<p>Usually I'm one of those lethargic high school teenagers that shuts off his brain once summer starts, but these past two months I've been obsessively (and sickeningly) studying and doing practice tests for AP Lit because my English Language score wasn't exactly what I wanted (3), so I figured the best thing I could do is blow Lit out of the water by starting to prep for it now.</p>
<p>Let's get this straight, I have no problem writing essays. Actually, I have no problem writing anything. I KNOW that my 3 on English Language was attributed to a low MC score, not my essays. And I'd also like to add that my highest SAT CR score is a 710 and my highest SAT Writing score is a 790; I am by no means trying to brag, because this place is full of brilliant folk, so if anything, I'm humbled.</p>
<p>So let me get to the point of all my rambling. I've done about 7 practice MC tests so far, (6 out of Cliffs and one out of a an old, old Barrons review book). My average score is 20-25 (out of about 55/56). I'm not getting any better; my scores consistently stagger, if anything. Now, I LOVE reading. I've read most Shakespeare, I've read Ulysses, Goethe, Dostoevesky, and so on; reading literature isn't my deficiency.</p>
<p>Anyone have an idea what my problem could be? Maybe a pointer or a tip or two?</p>
<p>I had a similar problem with practice questions for Lang. I would be getting like 22/55 on practice packets. I ended up with a 5 on the real thing. The point of practicing is practice: you are getting better just from doing the questions, regardless of your scores. Don't worry, you WILL get better as time goes on. You have 9 months. Fret not.</p>
<p>Like darkruler, I had the same problem with practice MC for Language. I did probably worse than both of you, scoring sometimes less than 20 questions/50 on practice multiple choice.. but also like dr, I ended up with a 5. I have to agree with their point, that even if you don't think you're learning and getting better, you really are. </p>
<p>I'm the same way: I love writing and reading religiously, so not even hitting the 40s was a blow to the ego. You have to remember that both of those tests have a pretty decent curves (imho), so perfection isn't exactly possible. I've heard some students say "don't overanalyze the questions," which although is sound advice, probably won't help you too much. My best tip is to keep practicing the MC, but don't forget the essays because if you scores are consistent 9s your MC doesn't have as much clout.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot guys. Made me feel better, especially since I just took another practice test tonight and got a raw score of 20.5 :P</p>
<p>As I keep taking these tests, I'm becoming more comfortable, but I don't have the scores to show for it. I've got at least another 6 practice tests that I can take out of a workbook that I jacked from my school's library, and then if I'm still struggling maybe I'll buy both the newer Barrons book and the REA book. </p>
<p>My brother is studying to become an English teacher and was given by his teacher a few of the old AP tests that CB sells, so he gave the 1999 exam to me as practice. I think once I finish my umpteen practice tests and cease my ridiculous money expenditures on Lit prep books, I'll try my luck with that 1999 test. </p>
<p>Any particular tips on time management, marking poems/passages, or guessing and such?</p>
<p>I've heard a lot of tips from different people but I'm sure you've heard most of them. Here are just some ideas..</p>
<p>*try skimming the questions before reading the passage to get an idea of what they want you to look for (imho: this sometimes takes too much time and can be distracting when you read the passage)
*annotate important words/phrases/ideas or use your own "lingo" to better understand passages, ie "pov" for point of view, etc (imho: this really helps you navigate through larger passages especially when the question is asking for a specific detail)
*skim all of the passages before attempting any to find if any passages look particularly appealing (imho: I noticed when I took a prc test that I scored MUCH better on a topic I already knew about than one that I had no clue on.. so this might help)
*if you can eliminate one wrong answer, guess (imho: usually if I can eliminate 1-2 I'll guess, but I always try to keep the guessing down to a minimum.. so about 7 max for the whole test)</p>