Transcript AP Multiple Choice English Language and Composition

AP Multiple Choice
English Language and Composition
What should I expect?
• Section I = 40-60 mc in 1 hour over
4 to 5 prose passages (expect nonfiction)
• College level/not easy/not all
American/different purposes
• Self-contained (i.e., you do not have
to know the context or background)
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Basic biblical and mythological
allusions are expected
Strong Analytical Skills
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Follow sophisticated syntax
Respond to diction
Be comfortable with upper level vocab
Be familiar with rhetorical terminology
Make inferences
Be sensitive to irony and tone
Recognize components of organization and
style
• Be familiar with modes of discourse and
rhetorical strategies
Begin by looking for
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Length of selections
Time periods and writing styles
Number of questions asked
Types of questions
Do all of this in a minute or two
Skim questions briefly to get about 5
ideas to look for when reading
Timing
• 1 hour (12-15 minutes per passage)
– 10 minutes to read the passage
– 5 minutes to answer all the questions
• Keep a watch in front of you
• Does not get progressively harder
• Read passage carefully first; just skim
questions
• Slow down and read with all of your senses
(refrain from licking your paper, however)
Passage Reading Tips
• Underline, circle, highlight (active reading)
• Pay close attention to punctuation, syntax, diction,
pacing, organization
• Read as if aloud, emphasize meaning and intent 
hear those words in your head
• Use you finger to underscore each line
• Use all info including title, footnotes, author, date
• Look for organizational and rhetorical devices
• Look for thematic lines and details
• Practice reading aloud like this (1.5 min/page)
Reading Tips
• Do your best to answer all questions from one
passage before moving on
• Try to get the main point without getting bogged
down in unfamiliar diction
• Visualize while you read (movie)
• Paraphrase/put ideas in your own words by
paragraph
• Read questions carefully after passage
• Leave most difficult questions for the end of
each section
Reading Archaic Prose
(17th and 18th century writers)
• As you read, think about where paragraphs
might go
– split it up in your mind
• Treat colons and semicolons as periods
– Get a handle on thought divisions because of
long, sentences with complex ideas
• Look for extended metaphors— common
Practice
• Hints about wrong answers
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Contradictory to the passage
Irrelevant or not addressed in passage
Unreasonable
Too general or specific
Only half correct (something and something)
Buzz words
Right words/wrong concept
Right concept/wrong words
Often, anything said by authorities (parent,
teacher, clergy, *esp. anything that sounds like
what an English teacher would say is wrong )
Types of Questions
• Straightforward
– The passages is an example of a ____
type of essay. (c. comparison/contrast)
– The pronoun it refers to (b. his gait)
Types of Questions
• Interpretation of lines or draw
conclusions
– Lines 52-57 serve to (a. reinforce the
author’s thesis)
Types of Questions
• All . . . Except requiring the reader to
consider every possibility
– The AP English Language and
Composition exam is all of the following
except
– A. given in May of each year.
– B. open to high school students.
– C. published in the New York Times.
– D. used as a qualifier for college credit.
– E. is a three hour test.
Types of Questions
• Inference or abstraction of a
concept not directly stated in the
passage
– In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, the
reader can infer that the speaker is (e.
religious).
Types of Questions
• Roman numerals
– In the passage “night” refers to
I. The death of the young woman
II. A pun on Sir William’s title
III. The end of the affair
A. I only
B. I and II
C. I and III
D. II and III
E. I, II, and III
Questions about Rhetoric
• The shift in point of view has the effect of
• The syntax of lines ___ to ___ serves to
• The second sentence is unified by metaphorical
references to
• The antecedent for ___ is
• The third sentence remains coherent because of
the use of
• The style of the passage can best be
characterized as
• Lines ___ and ___ are parallel such as
Author’s Meaning and
Purpose
• Which of the following best identifies the
meaning of
• Which of the following best describes the
author’s purpose
• The main purpose of ___ is to make clear
• In context, which of the following
meanings are contained in
Questions about
the main idea
• The theme of the second paragraph is
• The speaker’s attitude is best described as one of
• In context, the sentence ___ is best interpreted
as
• The atmosphere or tone is one of
• Which of the following would the author least
likely
• Which of the following is true about the various
assertions made in the passage
• All of the following ideas may be found in the
passage except
Questions about
Organization and Structure
• The quotation ___ signals a shift from
• The speaker’s mention of ___ is appropriate to the
development of her argument by
• The type of argument employed by the author is most
similar to which of the following
• The speaker describes ___ in an order best described as
moving from
• The relationship between ___ and ___ is explained
primarily by the use of
• The author’s discussion depends on which of the following
structures
• Which of the following best describes the function of the
third paragraph in relation to the preceding two?
Questions about
Rhetorical Modes
• The pattern of exposition exemplified in
the passage
• The author’s use of description is
appropriate because
• Which of the following best describes the
author’s method
• Because the author uses expository
format, he is able to
Strategies for Answering
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Work in order
Mark up exam booklet
Do not spend too much time on one question
Length of selection does not relate to difficulty
Work within the context; don’t fight the question
or passage
Consider all the choices in a given question
Maintain an open mind about a contradictory
answer
All parts of the answer must be correct
Go back to text when in doubt
Specific Techniques
• Process of elimination
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Any that are obviously wrong
Those which are too narrow or broad
Illogical choices
Synonymous answers
Answers which cancel each other out
If two answers are close  find the general
one that contains all aspects of the question or
one limited enough to provide the correct
detail
Specific Techniques
• Substitution/Fill-in
– Rephrase using a blank
– Find the one that is the best fit
• Using Context
– Use when directed to a specific place in the
text
– Read the sentences before and after the
reference for clues
Specific Techniques
• Anticipation
– Mark details and ideas that you would
ask questions about on the first reading
• Intuition
– Trust your own knowledge from the past
Time Running Out
• Scan remaining questions and look for
– Shortest questions/point to a line
• Look for specific detail/definition
questions
• Look for self-contained questions
– “The jail sentence was a bitter winter
for his plan” is an example of (c. analogy)
Guessing
• A wrong answer = ¼ of a point
• Try to answer every question based
on educated guess
• Blank answers = 0
– so it’s ok to have a few blank answers
Factual Questions
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Words refer to
Allusions
Antecedents
Pronoun referents
Technical Questions
• Sentence
structure
• Style
• Grammatical
purpose
• Dominant
technique
• Imagery
• Point of view
• Organization of
passage
• Narrative progress
of passage
• Conflict
• Irony
• Function of
Analytical
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Rhetorical strategy
Shift in development
Rhetorical stance
Style
Metaphor
Comparison/contrast
Cause/effect
Argument
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Description
Narration
Specific-general
Characterization
Imagery
Passage is primarily
concerned with
• Function of
Inferential
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Effect of diction
Tone
Inferences
Effect of
description
• Effect on reader
• Narrator’s attitude
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Image suggests
Effect of detail
Author implies
Author most
concerned with
• Symbol