AP Exam Preparations and Strategies

AP Exam Preparations and Strategies Prepared by Mrs. Do With thanks to Mrs. Swovelin from Torrey Pine High School And many other contributors

The AP Program • The Advanced Placement program was begun by the College Board in 1955 to construct standard achievement exams that would allow highly motivated high school students the opportunity to be awarded advanced placement as freshmen in colleges and universities in the U.S. Today, there are 33 course and exams offered all over the nation and the world. • The AP programs are designed for high school students who wish to take college-level courses. The AP Literature course and exam are designed to involve high school students in college-level English studies in both literature and composition.

Why Take AP? According to AP Central: • “AP can change your life. • Through college-level AP courses, you enter a universe of knowledge that might otherwise remain unexplored in high school. • Through AP Exams, you have the opportunity to earn credit or advanced standing at most of the nation's colleges and universities.” • Although a lot of attention is given to the AP Exam, the AP experience really begins a whole year before then.

Why Participate? • With 37 courses and exams across 22 subject areas, AP offers something for everyone. The only requirements are a strong curiosity about the subject you plan to study and the willingness to work hard. Here are just a few reasons to sign up: • Gain the Edge in College Preparation • Get a head start on college-level work. • Improve your writing skills and sharpen your problem-solving techniques. • Develop the study habits necessary for tackling rigorous course work. • Stand Out in the College Admissions Process • Demonstrate your maturity and readiness for college. • Show your willingness to push yourself to the limit. • Emphasize your commitment to academic excellence. • Broaden Your Intellectual Horizons • Explore the world from a variety of perspectives, most importantly your own. • Study subjects in greater depth and detail. • Assume the responsibility of reasoning, analyzing, and understanding for yourself

About the Exam • AP Central – “An English exam that included literature and composition was among the first AP offerings in 1956. In 1980, separate exams in AP English Language and Composition and AP English Literature and Composition were offered for the first time. ” • According the College Board, the AP Literature exam is created by college and high school English instructors called the AP Development Committee.

2011 AP Exam Dates

AP Exam Scores • The Readers’ scores on the free-response questions are combined with the results of the computer-scored multiple-choice questions; the weighted raw scores are summed to give a composite score. The composite score is then converted to a score on AP’s 5-point scale. • While colleges and universities are responsible for setting their own credit and placement policies, AP scores signify how qualified students are to receive college credit or placement.

The essay section score • Each essay is scored as 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1, plus 0, with 9 the highest possible score. Once your essay is given a number from 9 to 1, the next set of calculations is completed. Here, if there are 27 possible points divided into 55 percent of the total possible score, each point awarded is given a value of 3.055. the formula looks something like this: • (pts. X 3.055) + (pts. X 3.055) + (pts. X 3.055) = essay essay 1 essay 2 essay 3 raw score

Composite score • The total composite score for the AP Lit test is 150. Of this score, 55% is the essay section; that equals 82.5 points. The multiple-choice section is 45% of the composite score, which equals 67.5 points. Each of your three essays is graded on a 9-point scale; therefore, each point is worth 3.055. Divide the number of multiple-choice questions by 67.5, for instance, if there were 55 questions, each point of the raw score would be multiplied by 1.227. • If you add together the raw score of each of the two sections, you will have a composite score.

Your AP grade report • Just a reference: • 150 – 100 points = 5 • 99 – 86 = 4 • 85 – 67 = 3 • Grades 2 and 1 fall below this range. You do not want to be there.

AP SCORE QUALIFICATION 5 Extremely well qualified (equivalent to A grades in the corresponding college course.) 4 Well qualified (equivalent to grades of A–, B+ and B in college. ) 3 Qualified (equivalent to grades of B–, C+ and C in college. may or may not get college credits) 2 Possibly qualified 1 No recommendation M.C. Essay • 81% (45-55) 9-8 • 70-70% (39-44) 7-6 • 53-27% (29-38) 5 • 52-27% (15-28) 4-3 • 27% ↘ 2-1

Why you are in AP class • Please know that you are not here only to learn how to pass the AP test, instead, it is my goal that you would develop appreciation and the insights and skills that lead to advanced levels of facility with literature and composition. These are the same skills that will enable you to do well on the AP literature exam. • The reading and writing skills you will review, practice, and master will give you the very best chance to do your very best. You will have the opportunity to learn, to practice, and to master the critical thinking processes that can empower you to achieve your highest score.

