AP English Language and Composition

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AP English Language and Composition

• Understanding the Exam!

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Section 1 Multiple-Choice

• The first section, for which one hour is
  allotted, is a series of five or six reading
  passages with an average of 10 multiple-choice
  questions for each.
• This section accounts for 45 of the total score.
• The readings will illustrate a variety of
  literary periods and styles and may represent
  both nonfiction and fiction from the Renaissance
  to the present day, although in recent years
  nonfiction has appeared more frequently than
  fiction.

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Accurate, Thorough Reading

• The multiple-choice questions test the accuracy
  and thoroughness of your reading.
• They are difficult because they are not about the
  obvious facts of the passages rather, they ask
  about matters such as the purpose of a particular
  sentence in the overall passage or a change in
  the writers attitude between the beginning and
  the end of the material.

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Lets practice! You have 12 minutes to complete
this section.
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Section 2 Free Response

• Here you will be asked to write three essays in
  two hours. You will have 40 minutes to compose
  each essay.
• There will be one analytical essay, one
  argumentative essay, and one synthesis essay.

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Lets look over a sample essay question.
Fanny Burney once wrote, There is nothing upon
the face of the earth so insipid as a medium.
Give me love or hate! a friend that will go to
jail for me, or an enemy that will run me through
the body! Directions In a well-thought-out
essay, evaluate validity of Burneys assertion
about extremes. Use appropriate evidence to make
your argument.
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Scoring the Exam

• Multiple-Choice Scoring _______ - (1/4 x
  ________) ________ Correct
  Incorrect Raw Score
• Essay Scoring _____ _____ _____
  _____ Question 1 Question 2 Question 3
  Essay Score (out of 9) (out of 9)
  (out of 9)

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Scoring Continued...

• Each section is weighted according to time
  allotted to that section that is, the
  Multiple-Choice score counts approximately 60
  points, and the Weighted Essay score counts
  approximately 90 points, to make a total of
  approximately 150 points.
• The Multiple-Choice score is added to the
  Weighted Essay score to get a composite score,
  which is rounded to the nearest whole number.

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Calculating the Final AP Score
Composite Score Ranges AP
Grade 101-150 5 90-100 4 70-89 3 50-6
9 2 0-49 1