A.P. Literature and Composition – M.C. Section Overview:
I. INTRODUCTION
• 1 Hr. test
• 55 questions (about one minute per question, including reading time)
• Divide time per passage – be ruthless! About 15 minutes per passage.
• Four passages about 12-16 questions per passage
• Essential to practice at home
•
Essential to analyze any wrong answers – spot trends and personal
weaknesses, then fix them! Understand why a wrong answer is wrong,
especially in practice.
• Lose 1/4 point on wrong answers
• Multiple choice = 45% Essays = 55%
• Typical: 2 prose/ 2 poems
• Test only uses literature from 1575—present (no Middle English or Old English)
• One passage will include a minority writer
• Expect 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th century passage
Question Types:
1. Situation
• who? to whom? (poetry)
• subject of 3rd Paragraph (prose)
2. Structure
• poetry: how stanzas relate
• what word in ______ relates back to ______
• what divisions represent its structure
• prose: how one paragraph relates to another
• progression of thought and overall structure
3. Theme
• whole and parts
4. Grammar and Word Meaning
• poetry: specific word choice definitions within context
• pronoun references/antecedents
• paraphrase word choice
• prose: subject of long sentence is…
5. Diction
• poetry: Use of _______ indicates
• poet’s idea of _________ is suggested by _______
• prose: choice of verbs in paragraph 4 suggests _______
• speaker’s anger is implied by ________
6. Images/ Figurative language/ Literary Technique
• which one? Where else in work?
• Purpose of a metaphor
• analogy in 2nd paragraph
7. Tone (perhaps metrics in poetry)
8. Rhetoric (mostly in prose)
• function of last sentence
• effect of shift in point of view
Styles of Questioning:
A. FACTUAL
• phrase presents example of…
• all are Figurative language except
• Man in line ___ is pictured mainly in his role as ___
• in line ___ the ___ is seen chiefly as …
• in line ___ the speaker regards himself as …
• beginning in ___ speaker does which …
• excerpt is written in …
• according to the speaker, …
• “they” in line ___ refers to …
• the object of “to” in line ___ is …
B. MAIN IDEA
• ______ hated ______ because _____
• parable of _______ serves to _______
• _______ believed human nature is ________
• which best describes ______ at the end
• tone
• which describes how ____ felt about …
• passage is concerned with …
• relation between line ____ and line ___ is best described as …
• main point about ___ is …
• line ___ speaker attempts to …
• style is characterized by …
• irony rests chiefly on ______
C. HIDDEN IDEA
• ____ interpreted to mean
• phrase evokes ______
• image of _______ refers to …
• ________ most likely represents ______
• can be inferred
• in line ___ the phrase “ ____” means _____
• line ___ suggests that …
• can be inferred speaker would agree with …
* REASONS ANSWERS ARE WRONG
1. Irrelevant to the question
2. Contradictory to the passage
3. Unreasonable (the “Huh?” choice)
4. Too general or too specific
5. Never addressed in the passage
6.
Look for the SPECIFIC WORDS that make the answer wrong. Remember the
difference
between a right answer and the BEST (credited) answer. More than one can be right; look for the
best. Avoid distractions!
between a right answer and the BEST (credited) answer. More than one can be right; look for the
best. Avoid distractions!
Strategies to consider as we move forward w/ M.C. questions:
1.
After reading the passage, students should read each question and
anticipate what the answer
might be before looking at the answer choices. Many students are nervous when taking the exam,
and any strategies that help them focus and concentrate are good. When students get down to two
answers, both of which seem correct, I advise them to choose the one that is most specific.
might be before looking at the answer choices. Many students are nervous when taking the exam,
and any strategies that help them focus and concentrate are good. When students get down to two
answers, both of which seem correct, I advise them to choose the one that is most specific.
2. I
also instruct the students to read actively rather than passively. I
encourage them to underline
words, phrases, or sentences in the passage that they think might be important. I show them how to
look for patterns, motifs, repetition, and/or contrasts. What they underline is probably not as
important as the process. I emphasize that reading actively increases focus and improves
comprehension. I ask them how many times they have read a passage then looked up and did not
remember a thing they just read. Reading actively helps to curb that wandering mind! Students
cannot afford to waste time on the multiple-choice section with several readings.
words, phrases, or sentences in the passage that they think might be important. I show them how to
look for patterns, motifs, repetition, and/or contrasts. What they underline is probably not as
important as the process. I emphasize that reading actively increases focus and improves
comprehension. I ask them how many times they have read a passage then looked up and did not
remember a thing they just read. Reading actively helps to curb that wandering mind! Students
cannot afford to waste time on the multiple-choice section with several readings.
3. I
explain that the most difficult kinds of questions are the ones that
ask students to find "all of the
following except" or any questions that require students to reread a large portion of the text. They
might want to leave them until later, as these questions consume an inordinate amount of time.
following except" or any questions that require students to reread a large portion of the text. They
might want to leave them until later, as these questions consume an inordinate amount of time.
4. The
multiple-choice section always presents a combination of easy, medium,
and difficult
questions for each passage. These questions generally follow the chronology of the passage rather
than transition from easiest to hardest or vice versa. The most important factor, however, is that they
all are worth the same point value. Therefore, a sound strategy for students is to make sure they get
credit for all the easy and medium answers first. A student who spends too much time on a single,
hard question may not get to answer two or three easy questions in a later part of the exam.
Additionally, I advise students to do a quick check of the number of the question and the number on
the Scantron forms every time they see a zero (10, 20, 30, and so on). This double-check can keep
them from getting off track, having to go back to find their error, and wasting valuable time.
questions for each passage. These questions generally follow the chronology of the passage rather
than transition from easiest to hardest or vice versa. The most important factor, however, is that they
all are worth the same point value. Therefore, a sound strategy for students is to make sure they get
credit for all the easy and medium answers first. A student who spends too much time on a single,
hard question may not get to answer two or three easy questions in a later part of the exam.
Additionally, I advise students to do a quick check of the number of the question and the number on
the Scantron forms every time they see a zero (10, 20, 30, and so on). This double-check can keep
them from getting off track, having to go back to find their error, and wasting valuable time.
5.
When the question refers to a part of the sentence and asks for the
meaning of a word or phrase
in context, what a word refers to, or how a word functions, it is best to go back to the beginning of
the sentence or even to the previous sentence and read completely to the end of the sentence to
comprehend the meaning. I have seen questions that ask the student what the antecedent of "this" is,
and the answer is found in the preceding sentence. Students may also want to read the sentence that
follows because the answer could be there.
in context, what a word refers to, or how a word functions, it is best to go back to the beginning of
the sentence or even to the previous sentence and read completely to the end of the sentence to
comprehend the meaning. I have seen questions that ask the student what the antecedent of "this" is,
and the answer is found in the preceding sentence. Students may also want to read the sentence that
follows because the answer could be there.
6. If students find themselves running out of time, they can take the following approaches:
A.
Scan the remaining questions and look for either the shortest
questions or the questions that
direct them to a specific line or lines. These questions take less time to answer.
direct them to a specific line or lines. These questions take less time to answer.
B.
Look for questions that contain the answer without requiring the
student to refer to the text. For
example, "The sea slid silently from the shore" is an example of (B) alliteration. The student would
not have to go back to the passage to find the answer.
example, "The sea slid silently from the shore" is an example of (B) alliteration. The student would
not have to go back to the passage to find the answer.
