overview
Analytical and interpretive literature tests are usually taught in a typical undergraduate course in literature. Although the test does not require familiarity with specific works, it assumes that test takers have read poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction widely and appreciatively. The questions are based on the passages provided in the exam. These passages are selected so that no prior experience with them is required to answer the questions. The passages are drawn primarily from American and British literature.
The exam consists of around 80 multiple choice questions to be answered within 98 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored.
Knowledge and skills are required
Analysis and Expository Literature test questions require examinees to demonstrate the following skills:
- Ability to read prose, poetry and drama with understanding
- Ability to analyze the elements of a literary passage and respond to subtleties of meaning, tone, imagery, and style
- Ability to interpret metaphors, recognize rhetorical and stylistic devices, understand relationships between parts and wholes, and understand the attitude of a speaker or writer
- Knowledge of ways to achieve literary effect
- Familiarity with basic terminology used to discuss literary texts
The test emphasizes comprehension, interpretation and analysis of literary works. A specific knowledge of historical context (authors and movements) is not required, but a broad knowledge of literature is gained through extensive reading and familiarity with basic literary terminology is assumed. The following outline indicates the relative emphasis given to different types of literature and the periods from which the passages are taken. The approximate percentage of exam questions per category is mentioned within each major category.
clause
- 35%-45% poetry
- 35%-45% Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction)
- 15%–30% drama
National heritage
- 40%-50% British and post-colonial literature
- 40%-50% American literature
- 3%-10% works in translation
duration
- 3%–7% Classical and Pre-Renaissance
- 20%–30% Renaissance and 17th century
- 30% – 40% 18th and 19th centuries
- 30% – 40% 20th and 21st centuries
Score information
ACE Recommendations for Analyzing and Interpreting the Literature
| Credit-granting score | 50 |
| semester hours | 3 |
Note: Each institution reserves the right to set its own credit-granting policies, which may differ from those of the American Council on Education (ACE). Contact your college to find out the score required for credit and the number of credit hours awarded.
