<p>In the practice books you used (Barron's? Kaplan? PR?), how did the practice tests compare with the actual test? Do any come close to the difficulty of the real thing?</p>
<p>I've heard that it's not something you can memorize anything (other than lit. terms) for, so I'm just trying to improve by taking practice tests. So do you have any suggestions for good books with questions like the real thing? (I'm using Barron's right now... how's that?)</p>
<p>I used the Princeton Review book. The practice tests were WAY too easy. And I took a CB practice test for SAT2lit, and I got a 630 (eck) even though the test didn't seem too difficult.</p>
<p>The actual test kicked me in the butt though.</p>
<p>My best advice is to expose yourself to a LOT of different kinds of literature. Especially ones that are out of your realm. Make sure to read and analyze lots and lots of obscure 19th century (And earlier) poetry and Shakespearean language because those are the types that usually confuse most people (as they confused me). </p>
<p>In a nutshell: Try to strengthen your weak spots.</p>
<p>I used the Princeton Review prep-book and got around 690-700 on the practice tests. After I took, the real thing, I felt that I did slightly worse than usual. Today I got my score back: 750.</p>
<p>Literature is not something that can be easily prepped for. The best preparation for me, by far, was two intense months of poetry study in my English 12 IB class. As mentioned before, what will prepare you most for the test is reading a diverse collection of literature. Expose yourself to everything; poetry, prose, and drama. And you won't improve your literary abilities unless you read something that is difficult, that forces you to improve your comprehension. And pay attention in your English class; try to understand the material, rather than just shooting for an A. However, this isn't something you can prep for a month or two beforehand; it's something that you have to do for much longer periods of time, and "prepping" probably has the wrong connotation here anyhow. Still, since you probably don't have a few years to learn, a prep book is probably the best way to prepare. But don't expect it to help you as much as, say, History or Biology.</p>