Wiley AP English Literature and Composition E-Book

Geraldine Woods

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 666

Beschreibung

Score your highest on exam day Relax. The fact that you're even considering taking the APEnglish Literature & Composition exam means you're smart,hard-working, and ambitious. All you need is to get up to speed onthe exam's topics and themes and take a couple of practice tests toget comfortable with its question formats and time limits. That'swhere Wiley AP English Literature & Composition comesin. This user-friendly and completely reliable guide helps you getthe most out of any AP English class and reviews all of the topicsemphasized on the test. It also provides two full-length practiceexams, complete with detailed answer explanations and scoringguides. This powerful prep guide helps you practice and perfect allof the skills you need to get your best possible score. And, as aspecial bonus, you'll also get a handy primer to help you preparefor the test-taking experience. * A detailed overview of the test * Subject reviews covering all test topics * Practice questions * Sample free-response questions with advice for craftingcritical essays * Strategies and solid test-taking advice * Two full-length practice tests with detailed explanations andwalk-throughs Supplemented with handy lists of test-taking tips and more,Wiley AP English Literature & Composition helps you make examday a very good day, indeed.

Leseprobe

Wiley AP* English Literature & Composition

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ISBN 978-1-118-49019-8 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-49022-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49023-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49024-2 (ebk)

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Project Editor: Tracy L. Barr

Executive Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere

Copy Editor: Jessica Smith

Technical Reviewer: Elizabeth Brown

Project Coordinator: Katie Crocker

Cover Photo: © aleksandar velasevic / iStockphoto.com

About the Author

Geraldine Woods has taught and tutored every level of English from 5th grade through AP for the past three decades. She’s the author of more than 50 books, many published by Wiley: English Grammar For Dummies, English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, Research Papers For Dummies, College Admissions Essays For Dummies, SAT For Dummies, and Punctuation: Simplified and Applied.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I offer sincere thanks to these poets, playwrights, and novelists, who spin words into beauty: John Allman, Dana Crum, Dave Johnson, Hettie Jones, and Abigail Wender. I also acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the wonderful students who graciously allowed me to print their essays in this book: Emily Gerard, Jessica A. Moldovan, Sophia Shapiro, and Peter Weinberg. I appreciate the unfailing help and good humor of Tracy Barr and Lindsay Lefevere of Wiley Publishing, as well as my technical reviewer, Elizabeth Brown of William Henry Harrison High School in West Lafayette, IN.

Wiley AP* English Literature and Composition

Table of Contents

I: Exam Overview and English Fundamentals

1: An Overview of the AP Literature and Composition Exam

EXAM CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

TYPICAL AP EXAM QUESTIONS

The multiple-choice section

The essay section

HOW THE EXAM IS SCORED

Multiple-choice scoring

Essay scoring

Total score

How you receive your score

PRACTICAL MATTERS

Sign up

Important deadlines

What to expect on test day

What to do if you can’t take the exam

Accommodations for those with special needs

2: Exam Preparation

ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THE EXAM

SEPTEMBER PRECEDING THE EXAM

JANUARY PRECEDING THE EXAM

MARCH PRECEDING THE EXAM

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM

THE MORNING OF THE TEST

TIME-SAVING TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES

Multiple-choice questions

Essay writing

3: English Literature and Composition Fundamentals

READING COMPREHENSION

Literary interpretation

The writer’s style

NOTE-TAKING

BEYOND THE ASSIGNED READING

LITERARY ESSAYS: READING LITERARY CRITICISM

Using literary criticism to supplement your reading

Finding well-written criticism

VOCABULARY BUILDING

ESSAY-WRITING SKILLS

Invention: Deciding what to write

Essay structure

HOW TO WRITE WITH STYLE

Specificity over generality

Clarity of expression

A focus on logic

Variety in content and presentation

II: Poetry

4: Poetic Devices

IMAGERY

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Similes and metaphors

Personification, apostrophe, synecdoche

SYMBOLISM, IRONY, AND ALLUSION

DICTION AND TONE

SOUND: RHYME AND RHYTHM

Rhyme

Rhythm (meter)