7. One
way to ensure that students finish the entire multiple-choice section
is to have them scan the
number of questions and divide the number by two. For example, if there are 54 questions, and
students have 60 minutes to complete the section, students should be around question 27 after 30
minutes. Another strategy is to divide the time by the number of passages. For example, if students
have four passages to read and one hour to complete the exam, they should allot 15 minutes to each
passage. The advantage of this method is that every passage has a number of easy and medium
questions, and by moving steadily the students will receive the maximum number of points. Do not
assume that there will be four passages; while four is often the number of sections in the multiple-
choice section, I have seen as many as five. One year a student told me she did not even get to the
last passage because she assumed there would be only four. Students must take responsibility for
managing their time on the exam.
number of questions and divide the number by two. For example, if there are 54 questions, and
students have 60 minutes to complete the section, students should be around question 27 after 30
minutes. Another strategy is to divide the time by the number of passages. For example, if students
have four passages to read and one hour to complete the exam, they should allot 15 minutes to each
passage. The advantage of this method is that every passage has a number of easy and medium
questions, and by moving steadily the students will receive the maximum number of points. Do not
assume that there will be four passages; while four is often the number of sections in the multiple-
choice section, I have seen as many as five. One year a student told me she did not even get to the
last passage because she assumed there would be only four. Students must take responsibility for
managing their time on the exam.
How to write a blog for A.P. Literature and Composition
1. Use the blog to explore literary, cultural, historical, international & local issues.
2. Be informed. Research and reflect on issues before you write.
3. This task is designed to improve your ability to expand the topics discussed in class.
4. Pay attention to the length requirements indicated on each assignment.
5. Show the readers that you are thinking critically!
6. Use Standard English/ MLA Format to write your blogs
Have some fun with these assignments!
(VOICE YOUR THOUGHTS in an informed and respectful manner.)
Your Assignment:
This assignment, if done correctly, will take several hours. Do not leave it until the last day!
1.
Review the answers to the multiple choice section you recently
completed. Just as we annotate in
class, you will mark up your test in order to determine your performance breakdown. We are
looking to identify the types of questions you, "tend to do well on" and those with which you, "tend
to struggle." (You are looking for patterns.)
class, you will mark up your test in order to determine your performance breakdown. We are
looking to identify the types of questions you, "tend to do well on" and those with which you, "tend
to struggle." (You are looking for patterns.)
2. Read the M.C. section overview
3. Read the Question Types (1-8)
4. Read the Styles of Questioning (A- C)
5.
Assess, from your performance on the multiple choice section, your
strengths and weakness with
the Question Types and Styles of Questioning
listed on our blog. Once you have identified the
patterns in your
performance, connect your strengths and weakness with ideas discussed in
"Strategies to Consider". Identify your most critical strategies, understandings and plans for
approaching M.C. questions as we move forward with the course.
"Strategies to Consider". Identify your most critical strategies, understandings and plans for
approaching M.C. questions as we move forward with the course.
Assignment Parameters:
- Your blog should refer to specific question types, styles and test taking strategies. In addition, unless you are the first to post, refer to an observation or future strategy discussed by one of your classmates.
- When discussing a specific, provide a quote. (This can be from the question, class discussion and/or the passage.)
- This is a meta-cognitive activity. Be specific about your understanding of yourself as a learner. Responses should be a minimum of 500 words.
- (Please do not make reference to your M.C. section score. )
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ReplyDeleteIn this baseline assessment there were many types of questions that I tended to struggle on, however, there were also many that I tended to do well on. For example, the types of questions I tended to struggle on were rhetoric questions, but mainly for passage questions; for poetry questions I tended to struggle on situation questions. For instance, number fifty-one, “The chief effect of the imagery and figures of speech in lines 65-75 is to,” I tended to get questions similar to this wrong. This is probably due to the fact that I did not fully understand the passage, and I also did not annotate, underline or take notes on the passage. Furthermore, since this specific question was one of the very last questions and since there is a time constraint, I mainly kept in mind the amount of time that is left and was trying to finish as much as the assessment possible; therefore time is also another one of my issues when taking this assessment.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, for poems I tended to struggle on situation questions, take for example number fourteen, “The central opposition in the poem is between.” In poems, for these types of questions I find it difficult of pinpoint the type of situation that is occurring; one reason why I might find it difficult is because I am not yet comfortable nor use to understanding and comprehending poetry. Also, I find that poetry can be difficult because it can be interpreted in many ways, although it is true as long as the interpretation has proof than it can be perfectly valid, however since this is a timed assessment, automatically my first interpretation of the poem takes effect. Therefore, not thinking twice if my thoughts about the situation of the poem are valid or not and thus leading me to the incorrect answer.
Furthermore, the style of questions I tended to struggle on were hidden idea questions. For instance, questions number thirty-nine, “What does the speaker convey in lines 29-31,” these types of questions may seem simple, but in order to get questions like these correct there needs to be a pretty deep analysis. Therefore, since I also did annotate, take notes, or underline key points, I was unable to create a deeper understanding of the passage. Consequently, I must learn to thoroughly analyze and annotate the passages or poems.
Although I struggled on many types of questions, I did do well on certain questions too. The types of questions I tended to do well on were grammar and word meaning type questions, take question number twenty, “In line 21, ‘failed’ is best understood to mean.” The reason why I tended to do well on these questions is most likely due to the fact of being able to understand the sentence, line or phrase using other types of word choice. In other words, one of my stronger points must be being able to understand and comprehend the meaning of specific lines or sentences in a passage or a poem.
Simultaneously, the style of questions that I tended to do well on were main idea questions, specifically the questions with the word “describe” in them. For example, question number fifty-four, “Which of the following best describes Joe Dagget’s speech?” I tend to get these questions correct possibly because I am able to particularly understand a characters point of view, or the setting. What enables me to understand such was being able to do a quick read or skim of the passage to create a basic understanding of the passage, without over analysis. Therefore from this assessment now I am able to understand myself in what types of questions I tend to do well on and struggle, thus now I am able to improve myself.
The questions that I tended to excel on were main idea questions and hidden ideas. Some of the questions that I got wrong included factual, diction, figurative language and rhetoric questions. I was getting the factual questions wrong because they I was over thinking the question, looking for a deeper meaning. Instead the question was looking for a basic answer that was read in the passage. As an example, consider question one that corresponded to the first passage. The question asks, “Which of the following is the primary meaning of the word ‘nature’ as it is used in the passage”. The question choices were a) kind, sort or type; b) the physical landscape; c) the force controlling a person’s character; d) a pristine state of existence and e) the essential character of a thing. I chose answer d because I thought that they were looking for something more metaphorical. Looking back I can see that this type of question was just to see if the reader understood the story and what it was talking about. It was talking about the physical nature, which made answer b the correct choice. I should have engaged strategy number five. This way I would have been able to get a better understanding of the word nature and the way it was being used in the passage.
ReplyDeleteQuestions that I got right include questions that had quotes and asked what the author meant by inserting that certain phrase in. Number 3 asked, “From the context, the reader can infer that ‘Morris’ poorest workman’ (like 31) is a) a gardener; b) a tailor; c) a furniture craftsman; d) an impoverished artist or e) an agricultural laborer. First you would have to look back in the passage and read a few lines before and maybe one or two after the line that they quote. Throughout the text Vivian somewhat bashes the idea of nature being enjoyable and says that nature is uncomfortable. This leads to her saying “even Morris’ poorest workman could make you a more comfortable seat than the whole nature can” (line 31-33). People who make seats tend to be craftsmen. This leads to the correct answer being c) a furniture craftsman. Patterns that I have identified are that I tend to over think the most obvious questions, and have the easiest time with questions pertaining to what certain parts of the text mean.
