<p>So Im taking AP Literature Online. The first assignment is to read "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. </p>
<p>It sucks. Beyond belief. I love reading but I find I cannot read another page of the book. It's truly disgusting writing (I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone. I understand this book is one of those classics that has accomplished a lot for the English language. However, I cannot convince myself of this when all my senses are telling me otherwise)</p>
<p>Anyway, I gave up on reading the book because I truly cannot. I really can't keep on reading. I drift off after a paragraph because it's just not pulling me in. </p>
<p>Anyway, I was wondering the importance of the novel in the AP lit exam: Are they going to ask questions or have essays on it? Have any of you taken it before? Does the novel play a big role in the exam? If so, is it possible to get the same experience by skimming over sparknotes?</p>
<p>okay dude. there are 3 essays on the AP Lit exam. That's the only part of the test where the book can help you. the other part is multiple choice. now, listen up. you have 2 prose & poetic passages where you simply have to read, and answer the prompt on. These are your typical, "Describe how the author uses ____ to convey his/her meaning of ___" yea, whatever. The third question is called the open question. This is a question that'll ask you to answer a prompt using a book/play that you read from memory. ex: Describe an event in a novel that you've read that radically changes the author's meaning of the story. You don't quote the book, you just use scenes and explain how they answer the prompt.</p>
<p>So, in short, this book COULD potentially help you on the open question, but if you've read a lot of other books and know them very well, you'll be fine. who knows though, this book could just end of being the one you use.</p>
<p>The novel is not that important for the AP test. As mentioned above, it only has to do with one free response question, for which you could use nearly any applicable book. However, I would suggest you actually read it. If you really can't, use SparkNotes. You can't get much out of the book that way, but it makes it usable for the AP test.</p>
<p>hahahaha my AP lit teacher LOVES this book. omg, she made us sit through class and discuss the book everyday. And then there would be all these imageries that she would exaggerate out from the story. If you read it with someone who knows the book, there is actually a lot more to the story</p>
<p>It’s a hasty judgement to say the book is “stupid” just because the book isn’t as accessable as others. I definately wouldn’t have read the book for leisure because it is honestly boring but if you signed up for AP then you should push yourself to read it carefully and understand the book. You usually can’t skim through a poem and expect to understand it’s full meaning and it is the same with this book. It’s beneficial to read for the last essay on the test. Almost every prompt will work with this book and when you truely understand it then the book will make the last essay a breeze. I hope that others will read the book even though they can’t get into it. It’s not soppose to be a Dr. Suess book.</p>
<p>That book is awesome only when it’s taught well. When I read it in class my teacher and the discussions were awesome, and now it’s one of my favorite books. I could see how it would be boring if you didn’t have that, though - it’s so dense that our normal 40-50 page homework load/night was dropped to about 6 pages/night when we were reading that book. All that’s to say: try to work through it. Go slowly, use Sparknotes if you must. I think it’s pretty useful on the exam - it actually fit perfectly with the AP Lit open-ended exam question today.</p>
<p>I tried reading it for leisure but I just couldn’t finish it. It was like trying to swim in pudding. That had never happened to me before and hasn’t since.</p>
<p>Heart of Darkness is a beautiful exploration of the horrors that are buried inside of us. Conrad’s writing is worth internalizing. Sparknotes will tell you how something is anti-imperialist, or give you a simplification of a theme or motif, but Heart of Darkness is a story that must be appreciated as a story. </p>
<p>What a system, the APs, that encourage seeking a basic outline, a summarization, a surface understanding, instead of undertaking a deep journey with a novel and getting truly close to the words. The horror, the horror.</p>
<p>Chose owen meany’s jump shot =P.
But our teachers had no idea how to handle heart of darkness. They gave it to us and said “Read it. Test next week.” I ended up trying to read through it, but it’s just so slow! I understand that we are supposed to experience what Marlow is feeling, but the book is just so ladened down with description. I couldn’t grasp the nuances very. I could try to read it again over the summer.</p>
<p>I preceded my third Lit essay with a crossed-off “I apologize profoundly; I’m sure this is the 84th Heart of Darkness essay you’ve read today. But it’s really a good example of…” ><</p>
<p>Guysss don’t talk about the prompt for 48 hours! :O</p>