<p>So, with the exam tomorrow.. what novels have you guys reviewed? </p>
<p>The novels I have looked over:</p>
<p>Heart of Darkness
Wuthering Heights
Invisible Man
Jane Eyre
The Great Gatsby</p>
<p>I hope atleast one of these novels will appear on the open-ended free response question tomorrow.</p>
<p>It says on the prompt that you do not need to discuss a book from the list provided. Am I crazy? Delusional? Hallucinating?</p>
<p>Why are people fretting over this? Pick a pair of decent books that cover universal themes and write . . .</p>
<p>Excuse me? I am not fretting over anything. I simply have decided to review the novels I have particularly enjoyed and are found common on the exam. You cannot simply go into the test with such spontaneity and write whatever comes to mind, however random; it helps to draw specifics; therefore, a last minute refresher should not be criticized. Sure, you do not need to necessarily discuss a book from the recommended list, but you are not to just pick a "decent book." It has to have literary prestige and merit. Whether your strategy in drawing universal themes from arbitrarily decent books would constitute a score of nine (or in the high range) remains in question. In my opinion, it helps to have some idea of specifics from novels you have read when you go into the test. Also, not every open-ended free response question will require abstractions pertaining to universal concepts, so keep this in mind. Again, despite my curiosity in what other test-takers were reviewing, you feel that I am somehow overly concerned: I apologize for wanting a slight degree of advanced preparation.</p>
<p>Whoa, there! I was not being provocative!
[quote]
I apologize for wanting a slight degree of advanced preparation
[/quote]
I was not objecting to your preparation. This whole forum can agree that studying boosts test scores. I was only reflecting on the general mood of the posts on this board. Nearly everyone is agitated and overanalytical. You were never personally targeted.</p>
<p>I realize that "decent" is a bit ambiguous. . . Pulp 50s-era science fiction might not do it. Gatsby, 1984, Jane, etc. Those are "decent". They are appropriate books to cite on a literature exam. What gets to me, though, is when people calculate the likelihood that a certain book will be listed as an example. I dislike the notion that a test can be taught to, however true it is. I'm relieved to know that you chose to review those books because you enjoy reading them, not only the graders.</p>
<p>High-stakes testing is a corrupt business. Some people, like yourself, try to make the most of it despite this. Scores aren't my problem with the College Board. The system itself is what upsets me.</p>
<p>lol, i am guessing you two guys are practicing your writing?</p>
<p>Yeah, it's not that big of a deal.. Calm down, guys.</p>
<p>The fact is, to write a good essay, you have to know back and forth a pertinent book. Choosing recurring works just narrows this down, as these book, the readers feel, have the most discussable themes. However, I do agree we should pick books we love.</p>
<p>Anyway, I think I'm going with:
Crime and Punishment
Of Mice and Men
A Doll's House
Hedda Gabler
And maybe I'll throw in A Tale of Two Cities as well.</p>
<p>I have a huge list, can someone help me narrow this down?</p>
<p>Antigone, Crime and Punishment, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Pride and Prejudice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, A Tale of Two Cities, Heart of Darkness, The Scarlet Letter, and Waiting for Godot.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>crime and punishment has been one of the suggested books to write about nearly every year... personally, i'm not reviewing it, but it's definitely good essay fodder.</p>
<p>my picks:
portrait of the artist as a young man
metamorphosis
gatsby</p>
<p>Just food for thought. A kid a my school made up a novel on the spot for the last question and got a 5. Maybe his MC score and other 2 essays were high, but it just shows that its really not important what books you pick. I didn't prepare any books last year and I got a 5, you don't need to draw specific references, its more important that you have an unique writing style and that you can show your personality through it. Put yourself in the graders seat, do you want to read about Crime and Punishment 40 times in a day, how will you distinguish between them if everyone is picking out the same examples. You can't give all of them high scores because the exam needs to follow a curve. Instead a grader is more likely to give an essay on an obscure book that is just as well written because it sticks out. Now this obscure book isn't bad, its just that AP classes don't often read them. I wrote about one of Dickens' less read works, I would suggest you do the same about Austen or Conrad etc.</p>
<p><em>Edit</em>
Also think about how familiar these teachers are with books, they have a certain conception of the correct themes in certain books. There are obviously no perfectly correct interpretations of books, how else would people get thier Phd's on Dickens if they all wrote about the same interpretation. Scholars will always argue over meanings, however some teachers have a set one in their mind, and if you disagree its likely your score will go down. This is another advantage of picking a book they won't be as familiar with, maybe they read it once but they won't have a concrete mindset when they read your essay.</p>
<p>Beautiful information above tbry23m. That's why I plan to either write the open ended essay on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Beloved (depending on the topic). If it asks about comedy, I'll use Waiting for Godot. Those novels/play are pretty known, but not overused like Great Gatsby and Crime and Punishment. </p>
<p>Now for the MC - that's another whole story...</p>
<p>oh gosh, the c-word.</p>
<p>going over the old open-ended prompts, i only saw one about comedies (luckily). not quite sure what i'd do if one were to pop up tomorrow. suddenly kafka will become a comedian, at least for my essay (bless you, metamorphosis!)</p>
<p>i'd have to say my big fears are having to write about a play (they had one specific to plays a while back... hopefully a one-time thing) or comedy. not my fortes.</p>
<p>Gah. I know I'm at a comfortable 4, just off MC alone. Well, I hope. But...gah. Man. Idk... This test is gonna suck. I haven't done much at all. My writing isn't as good as it used to be either...</p>
<p>Wait a minute... I seriously was not at all worried about this test until I read this post. I'm just going to review a few books and that's it. Is there anything else I need to be doing? I took a few mult. choice practice tests in class and did quite well...</p>
<p>how well? i took the first practice test in PR and got a 23 raw...</p>
<p>does anyone know the general range for score breakdown??</p>
<p>I used the 5 steps to a 5 review book and think I got 5 out of 47 wrong. That's not too bad, right?</p>
<p>Well, I think I know Crime and Punishment inside out. No matter how common it is, I will still use Crime and Punishment probably because I will be able to actually TALK about it.</p>
<p>you can probably pull of a 3 or 4 in the open ended (out of 9) just with plot summary... just be sure to talk about how the author used specific techniques (diction, tone, detail, syntax, etc) to further develop the theme or "central idea" of the work. they love those words.</p>
<p>wait what? I ddidn't know you were supposed to read books ahead of time. I thought it was like MCs.</p>
<p>What about shakespeare? I've read most of them and their seems to be one to fit any topic.</p>
<p>What kind of score would I get if I got 20ish MC's and averaged 5-6 on essays? I'm shooting for a 4, but I think the best I can do is a 3. :(</p>
<p>Shakespeare definitely works too. I think I'm gonna use Hamlet if applicable.</p>