Moving forward there are several steps that will be taken to ensure a higher average in the next test that we take. One will be to underline and annotate more as I go through and read each passage for the first time, especially poetry. Jenny makes a valid point when she says “poetry can be difficult because it can be interpreted in many ways, although it is true as long as the interpretation has proof that it can be perfectly valid”. The best thing to do is to get a sense of the poem as you read and look for evidence to support the theme or idea that comes to your mind as you go. Underlining will help when having to go back to the passage when it comes time to answer questions
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ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, there was no one category in which I did either particularly poorly or particularly well in. Instead, those errors which I did make can be essentially boiled down to very simple mistakes - filling in the wrong bubble on the answer sheet, for instance.
ReplyDeleteA particularly prominent example of this can be found in question 25, which asked the test taker to choose a quote from a list whose tone most closely matched the tone of the accompanying poem. This should have been an easy question - the accompanying poem's tone is very plainly "anti-nature", so to speak, a tone which is matched by only one of the possible choices: B, "April is the cruelest month". I, however, answered C, "Fair daffodils, we weep to see / You haste away so soon", showing remorse for the end of spring, which is completely and diametrically opposed to the poem's speaker's sense of dread at the coming of spring, which can be inferred from lines such as nine, in which Dickinson writes, "I dared no meet the Daffodils", and even the very first line of the piece, in which Dickinson writes, "I dreaded that first Robin, so". From this, one can only conclude that this error was brought not about by some misunderstanding of core concepts - which can be seen from my having gotten other questions that test said concept correct - but instead by a typographical error, the literary equivalent of a mathematical error on a chemistry test; the question is still wrong, but the problem is not in the student's comprehension of the topic that is being tested. Essentially, I did not pay sufficient attention to the mechanical aspect of physically entering my answer for the question.
Moving forward, it is, of course, most important to ensure that I know the material, as the test that we will take in May is most likely different from this one, but, as that appears to not be as much of a problem for me as it could have been, it will probably be largely more productive to focus on other ways to boost my score. The main such way will likely be to simply pay more attention. When I took this test, a combination of drowsiness due to having woken up a relatively short time before the test and fatigue from being more used to the laid-back pace that so characterizes summer vacation than the far more frantic and rigorous one that characterizes the school year sapped my focus and attentiveness, thereby reducing my ability to prevent mistakes by reprocessing what I was answering as I am answering it. This reduction in ability to check my work as I go would - and did - therefore lead to an increased likelihood of errors and mistakes "slipping through the cracks", so to speak, and thus reducing my score, as there may well be an insufficient length of time to double-check my work in detail - as Jenny wrote, the questions in the test can - and will - require "pretty deep analysis" in order to ensure a correct answer, which will quite probably require a significant amount of time to accomplish. To prevent this is a relatively simple task - the first part of the problem (drowsiness due to being unused to needing to wake up so early in the morning) partially solves itself, as I will, as the year progresses, grow increasingly used to waking up at such an hour, though it also depends on ensuring that I have a sufficient amount of sleep to being with. As such, to accomplish the first part of this strategy I must ensure that I fall asleep at a reasonable hour. The second part of said plan will also solve itself for the same reason, as I will grow increasingly used to the frantic pace that academia requires once one has reached a high enough level as the year progresses.
I can honestly say that I struggled a lot while doing the baseline test. The first thing I noticed when I started to do the test was that my strengths were reading the passages and looking for words that I know the meaning to. Also, annotating things that I felt like I knew should be annotated. I was really good at understanding most of the questions, and also crossing out answers that I knew were wrong.
DeleteSome things that I struggled at were things like which answer would “BEST” fit as the best choice. I knew that this was going to be a problem for me because when my teacher told me that sometimes there would be 2 correct answers, you have to really deeply think about which one makes the best sense. For example just like jenny said, ““What does the speaker convey in lines 29-31? “ These types of questions had me thinking twice, because I would have to go back to the passage and analyze something before those lines given to me in the question, and see if I could figure out how I am going to choose the most correct answer choice to get it correct. But, now I noticed why I got these types of questions wrong. It was because I did not fully annotate the passage correctly. Instead, I would just write little things in the margins that I felt like I needed to note down because of the time. The time was going by really fast too. So I felt as if I did not want to run out of time and not finish all the questions and so I just didn’t bother to annotate as much as I needed to. But now I know that I can improve on these types of questions by annotating the passage more, looking for literary devices because maybe that would have helped a little better too, and also working at a more steady paste. I know that when the real thing comes in May, I’m not going to have time to fool around so if I’m stuck on a question like that, I’ll save it for the end and move on to the rest of the questions.
One of my greatest strengths of all throughout this test was questions that had to deal with finding the word meaning, and grammar. I knew I got questions that asked about this right because I’m really good with breaking words apart, and looking for context clues back in the passage that came before that word to try to get an understanding. Like jenny said again, in line 21, ‘failed’ is best understood to mean.” The reason why I know I did well on these types of questions is because I understood the meaning of the sentence, and it just all had to do with comprehending the passage in general. I also did well on questions that had dealt with diction, tone, foreshadowing, and main ideas. I’m really strong dealing with these types of questions because I know the meaning of what each of them mean and throughout my sophomore year, we used nothing but those literary devices all the time! So I realized that in order for me to keep getting these types of questions right like I mostly do, I just need to do process of elimination and break down the meaning of words that I know.
In conclusion, this test has brought to my attention that I need to make sure I annotate whenever I am given a passage to be read. Whether it is poetry, a novel, etc., I need to mark up the passage so my notes can help me understand it a little better. That’s part of the reason why I got most of those question types that had to deal with: why would the author say? How did he/she feel about so and so? Etc., this will next time helps me when I’m taking it because I now learned from my mistakes and see what I did wrong, also heard other people’s opinions on why they also got those type of question’s wrong maybe,, and took in a general better understanding for next time.
While looking over my overall score, I realized that I had to develop strategies that are more efficient. Probably the most important one is not to underestimate the caliber of this test because when it comes down to it, you will get overwhelmed and receive a very poor score.
ReplyDeleteUnlike any other test I have taken, this one contains a handful of questions that produce multiple “correct” answers. You are better off selecting the choice that is the most specific. This happens to be the case with question 33 on page 24. It asked “Mosca’s comment ‘Riches are in fortune/ A greater good than wisdom is in nature’ (lines 28-29) does which of the following?” and one can simply narrow the choices down to c and e. The step that comes next is one, which many seem to overlook, and results in the wrong option being taken. Yes, Mosca’s comment does compare fortune and riches, but e is a much more concrete answer because it describes the comparison between the two with more depth and frankly provides a better understanding of the passage.
In addition, another problem that arose in the midst of my reflection was the confusion between the “hidden idea” and “main idea” types of questions riddled into this exam. Take, for example, questions 51 and 3. While number 3 focuses on the literal meaning of words, number 51 requires you to look beyond the words and infer the author’s intentions through word choice and figures of speech used. A strategy that can be used to combat this hindrance is that of thinking of the question as if it was opened ended. This refers to the fact that to answer an opened ended question one has to provide well-grounded evidence. In other words, before selecting an answer, you should go back to the text and see if you can find any plausible evidence to support your answer. This method is effective for both types of questions.
Furthermore, time awareness also plays a very crucial role in your success. This is why being an “active reader” has better scores than that of the “passive reader.” Active reading does not simply mean underline lines that you classify as important, it implies the recognition and branding of words, phrases, and literary techniques that are sure to be addressed in following questions. Because this exam is comprised of 55 multiple choice and you are only allotted 60 minutes, time is of the essence. If one passively reads they also are prevented from wandering off into their thoughts and gain several seconds, if not minutes. For example, classmate, Jenny Tang, stated that one of her main problems came from her lack of annotations -“note taking”- on the passage.
