1. AP Language and Composition Multiple Choice Section
Ms. Quintina merriweather

2. Nuts and Bolts Counts as 45% of the entire score
Typically questions, but most commonly around 55, based on 4-5 passages
At least one passage will be pre-20th century
At least one passage will include footnotes/endnotes/bibliographic citations and 5-7 questions will be specifically about those footnotes/endnotes/bibliographic citations.
Two or three of the passages will be relatively contemporary passages from non-fiction sources
The passages could come from any realm of non-fiction
You must read a wide range of reading assignments

3. Nuts and Bolts Entire question = an item.
Stem = the part of the item that asks the question.
Options = the five answer choices.
Key = correct answer
Distractors = incorrect answers

4. Nuts and Bolts One Hour to complete the multiple choice
You do not have to work on the passages in the order in which they are presented.
Make sure that you don’t mix up the answers on your answer sheet when you skip around..
Every 10 questions, double check that the question matches the appropriate place on the answer sheet

5. Nuts and Bolts There is not penalty for an incorrect response.
Guess when appropriate: when running out of time or if you have narrowed the choices down to two or three choices
When guessing after narrowing the choices down, to two or three, you might choose the option that seems most specific.

6. Nuts and Bolts Read aggressively and actively: ANNOTATE
This improves concentration
Concentration is critical
One question/minute
Trust your intuition
Develop it through practice sessions in class

7. Nuts and Bolts
Eyeball the number of passages and how many questions need to be answered per passage.
Then set a rate of completion and decide which passages you will complete first.
Passage 1 = 15 minutes
Passage 2 = 15 minutes
Passage 3 = 15 minutes
Passage 4 = 15 minutes

8. Nuts and Bolts
Scan the question stems quickly before reading the passage.
For each question stem highlight the following:
What is being asked of you
Hints about the meaning or function of the passage
The line or paragraph number as a reference

9. Nuts and Bolts
Questions that ask to find “all of the following except,” or are set up to combine possible answer choices (I and II are correct, II and III are correct, I and III are correct, or all are correct) take longer to answer.
If rushed
Leave them for last
Guess

10. Nuts and Bolts
Questions that demand the rereading of long portions of the passage can be left for later as well or guessed at, if time is an issue.
Eliminate correct answers in “all of the following except” questions
You may want to treat the Roman numeral questions as
True/ False/ Not Sure

11. Nuts and Bolts
Questions generally follow the chronology of the passage.
Some questions are easier than others, but all count for the same point value.
Keep your finger on the place in the passage where the last question ended, as the next question will most likely pick up from the last spot.
Leave the most difficult questions in each section until the end of the section as other questions may help you answer these difficult ones.

12. Nuts and Bolts
Sometimes a question refers to part of a sentence, often a very long and complicated sentence, looking for the meaning of a word or phrase, how a word functions or seeking the antecedent for a pronoun.
It is helpful with these types of searches to read the sentence preceding the referred to sentence and, sometimes, the sentence following it.
Rule out the chronologically first and last for antecedent questions.

13. Nuts and Bolts
If running out of time, scan the remaining questions for either the shortest questions or the questions that refer to specific line or lines.
These often can be answered more quickly.

14. Types of Questions: Main Idea
Commonly asked questions
Measure the reader’s ability to identify the author’s ideas, attitudes, and tone
May ask to
Determine what the passage is most about or the overall tone
Make an inference based on facts the reader has to piece together from the passage
Usually include one of these key words
Think, predict, indicate, feel, probably, seem, imply, suggest, assume, infer, and most likely

15. Types of Questions: Rhetoric Questions
Commonly asked questions
May ask about syntax, point of view, and figurative language
It is important to know, in a functional way, the key terms of rhetoric, somewhere between
Any of the terms are possibilities

16. Types of Questions: Definition Questions
Basically vocabulary questions about difficult words in the passage or about ordinary words used in unfamiliar ways
The key to answering these questions is to read the surrounding sentence or sentences.
This process should help to discover the meaning in context
Create your own vocabulary list in your interactive notebooks from texts read both inside and outside of class.

17. Types of Questions: Tone or Purpose Questions
Frequently asked questions
Require the reader to
Determine how or why the author wrote the material
Tone reflects the writer’s attitude toward the audience and/or subject
Think of tone as “the expression on the face of the words.”
Purpose defines the effect the author wants to have on an audience (readers)
Writers convey purpose through choices in diction and images and the impression those words and images create

18. Types of Questions: Form Questions
Form - a writer’s method of organizing material in a particular sequence
Be aware of structure, organization, and development
Some writers use only one form, while others combine many forms of development
Comparison/ contrast
Cause and effect
Chronological order
Order of importance
Problem – solution
A series of examples
Spatial order

19. Types of Questions: Documentation/Citation Questions
These questions will occur in just one section
4-6 questions regarding information in an extended citation

20. Nuts and Bolts
Multiple choice questions will be based on the nuance of the text.
Two answers will often e technically “correct”
Only one of those answers will be more focused and to the point