<p>It seems that there's no AP Lit discussion, and the test is Thursday. What is everyone doing to prepare themselves?</p>
<p>I think I am going to sparknotes four books over again and memorize some quotes. Hopefully I can use "The Stranger" for my essay. Does anyone recommend some books that are very versatile that I can sparknotes by Thursday? Does anyone recommend what to study? I know quite a bit of quotes from "The Stranger", I imagine quotes help sometimes...</p>
<p>I will also be studying various literary terms, too. I've been thinking about reading over a ton of poetry critiques, too. Does anyone have a good list of poems that are (in)famous for showing up on the AP test?</p>
<p>Is there a certain format for our essays? Like the standard 5 paragraph deal? Is there any ideal set up?</p>
<p>Let's all help each other out. Share literary terms, strategies, etc. My teacher hasn't done anything to prepare us, it seems. I want to get a 5, and I have a pretty strong literary background, so I hope it will help me! Good luck to everyone else this Thursday, and let's keep this thread up!</p>
<p>What are some literary terms I should know? Yeah my teacher hasn't prepared us at all either... except I'm aiming for a 4 because that's all I need. Paragraphs are set up usually the standard 5 paragraphs for eash concise reading but itreally shouldn't matter.</p>
<p>Yeah my teacher told us first day of class that she didnt think even she could get a 5... I learned nothing.<br>
I'm going over sparknotes for Inv Man, Heart of Darkness and Catch-22, think it's too risky to rely on only 3 books?<br>
As for terms, Collegeboard.com had this to say:</p>
<p>"Here are some of the words you should already know: syntax, tone, rhetoric, attitude, antecedent, denouement, exposition, climax, atmosphere, voice, speaker, stock character, thesis, ideology, persuasion, paradox, allusion, ambivalence, syllogism, and aphorism."</p>
<p>How do you guys do your intro paragraphs? My teacher says for the AP test we have to get right to the point and only make it one sentence (our thesis), but this seems kinda short to me.</p>
<p>With the introduction, you can take several approaches. What is most important, however, is giving your response a certain flair, your own noticeable voice; you should make it immediately perceivable. You could start out with a quote from the passage, the novel, or the poem, then expand upon it.. Start off with a generalization that pertains to the theme of what you've read and then go into more detail.. or simply begin with a brief paragraph, composed of two or three sentences, the final being your thesis, then quickly accelerate your discussion. Again, manipulation of language and syntax becomes crucial when discerning between middle range responses and higher range responses: keep this in mind as you go into the test.</p>
<p>As a math-type person, this is definitely my most feared test. I'm basically going through the SN's for Lord of the Flies, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Of Mice and Men, A Tale of Two Cities, and Crime and Punishment. For the most part I'm using PR and Cliffs, and going through the essay examples and reading the passages. But what bothers me is that each has a different style of MC questions -- What the hell is the most relavent? Do the MC's have an emphasis on the literary terms or on the passage? How difficult are the passages? Really, really worried about this. I think I can make it past the essays, but ambiguity of some of the MC's in the prep. books or the obscurity of themes is really worrying me.</p>
<p>Also, my teacher didn't really prepare us. I learned a lot; but I'm not really prepared for the test..</p>
<p>Remember to consider and review the three most frequently cited titles in the open-ended free response question if you have read them: Invisible Man, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre.</p>
<p>I have chosen to prep for these five works: Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Achebe's Things Fall Apart, and Orwell's 1984. I might throw in either Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead or Beckett's Waiting For Godot somewhere in the lot, as well as Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front. Out of those works, I have found Achebe to be the most useful in terms of dealing with open-ended essays. (I've used it twice out of the five open-ended prompts we've done in class this year.) Make sure your works are diversed (in terms of time period, style, theme..) and well under your control. </p>
<p>As for intro paragraphs, I usually just get straight to the point with "In [author's name]'s [title of work], the author expresses/creates/suggests/etc. etc. [whatever the prompt is asking] by [brief description of analysis]." It saves both the prompt writer's as well as the reader's time.</p>
<p>i have done nothing to prep and dont plan on doing muchmore than taking a few practice tests...its englsih, we should all know it for the most part</p>
<p>As far as novels to prepare go, all I have to say is HAMLET. That one seems to work for almost everything. Also Invisible Man, 1984, and Huck Finn seems to be good choices.</p>
<p>i agree with cellogirl. I chose 3 books: Hamlet, Heart of Darkness, and Death of a Salesman. It's a bit risky to be two dramas and one novel...but oh well (shrugs)</p>
<p>how does word choice/diction or tone affect a poem's meaning? can someone elaborate on this and perhaps provide an example of some sort? thanks!</p>
<p>I think Crime and Punishment is pretty versatile. My class just finished The Stranger and I have no idea what the heck it was about. The book was very absurd... lol but seriously, that book taught me nothing! Anyway, my weakest point is poetry. Usually, I get 4s on practice essays and we just did a practice essay on poetry and I got a 2! Can anyone suggest a good way to study or analyze poetry?</p>