ap literature test practice and review session #1-multiple choice

AP Literature Test

Practice and Review

Session #1-Multiple Choice

AP Review Session 1_MCGENERAL OVERVIEW OF TEST

Date? Early May— MAY 10, 2012, 8AM-NOON [START TIME: 8:30AM]TOTAL TIME: 3 HOURS

Section I: Multiple choice (60 minutes)—45% of your overall gradeTotal number of questions: 55Four or five prose and poetry passages: 10-15 questions per passage

Section II: Essays (120) minutes—55% of your overall gradeThree Essays:– Analysis of poetry (40-minute essay on a single poem, or a

comparison of two poems)– Analysis of prose (40-minute essay on a given story, novel excerpt,

or essay)– Open essay (40-minute essay on a given literary topic supported

by your own reading)

AP Review Session 1_MCSCORING: What does your final score mean?

Scores Approximate percentage of all test takers receiving this score at participating colleges=Equivalent first-year college course grade (expected performance)

Will you receive credit for this score?5-Extremely well qualified=10.6%_A_Yes4-Well qualified=22.4%_A-B+_Yes3-Qualified=35.8%_B-, C_Maybe2-Possibly Qualified=25.1%_C,D_Very Rarely1-No Recommendation=6.2%_D_No

You, nor your colleges, will ever know what your individual section scores are.

You just get a final score of 1-5.

AP Review Session 1_MC

• Overall strategy: A good way to strategize passing the Multiple-Choice sections is to at least answer 30 questions correctly and to earn at least 15 points on the essays. These two scores will net you a final passing grade of 3. Increases in either category can help your final scores, too.


THREE STUDY STRATEGIES for the exam:• Study to eliminate weaknesses, but on the

test—emphasize your strength• Don’t disregard the Multiple Choice section• Prepare for the WHOLE test; don’t fixate on

the open essay—YOUR ESSAYS ARE READ BY A SPECIFIC READER WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH THE CONTENT YOU CHOSE.

AP Review Session 1_MCTo do well on this section, two testing strategies you

must incorporate are:• Manage a limited amount of time well.• Guess wisely and aggressively.• Guessing? Yes! WHY NOT? THERE’S NO

PENALTY ANYMORE!!!!– “Guessing wisely and aggressively” means you need the

ability (and courage) to use partial knowledge. Guessing on questions “blindly” is not a good idea. Guessing randomly will really not help you. Always answer if you have read the passage, the question and the answer choices (even if it ends up being a “guess”).

– Princeton Review™ uses their coined phrase of POE—Process of Elimination—to answer questions you are not sure about the correct answer. That means it is better to answer a question you are unsure about by eliminating the wrong answers first. Note: if half the answer seems wrong, it is safe to assume the whole answer is wrong (aka: “halfbad=allbad” technique).


Suggested Test Strategizing Plan:• Note the time and the number of passages• Pick a passage to do first• Pick a passage to do last (or skip)• Work the passage (Work doesn’t mean just

read—it means, ….)• Answer the questions, in the order that you

choose applying appropriate (helpful) techniques—for example, POE; halfbad=allbad; or 7-minute passage.


Reading the passages in the MC section require that you:

• Read in order to answer the questions.• Know what you will be asked to answer

and go back to the passage as you answer the question/s.

• Figure out the main idea and how it is structured so you can answer the questions.

AP Review Session 1_MCTo answer all MC questions efficiently, you need to recognize three types of questions:

• General comprehension questions

• Detail comprehension questions

• Factual knowledge questions


#1: General comprehension questions:These questions ask about the overall passage.

Ex: The passage is primarily concerned with…? Which one of the following choices best describes the tone of the passage? Which one of the following choices best describes the narrator’s relationship to her mother? To whom does the speaker of the poem address his speech? It is evident in the passage that the author feels his hometown is…?Which of the following best describes the author’s changing attitude over the course of first, second, and third stanzas, respectively?


#2: Detail questions always send you back to specific places in the passage.

Ex: What significant change occurs in the author’s attitude toward her mother in lines_-_? How do the final words of the third paragraph, “….” alters the remainder of the passage? What does the author mean by “formalist” (line___)?Which of the following is the best paraphrase for the sentence that begins at line ___?


#3: Factual Knowledge questions:These questions ask you about English language and its grammar and the basic terminology of criticism and poetry.

Ex: Which of the following literary devices most contributes to the mood of the poem? What parallel structure helps to emphasize the attitude of the speaker? In the context of the following lines (__-__), the phrase “This loaf’s big” is used as a metaphor for the ________? Which is the subject of “hidden?”When in the third stanza the playwright character says, “I believe…” he is referring to…

ap literature test practice and review session #1-multiple choice

Documents