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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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…

5. 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…

6. 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…

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?