Suggestions on how to study and take the Literature test in the university entrance exam

You have just had a graduation exam that is considered to be innovative: the exam structure is shortened to only 2 questions, the time to do the exam is only 120 minutes. If you look closely, in fact, the content and requirements of the exam are basically not much different from previous exams. Question 1 is essentially an integration of the previous questions 1 and 2. People consider them to be reading comprehension and social discussion questions. Previously, these contents were divided into two, now there is only one. The newest thing in this year's graduation exam is the issue of time, the content of the exam questions is more closely oriented towards the country's current hot issues. In order for Literature to no longer be "nonsense" issues, I think this direction of the exam is correct. This year's university entrance exam will also follow that direction. Specifically, how?

Teacher Tran Hinh

Of course, in terms of structure, this year's university entrance exam will still consist of 3 questions (different from the 2 questions for the graduation exam). The time to take the university entrance exam for Literature is still 180 minutes (different from the 120 minutes for the graduation exam). And so a Literature exam will consist of a 2-point reading comprehension question, a 3-point social essay question, and a 5-point literary essay question.

First of all, with the 2-point reading comprehension question, the exam may have requirements that are closer to the curriculum. For a long time, this question has often focused on memorization knowledge, but in recent years, the exam has been innovated. For example, the reading comprehension section has focused on asking about knowledge of the work, such as images compared and contrasted in the work, the meaning of details, metaphors, and the work's artistic style... This year, this reading comprehension section may be expanded to include knowledge of Vietnamese, syntax, rhetoric, and even issues outside of society. For example, in the recent graduation exam, they took a whole paragraph printed in a newspaper and asked students what type of style it belonged to (literature, journalism, science, administration, politics). In the program, there are also two literary argumentative essays that can be used as reading comprehension questions. That is Hoai Thanh’s A Time in Poetry, and Pham Van Dong’s Nguyen Dinh Chieu, a shining star in folk literature. So, to handle this question well, students are not allowed to study literature superficially like before, just going to the “exam preparation center” to write down the readings and pre-written books is enough. Students must read the work carefully. From this year’s Literature exam, there will no longer be questions about memorization. Students must read and understand the work.

With the 3-point social argumentation question, a series of recent exams (high school graduation, high school entrance), the exam questions have focused on a hot issue in our country today: the issue of islands. Will the university entrance exam continue in that direction? I think, certainly, the current issues of the country will always be considered important. But that issue is not necessarily just the islands, the Chinese 981 drilling rig, but it can be expanded further: the issue of the country's territory, the issue of the tradition of fighting against foreign invaders, the issue of patriotism, national pride, the issue of responsibility of the youth in the current situation of the country, including the issue of tolerance, the beautiful way of life, the ideal of life. In addition, the social essay section can also be related to some other lessons that students often pay little attention to, such as: On ethics and society in our country (Phan Chau Trinh), The path to becoming a modern scholar (Nguyen Khac Vien), The early days of the new Vietnam (Vo Nguyen Giap), Looking at the national cultural capital (Tran Dinh Huou), Message on World AIDS Day (Co Phi An Nan), Systemic thinking - the source of innovative vitality of thinking (Phan Dinh Dieu). Last year, the social essay exam for group C quoted an idea from the article Looking at the national cultural capital by Tran Dinh Huou to require students to write about the good and bad things in the habits of Vietnamese people in the past. This is an open question, so to do well on this question, I think that in addition to the knowledge learned in books, we should also learn knowledge from outside life, from the media, and television. And when writing, we need to express ourselves sincerely, not "shout slogans".

