HELP w/Humanities

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by madamdiva

Fondue,

You passed the Humanitites exam? Congrats...I see your record 10-1 that is wonderful. I wish I had known about these exam sites prior to spending several thouands of dollars in school loans . I might have finished sooner. Thanks for the links for the various testing centers and such. I am not so sure about the Humanities exam...most of the material this ole girl has forgotten. I think I'll continue to study and see what happen in the next week and see if my scores improve, if not, then on too taking 4 of the Dantes exams. Where I am more comfortable with the information and I know my scores will be higher.

Tee

Hi Tee,

Remember that the Humanities exam is pass/fail. You don't have to get every single question correct to pass. You only need to get roughly every other question correct. That is EXTREMELY easy to do on this exam, if you have studied for it.

Of course, you should aim to answer much more than half of the questions correctly. The more you get right, the higher your score will be. But please don't think that you have to know everything about everything to pass this exam.

The key to passing this exam is to memorize a whole bunch of general knowledge type facts.

- Know what a bunch of the most famous novelists wrote.
- Know what a bunch of the most famous poets wrote.
- Know what a bunch of the most famous composers wrote.
- Know what a bunch of the most famous artists painted.
- Know what a bunch of the most famous painting LOOK like.
- Know which time period the most famous novelists, poets, composers, and artists worked in (Impressionist, Romantic, Baroque, Classical, etc.)
- Know the BASIC plot of a few of Shakespeare most famous plays.
- Know a couple of main characters from a few of Shakespeare's most famous plays.

In addition, know a few of the most famous sculptors, dancers, architects, playwrights, choreographers, film directors.

The good news is that the correct answer is ALWAYS provided for you. You don't need to pull the right answer out of your head, you simply need to be able to recognize it when you see it.

If I ask you outright, "who wrote Moby Dick?" you might not be able to think of the answer off the top of your head.

But if I ask present you with a list of five names, and ask you to identify the right answer, you will likely either know it immediately, or be able to narrow it down so that you can make an educated guess. Try it...

"Which of these authors wrote Moby Dick?"

a) Emily Bronte
b) Leo Tolstoy
c) T.S. Eliot
d) Herman Melville
e) Louis Armstrong

How did you do?

If you knew that Bronte and Tolstoy definitely didn't write Moby Dick; that T.S. Eliot was a poet, not a novelist; and that Louis Armstrong is a famous musician; you would have narrowed it down to only one remaining answer: Herman Melville.

That's the way the CLEP Humanities exam is. If you know the answer, you get it right. If you can recognize the right answer when you see it, you get it right. If you can eliminate the wrong answers, you get it right. If you have no clue, you can guess, and you still have a 20% chance of getting it right!

The odds of passing are stacked in your favor. So PLEASE don't be scared by this exam, okay Tee?

It is VERY passable! Just make sure you study the Instantcert information, and look up some names, titles, works etc., in Wikipedia. Also, do some web searches for any famous paintings you can think of, to make sure that you can recognize them when you see them (I'm thinking of paintings such as: Starry Night, Last Supper, Mona Lisa, Geurnica, Death of Socrates, American Gothic, Christina's World).

You can do this! Six beautiful credits await you on the other side. If you want them, you can have them.


Best of luck,
Snazzlefrag

[madamdiva]

Snazzlefrag,

When you put taking the exam in that context...then I can pass this exam. I just hate not knowing. I'll continue to study and take it from there....thanks for the info and the push in the right direction. Fear is somehing that I have allowed to kept me frozen...no more!

I'll kept u and others posted on my studying and success....

Thnaks again,

Tee

[wannabeit]

Snazzlefrag,

Thank for the advice. I'm planning to tackle this bad boy on Saturday 9/30/06
I am using IC, Clep, Peterson and the REA book. So far, I'm still a little nervous.

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by wannabeit

Snazzlefrag,

Thank for the advice. I'm planning to tackle this bad boy on Saturday 9/30/06
I am using IC, Clep, Peterson and the REA book. So far, I'm still a little nervous.

Wannabeit,

You're probably going to feel nervous...right up until you pass it. It's the same for us all.

Humanities scared the crap out of me...right up until I passed it. I was so nervous, that I studied extra hard for it. In the end, it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting it to be.