Ultimately, I can walk away from this first baseline and say that I have genuinely learned something. Now I have many more tools and strategies under my belt than I did coming into this class. Fortunately, the year has only begun and I am sure to learn much more and hopefully be able to share said information with my fellow classmates.
MC Baseline Reflection
ReplyDeleteTo start off this reflective journey, one of the areas I dearly struggled on was time management and annotating the poems and passages. I started the test without even looking at the number of poems or prose the baseline exam contained. I started out slow, then I started to work a little faster, slowed down a bit again and then ended up guessing a few answers in the end luckily getting a few of them right. During this inconsistent process, I struggled with annotating the passages and poems thinking that I have fully understood the context of the passage and should be able to answer the questions without looking back. Well, I was wrong. I did not annotate or write in the poem or passage as much as I should have and there were questions on the test that we had to refer back to. What I ended up doing was rereading the passages (even though I had initially read it) in order to answer the questions and I lost a few extra minutes. For example, question 51, “The chief effect of the imagery and figures of speech in lines 65-75 is to…” So, in order to avoid this mistake I will have to divide up the passages and poems and eventually be around question number 27 at the half way point of the exam. I agree with Sam when she says, “Underling will help when having to go back to the passage when it comes time to answer questions.” After all, we only have an hour to answer fifty five multiple choice questions.
Some of the styles of questions I struggled in most were the hidden idea questions where I had to, again, look back at the passage and infer what a word or a passage means. Without annotations, this process took long and in order to try and save time, I ended up making an educated guess. This relates to the word meaning type questions in the exam where it asks for what a certain word or a phrase means in the passage. For example, question 28 says, “In the simile in line 8, “night” is used to stand for…” There were a lot of questions like these I missed one the test from factual questions, to main idea questions to hidden idea questions. Basically, I need to annotate more, analyze as much as I can the first time I read the passage and quickly try to identify some of the literary techniques or terms that were applied and used. To add to that, I missed questions that I should not have missed such as question 3, which says, “From the context, the reader can infer that ‘Morris’ poorest workman is…” I just looked at line 3 and inferred that he is a gardener however; I did not look at its entirety in which Morris was used and got that question wrong.
I think while taking the test, I should look at the questions first before reading the passage or a poem to get a generalization of what the questions are like and where do they refer back to the passage or poem because I would find it much easier to annotate the things I should annotate and forget about the rest. This way I feel I can save time and spending time on the more difficult questions. For instance, question 7 says, “The primary rhetorical function of the sentence “Fortunately, in England, at any rate, thought is not catching” (lines 51-53) is to…” This is a difficult question since only 29% of the students got it right and therefore, with more time comes more probability of getting the question right. Easy questions for me included the ones that related to question types of literary techniques or figurative language.
I struggled with questions types of tone because I had read so quickly that I could not connect the speakers tone to the whole. I read past critical pieces of information to which the questions were relating back to.
I generally did well on the poems compared to the long passages due to the short readings I had to do. In the future I hope to do better on this section of the test to get to the goal I want. Moving forward, I am certain I will learn more test taking strategies, learn more about the types of questions on the test and succeed in the course.
After reviewing my scores on the baseline AP Exam I came to three main conclusions. I needed to utilize my time more productively and efficiently. I need to effectively summarize the piece of literature to identify the main point. I have to have a more thorough understanding of literary terms.
ReplyDeleteBefore taking the test you are aware of what a time crunch the test is. 55 questions in 60 minutes plus reading a passage means the College Board expects you to move at a rapid but thorough pace. When taking the baseline I would read the passage initially just for leisure. Then I would read it a second time with a more “critical eye” trying to identify some integral characters or main events that would give me a better understanding of the overall story. This approach equated to being very ineffective. Although I would have a broad understanding of the passage I failed to get questions correct that had a great emphasis on a specific piece of the story due to me having such a broad understanding. Reading it twice to only have a broad understanding and then having to refer back to the passage reread the part integral to the question and then internalize my thoughts to conclude to an answer wasted time and wasn’t very efficient because I wasn’t acquiring the proper knowledge I needed from the passage to get the question right and I was wasting precious time needed for the exam. A more efficient approach I have come to when taking the test next time is to read the passage the first time with a critical eye and annotate for initial thoughts,settings,characters and any other information that can prove to be relevant to answering the questions. As I am not particularly good at annotating I have taken the approach of not doing it at all so from now until May I will try to effectively annotate all passages that way it comes more naturally to me when I am taking the real AP Exam in May.
I noticed that I seemed to struggle with questions on the extreme end of the spectrum in other words questions that were really hard or really easy with that being determined by the percentage of people that got it right. For the really easy questions I would make ineffective summarizations of the passage and then use that wrong knowledge when answering questions. I would key in on a specific piece of the text and broaden it to make it the overall point of the story when in reality that piece was probably irrelevant to the main point of the story. That broad approach failed me even more once poetry became involved. With poetry being so dense for one to analyze focusing in on piece that might not be as relevant can become very detrimental when answering questions. My issue with poetry stems greatly with my lack of experience with it. That will change this year as it is already in the curriculum to deal with poetry extensively so I will be a lot more comfortable with it because of my increase in experience.
I did poorly on questions in which the answer equated to just picking a literary term. The reason for this is simple I need to memorize and understand the literary terms better therefore when they are implemented in the questions I can probably decipher them and then decide which answer would be the best. As Sam pointed out I will underline and annotate the passage upon the first time reading it. I will also take Sam’s stance on tackling poetry “the best thing to do is to get a sense of the poem as you read and look for evidence that supports the theme or idea that comes to mind as you go”. Furthermore, a combination of all these factors will help me to dramatically improve my scores next time I take a practice A.P Exam.
Multiple Choice Baseline Reflection
ReplyDeleteOverall, I tend to do better on situation, structure, images/figurative language/literary technique, and tone related questions. The questions I marked incorrect were related to theme, diction, grammar, rhetoric and word meaning. In the factual style I frequently missed the “all of the following EXCEPT…” style of questions. This was probably due to the constraint of time and my strategy as a test taker to avoid the questions that would take more time, in terms of referring to the passage or poem many times. For example, an exact instance of my weakness with rhetoric questions is visible in question seven. It asks, “The primary rhetorical function of the sentence ‘Fortunately, in England, at any rate, thought is not catching’ (lines 51-53) is to”. The answer choices included a) introduce a digression from the central topic b) introduce an exception to a general rule c) provide supporting evidence for a previously stated thesis d) undermine a point previously made and e) distinguish between two categories. I selected “d” because the area I was referring to in the passage for the answer was small, and therefore I forgot the main idea of the passage and now realize why “a” is correct because the author inserts an almost irrelevant thought in this passage, creating a digression from the central topic. Underlining main ideas and annotating important literary usage would undoubtedly help me succeed with my ability to answer questions with more consistency. Hence, moving forward I should always refer to the passage as a whole in this type of question, rather than just the few lines above and below the quote in the question.
But, due to the small number I marked incorrectly, I cannot completely say that I need specific work on a certain section, rather that I need to pace myself while taking the test, limiting the time spent on each question to less than a minute. The questions I got wrong were actually part of a strategy that I employed, which was to avoid the “main idea” or “as a whole” questions, while others were just wrong. Much of the remaining error, besides the goal my strategy employed of answering the less time consuming questions first, came from fatigue and unpreparedness. As Joe mentioned above, “…a combination of drowsiness due to having woken up a relatively short time before the test and fatigue from being more used to the laid-back pace that so characterizes summer vacation than the far more frantic and rigorous one that characterizes the school year…” meaning that my body and brain was still adapting to the rigor of school, as we had sat for this test early in first week of school. In fact, my body was not expecting a test of this difficulty so early in the school year so I was not able to focus on some questions in some regards. Therefore, in the future, I should try to maintain a constant sleep pattern before a major test like the SAT or AP Literature Exam in May.