Susan Strehle on why you are in AP: • AP English Literature and Composition classes resemble college classrooms and give both students and teachers an opportunity to challenge easy answers, replace formulaic writing with original and complex arguments, and grapple with more subtle and divergent understandings of perennial human problems. • AP classes prepare students to succeed at the most important challenges they will find in college. • While AP credit allows students to skip a required freshmen writing course in some universities, students who receive grades 3, 4, and 5 do not always skip English; they may start at higher levels and continue to improve their ability to write college-level analysis. • Since learning to read increasingly complicated texts, to analyze in greater depth, to grasp issues that do not resolve themselves in simple, tidy conclusions, and to write increasingly sophisticated essays is one main goal of college education, these students should be imagined, not as getting out of important work, but rather as getting more richly into it.

Skills you need to pass the AP Lit. Exam Skills in close reading Critical thinking Critical/analytical writing (go to ppt on Reading, Analyzing, and Writing about Literature)

Strategies for taking the exam • Learn about the test itself • Learn to read multiple-choice questions • Learn how to answer multiple-choice questions, including whether or not to guess • Learn how to deconstruct the essay prompts • Learn how to plan the essay • Learn the techniques and skills to manage your time

Section I: Multiple-Choice • The multiple-choice section tests your critical reading skills. You'll read several passages and answer questions about the content, form, and style of each. Remember that random guessing can hurt your final score. While you don't lose anything for leaving a question blank, one quarter of a point is subtracted for each incorrect answer on the test. But if you have some knowledge of the question and can eliminate one or more answers, it's usually to your advantage to choose what you believe is the best answer from the remaining choices.

Multiple Choice section (45%) • The first section is a set of multiple-choice questions based on a series of prose passages and poems. • 1 hour; usually 55 questions (about one minute per question, including reading time) • Receive 1 point for each correct response • As of 2011, you will not lose any fraction of a point for a wrong answer; so always guess something. Do NOT leave any question blank! • Divide time per passage – be ruthless! About 10-15 minutes per passage.

Multiple Choice section (45%) • Expect at least two poems, two prose passages (occasionally an extra piece of drama). Out of the four passages, 2 are British and 2 American. • Test only uses literature from 1575-present (no Middle English or Old English) and no translated works. • One passage will include a minority writer.

Multiple Choice section (45%) • Work systematically; do NOT skip around from passage to passage. Answer all the questions for a passage before continuing. • Skim the questions before reading the passage (works for most). DON’T read the answers yet! Look 3-4 specific ideas to search for, ignoring the “generic” questions. Turn it into a scavenger hunt. • Read the passage ONCE. Avoid rereading at this time; get the content by reading a. Actively b. Visualize (2 meanings) c. PARAPHRASE as you read(each paragraph and whole passage)! Write on the test! Underline key words. d. Analyze for theme, style, speaker, structure, tone, figurative language • Read the questions CAREFULLY! Many wrong answers stem from misreading the question; know what is being asked. Accuracy and efficiency count. • Read ALL answer choices, eliminate wrong ones as you go. Remember directions call for the BEST answer choice.

