<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I've been scouring the forum for an extensive guide to SAT II Lit, but to no avail. Would anyone be so kind as to post a link to any such guides if they exist?</p>
<p>If not, perhaps we could get the ball rolling! Any of you Lit experts have any advice for someone aiming to get 750+ on the "hardest" SAT II out there?</p>
<ul>
<li>What prep books are the best? ('books' as plural, since I'd like to get my hands on as many practice tests as possible)</li>
<li>Does reading literature/Shakespeare over the summer help? My reading diet usually just consists of The Economist and works of non-fiction.</li>
<li>Do the same strategies that apply to CR apply to Lit? Do you approach it exactly the same way? (order of difficulty, process of elimination, mark the line references --> get those first --> then go for the passage-wide questions, etc.)</li>
<li>Any other useful tips? :)</li>
</ul>
<p>All responses are greatly appreciated. From an international 2015'er halfway around the world--thanks!</p>
<p>my tip: don’t take it! lol i guessed on so many questions</p>
<p>^ Seriously. Unless you write novels in your free time.</p>
<p>The Lit exam is one of those ones where you’re either good at it or you’re not. The only studying you can really do is going over literature terms and sentence structure (things like main verbs, clauses, etc.). If you’ve never been good at analyzing works of literature, studying a prep book or reading over the summer isn’t going to do anything for you.</p>
<p>I guess the CR strategies still apply. It’s pretty much a more difficult CR exam.</p>
<p>I took the Lit exam on Saturday and actually really enjoyed taking it. I love reading, and English has always been my favorite.
Anyways, I used the Princeton Review book “Cracking the SAT Subject Tests: Literature” and it was very helpful. It contains 3 practice tests! I took the first one, just to see where I stood and got a 660, then after reading the book I got a 760. Hopefully my actual score will be similar. </p>
<p>The strategies you listed are what I used. I skimmed the passages, then did them in order of personal difficulty (easy ones first to rack up some points). I think reading poetry and some Shakespeare might help. There were three or four poems on the test, some of which were written in old English. Just make sure you’re comfortable with and can understand poetry 
And rather archaic English, for that matter.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Thanks Kamster, that really helps. Did any of you guys find that there were some practical tips to give one an advantage for the exam?</p>
<p>ie, was timing a serious issue? How did you pace yourselves?</p>
<p>I really agree with nne718 – that is, Lit is one of those tests where you can either ace it or fail it. I took the test last Saturday, and to me it was pretty easy. However, I have always been a humanities types of person, so English and History are my favourite and easiest subjects. Having said that, I should advise you that the Lit exam tests your STYLE of thinking, rather than what you can topically recall from notes and prepping from PR or the like – thus, I would highly recommend that if you do not yet possess the interpretive analysis and critical thinking skills required for this test, you should train your mind to think as if you did if you really want to take it.
The CR is a cakewalk compared to the Lit exam. The latter is on such a deeper level, it would be unfair to even bother comparing the two.
As for suggesting reading: the Economist and non-fiction books are great – if you were taking the AP Lang exam. For the Lit, it’s virtually useless. The exam tests how well you grasp the intangibles such as metaphor and mood; in other words, devices prevalent in 18th and 19th century poetry and prose, rather than 21st century non-fiction, which tends to be much more explicit than the former. </p>
<p>Timing was not an issue at all for me: I finished with 15 minutes left, and subsequently had a staring contest with the proctor 
Unless you are quite slow in reading, therefore, you should have ample time. However, I would suggest that when reading a passage for the first time, you should make sure to understand the OVERALL tone, mood and purpose of the passage. It would be time-effiecient when answering the MC questions.
If you really don’t get a question, leave it after 2 or so minutes and come back to it later. Fresh eyes will render the mind more flexible. </p>
<p>(FYI – According to CC’s thread on Lit, I have around 3 wrong, no omits. Unfortunately, the curve is a carnivorous beast, so I don’t think I will get my 800 there… Oh well. I would be happy with a 780 at least.)</p>
<p>Hope that helps! Good luck =)</p>
<p>A disclaimer: I did not do a single sheet of prep for the Lit exam. No PR, no CB, no Barron’s – nothing at all. I reasoned to myself that no prep book can teach you precisely what to memorize or how to think – that has to be the product of your own logic and literary palate. Based on my subsequent experience with the exam, I would say to take very few prep tests, if any. This isn’t Math II: get your prep from familiarizing yourself with 18th and 19th century literature, culture and history. The latter, surprisingly, helped quite a bit on the exam.</p>
<p>Use Barron’s book. It has like 6 or 7 practice tests and a pretty comprehensive guide to the types of questions you’ll be asked. Albeit, Barron’s tests are supposedly much harder than the actual test, so it may psyche you out, but it’s nice being pleasantly surprised by the easier level of difficulty on test day.</p>
<p>how does the SAT lit test compare to the AP lit test multiple choice section in terms of difficulty?</p>