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
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?
Best Bet Tips: Please repeat after
me…
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
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:
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
Time to Practice
You will have 15 min to read and answer
questions
After, consult with friends and make some
final selections
Conrad: Narcissus
Answers
Question type
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
A
B
C
C
B
B
B
E
E
C
B
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
Dylan Thomas: Man Aged
Answers
20 C
21 D
22 C
23 E
24 D
25 D
26 C
27 B
_____________
___
28 B
29 B
30 E
31 D
32 C
33 A
34 A
Conrad: Narcissus
Answers
Question type
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
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
20 Comprehension
21 Comprehension
22 Effect
23 Comprehension
24 Device
25 Comprehension
26 Comprehension
27 Device
28 Comprehension
29 Comprehension
30 Comp/ device
31 Effect
32 Device
33 Comprehension
34 Device
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