Multiple Choice section (45%) • Essential to practice at home or small groups. • Essential to analyze any wrong answers – spot trends and personal weaknesses, then fix them! Understand why a wrong answer is wrong especially in practice.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS 1. Situation who? to whom? (poetry) subject of 3rd Paragraph (prose) 2. Structure poetry: how stanzas relate what word in ______ relates back to ______ what divisions represent its structure prose: how one paragraph relates to another progression of thought and overall structure 3. Theme whole and parts

TYPES OF QUESTIONS 4. Grammar and Word Meaning poetry: specific word choice definitions within context pronoun references/antecedents paraphrase word choice prose: subject of long sentence is… 5. Diction poetry: Use of _______ indicates poet’s idea of _________ is suggested by _______ prose: choice of verbs in paragraph 4 suggests _______ speaker’s anger is implied by ________

TYPES OF QUESTIONS 6. Images/ Figurative language/ Literary Technique which one? Where else in work? Purpose of a metaphor analogy in 2nd paragraph 7. Tone (perhaps metrics in poetry) 8. Rhetoric (mostly in prose) function of last sentence effect of shift in point of view

ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL OF QUESTIONS 1. FACTUAL phrase presents example of… all are Figurative language except Man in line ___ is pictured mainly in his role as ___ in line ___ the ___ is seen chiefly as … in line ___ the speaker regards himself as … beginning in ___ speaker does which … excerpt is written in … according to the speaker, … “they” in line ___ refers to … the object of “to” in line ___ is …

ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL OF QUESTIONS 2. MAIN IDEA (Did you get it? What’s the message? What is the purpose of the passage?) ______ hated ______ because _____ parable of _______ serves to _______ _______ believed human nature is ________ which best describes ______ at the end tone which describes how ____ felt about … passage is concerned with … relation between line ____ and line ___ is best described as … main point about ___ is … line ___ speaker attempts to … style is characterized by … irony rests chiefly on ______

ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL OF QUESTIONS 3. HIDDEN IDEA (go deeper) ____ interpreted to mean phrase evokes ______ image of _______ refers to … ________ most likely represents ______ can be inferred in line ___ the phrase “ ____” means _____ line ___ suggests that … can be inferred speaker would agree with …

REASONS ANSWERS ARE WRONG • Irrelevant to the question • Contradictory to the passage • Unreasonable (the “Huh?” choice) • Too general or too specific • Never addressed in the passage • Absolutes and/or qualifiers • Look for the SPECIFIC WORDS that make the answer wrong

Sample Multiple-Choice Questions • Questions 1-13. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. • Please go to your test sheet.

Mr. Jones, of whose personal accomplishments we have hitherto said very little, was, in reality, one of the handsomest young fellows in the world. His face, besides being the picture of health, had in it the most apparent marks of sweetness and good-nature. • These qualities were indeed so characteristical in his countenance, that, while the spirit and sensibility in his eyes, though they must have been perceived by an accurate observer, might have escaped the notice of the less discerning, so strongly was this good-nature painted in his look, that it was remarked by almost every one who saw him. • It was, perhaps, as much owing to this as to a very fine complexion that his face had a delicacy in it almost inexpressible, and which might have given him an air rather too effeminate, had it not been joined to a most masculine person and mien: which latter had as much in them of the Hercules as the former had of the Adonis. He was besides active, genteel, gay and good-humoured, and had a flow of animal spirits which enlivened every conversation where he was present. • When the reader hath duly reflected on these many charms which all centered in our hero, and considers at the same time the fresh obligations which Mrs. Waters had to him, it will be a mark more of prudery than candour to entertain a bad opinion of her because she conceived a very good opinion of him.

But, whatever censures may be passed upon her, it is my business to relate matters of fact with veracity. Mrs. Waters had, in truth, not only a good opinion of our hero, but a very great affection for him. To speak out boldly at once, she was in love, according to the present universally received sense of that phrase, by which love is applied indiscriminately to the desirable objects of all our passions, appetites, and senses, and is understood to be that preference which we give to one kind of food rather than to another. • But though the love to these several objects may possibly be one and the same in all cases, its operations, however, must be allowed to be different; for, how much soever we may be in love with an excellent sirloin of beef, or bottle of Burgundy; with a damask rose, or Cremona fiddle; yet do we never smile, nor ogle, nor dress, nor flatter, nor endeavour by any other arts or tricks to gain the affection of the said beef, etc. Sigh indeed we sometimes may; but it is generally in the absence, not in the presence, of the beloved object. . . .