LINE BREAKS, STANZAS, AND ENJAMBMENT

Appearance on the page

Standard forms

5: Poetry Interpretation

LITERAL MEANING

Steps for interpreting poetic meaning

Example

DEEPER POETIC MEANINGS

Connotations and double meanings

Free association

Visualization

Listening

CONTEXT AND POINT OF VIEW

YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE

6: Answering Multiple-Choice Poetry Questions

FACTUAL QUESTIONS

Reading comprehension: Extracting details

Vocabulary: Examining individual words

Syntax: Singling out grammatical structure

INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS

Imagery: The significance of sensations

Figures of speech

Tone and diction

Structure

Rhyme and rhythm

7: Writing Essays on Poetic Passages

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM POETRY PROMPTS

PRE-WRITING: NOTE-TAKING AND PREPARATION

QUOTATIONS AND CITATIONS: PROVING YOUR CASE

Quotations: Inserting

Quotations: Punctuating

Citations: Line numbers

Poetry Analysis: Adding Your Commentary

THE END: WRAPPING UP WITH A QUICK CONCLUSION

A SAMPLE POETRY ESSAY

Sample poem and prompt: Wilfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”

Sample essay about Owen’s poem

Evaluation of the sample essay

8: Practice Poetry Questions

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Practice set 1

Practice set 2

Practice set 3

SAMPLE POETRY ESSAY PROMPTS

Essay prompt 1

Essay prompt 2

Essay prompt 3

ANSWER GUIDE FOR POETRY ESSAYS

General essay requirements

Potential points for essay 1

Potential points for essay 2

Potential points for essay 3

III: Prose and Drama

9: Reading Fiction and Drama Passages

FICTION AND DRAMA ON THE AP EXAM

PLOT AND CONFLICT

Plot

Conflict

SETTING: TIME AND PLACE

CHARACTERIZATION

Overarching questions to consider

The character’s appearance

What the characters say

How the characters behave and interact

Significant objects associated with the character

TONE, DICTION, AND POINT OF VIEW

Tone and diction

Point of view

THEMES

DRAMA ESSENTIALS

Plot, conflict, and theme

Setting: The fine print

Characterization: Monologue, dialogue, and brackets

10: Reading Nonfiction Passages

A PREVIEW OF NONFICTION ON THE EXAM

ESSAYS

Essay structures

Rhetorical techniques

MEMOIR AND BIOGRAPHY

Chronological structure

Rhetorical techniques

11: Answering Multiple-Choice Prose and Drama Questions

HOW TO APPROACH PROSE OR DRAMA PASSAGES AND QUESTIONS

BASIC READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Literal questions

Interpretation questions

THE ROLE OF STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

The author’s purpose in choosing elements of style

Structure questions

Syntax questions

12: Writing Essays on Prose and Drama Passages

THE ESSAY PROMPT

PASSAGE INTERPRETATION AND TOPIC CHOICE

EVIDENCE GATHERING

To quote or summarize?

Quotation conventions

BEYOND THE INTRO: BODY AND CONCLUSION

Body paragraphs

The conclusion

A SAMPLE PROSE ESSAY

Sample excerpt and prompt

Sample essay

Evaluation of the sample essay

13: Practice Prose and Drama Questions

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Practice set 1 (nonfiction)

Practice set 2 (fiction)

Practice set 3 (fiction)

PRACTICE PROSE AND DRAMA ESSAYS

Essay prompt 1 (drama)

Essay prompt 2 (nonfiction)

Essay prompt 3 (fiction)

