Poetry Multiple Choice

         Poetry has never been my strong point, however, after doing the practice sections in the Peterson's AP English book, I think it's safe to say I have gone from below average to about average when reading a poem and answering analytical questions. I found as I was grading my multiple choice sections that the majority of questions I answered incorrectly were either asking about the theme or main idea. Themes in literature have always been hard for me to identify. I realized as I was reading along in the poems and trying to grasp the meaning, I wouldn't focus on ideas that were consistent on the poem as a whole, instead I found myself trying to make sense of the poem stanza by stanza, which in some aspects is ok because I think you still need to pick up on details, however, this was affecting how I was answering theme or main idea questions. I think I developed a better sense of what to notice and observe when looking for a main idea or theme as I progressed through the practice tests, however, I still think there is much work to do.

Reflection of Diagnosis Test

      Going through this practice test I commonly felt I was not able to look in-between the lines. In many instances the questions would ask you to infer something from the passage, however I found this challenging and at many times I was not able to. For instance, when I read the first poem for the first time I didn't know exactly what it was about but I knew it was between two people who meant a lot to each other. However, I was not able to tell what kind of relationship they had right away. That is why question 2 through me off, I knew in the 3 mentioned stanzas lovers were discussed, but I did not think this was referring to themselves. I found it hard to make complete sense of all of these readings but I felt that I got the main idea for most of them.
      Another issue that I struggled with throughout the test was vocabulary. I realized a few times that I did not know the vocabulary in a question or answer choice and because of this it was hurting my score. For example, in questions 5 and 7 I didn't know what sanguine and laity means, and unfortunately those played a large role in the questions. Another error with vocabulary was terms that I had heard and studied before but when by each other I could not differentiate them. This happened in question 9 and 30. I have before studied what a sonnet, lyric, elegy, ode, and narrative are, however when I was taking this test I couldn't confidently say what each type of writing was. This made me very frustrated, but now I know to really concentrate more on those terms.
      Comparing each reading, I found Night Clouds to be the easiest read and most comprehendible, not only because of its size but the language reminded me of poems I had read in the past so it seemed easier to tell what the author meant. While answering the questions for this poem I felt pretty confident because I was able to tell what the deeper meaning of the poem was, however, again vocabulary became an issue in question 34 when it asks about "vermilion". I would've gotten that question right if I knew vermillion was a color.
       Overall I didn't think this practice was too hard, however I know I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to understand the deeper meaning of works and picking up on the small details that end up being essential. I also think I could use some work with my vocabulary.