The contrary happens in that love which operates between persons of the same species, but of different sexes. Here we are no sooner in love than it becomes our principal care to engage the affection of the object beloved. For what other purpose, indeed, are our youth instructed in all of the arts of rendering themselves agreeable? If it was not with a view to this love, I question whether any of those trades which deal in setting off and adorning the human person would procure a livelihood. Nay, those great polishers of our manners, who are by some thought to teach what principally distinguishes us from the brute creation, even dancing-masters themselves, might possibly find no place in society. • In short, all the graces which young ladies and young gentlemen too learn from others, and the many improvements which, by the help of a looking-glass, they add of their own, are in reality those very spicula et faces amoris* so often mentioned by Ovid; or, as they are sometimes called in our own language, the whole artillery of love.

1. The structure of the sentence beginning in line 5 does which of the following? (A) It stresses the variety of Mr. Jones’s personal attributes. (B) It implies that Mr. Jones is a less complicated personality than the speaker suggests. (C) It disguises the prominence of Mr. Jones’s sensitive nature and emphasizes his less readily discerned traits. (D) It reflects the failure of some observers to recognize Mr. Jones’s spirit and sensibility. (E) It belies the straightforward assertion made in the previous sentence.

2. In context, the word “sensibility’’ (line 6) is best interpreted to mean (A) self-esteem (B) forthright and honest nature (C) capacity to observe accurately (D) ability to ignore the unimportant (E) awareness and responsiveness 3. The first two paragraphs indicate that the speaker assumes that (A) accurate observers of human nature are rare (B) spirited and sensible people are by nature rather effeminate (C) a person’s character can be accurately discerned from his or her outward appearance (D) a correlation exists between an individual’s “personal accomplishments’’ (line 1) and his or her physical prowess (E) good-naturedness in a person is usually not readily apparent

4. The shift in the speaker’s rhetorical stance from the first sentence of the second paragraph (lines 11-16) to the second sentence (lines 16-18) can best be described as one from (A) subjective to objective (B) speculative to assertive (C) discursive to laconic (D) critical to descriptive (E) literal to figurative 5. The word “former’’ in line 15 refers to (A) “face’’ (line 12) (B) “delicacy’’ (line 12) (C) “air’’ (line 13) (D) “person’’ (line 14) (E) “mien’’ (line 14)

6. The speaker’s allusion to Hercules and Adonis (lines 15-16) serves primarily to (A) imply an undercurrent of aggressiveness in Mr. Jones’s personality (B) suggest the extremes of physical attractiveness represented in Mr. Jones’s appearance (C) assert the enduring significance of mythical beauty (D) symbolize the indescribable nature of Mr. Jones’s countenance (E) emphasize how clearly Mr. Jones’s features reflected his personality

7. The use of the phrase “it will be’’ in line 21 indicates that the speaker (A) wishes the reader to arrive at the same conclusion regarding Mrs. Waters as the speaker has (B) believes the presentation of Mr. Jones before this passage to have been predominantly negative (C) expects that the description of Mr. Jones will offend some of the more conservative readers (D) regards Mrs. Waters’ judgment concerning Mr. Jones to be impulsive rather than sincere (E) fears that the readers will be overly lenient in their judgment of Mrs. Waters

8. The style of the third paragraph differs from that of the first and second paragraphs in that it is (A) instructive rather than descriptive (B) argumentative rather than expository (C) interpretative rather than metaphorical (D) objective rather than representational (E) conversational rather than analytical

9. In the fourth paragraph, the speaker establishes the predominant tone for the rest of the passage primarily by (A) exaggerating the affection Mrs. Waters has for Mr. Jones (B) contrasting the popular understanding of love with the speaker’s own view of love (C) describing candidly the affection Mrs. Waters has for Mr. Jones (D) likening the popular conception of love to people’s physical appetites (E) insisting on the veracity of the speaker’s personal opinions concerning Mrs. Waters