ANSWER GUIDE FOR PROSE AND DRAMA ESSAYS

General essay requirements

Potential points for essay 1

Potential points for essay 2

Potential points for essay 3

IV: Open-Ended and Paired-Passage Essays

14: The Open-Ended Essay

PREPARATION OF LITERARY WORKS FOR AP USE

Adhering to standards of literary quality

Choosing works to prepare

Compiling notes on your chosen works

OPEN-ENDED ESSAY PROMPTS

Standard elements of open-ended prompts

Variable elements of open-ended prompts

SUPPORT: DETECTING AND SELECTING EVIDENCE

CONTEXT: RELATING THE PART TO THE WHOLE

SAMPLE ESSAY AND EVALUATION

An open-ended essay example

Evaluation of the open-ended essay example

15: Paired-Passage Essays

PAIRED-PASSAGE PROMPTS

ANNOTATING AND GATHERING IDEAS FROM PAIRS

STRUCTURING PAIRED-PASSAGE ESSAYS

The 50/50 approach: Dividing the essay in two

The thematic approach: Sorting by ideas

The similarities-and-differences approach: Grouping like and unlike

COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAY PRACTICE

Essay prompt 1

Essay prompt 2

Essay prompt 3

ANSWER GUIDE FOR COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAYS

General essay requirements

Potential points for essay 1

Potential points for essay 2

Potential points for essay 3

V: Practice Exams and Scoring

16: Practice Exam 1

Section 1: Multiple Choice

Section 2: Essays

17: Scoring Practice Exam 1

SECTION 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE

SECTION 2: ESSAYS

ESSAY 1: FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND CONFLICTS IN SHAW’S MAJOR BARBARA

Scoring grid for essay 1

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

ESSAY 2: DICKINSON’S AND DUNBAR’S ATTITUDES TOWARD SUCCESS

Scoring grid for essay 2

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

Essay 3: The Open-Ended Essay

Scoring grid for essay 3

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

Calculating Your Composite Score

18: Practice Exam 2

Section 1: Multiple Choice

Section 2: Essays

19: Scoring Practice Exam 2

SECTION 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE

Essay Evaluation

ESSAY 1: HARRIET JACOBS AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY

Scoring grid for essay 1

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

ESSAY 2: JOHN ALLMAN ON WAYS OF LIFE

Scoring grid for essay 2

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

ESSAY 3: THE OPEN-ENDED ESSAY

Scoring grid for essay 3

Sample answer 1

Analysis of sample answer 1

Sample answer 2

Analysis of sample answer 2

Calculating Your Overall AP Exam Score

VI: Appendixes

A: Literary Works

B: Quick Grammar Review

Subject-verb agreement

Pronoun agreement

I

Exam Overview and English Fundamentals

1

An Overview of the AP Literature and Composition Exam

• Types of questions

• Test scoring parameters

• Test-taking strategies

• Exam day and necessary supplies

The goal of AP exam preparation is twofold: to make you confident that you know everything you need in order to perform well on the test and to make you comfortable with the format of the various sections and with the administration of the exam. Knowledge and skills combined with confidence lead to top performance.

Consider this chapter an AP English Exam orientation program that describes what to expect. Here you discover what the test looks like, how long it takes, how to sign up for it, what it covers, and additional information to boost your confidence and comfort level.

EXAM CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

You can relieve a great deal of test anxiety by knowing the overall structure and format of the various sections that comprise the test. Briefly, the College Board presents you with two sections, one for multiple choice and one for essays. Check out Table 1-1 for more details.

Literary selections on the exam may include anything from Tudor times (16th century) onwards. The selections will most likely be American or British, though works from other English-speaking countries may pop up as well. Literature translated into English from another language may also appear. One-third to slightly less than half of the literature is usually poetry.

In addition to the time it takes for you to complete the exam, add 45 minutes to an hour for getting settled, listening to directions, taking a break, and having your paper collected at the end. Expect to be at the test center for about four hours. (Get there 30 to 45 minutes early to make sure you’re registered on time and aren’t flustered as the test begins.)

