<p>Hey everyone. Thanks for giving me a chance and taking the time to read this! Well, I'll get to the point:</p>
<p>I am currently a senior and have a pretty demanding schedule this year but it is doable (A's and B's) however, one of my classes is giving me problems. AP Literature.</p>
<p>I feel I am unprepared for the class due to a (I feel this term is appropriate) horrible AP Language teacher last year and I regressed in many ways in the class. I didn't take the AP test for Language due to the poor teaching I received. </p>
<p>I am not as well read as I would like to be and my vocabulary is, in my mind, underwhelming . I have trouble picking apart literature and poetry at the level that the class and my teacher expect from an "AP English" student.</p>
<p>In terms of vocabulary I am reading "Word Smart" by PR and I feel that I can fix that chink in my armor but as for my other weaknesses I am lost.</p>
<p>What would you suggest me to do in order to better prepare myself for the class and the AP exam in the long run?</p>
<p>I recently checked out "How to Read Novels like a Professor" from my local library (they didn't have the literature one) and I am wondering if this is even applicable to AP Literature and worth the time to read? Any suggestions are welcome and encouraged!</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and forgive the length of this post.</p>
<p>I suggest reading as much as possible, preferably classic novels in addition to the ones assigned in class. Use a notecard as a bookmark and write down any words that you don’t recognize on the notecard and define them.
I would start reading books just for fun, and then progress into reading more analytically. Also, I recommend doing past AP Literature essays and then scoring using the College Board’s scoring guidelines and sample essays, which can be found here:
[AP</a> Central - The AP English Literature and Composition Exam](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board)
Reading through the entire scoring rubric and the best sample essays helped improve my writing and know what the essays readers are looking for.
The College Board’s list of books is a good place to start for books to read. [101</a> Great Books](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Stay Motivated – BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the input. I’m going to start looking into that tomorrow as soon as I can. Visits to the library sure will be fun!!</p>
<p>Again thank you so much, I do plan on reading “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” as a friend, earlier today, said it was pretty good.</p>
<p>Thanks again! Anyone else have any insights?</p>
<p>My English teacher sophomore year made us buy “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” and I still use it for reference sometimes–it can give some really good ideas for English papers. :)</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Lit this year, and I would actually recommend going to AP Central and looking at past student essays that got 5s on the exams. My class is currently learning about poetry, and my Lit teacher showed us a prompt from an old AP exam, a few sample essays from the college board, and three model A papers from past students from my school. These materials are already proving to be invaluable as I write my first AP Lit paper.</p>