CLEP American Literature vs. English Literature

[clep3705]

Other than the authors and the written works, how similar are the CLEP American Literature and English Literature tests?

As I understand these two tests, they are in part similar to Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. If the similarity does exist, it means that at least some of the American Literature and English Literature tests are interpretative and don't actually require any preparation or prior knowledge. Please correct me if this isn't true in part.

My kids easily passed Analyzing and Interpreting Literature without any preparation. They also passed English Literature without any preparation, with scores of 57 and 60. I'm considering letting them take American Literature without any preparation.

I'd like to hear from people who've actually taken both American Literature and English Literature and who are thus actually qualified to compare and contrast the two exams.

[atatbl]

I, too, would very much like to know people's thoughts on this. Also, could I be ready for either of these in less than two weeks?

[slimcustomer]

I took the English Literature CLEP and the American Literature CLEP a couple days ago. I looked over some Quizlet flashcards on English Lit for about an hour. I didn't do any studying for the American Literature CLEP. I scored a 63 on the English Literature CLEP and a 62 on the American Literature CLEP. YMMV.

[dewisant]

I studied/read for both, Am Lit was easier for me and they were both easy. I don't remember "interpretive" being a big part of either.

[CLEP_enthusiast]

I haven't taken either of these tests, but I'd say go with the one you are most familiar with. I'm studying for American Literature, but in the process I'm realizing my knowledge of American literature novels is okay, while my breathe of American poetry okay my breathe of English/British poetry is pretty big. While my knowledge of English Novels is probably lacking. I hear the test is 50% literature/50% poetry interpretation questions

I'd say if you've taken American Literature than American Literature should be easier, and vice versa.

*Dewisant, what did you use to study? Would you recommend studying literature quotations?

*Slimcustomer, did you have any background in those classes?

*atatbl, did you take the test, how did you do?

[Westerner]

could I be ready for either of these in less than two weeks?

I took about 1.5 weeks for each but that was because I'd just finished high school courses on both subjects. I'd say a background is necessary in order to be able to pass in a short amount of time. If you don't have that, you'd need to take longer to learn as much as you can. Or cram like nuts

I don't remember "interpretive" being a big part of either.

According to CollegeBoard, English Lit is 60% analyzing. American Lit can be up to 40% analyzing. I found my versions of those tests fit well with those numbers.

*Dewisant, what did you use to study? Would you recommend studying literature quotations?

I'm not Dewisant, but yes I would.

[CLEP_enthusiast]

Thanks, given my resurrection of this thread, I wasn't sure if I would get an answer anytime soon.

Do you know if theirs a list that lists all the important people to study for American Literature? That would be very beneficial to me

I just did the Peterson's exam on American/British Lit and I scored 52 on the American and 34 on the British. Probably evident my American Lit class helped me a little bit.

Westerner, what resources did you use that you think are most valuable? I'm trying to knock this test out in the next couple weeks before fall semester starts. This class finishes up my degree and I have other classes to worry about(Organic Chemistry)

[Westerner]

Sounds like you have a good start on the American Lit CLEP, as evidenced by your Petersons score.

I mainly used the REA book and practice tests. Those were absolutely wonderful

Timelines were soooo helpful for me. Here are some:

~broken down into time periods
~more about the literary time periods
~a PDF timeline
~this one is more visual
~this one’s interactive

I agree, author lists are very helpful!

Here is a list of authors, via flashcards from Quizlet.
Here are some terms, works and random facts.

Wikipedia and Sparknotes are terrific for author bios and work summaries :coolgleam:

This is from CollegeBoard's website and it is spot-on:

You should also read as many as possible of the major novels that are mentioned or excerpted in the anthologies, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Other novelists whose major works you should be familiar with include Melville, Crane, Wharton, Cather, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Ellison and Wright

Reading actual works or summaries of them really helps. If you can get random anthologies or collections and study them, you'll definitely get a good feel for literature.

Hope that helps! Feel free to post if you have any more questions and I'll do my best to help!

[Peter123456789]

Do not click on these links! [color="#ff0000"]virus alert!!!!
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sounds like you have a good start on the american lit clep, as evidenced by your petersons score.

I mainly used the rea book and practice tests. Those were absolutely wonderful

Timelines were soooo helpful for me. Here are some:

~broken down into time periods
~more about the literary time periods
~a pdf timeline
~this one is more visual
~this one’s interactive

i agree, author lists are very helpful!

Here is a list of authors, via flashcards from quizlet.
Here are some terms, works and random facts.

Wikipedia and sparknotes are terrific for author bios and work summaries :coolgleam:

This is from collegeboard's website and it is spot-on:


do not click on these links! Virus alert!!!!

reading actual works or summaries of them really helps. If you can get random anthologies or collections and study them, you'll definitely get a good feel for literature.

Hope that helps! Feel free to post if you have any more questions and i'll do my best to help! :d

[Westerner]

Nuts. Those were good timelines too. Oh well, the Quizlet links are still good. Just google "American Literature timelines" and you'll find some good ones.