What to expect if you take an AP English class

Every AP English teacher has a certain degree of freedom in the design of the course, but some aspects of every AP English course are standard:

•An AP English Literature course must, according to College Board rules, require college-level work. In other words, the course material must be more difficult than the standard high school curriculum demands.

•The College Board doesn’t mandate a particular reading list, but it does ask that students read a wide variety of literature in the AP class. By the time you finish your course, the College Board wants you to have read something from every genre and every time period from the 16th century through the present day. Both British and American writers must be on the reading list as well as some translated works.

•All the material is supposed to be of good literary quality, which means writing that rewards close reading. A key characteristic that determines whether a work is of good literary quality is that it reveals something new to think about every time you read it. If you fully understand the work the first time you read it, it’s probably not AP material. (For more detail on determining whether a work is of good literary quality, see Chapter 14.)

•Expect the amount of reading to equal or surpass the amount you read in an honors English class. Ten or 12 full-length works and a good collection of poetry is usually sufficient.

•Some AP English teachers assign summer homework. If you sign up for an AP English course that starts in the spring, you may have to read a couple of books or write something over the summer to hand in on the first day of class.

•Expect to write a lot. Expect a significant number of writing assignments, from informal journal entries to polished essays.

•The grading may be stricter in an AP class than in a regular, non-AP English section. Evaluation of your work in an AP course is more stringent because teachers apply college-level standards.

TYPICAL AP EXAM QUESTIONS

Although nobody can predict the content of the questions you’re likely to encounter on the exam, the question types are predictable. By familiarizing yourself with these standard question types, you can begin to develop the right mindset for answering them correctly.

The multiple-choice section

The multiple-choice section presents a reading passage followed by several questions, each of which has five answers from which to choose. Some questions are standard reading comprehension questions. Others challenge you to determine the definition of a word based on its context, identify the literal meaning of a complex expression, interpret the tone of the passage, make inferences based on evidence presented, interpret figurative language, and determine the structure and style in which a passage is written.

The following sections describe the most common types of multiple-choice questions. For more information on these questions, see Chapters 6 (poetry) and 11 (prose and drama).

Vocabulary-in-context

Vocabulary-in-context questions challenge you to determine the meaning of a word based on its use in a sentence. The word may be uncommon or a commonly used word that has an obscure meaning in certain contexts.

You may see a question like this one:

1. In the context of line 34, “fall” means

(A) autumn

(B) slip

(C) hit the deck

(D) attachment of fake hair

(E) loss of respect or approval

The tricky part here is deciding which meaning appears in line 34, because all the answers, including choice (D), may be definitions of “fall.”

Literal meaning

To see whether you can interpret complex writing, the exam writers ask you what happened on the simplest, most literal level. However, because the exam is supposed to be difficult (and because great writers often compose complex sentences), you must untangle complicated syntax — the arrangement of words and phrases.

Here’s a sample question you may encounter in this category:

1. The actions of the shopkeeper include all of the following EXCEPT

(A) faking celebrity autographs

(B) inserting spinach leaves between Chapters 28 and 29 of his rival’s autobiography

(C) charging a “shipping and handling” fee to customers in the store

(D) playing annoyingly soft versions of hard-rock classics

(E) hiring an indie band to promote his store

To answer this sort of question, you must figure out what’s being asked (in this case, the answer that does not appear) and then go back to the passage and check the facts. For help with reading comprehension, turn to Chapter 5 (for poetry) or 9 (for prose and drama).

Tone and diction

Tone questions challenge you to determine whether the passage sounds sad, argumentative, sarcastic, ironic, or conveys some other feeling. Tone often depends partly on diction, or word choice (formal, colloquial, and so on).

Check out this example:

1. The tone of the passage may best be characterized as

(A) nostalgic

(B) ironic

(C) descriptive

(D) speculative

(E) respectful

As you’re reading a passage, try to listen to it in your head and think about how the author intended it to sound. Combine sound with meaning, and you can usually arrive at the right answer.

