Blog Post Number 2: Practice Test Reflection

Based on my practice test, I am not terrible at literary analysis; however, I do need some practice. I answered the majority of the questions correctly but did get rather confused by a few. It seemed as if some of the answers I chose were chosen simply because they were the first choice that made sense to me. This leaves out the high possibility that there may be a better answer. I tend to overlook other choices or options once I find one that makes sense to me— this has caused me to get questions wrong on numerous occasions. My score was not necessarily bad but I do need to strongly focus on my weaknesses in order to improve it.  

I am rather good at understanding Middle English due to always having a strong interest in Shakespeare. This tends to come in handy. Being rather in love with poetry it is seemingly easier for me to interpret and understand a poem better than a story, even if it does seem rather obscure. I am talented at looking at the big picture when it comes to literature. I tend to understand why an author used certain words or phrases in order to get across their point. This is one of my main strengths.

A large weakness of mine when it comes to literary analysis would be differentiating between different literary terms. This most definitely causes trouble. I also tend to overlook small details, some of which may be of importance, when reading literature. I sometimes focus so much on what is happening in a story that I overlook facts or information that were included. Overlooking these pieces of information could lead me to be perpetually discombobulated when questions in relation to them are asked. This, quite obviously, causes difficulty. Another bigger weakness of mine is second guessing. I second guess myself on numerous occasions; I feel that it is natural for people to do so. However, it has proven to be detrimental on tests.

In order to become better at test performance and literary analysis I need to take my time, reread any parts that don't make sense, and review literary terms such as paradox and metonymy. My goals for myself are to review these concepts and to practice focusing on the literature I am reading without worrying about the time limit or number of questions left. I could even create flash cards with different literary terms in order to keep track of each one separately and not confuse them. With awareness of my weaknesses and studying I believe that my literary analysis skills could most definitely improve.