I believe my strategy of avoiding the questions that take the most time is valuable, but when I do attempt to answer them I should focus on the passage as a whole, so I do not commit errors related to main ideas or references, like in question seven. Also, maintaining a sleep schedule well before the day of a lengthy test should prep my brain for challenge to come. Additionally, underlining important information as I initially read the passage will allow me to spend more time on the difficult questions, because I will be able to recognize main ideas efficiently. Hopefully, I will use this reflection in other classes to improve my test taking overall as a student, and understand the importance of time management during test taking. Thus far, this meta-cognition activity has helped me reflect on my mistakes and where I can improve, and I hope I will continue to utilize this great tool Ms. O’Donnell has introduced to me
There were many things that I learned from my performance on the multiple choice questions of the baseline AP English exam. I realized that there are certain questions I struggled with, such as the literal meaning of words in a passage. In these types of questions, I would skim over the lines of the passage that the question referred to, but not take a closer look at the meaning of the word in that particular context. Furthermore, I noticed that on the AP exam, unlike other exams I have taken, there seems to be more than one correct answer for some questions. I also struggled in these types of questions because I was unable to discern between the almost correct and the actual correct answer. Sometimes when I glanced over the answer choices to a question and came across one that could have been correct, I stopped there and immediately marked it as my choice, instead of reading all the choices and figuring out which one was the most appropriate. This leads to the topic of time management.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I finished early, I spent too much time on certain passages and certain questions instead of giving the entire test more time. In terms of time management, I think the best strategy would be to annotate both the passages and questions as both Jenny and Sam suggested. Annotations draw your attention to the key points and main ideas of a passage and are very valuable when you only have limited time. Personally, this is a strategy I need to work on, because I have trouble identifying what should and shouldn’t be annotated. I think the best way to improve this is to practice with other texts.
Another trend I noticed as I looked through my multiple choice answers was that I often got questions wrong that many students got correct. For example, I got question 41 wrong and 75% of students who took the exam, got it correct. I realized this was because sometimes I overthought questions. I would get the correct answer, then go back and change it because I thought it was too easy. I learned another thing about this exam: there are various types of questions and they are not all like each other. One question may be superficial and easy to answer, while the next question may be extremely analytical and confusing.
Something I did well on was time management. I was able to finish the test with plenty of time to spare. I was able to accomplish this because after I read a passage or poem, I would read all the questions related to it and answer the ones that would take me less time to do, questions like, “what does the author mean by this phrase in lines 3-4,” or “what is the meaning of the word, “nature,” in the context of the passage.” These questions are “easier” because they refer back to the text and you can almost always find the answer by rereading that section. I circled the questions that required deeper level thinking so I could come back to them later. In that way, I didn’t get hung up on a question or passage for too long and I was able to keep moving. Since all the questions are worth the same number of points, I felt it was more important to answer as many as possible with confidence, than to get caught up with one or two hard ones.
These were some of the trends I noticed while looking at my multiple choice performance. Judging by the posts above, I see there are many skills and strategies that overlap between students in our class and the best way to improve on that is to just practice. Moving forward, I hope I am able to improve on the particular sections I didn’t do well on and maintain the strategies that helped me out this time The discussion we had after the exam about the questions was also helpful because if I got a certain question wrong and then I heard someone else explaining it, I felt I understood it better. Sometimes multiples perspectives help broaden the way I think. I am glad we got exposed to an actual AP exam so early on. Now we all have certain goals to work for throughout the year.
~ Sana
While I was reviewing my baseline I realized that the questions I got wrong was because I did not carefully read the question and noticed the upper case letters like ‘EXCEPT’ I overlooked it in some cases. Also it was all about how I managed the time and the amount of questions I covered and if I have time left to spear. Some of the words I did not know or understand what it meant which led me to take a guess. The reason why I also got some of the questions wrong was because I lack the understanding of the passage or poem that was written.
ReplyDeleteI got some of the questions wrong because there were two possible answers but I was confused at which one was the most accurate. For example question forty-nine states “The images in lines 50-59 suggests that (A) Louisa envisions he future as bleak and uneventful. (B) Lily had effectively isolated Louisa from community life. (C) Joe had abandoned both Lily and Louisa and left the region. (D) Louisa had been quite troubled by the prospect of matrimony. (E) Louisa and Joe anticipated a blissful future together as husband and wife.” 53% of the people who sat to take the exam in 1999 answered correctly. I chose answer choice A, but the correct answer was D. This is a situation where there are similarities between the two answer choices. Both answers are correct but there was more evidence in the passage to support answer choice D.
Moreover, the questions I got correct were questions like Valkyrie Fatality stated were “questions that had quotes and ask what the author meant by inserting that certain phrase.” This is similar to my answers because and as you can see Valkyrie and I had the same similar questions correct. I got question forty-seven correct, it ask “In lines 22-23, “he was afraid of betraying himself as she” is best interpreted to mean that (A) Joe feared that Louisa was determined to reject him (B) Louisa was frightened that she had lost Joe’s love (C) both Joe and Louisa had been betrayed by Lily (D) Joe feared that Lily had betrayed him to Louisa (E) both Louisa and Joe hesitated to express their true desires.” I chose answer choice E which was corrected because I refer back to the passage.
This will help me in the future to understand the questions better and pace myself at a level so I have time at the end to go back and check my answers. Also it will help me to understand the questions better and do a good job and choose the most accurate answer and better my understanding of the passage or poem that I read.
Crystal Deleon
ReplyDeleteMrs. O’Donnell
September 16, 2012
M/C Baseline over View
Thanks to Mrs. O’Donnell and taking this base line prep test I had the opportunity to see what I unfortunately have received wrong but knowing the average of 1999 made me feel that I wasn’t the only one who got the answer wrong. While we went over the exam and seen all the choices and conversation with the people in the class room and what my classmate got right and why they chosen their answer open my eyes to see my errors.
I had problems with the hidden message and if I had read the poem correctly I would have notice the answer for example in the first short passage where CYRIL and VIVIAN dialog number 3 the question states that (from the context the reader can infer that “Moris ‘poorest workman” is) I chose answer E which say that he is an agricultural labor. When in fact the answer was C an furniture craftsman, I have miss the fact that Morris and CYRIL are two different people and in deep it clearly say that “Morris can make you a more comfortable seat than the whole of nature can.” Getting this answer wrong I realize I need to go back and read the sentence and the whole paragraph where I believe the answer is right like Denisha said “read the passage the first time with critical eye and annotate with initial thought, setting and character” I also seen that I need to practice my literary terms and open my vocabulary spectrum to a wider extend I received multiple question wrong that had to do with terms and definition , which I at first got mad at myself because I should of known that or who can I miss the clues to the words! But I gotten the chance to understand what I did wrong and truly understand how the answer for the question I got wrong accommodate with it and it was the reasonable choice out of the ones that were given in the passage.
I agree with Monish because I need to learn how to keep time managing and read the passage as a whole not piece by piece to find the answer. Throughout this experience I also notice my strength that I am good at with identifying the Speaker tone and the mood in the passage o poem. Which motivated me to understand that if I am able to understand what the speaker feels and wright then I can annotate and get my answer correct and know why I got the answer right. Additionally I am good with main idea for example question 26 in the VOLPONE poem the question goes. . Throughout the passage, Volpone is addressing I chose C his gold because I notice that the first thing he do is great the morning sun and then his gold which he keep describing in details and his treasure.