You are doing the right thing by studying hard for it. It will pay off in the end.

It is good that you are nervous. It will ensure that you study adequately for the exam, and will prevent you from underestimating it.

But the hard work you are putting in now WILL get you a pass....and after it's over, like me, you won't be scared of it anymore! You'll probably look back at this time with a smile.

I can't stress this enough. Humanities is a very broad exam, and there is a lot of information to cover. But it is a very passable exam, as long as you study for it.

From the list of resources you are using, I think you are going to do just fine.

Be nervous...study hard...pass it...then you can laugh about how nervous you were, and how hard you studied for it.


Best of luck,
Snazzlefrag

[ShotoJuku]

Originally Posted by wannabeit

.........I'm planning to tackle this bad boy on Saturday 9/30/06
I am using IC, Clep, Peterson and the REA book. So far, I'm still a little nervous.

You probably have enough material, but as I recall the COMEX book was a really good source of information.

Regardless of what you use, make sure that you do well on the Peterson practice exams before sitting the real thing. The Petersons exams are usually a little tougher that the actually exam but they are a pretty good barometer on testing your skills before going in.

Good Luck!!

This was my review of the book found amazon.com

CLEP This - Excelsior Students!!, March 3, 2006
Reviewer: Brian R. Fey Sr. "ShotoJuku-Kaicho" (Tampa Bay, Fl) - See all my reviews

This book by far is a MUST HAVE if you want to PASS the Humanities CLEP exam. This book offers a broader yet pinpoint review of the material covered on the actual exam than the REA book. I passed with a 64. GET THIS BOOK!!!!

[beckysharp]

I found the Idiots and Dummies books to be a good addition. Also, I took Art of the Western World as I didn't know anything about Art and really enjoyed the process. Made a 74 on this one.

Good luck!

[april004]

I am so glad to find this thread. For Sociology I studied for two weeks before I felt comfortable enough to take the test. For the psych clep same thing. Am. History II? 1 week. Humanities.....in my 3rd week of studying and still not comfortable. But reading this thread gives me hope. Went over some instant cert questions.....did surprisingly well on visual art. Somewhere in my brain is stored the names of the painters and I was able to somehow retrieve it. And on the ones I got wrong I figured if it was a multiple choice test I would have been able to pick the correct answer. I guess it paid to be roomates with a Fine Arts Major a few years back. On top of our coffeetable was an assortment of books with famous paintings. Who knew that they actually entered my brain when I was just browsing through them, waiting for my roomie to hurry up and wash her hair before embarking upon a night on the town.

But poetry...I bombed. Completely bombed. Ordered the Comex book to go along with the Rea book I've been studying. I'm hoping to retain some of it. But all the stuff about iambic pentameters. I think my head is about to explode. Thought I'd take a break from it and sat down to watch Frasier a few nights ago. What subject does Niles bring up but Iambic Pentameters!!! Is this a sign I ought to be studying instead of taking break?

Am thinking of scheduling to take this test in two or three weeks. I was on a roll with my cleps but I seem to have lost steam with this one. Still nervous about it but feel a little better about the test after reading this thread.

[yutzyj]

Originally Posted by april004

Am thinking of scheduling to take this test in two or three weeks. I was on a roll with my cleps but I seem to have lost steam with this one. Still nervous about it but feel a little better about the test after reading this thread.

Hi april004-This was a test that I was dreading. I spent a 3 weeks really studying for this. It's easy to lose steam, but don't give up hope. Sometimes a little break puts you right back in the testing mode and this is a hard one to study for. Don't forget to let us know how you did.

[april004]

Just received my Comex book. Much thinner than the Rea, but am liking what I am reading so far. Very to the point. Thanks to the poster for suggesting it.I decided to take a little break...really ought to be studying and goofed around and wrote a silly poem...

ODE to the HUMANITIES CLEP

I shall slay the beast called Humanites
Though uncultured I am, I have the keys
Soon I'll be quoting John Donne and Shakespeare
Works of great art remembered, Shout a cheer!
Instantcert,Comex,R-E-A, my aids
Will give this poor soul some needed straight A's.

[sgloer]

Make sure you read the previous feedback on Humanities. I think several people specifically state that there's no iambic parameter related questions--it's just a lot of broad, shallow coverage of the material.