I can't honestly say that I'm proud of getting a 66% on this pre-test, but I also wouldn't say I'm entirely disappointed. Eight weeks through AP Language and Composition and my practice multiple choice scores were still around a 68%, so it's clear that I've retained some of my knowledge from the past year: literary devices, rhetorical terms, context, audience, all are familiar ideas I can spot with near-ease in most pieces. Though the works of poetry were unfamiliar, I was still able to identify the symbolism of the setting sun, the metaphor for the speaker's relationship with his beloved, and what certain pronouns and metaphors were referring to.
Unfortunately, I still have quite a ways to go. Yes, I did manage to remember the test-taking strategies from AP Comp for the multiple choice section, but I did not decide to actually use them. Regardless of whether this can be chalked up to AP test-nerves or my own unwavering laziness, I know that most of the techniques I learned-such as physically writing the SOAPStone of the text on the paper, annotating the pieces for general ideas, and finding textual support for every answer I choose-must be applied for me to find success. Missing questions like "The setting of the passage is" and "According to the speaker, the one trait which saves Europeans from savagery is" are not acceptable for me to miss at this point. If I had taken the time to carefully study the text, I would've found the answers to these questions staring me right in the face.
It wasn't just the small details that escaped my attention; I often found myself completely missing the big picture behind the passage, missing questions that required me to identify tone or draw conclusions about who and where the speaker is. I'm sure if I wrote down the information I found in the text as I read through it and made note of what I found to be important, I'd not only take the test more successfully, but more efficiently as well.
The material itself poses as much of a problem as does the way in which I take my tests. Answer choices like caesura, sestina, and lyric had me staring at the paper in front of me wondering what exactly I'd signed up for. When it comes to these question types, I know that as the year goes on, I'll be able to grasp the semantics behind the words, and questions that ask me to choose between Spenserian, Petrarchan, and Shakespearean sonnets will become "gimme" points.
In order to achieve this level of comfort, however, I need to work. One of the simplest goals I can think of is to annotate and SOAPStone every passage before I answer the questions. This is a skill I already possess. All that's left now is for me to employ it. More difficult will be using my testing time wisely. I finished this test with twenty minutes left to spare, and instead of using that time to check and re-check my work, ensuring that every answer I'd chosen made sense, I decided to grade my test against the answer key. In the real AP testing room, there won't be an answer key for me to compare with; it will be me, the multiple choice book, and one hour to get as many questions right as possible. If I utilize all the time given to me, silly mistakes like identifying the setting-which can be found word for word within the text-can be prevented. My final goal is the one that will require the most constant effort, and it is to talk the talk. To be successful in this goal, I'll do my best to have a deep understanding of ten new vocabulary words a month, whether they're specific to AP Literature or words I can use on a daily basis.
These three goals are difficult. They're not impossible. If I put in the effort, I truly believe a high multiple-choice score is within my reach.
I think you're beating yourself up a bit. Nobody has time to physically write out SOAPSTone and annotate every single time you read a passage - that's just inefficient. Internalize SOAPSTone - this isn't AP Comp anymore (which is a good thing). Internalizing SOAPSTone and doing that as you read allows you to internalize the text itself. As far as missing "the big picture" to texts - I can (unfortunately) completely relate. And when that happens, we just end up skipping down to reading the questions and hoping all of them are quote-related, so you can just directly reference the text, rather than questions about symbolism, setting, etc. I totally get that. Those skills come with exposure and experience; you've got to remember - we haven't actually gotten around to learning those specific skill sets in AP Lit yet. When I say there is still plenty of time to learn and improve, I REALLY mean, there is PLENTY of time to learn and improve. The fact that you are able to identify the little components of text, such as literary devices, context, symbolism and metaphors, is impressive. That's normally the hardest step. You're going to do just fine.
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ReplyDeleteAmulya Joseph Blog Response
I think that you hit the nail right on the head when you mentioned the “AP test nerves.” In the hectic atmosphere of any test many people “choke” and forget the very topics and subjects they spent hours reviewing. While I’m sure you didn't spend much time (or any if that) preparing for the pre-test, it’s evident that you got caught in the stressful nature of the test itself and forgot what may have been important literary elements that were needed to comprehend and correctly answer some of the questions. If this is the truth you have to ask yourself whether you will need to focus on the material at hand, or if you need to focus at your own test taking habits and how you deal with the stressful factor of the test. This may help you avoid making any unnecessary mistakes in the future.
I also saw that you had a goal which was similar to mine (learning a number of new vocabulary words in a set amount of time). I’m glad to see that I wasn't the only one who had trouble with many of the adjectives, tone words, etc used in both the texts and answer choices.