Question - Analyzing Lit / English Lit

[cucalorus]

Well, first things first: I'm new around here, so I'm George.

I'm wondering if I could ask a question of some folks who've taken one or both of the abovementioned CLEP tests.

My guess is that I could go in and take the exam with relative ease. At community college, I had an introductory literature course; at university, I had a poetry-writing class, a Shakespeare class, a Gender and Literature class, and two American Lit classes (one, 1500s to 1800s; the other, 1800s to present). I've seen the free (collegeboard.com) outline and know probably 90% of the terms and other content. I still remember the content of the courses, too.

All that said, does it sound like I have enough former Literature coursework / knowledge to handle (without much difficulty) the type of content and questions these exams ask?

[cucalorus]

Thanks, cinderly for the reply.

One thing that's been a bit unclear to me is the focus of these exam questions. Are these more about understanding of terms, concepts, genres, etc / reading comprehension (that is, reading a passage and then answering a question about it), or is it more heavy on identifying specific authors and their works?

[jec959]

You need to be careful you don't duplicate a class, I actually had a literature class from my associates which EC is not counting because they say it duplicates A&I literature, so you may want to make sure you don't duplicate. The class I took was interpreting literature and was all shakespeare so I didn't think it would duplicate but it did.

[cookderosa]

Well, first things first: I'm new around here, so I'm George.

I'm wondering if I could ask a question of some folks who've taken one or both of the abovementioned CLEP tests.

My guess is that I could go in and take the exam with relative ease. At community college, I had an introductory literature course; at university, I had a poetry-writing class, a Shakespeare class, a Gender and Literature class, and two American Lit classes (one, 1500s to 1800s; the other, 1800s to present). I've seen the free (collegeboard.com) outline and know probably 90% of the terms and other content. I still remember the content of the courses, too.

All that said, does it sound like I have enough former Literature coursework / knowledge to handle (without much difficulty) the type of content and questions these exams ask?

>>


Welcome George! I am in Illinois too.

There are 3 lit CLEPs you could try, each worth 6 credits. You only get a pass/fail, so based on your intro- I doubt you would have too much trouble. The SAT Registration - SAT Scores - College Search - College Admissions - Scholarships website has the outline, which will tell you if you have some areas to work on.

A couple things-
if you HAVE lit credit, and intend to transfer your lit credit somewhere- it is HIGHLY possible that you will duplicate credit. I believe my college takes the lit CLEPs as 100 levels. As you know, you can't duplicate credit.
On the other hand, if you took a class here or there and don't intend on bothering with the transcript (or want to bury an old C here or there), it would be an easy (yet maybe more expensive) way to earn your credits.

Someone with more knowledge could talk about the GRE literature exam- it earns big chunks of credit at Excelsior College and Charter Oak State College. (up to 30 credits I think - enough for a major in a single exam)

The analyzing and interpreting lit class is a comprehension exam. No specific lit knowledge needed, but familiarity with a few terms would be good. I didn't study for this one and passed.

English lit and American lit are content exams. You'll need to know works. I am working on American lit now and using the Idiot's Guide- it seems to be a very good layout.

For the enthusiasts, enjoy the audio books on librivox, but don't forget about Gutenberg. Free free free. I print off 99% of my son's reading books from that site. (I have a nice duplexing laser printer!)

[studyhard]

A&I is primarily just that--analyzing and interpreting passages. There are a few "technical" questions...."Is this an example of: simile, metaphor, pentameter, trochee," etc, but most of them are about the text itself.

English Lit does include some analyzing and interpreting, but it usually winds up also asking you who wrote the excerpt and what it's from.

If you aren't sure, do you have the book of CLEP practice tests? Just take the practice tests for both and see how you do. If you get over half of the questions right on each test, you should be fine.

[cucalorus]

Yes -- I've looked into the matter of duplicating credit.

The "English Literature" CLEP transfers as "British Literature" (or LITR 257, as they designate it), and I never took one ("Shakespeare" was its own class, 269.) So that one is good to go.

Here's the neat thing about the other CLEP. The introductory literature course that I had -- at community college -- was transferred as LITR 100. And LITR 100 is a course that the university offers.

But the university's "Course Equivalency" sheet for CLEP exams states that the "Analyzing and Interpreting Literature" test is "not equivalent to a specific course but will count toward the hours needed to graduate."

In other words, I was granted credit for an introductory lit course, and it was the equivalent of LITR 100. The "Analyzing..." test doesn't have any equivalent but grants credit anyway, so I can safely say, "You've not granted me credit for this twice." Besides, the content of the two is different; I've checked.

[cookderosa]

Yes -- I've looked into the matter of duplicating credit.

The "English Literature" CLEP transfers as "British Literature" (or LITR 257, as they designate it), and I never took one ("Shakespeare" was its own class, 269.) So that one is good to go.

Here's the neat thing about the other CLEP. The introductory literature course that I had -- at community college -- was transferred as LITR 100. And LITR 100 is a course that the university offers.

But the university's "Course Equivalency" sheet for CLEP exams states that the "Analyzing and Interpreting Literature" test is "not equivalent to a specific course but will count toward the hours needed to graduate."

In other words, I was granted credit for an introductory lit course, and it was the equivalent of LITR 100. The "Analyzing..." test doesn't have any equivalent but grants credit anyway, so I can safely say, "You've not granted me credit for this twice." Besides, the content of the two is different; I've checked.

>>

Oh! So that sounds like a great loophole! So, it might end up being classified gen ed humanities or gen ed elective. That's good!

[cucalorus]

Well, it's official -- I'm all set to have the CLEP next Thursday afternoon. I'll be sure to post once I'm done. Nervous? Somewhat, but I don't expect much difficulty. This doesn't exactly sound like the world's toughest test.

Also, I've found that the testing center will grant me a time extension (disability-related), so that'll be nice to not have to feel rushed.

On a side note, I'll add that this is probably one of the more friendly / responsive forums I've been to!

[Chebasaz]

Best of luck to you George, and I'm sure you'll do great. It sounds as if you've had quite a bit more formal education on Lit than I ever did, and I had no issues at all with blowing the test out of the water.

Let us know how it goes!

[jec959]

Good Luck George I hope you do well. My only advice is to take a deep breath and do your best. Since you don't have the time limit you won't have to watch the timer as close. Let us know how you do.