AP Literature and Composition:
Untangling the Multiple Choice
J.l.Baran PVMHS
Untangling the Multiple Choice
J.L.Baran PVMHS
Our Goals…
Test Overview 10 min
Tips and Strategy 15 min
Practice 25 min
Deconstruction 20 min
Questions 5 min
Total 75 min
Test Format
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60 min long
4-5 sections
55-60 questions
Poetry and Prose, Fiction and Non Fiction
300-700 word sections
Material before 1900 (the old stuff)
Material after 1900 (the new stuff)
12-15 questions in each section
Questions are Content, Style, and Structure
Questions will follow a linear order
However entire passage questions can be sporadic
You may be given footnotes
Did You Know...
That you can get ½ the multiple choice
wrong and still obtain a qualifying score?
 Multiple Choice is 45% of your score?
 You are not penalized for what you get
wrong, but rewarded for what you get
correct?
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Best Bet Tips: Please repeat after
me…
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I will cross out wrong answers
I will start with the easiest passage
I will end with the hardest passage
I will watch out for questions that take time: Roman Numeral, Least, Except
I will check my time and wear a watch
I should be in the middle @ 30 min
I will mark any rhetorical shifts usually identified with conjunctions such as
But, Although, Since, etc
I will circle footnotes and titles
I will use a ? And go back later
I understand that questions may give a feel for the piece
I will not trust my memory and go back
I will read above and below lines
I will understand that all questions follow the order of appearance; nothing
is out of sequence
How to Look at Prose
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Be active with your pen
Try to picture the passage in your mind
Note the number of paragraphs
Look for Transition Words
Look for Shift = movement to a new direction
Pay attention to special punctuation – it may mean something.
Pay attention to sentence structure – it may also mean something
Note the Point of View, 1st or 3rd
Is the language formal or informal?
How to Look at Poetry: it helps to be
good at the following:
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The situation, story, logic, argument
Author’s attitude or Tone of the piece
Punctuation, or lack there of
Enjambment
Imagery, especially if they form a pattern
Metaphorical devices
Figurative vs Literal
Know your basic forms lyric, ballad, sonnet, ode, elegy, dramatic
monologue, lament
Know some basic sound devices, alliteration, assonance, rhyme*
(there is more than one type) onomatopoeia
Most English poetry is written in iambic pentameter
All Questions fall into 4 categories.
1. Comprehension
 2. Device
 3. Effect
 4. Grammar
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Time to Practice
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You will have 15 min to read and answer
questions
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After, consult with friends and make some
final selections
Conrad: Narcissus
Answers
Question type
35.
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A
B
C
C
B
B
B
E
E
C
B
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Dylan Thomas: Man Aged
Answers
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20 C
21 D
22 C
23 E
24 D
25 D
26 C
27 B
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28 B
29 B
30 E
31 D
32 C
33 A
34 A
Conrad: Narcissus
Answers
Question type
35.
 36.
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A
B
C
C
B
B
B
E
E
C
B
Comprehension
Comprehension/Effect
Effect
Device/Comprehension
Device
Comprehension
Comprehension
Effect
Comprehension
Device
Device
Man Aged
Question type
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20 Comprehension
21 Comprehension
22 Effect
23 Comprehension
24 Device
25 Comprehension
26 Comprehension
27 Device
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28 Comprehension
29 Comprehension
30 Comp/ device
31 Effect
32 Device
33 Comprehension
34 Device