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Togas Wrote:I sit in front of this computer for 5+ hours everyday. I'm willing to put the work in. I just can't stand the subject matter. 
Jennifer has a lot of great ideas for Lit study...I'd add, for American Lit get a copy of "The Idiots Guide to American Literature" - it's a fun read, a great intro to Am Lit, and contains a lot of info on the actual CLEP exam.
Also, don't be afraid to go "multi-media" - rent classic-lit movies from Netflix, etc. to go along with your reading, utilize YouTube for plays and poetry.
Not to scare you, but the avatar I use here on the Forum is a photo of all the books I used to study for the 3 literature exams! Yes, I was really, really into this subject, and as I said previously, it took me MONTHS to study... 
"I dwell in Possibility." Emily Dickinson
2011-12 CLEP Int Psych - 75 / H G & D - 69 / Ed Psych - 72 / Am Lit - 80 / A & I Lit - 75 / Eng Lit - 73 2012-13 SL Eng Comp I - 95.3% P / Eng Comp II - 97.5% P 2014 EC/UEXCEL Ab Psych - A / Soc Psych - A / Psych A & A - A / Gerontology - A / Info Lit - P 2015 BYU Sport Psych - A / DSST Sub Abuse - 470 / Int World Rel - 481 / H T Y H - 465 / Tor College HIS 301 - 81% P 2016 EC LA498 Capstone - A
1991 AA Liberal Arts USNY Regents College
2016 BSLA Magna Cum Laude Excelsior College - A 5 year journey COMPLETED!
2017-2019 Study.com Certs. - Am Lit/Brit Lit/Shakespeare/Poetry Review Shmoop - Shakespeare's Plays/Shakespeare in Context/Women's Lit
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SuZQ2 Wrote:Jennifer has a lot of great ideas for Lit study...I'd add, for American Lit get a copy of "The Idiots Guide to American Literature" - it's a fun read, a great intro to Am Lit, and contains a lot of info on the actual CLEP exam.
Also, don't be afraid to go "multi-media" - rent classic-lit movies from Netflix, etc. to go along with your reading, utilize YouTube for plays and poetry.
Not to scare you, but the avatar I use here on the Forum is a photo of all the books I used to study for the 3 literature exams! Yes, I was really, really into this subject, and as I said previously, it took me MONTHS to study...
The idiots guide sounds like a plan. Perhaps I'll go pick it up next week.
As for spending 6 months studying for the test, honestly I think it would be a better use of my time to just enroll in the course with the school.
i was hoping to spend a month, maybe two on the subject.
It's incredible the amount of effort you put in to pass your classes. That pile of books is daunting.
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Just went through the Exam Specific post for the American Lit.
Saw this post.
Elizabeth Wrote:Hey, thanks everyone who posted their feedback on this thread earlier!
That helped me alot with knowing which works/authors to focus on.
Scholar Interrupted, your advice was spot on. I studied intensely on those authors and their famous works, and sure enough they were all on the test!!
I studied for this test using The Idiot's Guide To American Literature, Barron's EZ-101 Study Keys, Cliffsnotes, and by taking the test in The Collegeboard's General Exams book, as well as the questions related to American Literature and American authors in Instacert's Humanities review flashcards. I was pretty studied up. Took the test April 30 and got a 66.
Be sure you know the following authors and their works:
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ernest Hemingway
Ralph Waldo Emerson (I cannot possibly stress this one enough. Both the author and at least one of his works will appear on the test! Make sure you know the basic concepts of transcendentalism and what philosophies/principles he is communicating through specific passages and works...use Cliffsnotes for easy learning and excellent review)
Henry David Thoreau
F. Scott Fitzgerald
James Fenimore Cooper
Edgar Allen Poe
Ralph Ellison
Mark Twain
Alice Walker
Walt Whitman
Herman Melville
Stephen Crane
Henry James
Kate Chopin
Toni Morrison
William Faulkner
This test is pretty easy, if you know the material!
And numerous references to the idiots guide.
Perhaps later this evening I'll go pick up a copy and try it out. I'll probably spend the rest of the day looking at the english comp test.
Thanks all.
