My eldest is studying for English Lit and I'm fretting over how to know if she is ready. With limited practice tests and such a huge subject how do I test her?
>> I can't remember if Peterson's has a practice exam, but if they do, you pay $20 and can access 3 online practice exams. I didn't take English Lit, but I did take American Lit. The challenge, in my opinion, is that you can't go deeply into any work- so rather than reading extensively (which I have done) you really need to know the "who, what, where, when, why" of the works. You eat up too much time reading whole books- the exam may cover 100s of them. Knowing periods was important too- because it helps eliminate. I recall one of my questions about a writer during the civil war- and some of the other choices were clearly more modern writers which helped me select the right answer. What has she used for study material? ? text book, anthology, Dummies, wikipedia...? I used The Idiots Guide for American Lit but I don't know if they have one for English. It was really really good (not to mention sparking interest in a ton of authors I hadn't read LOL!) It's so good, that I kept it and use it to provide the outline for my children's high school literature track.
Can't spell English, LOL How funny. I'm asking for instructional advise and I can't even spell the title of the subject! She is using Idiot's, Barron's 101, Norton's and a study guide I made from the IC exam specific thread. We've been to the library for movies mainly so she does NOT get bogged down reading entire books. She is a huge Jane Austin admirer, she had read Dickens and the Brontes, and other majors. We've spent a good deal of time with Shakespeare, she's been going over the lit terms and her A&I score was 69. Petersen's does not have an English Lit exam. The ONLY one I've found is in the CLEP official book, its only half an exam and she took it at the beginning for diagnostic purposes. I wish I could find one more test.
>> Ok, I wasn't sure. I think you could search the REA books and see if they did an English Lit. I really really liked them (again, another series I kept- the US History 1 was outstanding) and they had 3 practice tests (I think) in them. I'd suggest doing a library search too. Nothing beats free
EDIT: I couldn't find REA English Lit, but there appears to be a lot of support for Sparks Notes in that subject.
Sparks Notes are very good. I especially like the tests after each work. The REA was a good idea but I did not find one. Cliffs and Barrons offer an English Lit AP book but the test is mostly A&I type questions. I'll keep looking...
I have the Official practice test 2009 version, if you send me an email to [email protected]. I'll send you a copy of 62 question exam.