Does the thought of spending an hour answering multiple-choice questions on complex prose and poetry passages strike fear into your heart? The challenge of the AP Literature multiple-choice is enough to give even the most adept reader hives, but don”t stress! This fully-updated guide will serve as your complete roadmap to success on the AP English Literature and Composition multiple-choice section.
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First, we”ll go over what the multiple-choice section looks like—the nuts and bolts. Then, I”ll reveal the eight types of multiple-choice questions you can expect to encounter, and how to succeed on them. Next will come study tips, multiple-choice practice resources, and finally things to remember for test-day success!
2021 AP Test Changes Due to COVID-19
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, AP tests will now be held over three different sessions between May and June. Your test dates, and whether or not your tests will be online or on paper, will depend on your school. To learn more about how all of this is going to work and get the latest information on test dates, AP online review, and what these changes means for you, be sure to check out our 2021 AP COVID-19 FAQ article.
AP Literature Multiple-Choice Section Overview
AP English Literature and Composition section one is the multiple-choice section. You”ll have 60 minutes to answer 55 questions about four to five literary prose and poetry passages.
The date of composition of AP Lit passages could range from the 16th to the 21st century, however, you generally won”t be provided with the author, date, or title for any passages (poetry being an occasional exception with respect to title). Most passages come from works originally written in English, although there might occasionally be a translated passage from a notable literary work in a foreign language.
The multiple-choice section is worth 45% of your total exam score. You receive a point for each correctly answered question. Since there”s no penalty for guessing on this exam, you should answer every multiple-choice question, even if you have to guess. However, you should only guess after you eliminate any answers you know are wrong. That”s the general overview. But what kinds of questions can you expect to see?
The 8 Types of Multiple-Choice AP Lit Questions
There are eight question types you may encounter on the AP Lit exam. In this section, I”ll go over each question type and how to answer it. All questions are taken from the sample questions in the “AP Course and Exam Description.” Passages for these questions are available there as well.
#1: Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension questions test whether you understood what the passage was saying on a literal, concrete level. You don”t need to flex your interpretation or analysis muscles here—just report what the passage is saying.
You can spot these questions because they usually use words and phrases like “according to,” “asserting,” and “mentioned.” The best strategy for these questions is to go back and re-read the portion of the text associated with the question to make absolutely sure that you are reading it correctly. You may need to read a little before and/or after the moment mentioned to orient yourself and find the most correct answer.
Example:
Explanation:
The lines the passage is referring to say, “Spare us all word of the weapons, their force and range / The long numbers that rocket the mind / Our slow, unreckoning hearts will be left behind, / unable to fear what is too strange.”
This question is asking why people won”t listen to the prophet when he talks about the dangers of weapons. Which of the answers makes the most sense?
Choice (A), “human beings are interested in weapons,” might be a tempting choice simply because that”s a common theme and message of many works. But nowhere in the passage does it say that humans are interested in weapons! Eliminate it.
Choices (B) and (C) can also both be eliminated because this part of the passage says nothing about nature or love, even indirectly.
Choice (D) may also be tempting simply because it”s another common theme in literature—that people don”t listen to repeated warnings. But again, there”s not really anything in the passage to support that.
This leaves (E), “people cannot comprehend abstract decisions of power.” This lines up nicely with the passage, which says that the “hearts” of the people are “unable to fear what is too strange.” (E) is the correct answer.
The people in this poem have hearts of stone.
#2: Inference
These questions take you one step beyond simple reading comprehension and ask you to make an inference based on the evidence in the passage—you may be asked about a character or narrator”s implied opinion, the author”s attitude, etc. This will be something that isn”t stated directly in the passage, but that you can assume based on what is actually said in the passage. These questions generally use words like “infer” and “imply.”
There are two keys to answering these questions: first, as always, go back and read the part of the passage the question is concerned with. Second, don”t be tripped up by the fact that you are making an inference—the best answer will be most supported by what is actually written in the passage. Inference questions are like second-level reading comprehension questions—you need to know not just what a passage says, but what it means.
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Example:
Explanation:
The first sentence of the passage reads, “Certainly the religious and moral ideas of the Dodson and Tullivers were of too specific a kind to be arrived at deductively from the statement that they were part of the Protest population of Great Britain.”
