1. Preparing for the Multiple Choice Section

2. What is being assessed Your ability to… Follow sophisticated syntax
Comprehend scholarly diction
Draw from your own expansive understanding of literary terminology
Make inferences
Identify irony and tone (even when it is subtly used)
Recognize the different components of style

3. Remember… 55 questions in 1 hour
(some years it has been slightly fewer) in
1 hour
This accounts for 45% of your overall exam score

4. there is no longer a penalty for guessing incorrectly!
A Scoring Change
A few years ago the College Board changed how they score the multiple choice questions:
there is no longer a penalty for guessing incorrectly!
Thus, if you don’t know: GUESS.

5. Pacing tips Work at a rate of approximately 50 seconds per question
Slow down to read the passages/poems
Underline, circle, bracket… the text as you read: this will keep you engaged with what you are reading
If you read it closely the first time you are less likely to feel a need to reread it later…
Never try to save time by skipping over the title, the footnotes, or any other information provided about a text
These often carry clues or critical information/detail

6. Question Types

7. Four Categories All questions fall into four categories Factual
Technical
Analytical
Inferential

8. Key Words Identifying question types in prose

9. Factual Technical Words refer to Allusions Antecedents Genre
Literary movement
Setting
Et al.
Technical
Sentence structure
Style
Grammatical purpose
Dominant techniques
Imagery
Point of view
Organization of passage
Narrative progress of passage
Conflict
Irony
Function of…
Et al.

10. Analytical Inferential Rhetorical strategy Shift in development Style
Metaphor
Contrast/Comparison
Cause/effect
Argument
Description
Narration
Specific/general
How is characterized
Imagery
is a function of…
Et al.
Inferential
Effect of diction
Tone
Inference
Effect of fist/last paragraph/line/word
Effect on the reader
Narrator’s attitude
Image suggests
Effect of detail
Author implies
Authors is most concerned with…
Symbolism
Et al.

11. HW Questions For the questions you completed as homework, label them as: (a)factual (b)technical (c)analytical(d)inferential
Heart of Darkness

12. Factual Analytical Technical Inferential Words refer to Allusions
Antecedents
Genre
Literary movement
Setting
Et al.
Analytical
Description
Rhetorical strategy
Narration
Specific/general
Shift in development
How is characterized
Style
Imagery
Metaphor
is a function of…
Contrast/Comparison
Et al.
Cause/effect
Argument
Technical
Sentence structure
Style
Grammatical purpose
Dominant techniques
Imagery
Point of view
Organization of passage
Narrative progress of passage
Conflict
Irony
Function of…
Et al.
Inferential
Image suggests
Effect of diction
Effect of detail
Tone
Author implies
Inference
Effect of fist/last paragraph/line/word
Authors is most concerned with…
Effect on the reader
Symbolism
Et al.
Narrator’s attitude

13. Answer the questions for the Macbeth passage
Homework Check
Conrad’s
Heart of Darkness
Let’s correct your answers:
179.A 186.A
180.E 187.C
181.B 189.B
182.C 190.C
183.A 191.B
184.B
185.C
Which questions did you find most difficult? Why?
Homework
(DUE tomorrow):
Answer the questions for the Macbeth passage
Heart of Darkness