With the 5-point literary essay question, the exam questions in recent years often tend to expand, combining two issues, two works together. The questions often come back to a special type of writing called "feelings" (expressing feelings about two poems, expressing feelings about two endings of a work, expressing feelings about the hidden beauty of two characters, expressing feelings about two comments on the same issue of a work...). Don't panic. Actually, when starting to write an essay, no matter what type of writing is required, the final thing is still to write about the beauty and content of that work. However, you should remember, once people have combined two issues, or two works in one exam, you should immediately think about the essay that needs to include analysis, comparison of the similarities and differences between the two works. In the case of asking for agreement or disagreement with two comments on a given issue, you need to clearly show whether your opinion is right or wrong; or both are right. For example, last year, question 3.a, the D block exam asked: "Commenting on the desire to enjoy life in the poem Hurry by Xuan Dieu, there was an opinion that: it is the voice of the negative ego. Another opinion affirmed: it is the voice of the positive individual ego". You must affirm that the first opinion is wrong, the second opinion is right. Meanwhile, in question 3.b, people asked: "Regarding the character Phung in the short story The Boat Out at Sea by Nguyen Minh Chau, there is an opinion that the outstanding feature of this artist is a sensitive soul and a passion for the poetic beauty of the landscape. Another opinion emphasized that the profound beauty of artist Phung is a heart of concern and anxiety about human fate". You must affirm in your essay that both opinions are correct. Of course, when analyzing the essay, you need to clearly state, if correct or incorrect, how specifically. Once the exam has cited such opinions, it is also a specific direction to develop your essay. If you have a firm grasp of this issue, no matter what format the exam is in, you will not encounter difficulties.

Another important issue, before this year's university entrance exam, everyone who takes the exam probably wants to be clarified: there are so many lessons in the textbook (about 40 units), so how can the content be shortened to make learning easier? As a teacher, I never advise students to study lopsidedly or by rote, but always want them to study all the lessons in the textbook program. However, in case it is necessary to point out more specifically which lessons should be prioritized, students can completely focus more on the lessons that were not included in the university entrance exam last year, including the lessons that were not included in the recent graduation exam. If we are more careful, we can also "predict" which lessons will be taken out for the 2-point question, and which lessons will be chosen as sources for the 5-point question. That means this year, the following lessons will be considered more important: Tràng giang (Huy Cận), Day thôn Vi Dạ (Han Mặc Tử), Chiểu đầu (Ho Chi Minh), Từ Ay (To Huu), Hai Dua Tre (Thạch Lam), Chữ người tử tử (Nguyễn Tuân), Hạnh phúc của một tang gia (Vũ Trọng Phụng), Chí Phèo (Nam Cao), Vĩnh biệt Cửu Trùng Đài (Nguyễn Huy Tường), Việt Bắc (To Huu), Đất Nước (Nguyễn Khoa Điềm), Sóng (Xuan Quỳnh), Đàn Guitar của Lorca (Thanh Thảo), Người đi máy song Đà (Nguyễn Tuân), Ai đã danh cho đồng song? (Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường), Vô chồng A Phủ (Tô Hoài), Vợ Trái (Kim Lân), Rung xà nu (Nguyễn Trung Thành), Út trẻ trong gia (Nguyen Trung Thanh), Út trẻ trong gia (Nguyen Trung Thanh), Út trẻ trong gia (Nguyen Trung Thanh), Út trẻ trong gia (Nguyen Trung Thanh), Người ... (Nguyen Thi). Because the 5-point question has two options, you can skip advanced lessons such as Tuong Tu, Doi Thua, Lai Tan, Tieng Hat Con Tau, Mot Nguoi Ha Noi. I would like to reaffirm that the above notes before the exam are not intended to direct you to study lopsidedly or memorize, but mainly to help us have a better mindset before entering the exam. After all, we have had 12 years of studying Literature. These are just small notes.

Finally, to achieve the highest possible score, you should also pay attention to the presentation: before doing the test, you should spend the first 15 minutes thinking and analyzing the test carefully, then you should have a concise outline to avoid rambling when writing. The essay should be written in sharp, clear ink, without erasures, the arguments should start from the beginning of the line, correct as much as possible all spelling and sentence errors, the expression should be smooth, clear, and clear, you should try to complete all the questions of the test, do not leave any question unfinished. I wish you all the best results in the exam.