Inference and attitude

Inference questions ask you to draw logical conclusions based on evidence stated in the text. You also may be asked to identify the attitude of the author or of a character or speaker toward a certain topic or issue, based on the clues in the selection.

Here’s what an inference question might look like:

1. The shopkeeper is never arrested, most likely because

(A) the officer is involved in the spinach incident

(B) the officer has a fear of spinach

(C) the shopkeeper’s humble assistant has super powers

(D) everyone in the village loves spinach leaves

(E) the shopkeeper becomes a superhero, stops time, and removes the evidence

To answer inference and attitude questions, you have to go beyond the passage into the area of probability, using content from the passage as your guide.

Figurative language

Authors often use figurative language to describe scenes more vividly and convey undercurrents of meaning. For instance, literary works often use symbols to convey meaning beyond what’s being described.

Check out this sample question:

1. The spinach leaves in line 12 may symbolize

(A) the shopkeeper’s love of nature

(B) the rival’s lack of muscle tone

(C) an unhealthy attachment to vegetables

(D) death

(E) the gap between appearance and reality

Choices (D) and (E) are included because those themes appear nearly everywhere in literature. However, when you answer this sort of question, be sure to focus on the element of figurative language (the symbol, metaphor, or simile, for example) in question — not just on the piece in general.

Form, structure, and style

Expect to encounter at least a few questions that address how the piece is written. These questions or the answer choices may include literary terms regarding the passage’s form, structure, and style, so a fundamental knowledge of literary terminology is helpful.

Take a look at this example:

1. The style of the fourth paragraph differs from that of the first three paragraphs in that it is

(A) descriptive, not metaphorical

(B) argumentative, not descriptive

(C) symbolic, not literal

(D) analytical, not metaphorical

(E) expository, not analytical

Even without the literary vocabulary, these kinds of questions can be tough because you have only a couple of minutes to examine a paragraph or two and figure out which terms apply. To answer this type of question, look at the section of text that the question focuses on and try out the choices that are most likely correct. See what fits the text.

The essay section

On the essay portion of the AP English Literature and Composition exam, the College Board tests your ability to analyze a literary work and write about it; it doesn’t test your ability to recall information. You don’t have to memorize dates, authors or titles of classical works, or the names and characteristics of literary movements. All you may be called on to remember are some literary terms. And even then, you don’t need to know many of them. You do, however, need to prove that you can do the following:

• Relate the way a piece is written to its meaning and its effect on the audience. Even though they aren’t as common in the multiple-choice section of the exam, form, structure, and style questions are common on the essay portion. For instance, you may see questions that ask you to comment on the poetic devices that the author employs or to discuss the way in which one element of fiction (setting or characterization, perhaps) contributes to the effect of the piece as a whole.

• Provide evidence for your assertions. Support for your claims is a key element of the essay. When you write the first two essays, you’re expected to quote directly from the literary selections provided. You can’t easily quote when you write the open-ended essay (unless you have a very good memory), but you do need to use details from the work that you’re discussing.

Each essay question has a prompt — a central idea that your essay must address in the context of the literary selection provided or the literary work you’ve chosen for the open-ended question. You’ve probably seen prompts in every English class you’ve ever taken. Here are a few examples: “Discuss the role of friendship in . . .”; “Discuss loyalty to family or country conflicts with personal morality in . . .”; “Discuss the role of figurative language in . . . .”

The open-ended essay has a prompt and then a list of suggested works. You can choose one of those works to write about, or you can substitute something of similar quality. Just remember that on the AP English exam, the College Board graders define what constitutes a literary work of similar quality. The best approach is to play it safe and choose a work that you studied in school. Check out Chapter 14 for more tips on choosing works for the open-ended essay.

The AP English Literature and Composition essay section may also contain a paired selection — two poems, two prose pieces, or one of each genre. The prompt asks you to compare and contrast the works in terms of subject, theme, or some other shared aspect. Turn to Chapter 15 for guidance in writing a paired-selection essay.

