AP English literature and composition

1. AP English literature and composition The test review

2. Multiple choice issues • Types of questions – factual, technical, analytical, and inferential • Focus on your strengths • Work in order • Mark up the passage, poem • Timing is everything… • Maintain an open mind • All parts of the answer must be correct • When in doubt – reread • Substitute the answer

3. Prose Passages • Every narrative has five components – plot, setting, theme, character, point of view • Motifs develop characters and themes • Themes require specific illustrations to support them • There are many types of characters and heroes • There are many forms of narration • Novels may exhibit many characteristics • Meaning may be revealed via multiple approaches • Parables and allegories operate on symbolic levels

4. Prose passages • Connotation of words reveal the subtext of a work • Tone is a description of the attitude found in a piece of literature • Transitions aid movement and unity in a written work • Titles and names are important for analysis • First and last lines often carry great meanings and demand careful attention • Works may be interpreted literally, socially, psychologically, sexually, politically, etc… • Always use quotes as support

5. Poetry • Poetry has its own form • The foot, line, and stanza are the building blocks of poetry • Meter and rhyme are part of the sound of poetry • Various types of poetic feet – iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, spondaic – review these common ones • Several stanza forms • Narrative poetry tells stories • Ballads are simple narratives • Lyric poetry is subjective and emotional

6. poetry • Odes are formal lyrics that honor something or someone • Elegies are lyrics that mourn a loss • Dramatic monologues converse with the reader as they reveal events • Sonnets – 14 lines • Villanelle is fixed form that depends on refrains • Levels of interpretation – literal and figurative meaning • Symbols provide for many levels of interpretation • Consider speaker, subject, situation, devices, tone, and theme

7. Prose essay • Familiarize yourself with the types of prose questions • Highlight prompt and all tasks • Time essay • Work the passage before writing • Create a strong opening paragraph • Refer to passage often • Concrete details and quotes • Stay on topic • Avoid plot summary • Use transitions and echo words

8. Poetry essay • Review terms and techniques • Be familiar with prompts • Highlight prompt parts and all tasks • Time yourself carefully • Read the poem more than once • Work the poem before writings • Creating strong opening paragraph and prompt information • Refer to poem for concrete details and quotes • Stay on topic • No paraphrase • Include transitions and echo words

9. Free-Response essay • No vagueness or plot summary • Choose AP-level novels and/or plays • Look at prompts • Apply your knowledge to a variety of prompts • Highlight and work the prompt • Don’t worry about suggested works • Plan the essay before writing • Chart response use concrete details and quotes if possible • Engaging opening paragraph that addresses requirements • Stay on topic • Transitions and echo words