Performance Analysis of Initial Practice AP Exam #2

Before I analyze my performance on the practice AP Literature exam that we took in class today, I would first like to discuss my impressions about the test. Before I started the test, I had the mindset that this test was going to be extremely difficult, making it impossible to do well on it. As I worked through the multiple choice section of the test, I realized that some passages were easier to handle than others. I realized that certain question types were harder than other types. But the most important realization that I came across was that this test is not impossible. To clarify, by no means am I saying that this test is easy, because it’s not. However, I am saying that this test is doable, and with the right type of preparation, this exam will slowly shift to another, hopefully better, frame of reference. Nonetheless, it is important, at this moment, to analyze my strengths and weaknesses so that I can establish a plan to improve my skills.

In regards to my strengths, I feel that I am most effective in dealing with passages in the form of essays, stories, and personal anecdotes. A common aspect about all of these types of passages is that the complexity of word craft is limited. There is still a lot of symbolism within them, but the reading is easier to get through and digest. I am good at tackling these types of passages because I can get through the passage efficiently, and at the same time, I can understand the different symbols being used, pick up on the emotions and inner opinions of the characters, and note any implications that arise from the text development. I also believe that I possess the “many-mindedness” characteristic when I read and analyze any type of passage. When I first read a new piece of information, I refrain from labeling it to a certain, defined category because in many types of literature, interpretations can vary. As I am reading a passage with many symbols, for example, I take time to understand aspects such as the author’s perspective, tone, and mood. After taking all of this into account, I try to interpret the symbols based on my understanding of the various aspects. I don’t cling too tightly to my interpretations because I know that as I gain more information, they are subject to change. Therefore, I believe one of my strength is the fact that I don’t form closed-minded interpretations based on limited information, but rather liquid interpretations that change forms as I gain more information. Also, I believe that I am good at answering multiple choice questions that deal with factual information, as well as symbols within the text. As I am reading, I like to take note of different pieces of factual information, and this helps me successfully answer questions that relate to specific details within the text. In addition, since my interpretation is constantly changing until I get through the information, I feel that I am strong at analyzing symbols. This helps me answer questions that ask for the symbolism behind different things within the text. All in all, I believe that I am strong at reading essays, forming interpretations, and answering factual and symbolism based multiple choice questions.

When analyzing my weaknesses, I feel that I am most ineffective in handling passages in the form of poems. Many poems contain large amounts of word craft, and rather than using simple sentences to convey meaning, they seem to use more complicated phrases that have deeply imbedded meaning. These factors really hinder my ability to understand poems and digest them efficiently. Therefore, I am spending a lot more time trying to read the poems than I should. In addition, I am not very good at reading passages that are written in modern English, but have very complex syntax. Since I do not have much exposure to reading phrases and sentences with complex arrangements, I often times lose track of which characters are doing or feeling what. As I go through the complex passages, I feel that I have not absorbed much of the meaning within the poem, and that leads to trouble with the questions. Also, I feel that I lack the “Attentiveness” characteristic. It is very hard for me to fully concentrate on the text without my mind wandering off. When I begin to lose focus, I start to glaze over some hidden details and symbols, resulting in an overall decline in my quality of reading. Sometimes, I realize that I didn’t comprehend what I just read, so I have to go back and read a larger portion of the text again. Once again, this process is very time consuming and inefficient. I am also pretty weak in answering some questions about types of literature and literary devices. For example, some of the words on the test that I was not familiar with were synecdoche, ode, ballad, parable, etc. Therefore, not knowing much of the vocab resulted in guessing on many of those vocab-based questions. Another type of question that I had a difficulty with was the I, II, III question in which we had to choose the right combination of answers. In these types of questions, I always begin to lose track of the actual text, and I support the wrong answer choices with information that was not in the passage, leading to more incorrect answers. All in all, I have difficulty absorbing information in poems and passages written with complex syntax, focusing on the text to read efficiently, and answering questions about literary devices and types of literature.
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I have created a plan in order to transfer my weaknesses to strengths or at the very least move my weaknesses out of that category. First of all, I want to improve my ability to read and analyze poems, as well as text written with a lot of difficult sentence and phrase arrangements. In order to do so, I am going to follow the advice of Professor Billy Collins. Each school day, for 2.5 weeks, I will simply read a moderately sized poem, with complex syntax, two times. I will not make an attempt to analyze or study them; I will just simply read them. Then, during the next 2.5 weeks, I will re-read the poems that I have previously read, but this time I will actually try to analyze the poems. Using this method, I will gradually gain a comfort with reading difficult poems, and I will also have practice analyzing them. And as Thomas Foster said that no piece of literature is completely original, this practice I put in now will help me find patterns when analyzing different poems. In addition, I want to become familiar with the different literary terms and types of literature. In order to do this, I will need to apply a two-step procedure over a span of at least 6 weeks. First, I will need to study the definition of each of the terms, while finding an example that the term applies to. After I feel comfortable with the definitions, I will need to actually apply the definition. I will do this each time I read a piece of literature. When I read a piece, I will note what type of literature it is, and then I will continue to find examples of different literary terms within the reading. This procedure will make me very apt in picking out the literary devices used within a passage. My last goal is to improve my attentiveness as a reader. In order to do so, I will utilize both the daily poems I will be reading, as well as an independent reading book. For a two-week period, I will read my independent novel and the poems at a slow enough pace so that I do not break focus while I also make mental notes of my own reading. Slowly, throughout the two-week period, I believe that I will be able to slowly increase my reading pace while maintain a steady focus on the text. In conclusion, I want to improve my ability to read poems with complex phrasing, to understand and apply literary devices, and lastly improve my attentiveness as a reader.