Passed Analyzing & Interpreting Literature

[B2MANLEY]

I took the A&I exam yesterday and passed with a 53. Just barely passed, but passed nonetheless. I wanted to point out a couple things I observerved. Please keep in mind, these are just my observations and opinions.

I studied (more like practiced because you can't REALLY study for it) for this exam using the CLEP book, studying literary terms online, and taking the Peterson's Practice Exams. I took practice exams and scored a 55 and a 63. That's when I decided to take the exam.

IMO the CLEP exam in this instance is actually harder than the Peterson's Practice Exam. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it defintely seemed more difficult to me. Based on this, here are my suggestions for those (like me) that abslutely hate reading and literature:

1. Read and analyze as many passages as you can find. This will familiarize you with interpreting the underlying ideas.

2. Take all of the practice exams you can (I used CLEP and Peterson's).

3. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with some literary terms. I wouldn't spend a lot of time on this as I think my test might have had 10 questions relating to these types of things.

I hope I don't discourage anyone on what is supposed to be a "gimme" test. To me, it was more difficult than I thought it would be. This was my third CLEP/DSST. But hey, a pass is a pass, right

Hope This Helps...

[wannabeit]

Congratulations! Also, thanks for the tip. I'm planning to sit for this test soon.

[ShotoJuku]

[SIZE="5"]Excellent News - 6 BIG credits!![/SIZE]

[Blue]

congrats on passing your exam!!! it must feel great to get 6 credits done =]

i'm thinking about taking this exam sometime soon too so it would be great if you can help me out with some questions b/c like you, i absolutely hate literature as well haha. were most of the passages old english? and how long did you take to prepare for it?

thanks and congrats once again!!! =]

[B2MANLEY]

congrats on passing your exam!!! it must feel great to get 6 credits done =]

i'm thinking about taking this exam sometime soon too so it would be great if you can help me out with some questions b/c like you, i absolutely hate literature as well haha. were most of the passages old english? and how long did you take to prepare for it?

thanks and congrats once again!!! =]

1. Yes, the bulk of the passages were old english style poetry. I would recommend reading the questions first, then reading through the passage. Some of the passages are quite lengthy, and if you know what you are looking for, you can get through much quicker. Time is extremely tight on this one. You really have to watch the clock. All passages have the lines numbered, so the question might be something like: "In line 6-7, the word "but" is meant to specify:". This allows you to know right where to look.

2. I took about 2 weeks to prepare, roughly 2 hours 3 times a week. I am a traditional "brick and morter" college student taking 3 other classes, so you might very well be able to prepare quicker, but for me, this is what it took. I would say if you get 3 good passing scores on the Peterson's practice exams, you're ready.

Hope This Helps....

[yutzyj]

1. Yes, the bulk of the passages were old english style poetry. I would recommend reading the questions first, then reading through the passage. Some of the passages are quite lengthy, and if you know what you are looking for, you can get through much quicker. Time is extremely tight on this one. You really have to watch the clock. All passages have the lines numbered, so the question might be something like: "In line 6-7, the word "but" is meant to specify:". This allows you to know right where to look.

2. I took about 2 weeks to prepare, roughly 2 hours 3 times a week. I am a traditional "brick and morter" college student taking 3 other classes, so you might very well be able to prepare quicker, but for me, this is what it took. I would say if you get 3 good passing scores on the Peterson's practice exams, you're ready.

Hope This Helps....

Congrats on your pass. I am thinking about taking this also. Thanks for the tips.

[wfb0l2c]

B2,

Congrats and thanks for the info. I too, will be taking this exam soon.

Ridge

[zippy99]

Ok, so I took this one yesterday, and here are some observations that may be of help to someone.

First, relax, this is NOT a difficult test. If you can read and synthesize information you can pass this test. I spent exactly zero minutes preparing for this test and scored a 65. I'm not advocating taking this test, or any other test cold, but if you're well read, you probably could. It is somewhat difficult, in that the format is somewhat different than other exams, but some good test taking strategy can turn that in your favor.

As some others said, time could be a problem on this test. I finished with a fair amount of time to spare, by being frugal about how I used my time.
My advice.. read the passage all the way through once. If it isn't clear at least the gist of what it was about, read it again. Then look at the questions.
In most cases, you'll get 5-7 questions about each passage, and most of those will be centered on a small portion. Reread only the relevant portion and then answer the question. Let the process of elimination be your friend. As with all of these tests, some of the answers will be obviously wrong. Eliminate these, and concentrate on the others.

At the end of each block of questions, if you aren't certain that you got them all right,review just that block... right then.. Go back through the SAME block of questions.
What I noticed was, that in several cases, a later question gave me the answer to an earlier question. A couple of times it practically smacked me in the face, and others I had to think for a moment, but the format (multiple questions on one passage) of this test is definately to the test takers advantage if used well.

Most of the questions just want to know what the passage says or means, or what specific items mean. Keep this in mind while reading through. While there may be the occasional, identify the metaphor type question, more are of the... what did the author mean.. type.

Take your time, concentrate, and put this one in the bank

[ShotoJuku]

[SIZE="4"]Congrats Zippy!!![/SIZE]

[yutzyj]

Thanks zippy99. This is one test I think I'm going to take soon. Nice job on the nice pass.