Struggling with Analyzing & Interpreting Literature

[Togas]

If you're still struggling and definitely need literature credits, I'd try American Literature instead. The Am Lit CLEP is a lot more about memorization (who wrote what) and has the least amount of analyzing. I actually found English Lit the most difficult exam of the three as it encompasses a tremendously broad time period (Old English through Modern Age), and has a LOT of analyzing :ack:... Another thought - if you're already accessing the IC flashcards, go to the Specific Exam Feedback Section and look up the various literature CLEPs - you'll get an excellent rundown of what you need to know for each exam.

Do you need credits in an area you feel more comfortable with? If so, maybe start with a subject you "like" or a subject where you have prior knowledge. As I mentioned, I was so intimidated by the literature exams I gave up on them entirely and switched to psychology. When I did finally re-attempt literature, I took over 6 months to study for/complete all the exams...

Good Luck!

ODU gives credit for
A&I Lit + Essay
American Lit + Essay

I intend to test out of
College Composition - CLEP
Technical Writing -Dantes

No other options exist for my technology degree

I found the REA A&I literature questions to be way more difficult than the real thing. There was much more modern English in the actual CLEP I took. i think there was only 1 really historic piece of writing (not poetry) in the actual exam and it was very well known. I did way better on the real thing than on my REA practice tests.

If English is your first language I would say just go for the exam and try it. Try to memorize the literary terms from the REA books as hey will be a few easy marks. As usual with CLEP there's usually 2 answers that you think could be the answer, and you just need to read them very carefully and make sure you're answering the precise question. Take your time. With exams like this I just write RTFQ on the rough paper , to remind me not to jump to conclusions about the answer.

I'll consider diving in, thank you.
It is somewhat comforting knowing that your experience with the REA stuff was more challenging. Hopefully my pool of questions are similar to your experience.

English Lit is half analyzing & interpreting lit, so if you're wanting to avoid that, American Lit would be a much better option. American Lit covers our own history (and you said you're good at history) and mostly requires memorization of facts. And it only covers the 239 years our country has been in existence, not the thousands of years England has.

I haven't looked too in depth at English Lit yet, and the answer is probably on this board somewhere.
Is there a list somewhere of works to know for the test? 239 years is far less than the 1000 years of England, but that is still a massive library of works.