In order to accomplish this, I am going to start by trying to memorize that format for breaking down passages we learned last year, where each underline or circle means a different thing because I never fully committed that to memory. I honestly think once I do master that format, that it will be helpful to my progress. I would also like to learn how to be able to sift through large texts and passages to hone in on the important messages within them. I am one of those people who over-analyzes things and I tend to miss the major points while targeting minor details. My last improvement would be to learn how to read quickly and efficiently because I think if I had more time to read the questions and go back over the passage I would score higher on tests.
On the practice test today I scored myself a 61% which I thought was pretty good considering it is only the 4th day of school, and I took an entire summer plus a trimester off of AP working and reading. The test wasn't too difficult I was expecting much worse and I think if I can get a 61% this early in the year, after two trimesters of practice and hard work I can be very confident going into to AP test this spring.
In the reading from last night I realized I can productively pick out and identify literary devices. This helps when asked questions about specific devices or simply to better understand the piece of literature. SOAPStone is also one of my strengths. After being forced to memorize every line of it and apply is to every piece we read, it turned out to be very helpful when it comes to breaking down whatever is being read.
As I begin to work on and overcome my weaknesses -- both on my own and in class -- I hope to be able to more effectively analyze literary pieces to prepare myself for not only the upcoming AP test, but also for college so I won't have to majorly adjust my reading habits in order to study and learn effectively.
I never considered it but learning how to break down passages where "each underline or circle means a different thing" would be a very useful skill! I completely agree that it would be much easier when refering back to the text. Maybe, you could even skim over the questions before reading to see exactly what parts of the passage would be important to mark. This will greatly reduce time allowing you to spend more energy on picking the right answer. I think this is a very valuable skill!
ReplyDeleteI think your plan to improve your AP score is well-developed. You should probably have set goals by certain dates though. For example, I will memorize 10 new words every week. This would be a tangible goal you could strive for each week.
ReplyDeleteYou have both long term and short term goals, which will make it easier to see what you've acomplished at the end of the class.
I think it's great that you incorporated parts of the chapter 1 reading into improving your score. Also, the chapter 2 reading will help with annotating and deciphering the passages.