HOW THE EXAM IS SCORED

The College Board grades the multiple-choice and essay sections of the test separately. Multiple-choice sheets are scanned, while essays are read and graded by high school and college English teachers. More important than how the exam is graded is how the various sections are weighted to determine your final grade, as explained in the following sections.

Multiple-choice scoring

Knowing how much a correct answer is worth and how the different sections are weighted can help you strategize both how you prepare for the exam and how you answer questions. For the multiple-choice portion, here are the numbers:

• The multiple-choice section counts as 45 percent of your final score.

• Each correct multiple-choice answer receives one point. Questions left blank or answered incorrectly receive no points, so guessing is usually a good strategy if you don’t know the answer.

• The raw multiple-choice score is converted with a complicated formula that varies slightly from test to test. College Board statisticians create this formula based on the average number of students who chose the correct answer.

Most students panic a little the first time they try their hand at an AP multiple-choice section. Even excellent readers who can interpret a poem at first reading find the multiple-choice questions difficult. Don’t worry: This book provides plenty of practice to help reduce any text anxiety you may have.

You can get quite a few multiple-choice questions wrong (10 or even a few more) and still score a five overall, which is the highest score possible on the exam. Furthermore, the College Board expects that most students will leave some questions unanswered. After all, the exams include approximately 55 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 60 minutes. Plus you have to read the selections. Not surprisingly, time is an issue. But remember that timing is an issue for everyone taking the test, and the scoring allows for that fact.

Essay scoring

The College Board runs workshops on essay scoring for all the teachers hired to read and score essays. At those workshops, teachers are given sample student essays to grade as well as a set of very specific standards for grading. After they’ve graded their sample essays, the teachers compare the scores that they awarded to the official College Board scores. After four or five rounds of practice, most graders see what the College Board is looking for, and scoring becomes more consistent.

Here’s how essays are scored:

• Each essay receives a grade from 0–9. Seven or higher is a good score.

• You’ll almost always receive at least one point on an essay, just for trying. The only way to get a zero is to leave the essay blank or to ignore the prompt and write something completely different from what the question is actually asking.

• The scoring is holistic.In other words, the grader doesn’t award 10 percent for good writing, 25 percent for evidence, 17 percent for originality, and so on. Instead, graders read the essay once or twice and assign a score they feel is appropriate. Because you can’t attend a College Board workshop on grading essays, this book provides grids to help you grade your own essay and arrive at a realistic number. The grids appear in Chapters 17 and 19.

• The graders consider the depth of your analysis and the amount and relevance of the evidence that you’ve provided to back up your ideas.They want to see that you can read beyond the literal level and that you can make and support a case for your interpretation.

The graders also look at the quality of your writing. Grammar and spelling count only if the errors seriously impede the reader from understanding what the writer is trying to convey. The graders are much more interested in writing style — whether your work reads fluently and shows a command of the language.

• You can succeed in the essay section without using literary jargon. All you really need to do is to analyze the material in regular, everyday language. However, your graders are English teachers who appreciate the correct use of literary terminology, such as “assonance” and “protagonist.” Include such terminology if it’s relevant and you’re confident in doing so; otherwise, just write about the passage, analyzing what you perceive.

Avoid the “laundry list” approach to introducing literary terminology in your essay. In other words, don’t just work your way through five or six terms, saying that they do or do not appear in the selection. Also, don’t define the terms. Your graders are English teachers, so they know what a simile is. Both of these practices waste time and result in lower scores.

• Each essay is read and scored by two different graders. The two essay grades are averaged, and averages that end in 0.5 are rounded up. If the numbers are more than two points apart (one reader awards a 5 and the other awards an 8, for example), a College Board expert steps in to score the essay.

