1. AP Literature and Composition: Untangling the Multiple Choice

2. Test Format 60 min long 4-5 sections 55-60 questions
Poetry and Prose, Fiction and Non Fiction
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 (READ THEM)

3. 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?
That means it is okay to guess!

4. Best Bet Tips: Please repeat after me…
I will cross out wrong answers if I know them
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 as I am taking the test
I should be in the 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 if I have time
I understand that questions may give a feel for the piece
I will not trust my memory and just go back to the piece
I will read above and below lines that are given in questions
I will understand that all questions follow the order of appearance; nothing is out of sequence

5. 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?

6. 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, etc.
Most English poetry is written in iambic pentameter

7. All Questions fall into 4 categories.
1. Comprehension (understanding)
2. Device (rhetorical/literary)
3. Effect
4. Grammar

8. Time to Practice You will have 15 min to read and answer questions
Determine which type (one of the 4) of question it actually is
After, consult with friends and make some final selections

9. Practice Test 1 – Talk to Animals (p.225) Answers Question type
27. C Device (tone)
28. E Effect
29. D Device (allusion)
30. D Comprehension
31. A Device (style)
32. D Grammar
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.

10. Conrad: Narcissus Answers Question type
36. B ________________
37. C ________________
38. C ________________
39. B ________________
40. B ________________
41. B ________________
42. E ________________
43. E ________________
44. C ________________
45. B ________________

11. 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

12. Conrad: Narcissus Answers Question type
35. A Comprehension
36. B Comprehension/Effect
37. C Effect
38. C Device/Comprehension
39. B Device
40. B Comprehension
41. B Comprehension
42. E Effect
43. E Comprehension
44. C Device
45. B Device

13. Man Aged Question type 20 Comprehension 21 Comprehension 22 Effect
24 Device
25 Comprehension
26 Comprehension
27 Device
28 Comprehension
29 Comprehension
30 Comp/ device
31 Effect
32 Device
33 Comprehension
34 Device