AP Multiple Choice

1
AP Multiple Choice

• English Language and Composition

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What should I expect?

• Section I 40-60 mc in 1 hour over 4 to 5 prose
  passages (expect non-fiction)
• College level/not easy/not all American/different
  purposes
• Self-contained (i.e., you do not have to know the
  context or background)
• Basic biblical and mythological
• allusions are expected

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Strong Analytical Skills

• Follow sophisticated syntax
• Respond to diction
• Be comfortable with upper level vocab
• Be familiar with rhetorical terminology
• Make inferences
• Be sensitive to irony and tone
• Recognize components of organization and style
• Be familiar with modes of discourse and
  rhetorical strategies

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Begin by looking for

• Length of selections
• Time periods and writing styles
• Number of questions asked
• Types of questions
• Do all of this in a minute or two
• Skim questions briefly to get about 5 ideas to
  look for when reading

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Timing

• 1 hour (12-15 minutes per passage)
• 10 minutes to read the passage
• 5 minutes to answer all the questions
• Keep a watch in front of you
• Does not get progressively harder
• Read passage carefully first just skim questions
• Slow down and read with all of your senses
  (refrain from licking your paper, however)

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Passage Reading Tips

• Underline, circle, highlight (active reading)
• Pay close attention to punctuation, syntax,
  diction, pacing, organization
• Read as if aloud, emphasize meaning and intent ?
  hear those words in your head
• Use you finger to underscore each line
• Use all info including title, footnotes, author,
  date
• Look for organizational and rhetorical devices
• Look for thematic lines and details
• Practice reading aloud like this (1.5 min/page)

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Reading Tips

• Do your best to answer all questions from one
  passage before moving on
• Try to get the main point without getting bogged
  down in unfamiliar diction
• Visualize while you read (movie)
• Paraphrase/put ideas in your own words by
  paragraph
• Read questions carefully after passage
• Leave most difficult questions for the end of
  each section

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Reading Archaic Prose (17th and 18th century
writers)

• As you read, think about where paragraphs might
  go
• split it up in your mind
• Treat colons and semicolons as periods
• Get a handle on thought divisions because of
  long, sentences with complex ideas
• Look for extended metaphors common

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Practice

• Hints about wrong answers
• Contradictory to the passage
• Irrelevant or not addressed in passage
• Unreasonable
• Too general or specific
• Only half correct (something and something)
• Buzz words
• Right words/wrong concept
• Right concept/wrong words
• Often, anything said by authorities (parent,
  teacher, clergy, esp. anything that sounds like
  
• what an English teacher would say is
  wrong ?)

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Types of Questions

• Straightforward
• The passages is an example of a ____ type of
  essay. (c. comparison/contrast)
• The pronoun it refers to (b. his gait)

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Types of Questions

• Interpretation of lines or draw conclusions
• Lines 52-57 serve to (a. reinforce the authors
  thesis)

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Types of Questions

• All . . . Except requiring the reader to consider
  every possibility
• The AP English Language and Composition exam is
  all of the following except
• A. given in May of each year.
• B. open to high school students.
• C. published in the New York Times.
• D. used as a qualifier for college credit.
• E. is a three hour test.

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Types of Questions

• Inference or abstraction of a concept not
  directly stated in the passage
• In Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the reader
  can infer that the speaker is (e. religious).

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Types of Questions

• Roman numerals
• In the passage night refers to
• I. The death of the young woman
• II. A pun on Sir Williams title
• III. The end of the affair
• A. I only
• B. I and II
• C. I and III
• D. II and III
• E. I, II, and III

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Questions about Rhetoric

• The shift in point of view has the effect of
• The syntax of lines ___ to ___ serves to
• The second sentence is unified by metaphorical
  references to
• The antecedent for ___ is
• The third sentence remains coherent because of
  the use of
• The style of the passage can best be
  characterized as
• Lines ___ and ___ are parallel such as

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Authors Meaning and Purpose

• Which of the following best identifies the
  meaning of
• Which of the following best describes the
  authors purpose
• The main purpose of ___ is to make clear
• In context, which of the following meanings are
  contained in

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Questions about the main idea

• The theme of the second paragraph is
• The speakers attitude is best described as one
  of
• In context, the sentence ___ is best interpreted
  as
• The atmosphere or tone is one of
• Which of the following would the author least
  likely
• Which of the following is true about the various
  assertions made in the passage
• All of the following ideas may be found in the
  passage except

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Questions aboutOrganization and Structure

• The quotation ___ signals a shift from
• The speakers mention of ___ is appropriate to
  the development of her argument by
• The type of argument employed by the author is
  most similar to which of the following
• The speaker describes ___ in an order best
  described as moving from
• The relationship between ___ and ___ is explained
  primarily by the use of
• The authors discussion depends on which of the
  following structures
• Which of the following best describes the
  function of the third paragraph in relation to
  the preceding two?

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Questions about Rhetorical Modes

• The pattern of exposition exemplified in the
  passage
• The authors use of description is appropriate
  because
• Which of the following best describes the
  authors method
• Because the author uses expository format, he is
  able to

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Strategies for Answering

• Work in order
• Mark up exam booklet
• Do not spend too much time on one question
• Length of selection does not relate to difficulty
• Work within the context dont fight the question
  or passage
• Consider all the choices in a given question
• Maintain an open mind about a contradictory
  answer
• All parts of the answer must be correct
• Go back to text when in doubt

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Specific Techniques

• Process of elimination
• Any that are obviously wrong
• Those which are too narrow or broad
• Illogical choices
• Synonymous answers
• Answers which cancel each other out
• If two answers are close ? find the general one
  that contains all aspects of the question or one
  limited enough to provide the correct detail

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Specific Techniques

• Substitution/Fill-in
• Rephrase using a blank
• Find the one that is the best fit
• Using Context
• Use when directed to a specific place in the text
• Read the sentences before and after the reference
  for clues

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Specific Techniques

• Anticipation
• Mark details and ideas that you would ask
  questions about on the first reading
• Intuition
• Trust your own knowledge from the past

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Time Running Out

• Scan remaining questions and look for
• Shortest questions/point to a line
• Look for specific detail/definition questions
• Look for self-contained questions
• The jail sentence was a bitter winter for his
  plan is an example of (c. analogy)

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Guessing

• A wrong answer ¼ of a point
• Try to answer every question based on educated
  guess
• Blank answers 0
• so its ok to have a few blank answers

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Factual Questions

• Words refer to
• Allusions
• Antecedents
• Pronoun referents

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Technical Questions

• Sentence structure
• Style
• Grammatical purpose
• Dominant technique
• Imagery

• Point of view
• Organization of passage
• Narrative progress of passage
• Conflict
• Irony
• Function of

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Analytical

• Rhetorical strategy
• Shift in development
• Rhetorical stance
• Style
• Metaphor
• Comparison/contrast
• Cause/effect
• Argument

• Description
• Narration
• Specific-general
• Characterization
• Imagery
• Passage is primarily concerned with
• Function of

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Inferential

• Effect of diction
• Tone
• Inferences
• Effect of description
• Effect on reader
• Narrators attitude

• Image suggests
• Effect of detail
• Author implies
• Author most concerned with
• Symbol