AP Multiple Choice Tips & Tricks

What to Expect 54 questions in 60 minutes 5-7 passages; spend 8-12 minutes on each passage and its questions Majority = 19 th and 20 th century authors At least one passage from before 1800 Lack of context/author names Passages which can be dry and somewhat boringthey are testing your mental toughness!

1. The Big Picture Read for a purpose: THE BIG PICTURE Authors tone, style, and point of view Big Picture questions come at the beginning or end of the question set for each passage

2. The Two-Pass System Read passage for BIG PICTURE while annotating Answer all the easy questions first Circle the hard questions Determine if you have enough time to tackle the hard questions. If not, skip them. If you have time at the end, go back and answer them.

3. POE = Process of Elimination Each question has 5 answer choices - ¼ point for wrong answer Gain 1 point for right answer If you can narrow down your choices (even by eliminating 1 or 2 of the choices), you increase your chance of success.

4. The Details Questions which ask for specifics give you line numbers. Always go back to the specific lines and re-read. Do not re-read large chunks of text. If you have to do this, circle the question and go back to it at the end of the test.

Exit Slip What strategies did you use on your synthesis essay today? What was the most challenging part of the synthesis essay? What can you do to improve?