1. Test Strategies for Your Practice Exam

2. Pacing and Timing  Try and figure out how long it takes you to answer questions. Knowing how long you spend on average per question will help you identify how many questions you can answer effectively and how to best pace yourself  Bring a watch, but don’t constatnly check the time. Check the time every 15 questions or so in order to check your pacing.  Know when to move on! Easy questions count just as much as the hard ones, so stressing over one question can potentially deprive you of the chance o answer easier ones later on. Keep a steady pace. You can always go back to it later on.

3.  Note the time and the number of passages. Plan accordingly.  Be selective!!!! Preview all the passages at the beginning of the test and answer the easier passages first.Pick a passage to do first and a passage to do last. Consider:  What kind of passagesis easier for you?  How long are the passages?  Is the passage older or more contemporary?  Use Process of elimination! Stop looking for the right answers. Look for the wrong answers and eliminate them.  Remember, half bad=all bad when it comes to the answers! Even 1/10 bad=all bad!

4. Question Types  General Comprehension—ask about the overall passage. They won’t send you back to a specific line  Detail—these will almost always send you back to specific places in the passage  Factual Knowledge—ask you about the English language, its grammar, and the basic terminology of criticism and poetry  Example: How does the author’s use of irony contribute to the effect of the poem?

6. Prose Passages Skim the passage Skim the passage – Read the first sentences of paragraphs carefully, read the last sentence Read the passage Read the passage – Just read—without fixating on details, without getting stuck Get the main idea Get the main idea – Create a mental picture – The details build up to the big picture

7. Do you feel confident with the passage?  If yes, then complete the questions in order  If you don’t feel confident about the main idea, do the detail questions first

8. Practice!  How long did the passage take?  What is your average time per question?  Which 3 questions were the hardest?  Which 3 questions were the easiest?

9. 7 Minute Passage  Don’t read the passage. Just don’t do it!  Go straight to the questions.  Answer the questions in the following order:  Any literary term or grammar questions  Any questions that ask for the meaning of a single word or phrase  Any questions that gives you a line number  Any question on tone or attitude  Any questions that have line references in the ANSWER choices  Do whatever is left!

10. 7 Minute Passage Practice!  You have 7 minutes!

11. Essays  Order your essays!  Address the topic and avoid summary!  Make your essay easy for the AP reader to score. Here’s how…

12.  Neatness counts!  Indent your paragraphs  Indent twice as much as you normall would to make it obvious  When in doubt, start a new pargraph  Write perfectly…for the first paragraph  Show off your literary vocabulary  Don’t rewrite the prompt, paraphrase it instead. This shows you understand the question.  Use snappy verbs and tasty nouns  Read the questions carefully. The questions give you clues that will help you understand the passage.

13.  Answer the Question  If the AP reader doesn’t think your essay addresses the question, you will get a lousy score