THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION

TIME & ORDER  Plan your time.  Count the passages; there are probably 5.  Decide on an order for the passages.  The test order is normally best.  If you change it, watch that you get your answers in the right place on the answer sheet.

READING  Read the passage carefully.  Mark the passage up as you read  Identify the speaker, who/what is being addressed, the setting, and the occasion  As you read, watch for:  the main idea of the passage  the prevailing tone of the passage  shifts, as in point-of- view, tone, and the like

MARKING ANSWERS  Answer all the questions in order.  Where you do not have an answer, take your best guess.  Keep your focus  The questions are supposed to be hard  Emergency:  If you know you cannot finish, decide on a passage to omit  Decide before May 10 what you intend to do in “an emergency”

Question Types  You will find questions about:  the passage as a whole The narrator is primarily concerned with…  details The choice that best paraphrases lines is…  language & organization Paragraph 4 is developed by (A) definition (B) …  grammatical reference The pronoun ‘it’ in line 30 refers to…

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREP  Be confident.  You can do well with a percentage that would score an F on most tests.  Still, it’s a good idea to carry a talisman.  Use any break time to relax  Breathe  Stretch  Picture yourself in a comfortable place

WHAT ELSE?  and…