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09-22-2015, 08:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-22-2015, 08:11 PM by VanillaBean.)
Togas Wrote:I have not done the peterson's test. From what I understand it is free for military, but otherwise there is a cost correct?
I am a Navy Vet, and I think I don't have access.
If you are a Navy Vet then you should have free access to the Peterson's tests. you will have to create an account and sign up. if you have any ?'s when creating your account call the number. They were very friendly and helpful when we called with a question.
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You might surprise yourself on the A&I exam. You could take it without listing a school for the grade. If you pass, send in your transcript. If you don't you haven't lost anything. My actual test was much easier than the studying.
Denise
MS - Management and Leadership, WGU 2022
BS - Liberal Arts - Depths in Healthcare and Psychology, Excelsior College 2014
Certificate - Workers Comp Admin, UC Davis Extension, 1995
AA - Licensed Vocational Nursing and Selected Studies, Mesa College 1989
Certificate - Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN), Mesa College 1977
Also, someday maybe a MS in Forensic Psychology, just for fun. Oh, and a BS in Animal Behavior. And, maybe when I'm 85 a PhD in something fun.
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I was a secondary English teacher and did major in English in college. IMHO, you are going to an awful lot of work for this literature requirement. Would a course in children's literature, folktales, or short story fulfill your literature requirement? Any of the courses in my list would be easier. My local JC in California has both a folktales and a children's literature course available online. If I were you, I would check into whether something like this would work. CSU Pueblo online also has two upper division literature classes that don't have proctored finals: Fairy Tales and Female SyFy literature courses for about $500 plus books. Charter Oak has an upper division Mark Twain literature class. Since literature is so difficult for you, any of these options might be something to consider. I have a brother-in-law who didn't finish college due to one math class he couldn't pass, so I empathize with you. Keep trying, there should be a way to find some sort of lit class that offers a genre you can understand.
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continued post from previous post:
PS: I am an English major who HATES poetry. I can understand it, but it bores me. Everyone's mind works differently. So, I just wanted to encourage you to keep going and do whatever you need to do to knock out that one literature class which must be part of general ed. Thirty years ago I had to tutor a friend extensively for a lit class in college so he could pass the gen ed lit requirement our college had - he got a low C. You can find a way CLEP or otherwise to complete your degree. Let us know what happens....
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togos... I think you will pass this clep with no issues. It will press you on time but I think you are reading to much into the exam. Hit the flashcards and you will be good. Good luck!!!!
Bachelors in Liberal Studies TESC 12/11/15
Various certifications and 1 community college class
TESC English 101
TESC Living in the Information age
TESC Intro to Psychology
TESC Intro to Computers
DSST Personal Finance 1/14
DSST Hear's to your health 3/14
DSST Intro to Business 4/14
DSST Organization Behavior 5/14
DSST Substance Abuse 5/14
DSST Intro to World Religion 6/14
DSST Environment and Humanity 7/14
DSST Human Resource Management 8/14
DSST Money & Banking 8/14
CLEP A&I Lit 8/14
CLEP Intro to Sociology 9/14
DSST Intro to Modern Middle East 12/14
DSST Western Europe since 1945 12/14
ALEKS Intermediate Algebra 2/15
ALEKS College Algebra 2/15
ALEKS Intro to stats 2/15
ALEKS PreCalc 2/15
CLEP History of US I 3/15
CLEP History of US II 4/15
CLEP American Gov 5/15
DSST Principles of Sup 5/15
CLEP Amer Lit 6/15
CLEP Social Science 7/15
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CLEP Humanities 9/15
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Practice by reading.... a lot. Just read lots of different things. It will take away the insanity of throwing yourself heavy into classical literature, and you will improve your comprehension and analysis.
Finished: BA Liberal Studies TESU 2016
"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." - Earl Nightingale
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I just took this exam wednesday. I got 61 without any studying but I honestly have no idea what I could have studied in the first place. There were a few classic works that I recognized but the majority of the literature was foreign to me. There was even a poem from 1862!
That being said, you really dont need to know the literature to pass. Most of the questions are along the lines of "what tone does the author have in paragraph 2?" and "what does (that word) mean in the context of the sentence?"
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