CLEP American Literature

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by rackwin, May 26, 2006.

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  1. rackwin

    rackwin New Member

    Hi everyone,

    I'm studying for this CLEP exam: American Literature. Has anyone in this forum ever sat for this exam? What books did u use? And how difficult is it when compared to other CLEPs. Please respond. Thanks.
     
  2. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    The Lit. exams are hard even if you're well read. If you're not well read then these are a real killer.

    The exams assume that you have read the canon of American literature. You'll need to know the major writers of American lit. and their periods.

    You'll also need to know the terms used in lit. crit. and analysis.

    I used the Norton Anthologies to prep for these and did pretty well. You won't be able to go in an expect that the works referenced are quoted well in the test questions, as they are in the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature exam. There are some examples quoted in the exam but mostly, you just have to know the major writers.

    More than half of this test is about who is who and who did what in various writings. Then there's a little about the writers and their time -- but not all that much.

    Read Hawthorne, Twain, Chopin (read alot), Faulkner, Hemmingway, and Mellville.

    I found that watching video/DVD of the classic lit. was helpfull in cram period. Things like Grapes of Wrath, Scarlet Letter, Red Badge of Courage, etc. -- especially the older versions that tend to mirror the texts better. It's especially helpful if you can recognize when "that's not in the book".

    Be familiar with literary terms or you can't answer the questions. See http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm

    The Wikipedia article can offer some good basic overview and might help you see where you're weakest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_literature

    Good luck -- don't let me scare you from doing this one and maybe the English Lit.
     
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The important exception to this is Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, which assumes no familiarty with literature whatsoever. All passages to be analyzed are given to you to read as part of the exam. If your school accepts this, I strongly recommend it.

    -=Steve=-
     
  4. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    Agreed, Analyzing and Intrpreting Lit. was probably the easiest CLEP I've done -- I've done more than a few.

    It should be, for most adults, an easy 6 hours. You simply have to be able to understand what you read and know just a few literary terms.
     
  5. jesatlarge

    jesatlarge New Member

    Clep American Lit is not too hard; I got a 71 with no prep. But I am pretty familiar with Am. Lit and read quite a bit. I wouldn't read a single book of any sort to prep. Just know about the great works in Am lit. Just know the top writers, their most famous works, a thumbnail bio of their life and times, a thumbnail overly general lit description of their genre/style and that's it. The test is way general. You can easily get all this info from the internet.
    Why read the Scarlet Letter(unless you want to, it's great) when all you need to know is who wrote it when and why and what does it represent. Classic Comics work great if they are still available.
     
  6. GauravBhai

    GauravBhai New Member

    Hello! I was searching google for CLEP Examination then found this forum. Actually I'm also preparing for CLEP. Any tips for the preparation?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 11, 2015

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