AP: English Literature and Composition

AP Exam 55 multiple choice questions 4-6 passages –60 minutes –45% of final score 3 essay questions –120 minutes –55% of final score

Multiple Choice Questions Level one questions Close reading questions Literary terms Select “most correct” of correct answers

Multiple Choice Questions Omitted Answer Negative points Correct Answer Points Incorrect Answer 0 points

Essay Questions #1 and #2 Reading selection provided –One poetry –One prose Level 2 question –Use the text –Students will give “somewhat” different answers

Essay Questions #1 and #2 Questions always includes “what and how” Organize by the “what” or the “how” Prove the “what” with the “how” as support

Sample Poetry Prompt Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well written essay analyze the techniques the poet uses to reveal the speaker’s attitudes towards nature and the artist’s task.

Sample Prose Prompt Read the following passage carefully. Then write a well organized essay in which you analyze how the author uses such techniques as point of view, selection of detail, and syntax to characterize the relationship between the father and the son.

Questions #1 and #2 - Tips List of Literary Techniques –Merely Suggestions Brief opening paragraph Clear thesis from prompt Quotes – “In Snippets” Give a Wow conclusion Graded on a 9 point rubric

Key Literary Techniques Point of View Selection of Detail Syntax Diction Figurative Language Structure Imagery Sound Devices

Essay Question #3 Analytical question with list of novel and plays Level 3 question –Thematic in nature

Essay Question #3 Avoid plot summary Assume grader knows the book Brief opening paragraph with thesis Organize with transitions Use a lot of specific support

Essay Question #3 Select a fiction novel or play of literary quality Cover the list and decide Choose a work you know well No literary terms needed

Sample Free Response Prompt In many works of literature, past events can effect, positively or negatively, the present actions, attitudes or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with the past. Then write an essay in which you show how the character’s relationship with the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.