Which choice is the most reasonable inference about the Dodson and Tulliver religious ideas based on the first sentence?
Choice (A) says “the narrator is unable to describe them with complete accuracy.” This might be true, but there”s nothing in the first sentence to support this inference—the narrator says that their ideas are “too specific,” not they the narrator can”t describe them accurately. Eliminate Choice (A).
Choice (B), “they have no real logical foundation” may also be true, but can”t be inferred from the sentence, which gives no indication of whether their beliefs are logical or not.
Choice (C) may be tempting—the idea that they cannot be appreciated by anyone who doesn”t share them might seem to dovetail nicely with the fact that they are “too specific” for the mainstream Protestant population. But is this the best choice that”s most supported by the passage? Let”s keep it in mind but consider the remaining answers.
Choice (D) posits that the beliefs of the Dodsons and Tullivers “spring from a fundamental lack of tolerance.” This is a leap that is not supported by what the first sentence actually says; eliminate it.
Choice (E) says that their beliefs “are not typical of British Protestants in general.” The sentence says that their beliefs are “too specific” for one to know them simply because the Dodsons and Tullivers identify as British Protestants, which implies that their beliefs in fact do not “match up” with mainstream British Protestant beliefs.
Choice (E) is the inference most supported by the passage, then—even more supported than Choice (C). So, (E) is the answer. Remember, multiple answers may seem like they could be correct, but only the best answer is the correct one.
Do you think appropriately ornate churches are also important to the Dodsons and Tullivers?
#3: Interpreting Figurative Language
These questions ask you to interpret what figurative language means in the context of the passage. They”re are identifiable because they will either outright mention figurative language or a figurative device, or there will be a figurative language phrase in the question itself.
Once again, the most important thing you can do to be successful on these questions is to go back and re-read! For figurative language, the meaning is very much dependent on the phrase”s context in the passage. Consider what is said around the figurative phrase and what the phrase is referring to.
Example:
Explanation:
This questions asks you to interpret what the figurative phrase “that live tongue” means. To orient you in the poem, these stanzas are advising the prophet to “speak of the world”s own change” (13).
The poem states, “What should we be without / The dolphin”s arc, the dove”s return, / these things in which we have seen ourselves and spoken? Ask us, prophet, how we shall call / our natures forth when that live tongue is all / Dispelled, that glass obscured or broken.”
In the context of the poem, right the narrator asks what we are without “that live tongue,” the poem speaks of how we “see ourselves” in “the dolphin”s arc” and “the dove”s return.” These are images of nature. The best interpretation of “that live tongue,” then, is answer (A), as a metaphor for nature. In essence, the stanza means, “Ask us, prophet, how we shall know ourselves when nature is destroyed.”
The dolphin”s arc.
#4: Literary Technique
These questions ask why the author uses particular words, phrases, or structures. Essentially, what purpose do such choices serve in a literary sense? What effect is created? These questions often include words like “serves chiefly to,” “effect,” “evoke,” and “in order to.”
Of course to approach these questions, re-read the part of the passage referred to. But also ask yourself, why did the author use these particular words or this particular structure? What is being accomplished by this specific literary “move”?
Example:
Explanation:
This stanza containing the repetition of “ask us” reads: “Ask us, ask us whether with the worldless rose / Our hearts shall fail us; come demanding / Whether there shall be lofty or long-standing / When the bronze annals of the oak-tree close.”
So what is the effect of repeating “ask us, ask us”? Choice (A) says it suggests the prophet is causing much of the world”s misery. There”s nothing in the stanza—or even the entire poem—to suggest this, so we can eliminate it.
Choice (B) says it represents a sarcastic challenge. This stanza doesn”t read as sarcastic, though, but very serious—eliminate (B).
Choice (C) says it suggests the speaker is certain of the answer the prophet will give. This doesn”t really make sense because the speaker isn”t actually asking the prophet questions, but telling the prophet what questions to ask. Eliminate (C).
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Choice (D) says it makes the line into perfect iambic pentameter. You can eliminate this one without even worrying about what syllables are emphasized because a perfect line of iambic pentameter has 10 syllables and this line has 11. This leaves (E)—the effect is to provide a “tone of imploring earnestness.” Given that the speaker seems to be begging the prophet to ask particular questions, this fits. (E) is the correct answer.
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