Knowing my strength and weakness can help me successes with my English and future. Thankfully with Mrs. O’Donnell Help and tools she can help me improve my scores and my understanding
After reviewing my performance on the exam, I can now see that I struggle with both imagery and hidden idea questions. Not only that, but my testing speed was also poor. While my performance in factual and main idea questions was solid, it is clear that not only my analytical skills, but also my time management skills held me back.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite obvious that I struggled with imagery questions. For example, question 42 was, “The imagery of the Poem was characterized by: A) religious and historical allusions, B) auditory and tactile qualities, C) transformation and equality, D) repetition and contrast, E) passivity and objectivity.” I incorrectly answered E, “passivity and objectivity,” when in fact the correct answer was C, “transformation and duality.” Another example of this in my test was question 22, “The speaker perceives the coming of spring chiefly in terms of: A) sounds and colors, B) odors and tastes, C) shapes and textures, D) music and poetry, E) love and youth.” I incorrectly answered C, “shapes and textures,” when the correct answer was A, “sounds and colors.” I suspect that my incorrect answers were probably due to my having only a basic understanding of the imagery used in the texts. My lack of understanding then led me to make an inaccurate answer choice.
I had some issues answering hidden idea questions. One example is question 18, “For the speaker, the robin and the daffodils have which of the following in common: A) an aura of the divine, B) the poer to intoxicate, C) the power to wound, D) a clear and useful purpose, E) a senses of timeliness and peace.” I incorrectly answered B, “the power to intoxicate,” when the correct answer was C, “the power to wound.” I blame my incorrect answer choice on my minimal effort to deeply analyze the poem. Like Sana, I would only, “skim over the lines of the passage that the question referred to,” without making a satisfactory effort to find any type of deeper meaning in the passage (She was talking about a different issue, but our problems stem from the same habit). This, of course, was a major error on my part. One should never analyze at a sub-par level when taking the AP Literature exam, or any literary exam for that matter.
My time management during the exam was less than satisfactory. This can easily be seen in my answers for questions 44 through 55. Up until this point in the test, I had been holding a fairly steady accuracy rate on my answers, but as I answered ten of the remaining twelve answers incorrectly, my total accuracy sharply decreased. These mistakes were not lack of understanding, but rather lack of time, as the final 10 responses were all guessed. I lost this time due to my spending too much time on particular questions. After reviewing the questions, it was easy to tell that I actually would have gotten correct answers on most of these questions had I had a bit more time.
After analyzing my weaknesses on this exam, it is clear I have a few troublesome flaws in my test-taking. I do see one promising answer for all of these flaws though: annotation. Quick, concise annotation made while I read will allow me to make a speedy, but more in depth, understanding of each passage for myself. Specific annotations would effectively solve my problems with imagery and hidden meaning questions. Annotating quickly as I read would also help me to easily find sections of passages that are relevant to the questions being asked. Being able to quickly find important information in the passage would decrease my test taking time, allowing me more time to assure that I finish the test.
I struggled a lot during the baseline assessment, but I have now come to a conclusion on why. I struggled the most with questions where I needed to truly read between the lines and get a full understanding of the passage. I read through the passage and went straight to the questions, instead of taking my time to understanding the passage so that I would be capable of answering the questions correctly. Whether I got the question right or wrong I still had a few minutes to spare. So, next time I will slow down so that the passage will make sense to me. While I am trying to read between the lines and interpret the passages, I will also annotate. I have difficulty annotating because I do not know what to annotate. I end up underlining everything and then nothing stands out to be important. I need to practice annotating so that I will get an overall better understanding.
ReplyDeleteI also had a hard time with questions that included sophisticated grammar. If I did not understand the vocabulary they were using then I had no idea where to go with my answer. Sometimes, I did not even understand the answer options because I did not know what the words meant so I had no idea what to do and I guessed. For the future, I need to increase my vocabulary, and start putting the literary terms into use. I need to practice the terms and make sure that I see them in poetry and short stories so that on the test it will be nothing new to me. The words need to be more than just a definition to me.
I also have trouble with poetry, which is where the vocabulary started to change. It is not easy for me to interpret poetry, and poetry can be interpreted in so many ways that I do not even know if I am heading in the right direction with my answers. Like Jenny, my interpretation might be correct because I can find proof to support my ideas, but I might not think twice about my answer so I will end up picking the less correct answer. Poetry can confuse me at times, and the poem by Emily Dickinson definitely confused me. I had no idea what she was talking about most of the time. If I become more familiar with Emily Dickinson then I think I will be able to interpret her poetry better. I also need to get better at recognizing punctuation and capitalization in poetry. If I know what to look for then I will be able to get a better understanding of poetry overall.
Even though I did poorly on most of the questions, I did well on questions that were related to basic understanding. Questions that most people got right I tended to get right too. They were questions that were general understanding or going back to a line in the passage and finding the meaning to that quote. The questions were simpler so I was able to understand the question and pick the correct answer. For the questions that were not as easy for me to understand, I will annotate the questions themselves so that I know exactly what they are looking for. Even if it is as simple as underling ‘all of the following EXCEPT’, I will underline it so that I know exactly what to look for and know what is not there. So, after assessing myself and the types of questions I excel in and the types I do poorly in, I have a better understanding of myself as a test taker and will be able to improve for the next time I take the test.
~Syd
Overall, I struggled a lot with this baseline assessment. Partially, the reason why I think I struggled was because I did not annotate fully. I did not take my time reading the passages I just read it quickly because I was scared to run out of time and was not going to be able to answer all the questions. But then, when I finished, I realized that I had extra time, which I could have used to fully read the passage and annotate. I personally do not know how to annotate; I try to annotate the main ideas but then when I look at the paper it seems like everything is underlined so I get confused. I think for me to excel in the multiple choice section of the baseline assessment I need to practice on my annotating skills. Also, I need to manage my time better so when it comes down to reading the passage I could fully analyze it and answer the questions without guessing. If I am able to take my time in reading the text and understanding it, I will save time in answering the questions because I will be able to easily cross out wrong answers.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, other types of questions that I struggled on were ones the required me to read in between the lines. For example, in the passage with Volpone and Mosca I had a difficult time analyzing this passage because I did not know what I was reading and I was confused because I did not know who Volphone was addressing. At first, I thought he was addressing Mosca, but in question 26 I came to a realization that he was not talking to Mosca but to his gold. I think if I was to have fully analyzed this passage I would have known that he, Volpone, was talking to his gold because in the passage he states ‘good morning my gold’ and I do not think he would have greeted Mosca in that form. If I have more practice with getting a deeper understanding in the passages I would have known that. It is not easy for me to read in between the lines and understand it. In addition, I tended to over think the questions that had an obvious answer. For example, on question 3, “From the context, the reader can infer that “Morris poorest workman is…” I think if I went back and reread lines 31-34 I would have known that she was talking about a furniture craftsman. The answer was not that difficult but I did not go back to the text to read before and after the quote. I need to not over think it because sometimes the obvious answer is correct.
Just how Sydney has a difficulty with vocabulary, I also need to improve on my vocabulary because some words that I encountered were difficult words. Now I know that I need to improve on my vocabulary in order to answer some of the questions correctly. Sometimes I did not know how to answer the question because of the vocabulary that was embedded in the question. If I do not understand the question I definitely cannot answer the question. Other than the grammar in the question, sometimes the answers had vocabulary that I did not know. I would have to guess because I did not even know what the answers were saying. I need to improve my vocabulary so that next time I will know what the questions are asking and what the answers are saying.
The questions that I tended to excel on were factual questions and basic understanding. For example, one question states, “Vivian’s first words (“Enjoy nature! I am glad to say that I have entirely lost that faculty”) are surprising because Vivian claims…” I did well in these types of questions because it shows that you have basic understanding of the passage and you understand what you are reading. Now I know that next time I take the assessment I need to conserve my time, annotate fully, and improve on my vocabulary in order to be successful in this test.