Total score

The multiple-choice portion of the exam counts for 45 percent of your final score and the essays for 55 percent. Using complicated formulas, the College Board converts your total score into a number from 1 to 5. (I’ve supplied a version of this formula, adapted to the practice exams in this book, in Chapters 17 and 19.) These numbers, according to the College Board, mean the following:

5: Extremely well qualified (equivalent to an A in a college course)

4: Well qualified (in the B range in a college course)

3: Qualified (a C in a college course)

2: Possibly qualified (a D in a college course)

1: No recommendation (a failing grade)

Colleges don’t award credit for a 1 or a 2. A score of 3 is borderline — some colleges accept it, and others don’t. Some colleges award credit for entry-level courses to those who scored 4 or 5, while others allow you to enroll in a higher-level course. If you’re unsure about your prospective school’s requirements, ask its admissions office.

How you receive your score

After you take the AP English exam, you have to wait a couple of months to receive your score. You take the test in May, and in July the College Board mails your grade to you, to your high school, and to the college(s) of your choice. The first college report is free; each extra report currently costs $15 — or $25 for expedited service. You can also get your grade over the phone at the beginning of July for $8.

Here are some important points to keep in mind:

• If you think you did poorly on the exam, you can ask the College Board to cancel your score, in which case it disappears forever. (Go to www.collegeboard.com for instructions on how to cancel a score, or speak with your school’s AP coordinator.) You have to make your request by mid-June, and you never get to see your score. You don’t pay for score cancellation, but you aren’t reimbursed for your exam fee either.

• To withhold a score from a particular college, you pay about $10. Withheld scores still go to your high school and to you, just not to a college. However, they don’t disappear; your score can be sent to a college later if you change your mind — and, of course, pay $15.

• You can take any AP exam more than once, though you have to wait an entire year to do so because they’re given only in May. Both scores will be reported to your school and to the college(s) you’ve selected. If your first score was pretty bad (say a 2), you may want to withhold that score from prospective colleges.

For a fee, you can get your essay answer booklet back to review with a teacher or tutor before you try the AP exam again. The booklet will have no teacher comments on it, just a score. The deadline for this service is mid-September, and the cost is currently $7.

Check out the College Board website (www.collegeboard.com) or call 888-225-5427 for information, score reports, cancellations, and so forth.

PRACTICAL MATTERS

If you’re taking an AP English course, your teacher will probably tell you everything you need to do in order to sign up for the exam. However, if you’re home-schooled or not in an AP class, this section will help you. Here you receive orientation on the practical aspects of the test, including registering, getting score reports, fee waivers, accommodations for special needs, and more.

Sign up

In the winter of the academic year in which you plan to take the exam, pick up a College Board student bulletin. The College Board issues these pamphlets to give you the date of the test, registration materials, deadlines, and information on fees. You can get the student bulletin from your school’s AP coordinator. In many schools, the AP coordinator is a college or guidance counselor. If you aren’t sure who has the student bulletins, check with the principal or your English teacher.

You can also find AP information, including a downloadable student bulletin, on the College Board’s website; visit www.collegeboard.com and click AP in the navigation bar at the top. You can’t sign up online, but you can find out where and how to register for the test. If you don’t have Internet access, call the College Board at 888-225-5427 for registration information. As long as you’re on the website, take a look at the practice exams and sample questions the test writers provide. (You may need to explore the website to find sample questions from previous exams.)

AP exams aren’t cheap; currently the fee for each exam is $89. You pay in advance to the AP coordinator at your school. You may also face extra fees if you want extra score reports. (See the section “How you receive your score” earlier in this chapter for more details on these extra fees.)

If you can’t afford the test fee, ask the AP coordinator about reduced fees. Currently, the College Board offers a fee reduction of $26 per exam for qualified students with acute financial need, and your school may also decide to drop the $8 per exam it receives for administering the test. Sometimes the federal or state government provides additional funds to defray the cost.

