Reading Material for Section 1

[Delgado]

Hi

I got some reading material for this particular section and was hoping that some of you who did well on the test can advice me on any further material that I should get my hands on.


Poetry:

Shakespear: Sonnets
Auden, W. H.: The Unknown Citizen

Fiction:

Austin, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
Lawrence, D.H.: Sons and Lovers

Non-Fiction:

George Orwell: Shooting an Elephant
Woolf, Virginia: A Room of One's Own

[S.W.]

Hm, good question...

I think you should look at the material you've cited above as 'good examples' of the kind of thing you might like to read for s.1, although in fact you're not likely to see any of it in the test!

Now, I should say that I'm a law student, so I did no prep for s.1 or 2 (or 3 for that matter... though I probably should have done...) However, I suppose this kind of material is reccomended because it might get you in the right 'frame of mind' for s.1. To be frank, I don't think that's necessarily true- you need to learn to think critically about what you're reading! It might be more useful to read something along with the York notes on the text- as that will point out what you 'should' recognise!

I suspect the best prep for someone who isn't comfortable with this section is practice papers.

Cheers

[montreux]

Originally Posted by Delgado

Hi

I got some reading material for this particular section and was hoping that some of you who did well on the test can advice me on any further material that I should get my hands on.

Sorry GAMSAT didn't go so well for you this time round - all power to you for not letting it defeat you and giving it another shot.

Section I was my best section (I got 80 in it) so I thought I should be able to answer your question but I'm not sure I can! I think S.W. has probably hit the nail on the head - it's not so much having read a wide range of material but more understanding the underlying messages that writers are trying to get across. Believe me I did *not* read Shakespeare or any poetry to prepare - I'm more of a crime fiction girl if I ever have the time - and "Organic Chemistry for Dummies" was about as literary as I got before the exam .

I did study French A-level (in the early 1990s!!) and that included analysing some literature so that possibly helped in terms of the mindset. Also, half of my degree is in French (no literature though!) so I have probably spent more time than most considering the possible different interpretations of language. Again, S.W.'s suggestion of reading something with a commentary seems like a great idea - maybe www.cliffsnotes.com would be helpful as it looks like you can view texts with commentaries online for free and they've even got a "Tools and Resources" section which includes a "How to Analyse a Poem" guide (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/...id-109022.html) [I am not in any way affiliated with them!].

Hope that helps a bit and I wish you all the best for September when it comes round!

[Delgado]

Hi thanks for the replies, but decided to just practice using ACER papers.

No more private messages about Gradmed notes to sell, please.

Thanks