Strategic Preparation: APUSH - Key Works of Literature and Art

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>As the AP tests get closer it is important to study strategically. That is to be focused on key question-rich topics and efficient in how you study them. Recent APUSH exams have had 4 - 6 multiple-choice questions devoted to key works of literature and art. Here are some recommendations:</p>

<p>. The two best review books continue to be Amsco and Crash Course. To study key works of literature and art in Amsco you will have to use the index or flip to the right time period.
The works are all there you just have to find them. Crash Course has 31 key works of literature and art all arranged chronologically in a compact chapter (Chapter 27). One note to REA - Uncle Tom's Cabin is 1852 not 1872!
. All time favorites include Transcendentalism (Emerson, Thoreau, truth from nature) Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), the Lost Generation (critique of middle-class conformity and materialism during the 1920s) and the Harlem Renaissance (outpouring of African American literary and artistic creativity).
. Lesser known writers include Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. Bradstreet was the first notable American poet. Wheatley was the first notable African American poet.
. Here are some artists that pop up on the SAT II: Hopper is known for his portrayals of loneliness; Warhol was a pop artist (think soup cans); Pollack was an Abstract Expressionist (think lines all over the place - ie Jack the Dripper); and Americans first saw Cubism at the 1913 Armory Show (sounds obscure but is actually the most famous art exhibit in US history)</p>

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<p>Thank you SO MUCH, dark knight, for all your posts for APUSH. :)</p>

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<p>I would also be familiar with the Hudson River School and the Ashcan Artists.</p>

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<p>Great suggestions!</p>

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<p>I am in an insane APUSH class. Luckily, everyone in last years class got college credit except for one guy. In fact about 75% got a 4 or above. My teacher also said, though, that we should focus on a couple of progressive era books as well as what you listed. Jacob Riis - How the Other Half Lives, Upton Sinclair - The Jungle, and the magazine McClures (not technically a book). Also, The impending Crises of the South might be important. It is often paired with Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It describes the economic effects of slavery on the south. finally, Huck Finn (realism era), The Great Gatsby (jazz era), and Catcher in the Rye are often tested books.</p>

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<p>You are right about Jacob Riis and Upton Sinclair. Both regulary appear on AP and SAT II US History tests. Both are covered in Amsco and Crash Course. However, the Impending Crisis, Huck Finn, and Catcher in the Rye have not appeared on any of the released exams and were not on last year’s exam. Of course it doesn’t hurt to know them. Thomas Paine has actually generated the most questions.</p>