Multiple Choice Baseline Exam Reflection
ReplyDeleteWhile reviewing the AP Literature baseline exam, I noticed I did fairly well for my first time at this examination, however I could have improved. Based on the results that I found, I seemed to struggle with time management, and as a result a misunderstanding of the central concept. Similar to Archit, I started slowly on the test because I felt I had enough time and that I would be able to finish with time to spare. However, I was incorrect and after reaching the halfway mark on the test, I felt myself rushing through each question and not even stopping to thoroughly read each of them or the passages. As a result, I began to miss significant concepts within each of the texts, therefore resulting in a misconception of the main idea of the literary work. For example question 43 states, “Line 5 suggests which of the following? I. The speaker’s attempt to resist emotion, II. The speaker’s sense of oneness with the memorial, and III. The speaker’s philosophical conflict with the government”. The answer choices were a) I only, b) II only, c) I and II only, d) II and III only, and e) I, II, and III. I chose answer choice “b”, because when reading the passage I only perceived the speaker’s relationship with the memorial, however now I see that answer “d” was in fact the best answer because the poem did discuss the soldier’s emotion, as well as his connection with the memorial. Hence, I will from now on look at the questions, taking note of the number of questions and calculate how long I should be spending on each one.
In addition, I also found that I seemed to struggle with questions relating to the imagery and its overall interpretative meaning. When, I was faced with these types of questions I found myself recognizing the imagery, yet after recognizing it I found myself having a difficult time interpreting its effect to the entire literary work. Question 49 chiefly exemplifies this when it states, “The images in lines 50-59 suggest that”. The answer choices were a) Louisa envisions her future as bleak and uneventful, b) Louisa c) Joe had abandoned both Lily and Louisa and left the region, d) Louisa had been quite troubled by this prospect of matrimony, and e) Louisa and Joe anticipated a blissful future together as husband and wife. I chose answer “c”, but now I see the correct answer was “d”, because the images provoked a mood of fear. Consequently, this error brings up the idea of annotating. Similar, to Sam, Jenny, and Sana I see that annotating is a crucial element because it allows me to focus on the main point and key ideas, therefore allowing me to obtain the answer related to these questions more efficiently.
On the other hand, I seemed to do well on the overall tone, because I was able to pick up on how the author was expressing his thoughts. This allowed me to interpret the meaning of the passage, such as in question 15, where it was asked what the author thought about essentially the coming of spring which is displayed through his diction, ultimately conveying his tone. Furthermore, I also saw that I succeeded in poetry because similar to the point Archit brought up, the passages were not as long, thus allowing for a quicker reading of them, which in turn allowed me to think about them to a greater level.
I believe that my methods of being able to eliminate helped me to effectively pick the correct answers in situations where I was confused. In addition to this, I recognize that I need to focus on the main idea so I am able to better eliminate choices and accordingly choose the best answer, reflecting this central concept. Furthermore, I need to write notes, underline, and annotate the literary works we receive so as to ensure that when I go back to the passage or poem, I will be able to recognize and answer the questions concerning these topics in a more efficient manner. Finally, I look forward to encompassing these strategies, as well as others, throughout this course, and finally on the AP exam in May.
While reviewing my AP base line exam, I noticed I had a lot of things in which I struggled with. However, there were some that I did pretty well in. There were some questions where either I over analyzed the question or didn’t analyze it at all and just skimmed through it. I noticed that I also didn’t work up to my best potential because of the limited time. In addition as Sydney said, I struggled with the questions where I needed to read between the lines and know exactly what the passage was about and its critical meaning. I flew through those passages because as most of my classmates said, we were all afraid to run out of time and not finishing any questions. As a good test taker I realize that it’s always best to annotate, however, that’s one of my big weaknesses due to the fact that I don’t like annotating. I always end up having a hard time annotating because I don’t know what to write and I feel like it will just take up my time and if I don’t know what to annotate then why waste my time? Although I hate annotating, the next time that I take the test I should consider annotating and that’s something I definitely know I have to improve in because in the end it will help me have a better understanding of the passage or poem.
ReplyDeleteI seemed to be having a hard time with the factual and hidden idea type of questions. It’s always hard to fully understand a passage when you know you have to finish by a certain time. I tend to have a harder time on these types of questions because my analytical skills are not as good either which held me back as Ryan said. This goes back to how not annotating may affect the way you do on the test because without annotations you have to either re-read the passage and put a lot more thought into it which takes up more of your time, whereas, if you annotate you have the key points and what’s really important to understand from the passage which will only benefit you. I also tend to have a hard time understanding some of the poetry and what’s actually going on because of the vocabulary embedded in it which makes me lose focus. In addition, the questions where there were two answers which could both work also made me have a hard time because you always have to go with the one that makes the best fit. I know in order to improve this I need to work a steady paste, but also focus on what the question is really asking for.
As for my strengths I did fairly well on the questions that related to basic understanding. Those types of questions are basic questions that ask you to re-read a line and find the meaning of that phrase. As Sydney said, the questions were simpler and I was able to pick the right answer because I understood the question. However, for the questions that I did not do so good in I know I should prepare myself and start learning high level vocabulary so that when a word at a high level is presented to me I can be able to understand it and hopefully that will set me on the right track to getting that question right.
I look forward to gaining new strategies to become a better test taker and learn how to manage my time better as well as gaining analytical skills for when May comes around I can pass the AP exam.
During the baseline, I had felt as if I had struggled with many things. I had realized a lot of vocabulary had stumped me, and if I was to take the exam again, I’d need to brush up on things such as: Pathos Ethos and Logos, or the technical terms for more common literary terms.
ReplyDeleteDuring the essay I found myself falling asleep and being bored by the passages because I had not been reading them to the best of my ability. I had been so concerned with time that I had skimmed and not gotten enough of the information I needed. If I had annoted, it would solve both problems. I would find answers more easily when returning to the passage, as well as be more attentive when answering from then on. I noticed I had managed my time poorly when I had come to end the multiple choices and I had about 20 minutes to spare. I could have definitely worked harder on the last 10 questions, because I had not gotten most of them correct.
In the future I’m definitely aiming to make sure that I read and annotate thoroughly, as well as correctly. I also noticed that I excelled in analyzing poetry. As well as being the most interesting, it was also the easiest to annotate, and thus the easiest to answer questions on. Though, I did notice, that throughout the text I looked for very broad answers, when in fact I was just under analyzing. On problem 23 I had made the mistake of choosing the more broad answer in fear of being incorrect. As Jenny had said, poetry can be viewed and interpreted in several ways, though some way may be more correct than others. To fix this I have come to the conclusion that I will end up having to brainstorm many ideas that may be applicable and apply each of them to see which actually makes the most sense.
Another thing I need to work on as well as tone down on is my opinion when it comes to poetry. While reading Facing it I had struggled with actually using the correct answer, or the answer I sought out to be correct due to my interpretation of the piece of literature. Improving that can also help adjust my ability to answer the “describe” questions. There would be a scenario and you would have to give the most correct and specific word as well as keeping your bias out. on question number fifty-four, “Which of the following best describes Joe Dagget’s speech?” I had noticed I was sort of put in a corner because I felt as though more than one of the choices could have been a suitable answer. I under analyzed and it was my downfall.
All in all, this analysis has provided me with the incite needed for targeting the weak points in test taking and will allow me to perform better in all the tests I take from here on out. I will practice annotating, taking my time, and be sure to analyze things evenly.
