Transcript AP English Language and Composition

AP English
Language and Composition
Understanding the Exam!
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.
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 writer’s attitude between the
beginning and the end of the material.
Let’s practice! You have 12
minutes to complete this section.
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.
Let’s 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 Burney’s assertion about extremes. Use
appropriate evidence to make your argument.
Scoring the Exam
• Multiple-Choice Scoring:
_______ - (1/4 x ________) = ________
# Correct
# Incorrect
Raw Score
• Essay Scoring:
_____ + _____ + _____ = _____
Question 1
(out of 9)
Question 2 Question 3
(out of 9)
(out of 9)
Essay Score
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.
Calculating the Final AP Score
Composite Score Ranges
AP Grade
101-150
5
90-100
4
70-89
3
50-69
2
0-49
1