A student taking the AP English Literature and Composition test is hoping “C” is the correct answer on the close-reading portion of the assessment, and in fact, she’s hoping that “C” is the correct answer for most of the questions.
The section in question concerns a selection of poetry from Christina Rossetti, taken from her poem called “The Poem.” The student has never heard of Rossetti or her poetry because her teacher has been hammering them with nothing but modern and diverse authors.
Perhaps this Rossetti is writing in a different language?
And even if she goes to college, English Literature? Give me a break. This test seems like it’s for future English teachers, and you know what, she has more potential than that.
Regardless, her English teacher has prepared her for this moment. She needs to read the poem slowly, annotate, and then write down her first reactions to the poem. Trust her instincts. Don’t worry about punctuation. Focus on the images.
Her teacher has so much faith in her. This is a test where she can show off her critical thinking skills, her ability to analyze literature, and her writing ability.
But who actually gives a fuck? She’s going to reduce her total ability to read literature into an arbitrary number?
She never actually understood why her teachers told her to take this AP-prep class, anyways. It’s been nothing but a headache and a stress-inducer the whole year. She should be enjoying her junior year, not worried about which college she’s going to attend.
They told her The AP English Literature and Composition test is a rite of passage for bright high school students across the country. The suckers will even buy additional books and test-taking materials to try to succeed.
And what if she decides not to go to college? What a waste this class would be. If college is anything like what the College Board is making it out to be, she’s starting to think college is a terrible investment in her future.
And even if she goes to college, English Literature? Give me a break. This test seems like it’s for future English teachers, and you know what, she has more potential than that.
And if she decides on a college in a different state? This test score will be even more worthless, despite her even doing well.
And this poem, with its sophisticated, archaic dialect and use of what she assumes is religious metaphor… the student hopes that the answers that sound the fanciest will be the correct choices.
She tries to focus.
Symbolism is always a good choice. So is imagery. So is apostrophe (she thinks). Unfortunately, all the good sounding answers are choice “C!”
So should she pick other answers or trust her gut and go with five consecutive C’s? From what she’s heard about The College Board, those scumbags wouldn’t be above fucking with the test-takers and turning this whole test into some sort of mind-warfare.
In fact, her whole trust in standardized tests is being shook during this very moment. She realizes that the exam measures nothing other than how well the test-taker is at taking College Board designed tests and nothing more.
Regardless of her reading ability, analytical skill, or how hard she’s worked in class all year, the test really is only assessing her in this one moment and cannot measure the total breadth and mastery of her understanding of literature.
And then it hits her…she is living in a farce. This entire moment is a sick joke.
She thinks more about it. The AP English Literature and Composition test is a three-hour exam that asks you to read and analyze a variety of literary texts. You're then asked to write an essay about each text. But here's the thing: you're not actually expected to understand the texts. You're not expected to be able to analyze them in any meaningful way. All you're expected to do is regurgitate what you've been taught in your AP English Literature and Composition class.
It's a test that rewards students who are good test-takers, not students who are good at thinking for themselves.
It's a test that makes a mockery of the very thing that it's supposed to be testing.
It's a test that rewards students for being good at following orders.
So you know what, fuck The College Board and fuck Christina Rossetti, too!
And fuck college. She’s going into the trades or something where she will actually make some money.
So yes, “C” could or could not be the answer for all these questions, but she’s realizing it doesn’t really matter.