10. The speaker’s attitude toward “dancing-masters’’ (lines 50-51) might best be described as (A) assumed arrogance (B) grudging respect (C) feigned bitterness (D) sarcastic vindictiveness (E) wry disdain

11. The passage indicates that the speaker believes which of the following to be true of Mr. Jones? (A) He is principally concerned with attracting the attention of women. (B) He is naturally suited to engage the affections of women. (C) He has practiced extensively the arts and graces with which youths render themselves agreeable. (D) He is too good-natured to make full use of “the whole artillery of love’’ (lines 56-57). (E) He has cultivated his good nature and sensibility in order to compete well with other men.

12. The final metaphors of the last paragraph (lines 54-57) suggest that this passage most probably precedes a description of (A) the way in which Mr. Jones acquired his manners and good-nature (B) a costume ball at which Mr. Jones and Mrs. Waters meet and dance (C) a scene in which Mr. Jones prepares himself for a meeting with Mrs. Waters (D) an attempt by Mr. Jones to engage the affections of Mrs. Waters with the help of classical love poetry (E) an encounter between Mr. Jones and Mrs. Waters couched in the terminology of war

13. The speaker’s tone in the passage can best be described as which of the following? (A) Flippant (B) Whimsical (C) Pretentious (D) Satirical (E) Contemptuous

Answers to Multiple-Choice Questions • 1 – D • 2 – E • 3 – C • 4 – B • 5 – A • 6 – B • 7 – A • 8 – A • 9 – D • 10 – E • 11 – B • 12 – E • 13 – D

Section II: Free-Response • In this section you'll write essays to show your ability to analyze and interpret literary texts in clear and effective prose.

Essay section (55%) • 2 hours; 3 essays; allow approximately 40 minutes for each. • Address ALL PARTS of the prompt in every paragraph! AP = Address Prompt or All Parts • Do NOT wait until the last paragraph(s) to bring up your deep “universal truth” (handout on tips for timed essays) ideas. Remember, if you only write an essay on the “obvious” idea (e.g. what the speaker’s attitude or reaction is, which character has an inner conflict, etc.), you will only score a 5 at best. • Use a blue or black pen…no pencil or other colors.

Essay section (55%) • Spend 1-2 minutes to read the topic carefully • Spend 5-6 minutes to organize the essay • know what your thesis is (and that it answers the entire prompt), • Organize you body paragraph divisions, topic sentence concepts • Plan what examples you will use • Spend 30 minutes to write! • Save about 2-3 minutes to proofread. Do not make major editing changes. Remember it’s just a draft.

The AP Literature exam structure • The exam has two parts and is scheduled to last 3 hours. • The first section is a set of multiple-choice questions based on a series of prose passages and poems. • You will have 1 hour to complete this part of the test. • The second section of the exam is a 2-hours essay writing segment consisting of three different essays: • one on prose, • one on poetry, and • one free-response.

Essay section (55%) • The second section of the exam is a 2-hours essay writing segment consisting of three different essays: • one on prose, • one on poetry, and • one free-response. • Always try to write at least 2-4 pages per essay. Those that are only 1 page virtually never get a high score because, according to the phrasing on the scoring guide, they are “unacceptably brief.” 1 page essays run the risk of getting nothing higher than a 3. • Remember that all scoring guides essentially address the following four points: • Write on the topic • Use clear, logical organization • Develop all ideas thoroughly; address all parts of the prompt • Use sophisticated diction and syntax

Opening paragraph • Don’t ask questions • Don’t define the words • Avoid a 3-part thesis statement • Avoid rephrasing the prompt • Put thesis statement at the end of the introduction paragraph

Concluding paragraph • Try to give enough time to write a concluding paragraph: conclusion is always good. • BUT, if you do run out of time and can not write a concluding paragraph, make sure to write one or even two wonderful body paragraphs which will still be enough for the essay readers to grade your essay.

AP Exam Preparations and Strategies