Blog Post #2 - Reflection

After taking the practice AP exam in class today, I felt...fine. I got just over half of the questions right (normally, this would be a nightmare, but supposedly this is normal). I do believe that I have a few strengths that led to my fifty-three percent score at the end of the test. Being an avid reader and writer of poetry has certainly done me a favor or two (as I had assumed it would) ; I found it very easy to decipher the "deeper meaning" of the poems in the text. I also recognized the many similes, metaphors, and other literary devices that appeared in all of the texts. Being able to read, analyze, and recognize quickly are easily my biggest strengths - but unfortunately, those only got me halfway to where I want to be.

As much as I do love poetry, I always seem to struggle with Old English. I spent more time than I would like to admit translating the sonnet into "Modern English" so I could read and analyze it on my own terms. I also came to find - to my dismay - that there was a good handful of words throughout the exam that I was not at all familiar with. This includes types of poetry; I'm ashamed to say that I do not know what a sestina is (but I will in about 10 minutes; you can bet I'll Google it ASAP). I need to learn what some of these terms are - and familiarize myself with ones I seem to have forgotten - in order to get more questions correct. Another struggle I had - perhaps my biggest - was deciding between two or three answer options. Having five choices per question is most certainly not a blessing in the world of AP Literature, and especially not in the world of an over-analyzer. I had narrowed down many questions to two answer choices and, come time to make a final decision, I circled the wrong letter. I am still bitter about this.

I would obviously love to score higher than a 53% on the actual AP exam. Therefore, I need to work on some things over the course of this course (see what I did there?). At the top of my "Things I Desperately Need To Fix" list is what I previously listed as my biggest weakness: eliminating incorrect answers. I need to learn how to choose between two or three answers so I have the best chance of getting the question right. Better yet, I hope to be able to eliminate four of the answer choices right off the bat. But that, like many things, will come in time.

My main goal for this class is to get an A. I would also like to earn a four or five on the AP exam. I really do believe that, with enough hard work, I can do those things. I will learn how to distinguish between a sestina and a ballad. I will learn how to choose between "A" and "C" - and choose correctly. I will remember things I forgot I knew. I will succeed. So, actually, I would like to rephrase my goal. It's a bit more broad now, but I feel as though it's a better one: I want to succeed.