Nov 5 2011- International Literature Discussion

dancetilldawn · 11-05-2011, 06:33 AM

How did it go for everyone? I felt like I did good but as soon as I started comparing answers all my hope died.

IRBCobalt · 11-05-2011, 08:23 AM

^^uh-oh. My hope is starting to get a heart-attack now.

alisyn · 11-05-2011, 11:31 AM

I think i bombed it. Badly.

sophielee95 · 11-05-2011, 11:43 AM

huh. i thought it was pretty easy compared to some of the practice tests i took...but not sure. the reading about London was confusing.

alisyn · 11-05-2011, 12:18 PM

I didn't get to take any practice tests, I just went for it :/
but yeah, the London passage was pretty ambiguous

dancetilldawn · 11-05-2011, 12:32 PM

The London one was difficult, and the poem about the greek sculptor also. I bombed both of those.

besjbo · 11-05-2011, 12:41 PM

I took this test today, and I also took it in October. On the October one, I really enjoyed almost every passage, and actually felt quite good overall, but was surprised to get only 680.

On today's test, every passage seemed horrible, both in content and in writing style. I really hated the whole test, and I can't even imagine what I'll get on it (doubt I'll match that 680). Going back and looking over my answers, I felt as if many of them could be changed. And I tried my best to find evidence for my answers, but often I just couldn't.

In summary, this test was noticeably harder than the AP English Language exam, which was a breeze compared to this. I'm not usually a complainer, but the Lit. test left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Good thing I took it last, and good thing I don't really need it. I thought I'd take it for fun (again).

Edit: I took the U.S. test, but I remember both the statue and the London passage. I'm not sure what portion of the rest of the test we shared, but since there's currently no other Lit. test thread, I'd thought I'd express my disappointment in this one.

alisyn · 11-05-2011, 12:44 PM

I wish I can your 680. That would be amazing. Good thing is it can't go below 200 hahaha

Hoping411 · 11-05-2011, 12:55 PM

I actually enjoyed this exam, especially the selection by Zora Neale Hurston becausetat is one of my favorite passages by her. I was so excited when I saw that. I also thought it was relatively easy, but I had issues with one question each for the Greek Sculptor, the London one, and the Shakespear/Playwright one.

besjbo · 11-05-2011, 01:23 PM

@Hoping411 That's basically how I felt last time. Also, I do agree that the passage by ZNH was better than the rest, even though I don't really relate to her ideas. I've read a book by her ("Their Eyes Were Watching God"), and I didn't really enjoy the book for its topic more than writing style.

avtrox · 11-05-2011, 01:37 PM

@besjbo haha I read that too, do you by any chance take IB English A1 HL? I read Their Eyes in that class.. as soon as i read "Zora" i was like "OMG Zora Neale Hurston"

I hated the London one, wasted all my time on that one

besjbo · 11-05-2011, 02:16 PM

@avtrox I read that book over the summer (sophomore to junior year) for AP English. No IB at my school. Nevertheless, it was my least favorite book of the summer.

Panddaaa · 11-05-2011, 02:28 PM

The London one wasn't vague. It was referring to the factory workers during the industrial age where they had a strict bell system to dictate the worker's schedules. But it was very difficult to understand without historical knowledge of that, which I thought was pretty unfair...the Pygmalion one was worded very confusingly I thought.

Bankzy · 11-05-2011, 02:30 PM

What did you guys get for the question about rain for the Kid Jones passage?

ricecakes · 11-05-2011, 02:44 PM

First passage/play excerpt: What were the 'better manners'? I wasn't even sure about the first question, though I picked 'the difference between expected answers and what was actually said.'

For the London passage, I picked that 'steeped' meant immersed, and the author was attacking a society's values... none of the answers seemed right though. The mention of Southern Sea gods stumped me too. I picked 'the similarity of taboos and something something.'

Shakespearean passage: I had no idea what this poem was talking about lol. I said that it was the author speaking in an aside (or maybe another playwright telling him to quit?) and that the 'two ages' were the Shakespearean and his present period.

Kid Jones: There was an all except for question, about what his drumming symbolized. I picked the bleakness of the rain.

Zora H: I chose most of the answers with 'unknowable force' or 'chance' in them. And 'Great souls' was analogous to the 'single heap'. ***.

Pygmalion/sculpture: was the statue 'stepped' from her pedestal or did she do the action herself? That other option was 'he laid' which doesn't seem to make sense for a statue to do but aldksf;dsfjd; all these passages were terrible.