CLEP A&I Literature Prep

[bldgengineer]

I know that this is the course everyone says is easy but, apparently if you are like me and analyzing poetry and older english literature isn't your strong point then it could become a problem. I struggled through this in high school and this kind of english was one of the main factors I didn't want to go to college after graduation. Now that I'm 32 years old, a degree is the only thing holding me back from going further in my career. I would like to begin with taking this exam within the next month or so. I ordered the REA book in hopes that it will help me learn interpretation a little better.

I can read fairly well. I read everything from message boards and magazines to books that are non-fiction and fiction. I actually enjoy reading the books before seeing the movies. From what I can tell though, this course is exactly what I had major issues with in school. I couldn't stand interpreting items like Beowolf and Shakespeare short stories but authors like John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, and Charles Dickens were easy for me to handle. If anyone has any kind of advice on how to maybe work through this I would be most appreciative!

[BGSU_Alum_86]

Did you purchase the A & I Lit study guide from CLEP? If you didn't, you might want to consider doing a search on your local library online catalogs as some libraries carry older issues of the CLEP Official Study Guide book (exam descriptions and practice tests for all CLEP exams). A practice test might help reassure you that you really CAN do this, plus give you more direction on what to study (if any). Others will chime in here...

[topdog98]

I generally really like the REA books, but this one is an exception. The reading in the text is a waste of time for this test, and the practice tests were much harder than the actual test. I agree with the post above. The CLEP Official Study Guide is much closer to the actual test.

Like you, I hate analyzing literature. I was scared of this test but trusted the advice of those here. I actually did quite well on the test and surprised myself.

Free-clep-prep has some tips for this test. Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP Study Guide - Free-Clep-Prep.com

I read over some literary terms in this sparknotes: http://sparkcharts.sparknotes.com/lit/li...ction1.php

[bldgengineer]

I went ahead and ordered the official study guide from Amazon. For only $18 I figured what harm could it do? To give you guys an example, I tried the 9 example questions on the CLEP website and I only got 3 right and I think I guessed a total of 8. It seriously freaked me out and felt like I was back in my 9th grade English lit class. I'm 32 years old. I haven't sat in an English class in almost 15 years lol

[clep3705]

The study guide for a previous year is just as good and costs less. Changes from year to year are very minimal. I doubt any changes have been made to the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature content for years. Practice tests are expensive to create. I bought an older study guide because it was so cheap.