AP-Style Multiple Choice Strategies to attack the multiple choice section

Basic Information 1 hour; 55 questions; 4-5 passages Questions generally move through passage from beginning to end. You can expect at least one older passage (pre-20th century prose) You can expect at least one of the passages to include questions about footnotes/endnotes

Types of Questions Comprehension Identifying the author’s (or speaker’s) purpose or intention Identifying a rhetorical device, style, feature, or mode of development Inference Reference or antecedent Shift or transition EXCEPT questions Multiple/multiple Choice Function

Types of Questions Close shot A word, phrase, a small amount of text The word “education” (line 24) refers to … In line 37, the phrase “as such boys do” functions primarily as… The interjection “alas” (line 71) emphasizes the speaker’s…

Types of Questions Medium Shots A few sentences or paragraph(s), a “medium” amount of text One purpose of the first paragraph is to… Which of the following best describes the relationship between the first paragraph and the second paragraph? The second paragraph is significant in that the speaker…

Types of Questions Long Shots The whole passage, most often asks about the main point, tone, effect, or purpose but also sometimes about the context or relationship of part(s) to the whole The author’s main point of the passage? Which sentences best represent… In the passage, the author’s overall tone towards Bentham can best be described as…

Tricks and Tips LEAVE NO QUESTION UNANSWERED (choose B or C). There is no penalty for guessing. Know when to surrender…if you hit an extremely difficult question, don’t spend more than two minutes on it. Guess and move on. You may have time at the end of the test to return to these questions, but you probably won’t.

Tips and Tricks…Bracketing Go directly to the first question. Glance at the question to see if it refers to particular lines. If so, put a bracket and the question number to the right or left of lines. Continue bracketing the passage in this manner. Begin reading the passage at the top. When you get to the bottom of the 1st bracket, stop and answer the question. (You will know if you need to read on before you answer the question.) As you eliminate wrong answer choices and narrow toward the right answer, scrutinize each choice by trying to find fault with it. Don’t let what sounds possible but was never mentioned in the passage trick you.

Let’s Practice Let’s look at a couple of multiple choice passages and practice the bracketing strategy. Did it work for you? Why or why not? Now, with your group let’s look at the types of questions asked. What type of question is it? i.e. inference, comprehension Is it close, medium, long?