In this baseline test I struggled on all different types of questions, however there were types of questions that I succeeded in more than others. The questions that I had gotten correct were about being able to find back in the text. Some of the types of questions that I had struggled with were questions that related to poetry. Poetry has always been one of my weaknesses. For example in number 14, “The central opposition in the poem is between (C) childhood and adulthood”, this is that answer that I chose. I think that I chose this answer over (D) “the speaker and spring” because I did not fully understand the poem completely. I was also overlooking the text and trying to go into a deeper analysis. These types of questions that I was having trouble with were called grammar and word meaning. However, there were some types of questions that I did understand and these questions were called images. The questions that I also got correct were questions that could directly found in the text. What I also found that was interesting was that when the percentage of the class that got the question was low I got that question right. For example in number 46, “Lines 15-23 chiefly serve to show that Louisa was capable of (B) directing a conversation with discretion and subtlety, which was the correct answer. One of the main reasons that I got a lower score on the baseline was from time management. As all of you know there is a specific way of memorizing the passage which is by annotating and making up parts of it. After the test and we discussed that by annotating we are able to go back in the text and find what we are looking for faster than to have to read through it all again. Not only analyzing the text will help but also during the essay parts of the test as well as being applied into real life. Another way of having time management is to divide up the sections into specific amounts of time and only giving yourself that much time. There were some questions on the test that a briefly looked at and did not do enough annotations to thoroughly answer the question. So in the future I will try to give myself more time to answer questions and get better at my time management just like how Geo Martinez said how he would do the same as well. One of the other ways that I could do better on this exam is by going to the questions first, reading them and then go and read the article then once you are reading you are able to make more useful annotations. By using this method you could save a lot of time and be able to move faster along the test. By doing so I believe that on the next base line I will have a better chance at getting a better score than now from all of the reflections.
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ReplyDeleteI went through the multiple choice part of the baseline, and I noticed the areas I did not do so well in and some areas I did really well in. I also noticed that following my instinct on many questions was the best choice, so going back and over analyzing my own responses would have been a bad choice. I looked at the baseline more to notice that there were many things I did well on, simply made rather dumb mistakes due to a time limit and other variables that should not affect me so much as we get closer to the real AP exam. I excelled in questions such as tone, factual, diction, rhetoric, and even some literary technique. I did not do as well in questions about theme, structure, situation, and hidden idea.
ReplyDeleteOne mistake I made in each of the readings that meant, had I not made this mistake, I could have gotten more than thirty eight questions right was my lack of annotation. I didn't annotate any of the readings, and this especially killed me in the poem "Facing It". If I had annotated, I could have gotten questions such as question thirty-nine, "What does the speaker convey in line 29-32?", correct. It also would have lessened the effects of the time limit so I wouldn't have rushed so much towards the end and could have gotten more questions right. The way to fix this would be to not only learn to annotate but to learn how to annotate swiftly and how to manage my time better during the test.
One issue I had that I noticed was in the last reading, which spoke of Louisa and Joe breaking off their engagement. As it was the end of the test and the time, my mind was a little like mush, and I overlooked the fact that Lily and Joe were having an affair behind the Louisa’s back and that this is why she chose to call off their engagement. I was rushing and failed to annotate, because of this, I answered the question “In lines 16-17, ‘that she had heard aright’ refers to Louisa’s belief that…” with E, that she misheard the response, instead of A, that Joe was having an intimate relationship with Lily. It seemed to be a hidden idea question, since they never actually came out and said it. I had the same issue with “Facing It” too. My issue, that I found, was that I could get the big part and the little ones, I just couldn’t put them together.
Similar to Sam, I was able to succeed in most questions dealing with quotes and examining them. For example, in the first reading, you had to answer this question “From the context, the reader can infer that ‘Morris’ poorest workmen’ is”… and then figure out who they are speaking of. I chose the option of furniture makers, which was correct. I was able to figure this out because of the context the quote was in. Also like Sam, I tend to overthink my answers, but I do this when I take a second look at them. Therefore, to keep doing well on questions such as this, I will have to make sure to not overthink my answers, or else I may overthink them and change them.
Overall I did rather well, though there were parts I didn’t succeed in so much. To fix these issues, I need to learn to annotate and do that properly. I should also annotate questions, so I don’t miss words such as “except”. I could also take the number of questions and divide by two so I can see when I should have gotten half the questions done, this way I’ll know if I need to work quicker or if I have extra time to go back and double-check my answers.
While revising my performance on the multiple choice bass line, I realized that there were several portions in which I did not perform successfully. For instance, there were several questions that involved vocabulary that I was not familiar with. Without knowing what the question was asking, it was difficult to provide a logical answer to such questions. The best thing I could do on these questions was try to make an educated guess and continue moving forward with the exam. Similarly, there were questions that I did understand, but the given answer choices involved vocabulary that I was not exactly sure of. Since I did not know what some of these answers were implying, I could not determine which answers were correct according to the question being asked. In this case, I had to guess answers as well.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, another aspect of this test that I struggled with was forming a general understanding of the pieces of literature that I was reading. If I would have taken the time to annotate areas of the passages, I may have been able to develop a better understanding of them. Realizing the constraints of time, I did my best to read through the passages quickly without exactly comprehending everything. In doing this, it was hard to concentrate and focus on exactly what the passages were describing. When certain questions arrived that required me to infer from the story based on my interpretation of the story as a whole, I found myself having difficulty. For example, for #29 “The phrase ‘that age which they would have the best' refers to”, I chose the wrong answer when the correct answer as D (The Golden Age) because I failed to understand the overall concept of the passage. In contrast, questions on the exam that were basically straightforward I found to be easy and those are a lot of the questions that I ended up answering correctly. The questions that dealt with the hidden meaning of parts of the passage were ones that I tended to do poorly on.
One of the most critical areas in which I failed to thrive in were the questions that posed multiple correct answers, but one that was more accurate and had better support from the passage. Throughout my years as a student and test taker, I have grown so used to the idea that every multiple choice question has exactly one correct answer. In this test however, the answer choices must be examined in order to determine the one that is the most correct. Sometimes the problem was that I read to thoroughly into what exactly the question was asking and searched for a deeper meaning when in reality, it was asking for something a lot more obvious. These types of questions with multiple correct answers nevertheless revert to understanding the main idea that the passage was presenting as well as which answer choice is better supported by the given passage.
As for the areas of the exam that I seemed to excel in, these include pretty factual questions. Questions that dealt with understanding which literary devices were present came pretty natural. When it gets deeper as to what affect did the literary device have, that when I noticed that I was struggling. Moreover, I found that I did well with managing my time and getting through all the questions within the given period. With this skill and a better understanding of a strategy to successfully complete this test I should do a better job the on the actual test. Also, surprisingly, I did fairly well on a portion of the exam that dealt with a piece of poetry. I found my comprehension of the Emily Dickinson poem and my overall performance on this portion of the test to be superb seeing as though I have not had much experience with poetry in the past. It is likely though, that the reason for this was because many of the questions in the portion did not so much involve much inference. However, I agree with Josh that the fact that the poetry passages were not as long allowed me to quickly get through them without the need to rush and I had to opportunity to acquire a greater understanding of the passages.
Moving forward with the AP course, I would like to further develop my reading comprehension skills and learn to annotate the passages better, which would make them easier to understand and quickly refer back to. Annotating is of key when taking a test such as this with much to cover in a limited amount of time. Additionally, I feel the need to, as Jossie similarly stated, to strengthen my vocabulary so that when such advanced terms are presented to me, I know exactly what they mean. I believe that if I strengthen my skills in these areas as well as others, then I will be successful when the time comes to take the actual AP Literature Exam in May.
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