<p>I am in the AP English Literature class but my teacher is horrible. This is the first time that he has taught this class. We had a really good teacher that retired that used to teach the class and that is the reason that I signed up for it, but now that I am in this class I feel like I have not learned anything about the test. So I bought some review books (Cliffs, 5 steps to a 5, and REA). I plan on starting to study like a month or two before the test (In theory, at least. I have four other tests that I also need to study for). We finally started looking at the multiple choice section of the test and all of us did bad on the questions (I think the best score I got was 21 out of 30, but that was kinda lucky guessing.) Do you guys have any studying tips for me. I noticed that there was a lot of vocab used in the multiple choice that I should familiarize myself with. Anybody out there that got a 4 or 5 on the test that can tell me there strategy?</p>
<p>Yeah, even at my school, the AP Lit class is just an endless black hole of pointless reading and busy work, sucking in every soul and body that touches it.</p>
<p>Somebody has to have some information.</p>
<p>READ!!!</p>
<p>You need to be able to read hard prose and poetry, FAST!</p>
<p>I highly recommend reading everything Dickens, Austen, and Hardy. If you can comprehend these authors, then you should have no problem unless Faulkner is on the test (he usually ISN'T).</p>
<p>If you're a good reader, you'll get a 5, because you'll understand what the passages are talking about. This isn't biology, much less calculus. This is english. READ!</p>
<p>I can't stress that enough, REEEEEEEEEEAAAAAADDDDDD!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Somebody who took the test a couple of years back told one of my friends that she should read all the cliffnotes. Well, not all of the cliffnotes, but the ones that are novels by the authors usually used on the test. Do you think this is good advice. It makes sense to me. I think that it would be good to familiarize myself with their style of writing and common symbols/ metaphors those authors use without having to read their whole novels. For some reason I have never been able to get into any of the books we use in my English class. Even if they seem interesting my brain just doesn't want to let me read them and I end up reading the sparknotes version anyway. It seems to have worked so far. I got A's in all my English classes (except first semester Honors English when I actually read the book assigned... or maybe I didn't read it. I can't remember. I think we read Great Expectations. The most boring book ever). So in response to the last post, I don't think that I can read another Dickens' book because they are too long and boring, and I end up falling asleep when I try to read it. I haven't read any Austen or Hardy. Do you have any suggestions. I might as well read one of their books because my class has a semester long project over a novel of our choice. I decided to read The Stranger by Camus. I don't know if that is even usable on the test since it was originally French. My teacher says it is, but he doesn't really know anything.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but while you could definetly apply The Stranger to question #3 on the free-response section (it's open ended), you should also try to work with English literature. Yes, I know it's boring. I fall asleep too, but it's the only way. I'm sorry, but Dickens is a must, as is Austen. You reaaaaaaaaally should think about taking some time out of your day (30 minutes or so) and get through a couple of chapters of Pride and Prejudice and other similar books. Trust me, you won't regret it in the summer when you get that 4/5....</p>
<p>About Cliffnotes, I wouldn't suggest it. The MC section will test your ability to read (what a concept) and the free-response will test your ability to write about what you read. But that doesn't mean you have to connect your response to a literary genre/time period/author, you simply need to be able to understand what how and why the passage is saying what it's saying. All of that can be determined from evidence in the passage, not Cliffnotes.</p>
<p>I do recommend Cliffs for essays in class, though.</p>