Help with Humanities Test

[austinpwrz]

Hi,

I just wanted to get some study advice on the Humanites CLEP from those of you who have taken it. I have access to instacert.com, Peterson's, REA and Princeton's. I did very well on the Peterson's exams today 98% on fine art and 68% on literature. I do have trouble recognizing passages from poetry since I not too familar with that subject. I know a lot about dance and art history (I've had to brush up on it), music history I'm doing better on. I know some SHakespeare, etc.

I guess what I am asking is...is it enough to keep taking the practice exams and reading the explanations or should I really know the subjects in depth outside of the practice exams? Will questions pop-up that I don't know if I just use the study exams?

Any guidance you can give me is appreciated since this is also my very first CLEP.

Thanks!!

[snazzlefrag]

Hi,

I just wanted to get some study advice on the Humanites CLEP from those of you who have taken it. I have access to instacert.com, Peterson's, REA and Princeton's. I did very well on the Peterson's exams today 98% on fine art and 68% on literature. I do have trouble recognizing passages from poetry since I not too familar with that subject. I know a lot about dance and art history (I've had to brush up on it), music history I'm doing better on. I know some SHakespeare, etc.

I guess what I am asking is...is it enough to keep taking the practice exams and reading the explanations or should I really know the subjects in depth outside of the practice exams? Will questions pop-up that I don't know if I just use the study exams?

Any guidance you can give me is appreciated since this is also my very first CLEP.

Thanks!!

Hi Austin,

Welcome to the board.

The humanities exam is almost entirely BROAD rather than DEEP. It is basically a huge general knowledge test. You will need to RECOGNIZE famous names, famous paintings, famous sculptures, famous operas, famous buildings etc.

The more exposure you get to all of the above, the better you will be prepared for the exam.

With that in mind, I think going through Instantcert, REA, COMEX, and the Princeton mocks, will be excellent preparation for you.

There will ALWAYS be questions you don't know the answer to. The subject matter is just to vast to be able to know everything. The aim is to get more questions right than you get wrong.

This is a pass/fail exam. If you are consistently getting more than half the questions correct, you will likely fair well on the actual exam.

I believe I posted a long list of things you should know for CLEP Humanities, somewhere on this board. You might want to do a search and see if you can find some previous threads.

Best of luck,
Snazzlefrag

[austinpwrz]

Thank you I actually bookmarked that post last night and looked at some of the sites. I am going through each topic "Cracking the CLEP" suggests knowing and making notes. I think with the notes and the tests I should do fine. I have a fairly decent memory. I've heard this exam is hard so I am a bit nervous:eek:

[ShotoJuku]

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]In addition to IC, you CANNOT FAIL with the REA and COMEX books!!

Good Luck!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[snazzlefrag]

Thank you I actually bookmarked that post last night and looked at some of the sites. I am going through each topic "Cracking the CLEP" suggests knowing and making notes. I think with the notes and the tests I should do fine. I have a fairly decent memory. I've heard this exam is hard so I am a bit nervous:eek:

The questions are not hard at all. It is preparing adequately for it that makes this exam hard.

Don't be afraid of it. Memorization skills come in REALLY handy for this exam, because it is basically ALL about recalling facts (who wrote this? what is this called? what era did suchabody write in? etc.)

I too was scared of it. So I memorized a lot of trivia type information....and scored a 73. After you are done studying for this exam, you will do great on Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Heehee!

Who wrote Catcher in the Rye?
Which famous threesome were also known as the "Bell Brothers"?
Who was the Roman god of Speed?
Who painted "Starry Night"?
Which style of painting brought us such greats as Dali, Miro, and Magritte?
Frank Lloyd Wright was a famous _________ ?

Ha ha! You get the idea. Not deep....just broad.

[austinpwrz]

OK it is killing me...who are the bell brothers. I googled it but found nothing. I knew all the others...

[Librevore]

Now I'm curious also--Is it Melville, Edward and Alexander "Graham" Bell? Alexander is the only famous Bell I know. (Outside of the Liberty Bell which of course was brotherless.hilarious )

Librevore

[snazzlefrag]

Ha ha!

It was the collective pseudonym under which the Bronte Sisters wrote. Emily (Ellis Bell), Charlotte (Currer Bell), and Anne (Acton Bell)....AKA "The Bell Brothers"

Now you know. Another question not to be feared!
hilarious

You'll probably NEVER forget this little tidbit of trivia now.

The Bronte sisters were from my region of England, as was Wordsworth. A tidbit of irrelevant trivia that you probably WILL forget.

[ShotoJuku]

.......Alexander is the only famous Bell I know. (Outside of the Liberty Bell which of course was brotherless.hilarious )

Librevore

[SIZE="2"]Don't forget about "Ma Bell" and the "Baby Bells".....[/SIZE]

[austinpwrz]

Aha! Thanks for answering that. I thought it was Alexander Bell and his brothers as well.