice, practice!
To practice successfully (because practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent), I have assigned myself three goals to help guide me to success.
1. I solemnly swear that I shall look for the complexity in a passage. I often read the passage (sometimes, skim), and get the general idea, but I don't look for the "in-depth" details or care to analyze them. Because of my lazy reading habits, I miss questions that ask for inferences and analysis. I shall now start actively marking my passages to point out possible hidden meanings or inferences. Each week, I'll pick a short excerpt of literature from my AP Literature textbook or from online and attempt to take a more scholarly, in-depth view of it. From now on, every time I read something, be it an AP Lit assignment or a fashion editorial, I shall look for the complexity!
2. Every two days, Google supplies short articles or poems. From here on out, I shall try to look for ones that are more difficult to understand (mirroring the writing style of Shakespeare or Charles Dickens), in order to challenge myself. One thing that I struggled with while taking the practice test was time management. I often found myself continuously rereading sections because I lacked basic comprehension (Dickens's Bleak House). I will time myself reading these articles/poems and then try to find the purpose, symbols, and rhetoric devices used. This way, I can train myself to read passages effectively.
3. I want to rigorously pay attention in class (take detailed notes), review class material, and to "fully" complete my homework. Although these items may sound like rudimentary and obvious things that every good student should already be doing, this is an actual goal that I would like to maintain. I am taking a lot (probably too many) AP classes and extracurricular activities this year, and as things become chaotic, I tend to skimp on the quality of my learning in classes. This year, I have created an "understanding checklist" for myself (nerdy, I know).
- What is the subject?
- Do you understand the subject?
- Can you teach the subject to someone else effectively?
- If this was for a huge project grade, would you receive 100%?
I will apply this checklist to all of the things that I learn and my homework assignments, to ensure that I complete tasks at the quality this class deserves (which is Chanel-level high-quality, of course).
This was only my first AP style English test, and hopefully it will be the worst one. In the future, I hope to proudly say that I did equally well on all passages.
Personally, your three goals impress me. Not only do they impress me, but I also feel that they are goals for me that I hope to obtain and reach this year. Senior year is going to be a crazy year, and it's easy to get caught up in college applications and countless AP courses, but spending even just a half hour with some unknown or unfamiliar literature could really stretch our limits. I love your idea of looking for Google articles every day, and I think it's a not only challenging, but a fun way to study and prepare for the passages on the test. Personally, I struggled with the vocabulary in the passages, not so much the complexity. Sometimes, I get too engaged in what I'm reading, and I analyze the story or passage TOO much, and then I feel extremely rushed on the questions. I'll be spending more time reviewing and learning new vocabulary so that I can better understand what is going on in the passage. This was my fist time taking an AP style English test as well, and I can definitely assure you it was a struggle for me. With your checklist and your three goals, this AP test will be a breeze for you come AP test week. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRuby, I can very much relate to your post. I am in the same situation where I was quite disappointed with my score, but saw several areas of improvement that I could focus on throughout the class. It also made me feel comfortable that someone else had the similar idea to reference other notable pieces of literature in order to get a better handle on the task of literary analysis. I very much liked your checklist idea, as it provides an easy way to truly measure the extent of one's literary comprehension, and you can bet that I will be using that strategy to assess my own comprehension of material in this class from now on. In addition, the fact that you have such a clear voice in your writing makes it easy for me, as a reader, to establish my connection with you and thus relate to your grievances, as well as suggestions for future success. I was especially impacted by your clarification that practice itself does not in fact make perfect and that it is how well one practices that ultimately defines their future success. Through this realization, I hope we can both utilize the great many materials we have at our disposal to achieve our respective goals and ultimately be successful on the AP exam. Good luck, and great post!
ReplyDeleteRuby, I'm in the same boat as you are. I too struggle with identifying inferences, organizational structures, and allusions. Also, I lack the knowledge of the technical terminology that is required to succeed in this class. But I think your three goals are very well thought out, and will help you achieve the results you desire. I can definitely relate to the overload of AP coursework ( I've probably taken more AP classes than I should have) but I still want to learn and take away valuable skills from this class. I think your checklist is wonderful, because it makes sure that you are fully analyzing and comprehending the passage and material at hand, not just doing enough to get by. I love how you want to maintain a certain quality of learning, and a certain standard of work, because it shows how much you value education and I feel the same way. But, I'm curious to see how these standards hold up when the senioritis sets in. I know that we can both produce the Chanel-level quality this class deserves, and ultimately be successful on the AP exam. Best of luck this year!
ReplyDelete"Wow, this sounds exactly like me!" That's what I was thinking while I read your post. I identified similar issues in my own test results (a lack of knowledge on literary devices really hurt my score, as did my inability to draw good inferences.) I really like your idea of searching for the complexity in works that merit a more in-depth analysis; I think doing this on a regular basis will really help your inferential skills on later tests. I’ll definitely incorporate it into my own AP Lit survival strategies. Timing was an issue for me, too – I personally skim-read a passage and find myself having to go back and reread multiple times. I was thinking about trying to slow down the first time I read something and really soak up all of the information, but after Ms. Wilson recommended that skimming the passage, skimming the questions, and then going back to the text was a good test strategy, I guess I will just have to work on reading more efficiently. As for taking notes and paying attention in class, I totally agree that it’s an easy concept in theory, but it becomes a foreign idea when you’re surviving on 3 hours of sleep and a diet of different kinds of M&Ms. Your learning checklist seems like a fabulous idea to keep yourself on top of your grades not just in Lit but in all of your AP and honors classes. (Who doesn’t love juggling 7 of them?)
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best as you continue in your AP Literature endeavors. I’m sure that, with advice as Chanel-quality as yours, you will be a fabulous student and your test performance will only get better and better!
I applaud your ability to set effective goals, and I think that reading more challenging text to get that extra exposure to sophisticated syntax will benefit me as well. I share many of the same areas that you struggled with regarding inferential questions, organizational structures, allusions, and identifying meters. These issues can be resolved with reviewing class material and "fully" completing the homework (as you suggested), but also feel that your checklist is something that I lack. Implementing a similar checklist into my study habits would allow me to organize my thoughts better. Personally, I think that you were a little too hard on yourself, missing 10 out of 51 multiple choice questions may be a little disappointing but certainly not depressing. We all have qualms, but I think that a little boost of confidence would benefit us all. I found your reflection extremely insightful and I was able to take a lot from it!
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