If you aren’t currently attending a high school (you’re returning after time away or you’re home-schooled), call the College Board AP Services no later than the end of February (888-225-5427). They will put you in touch with the nearest AP coordinator. Be sure to contact the coordinator as soon as possible, and no later than mid-March. Tell the coordinator that you want to take the AP English Literature and Composition exam, and notify him or her of any special accommodations you need (more on accommodations later in this chapter). The coordinator will give you a list of schools offering the AP English exam and will order an exam for you. The coordinator will also collect your fee and give you a code number, which is different from the general number used by students attending the school where the test is given. Be sure to bring a government-issued photo ID (passport, driver’s license, or a similar official document) and your code number with you on test day. (See “What to bring with you to the exam” later in this chapter for a complete list of what you’ll need.)

Important deadlines

You can’t be late for a couple of very important dates in connection with the AP English exam and still be sure that you have everything you need — permission to take the exam, accommodations (if allowed), and so forth. Following are key time frames:

• Early February: If you need accommodations on the exam (extra time, Braille or large-type text, and so forth) and you haven’t yet been certified, need a change in certification, or have changed schools, now is the time to submit documentation to the College Board.

• Late February: If you need accommodations and have been certified by your school already, you still have to check that the correct forms have been sent to the College Board. Ask your guidance counselor, principal, or AP coordinator whether the correct forms have been mailed.

• Early March: If you’re home-schooled or a student in a school that doesn’t offer the AP program, you must contact the College Board for the name and phone number of an AP coordinator who can arrange the exam for you. Also, all test takers need to get a government-issued photo ID. If you don’t have one, get one now.

• Beginning of April: If you’re enrolled in an AP English Lit course and you don’t need accommodations, check with your teacher for the time and place of the exam. Find out when the fee is due and determine which school official will collect it.

I can’t supply exact dates because they vary slightly from year to year. Check out www.collegeboard.com and click AP in the navigation bar at the top for more information. No Internet connection? Call 888-225-5427 for details.

What to expect on test day

If you’ve spent some quality time with this book, you should be in great shape to do well on the exam. To alleviate any pre-test anxiety, know what to expect on the day of the exam, as described in the following sections.

What to bring with you to the exam

To discourage cheating, the College Board permits test takers to bring only the following items with them into the exam room:

• Sharpened #2 pencils with good erasers for the multiple-choice scan sheet

• Pens with dark blue or black ink

• Your school or home-schooling code number and a photo ID

• A quiet watch that displays only the time

• The SSDE Accommodation letter, if you’re allowed accommodations for special needs

In the event that you bring additional items with you, the school usually provides lockers or a storage area where you can leave those items during the testing period.

Upon arrival

When you arrive at the test center, your teacher or a proctor (an adult who monitors the test) will direct you to the correct room. You’ll be asked to leave everything in a locker or storage area except for those items you actually need for the test. Usually exam-takers are asked to wait outside the testing room until the proctor is ready. Allow about a half-hour before the official start time of the test for pre-exam visits to the restroom and locker room, if necessary.

In the classroom, before the exam

After you’re in the room, remain quiet. Any hint of cheating and you’re gone, so be careful to maintain silence and to limit your field of vision to the proctor, your watch, and your copy of the exam.

Before the exam begins, the proctor gives you a student pack. The student pack, also known as the candidate pack, has bar-coded, self-stick labels that identify you and your test materials. If you’re taking more than one AP exam, the proctor will take the student pack at the end of every exam except the last, at which point you can take it home. You’ll use the ID number on that pack to get your scores over the phone. Don’t throw it away until you know how you did.

The proctor also distributes answer sheets. At this point, you have to take an ID label from your student pack and stick it on the answer sheet. Then you answer some easy questions, such as your name, address, and so forth. (Some schools take care of these tasks ahead of time, just to save test-day energy for taking the exam.)

At this time, the proctor will also distribute the exam, which is wrapped in clear plastic, and he or she will read some legal notices. What these legal notices basically mean is that when you open the plastic package you accept the College Board’s right to investigate if it thinks you or anyone you know has cheated. You also give the College Board the right to use your answers for any purpose it deems appropriate. No one will publish your essay under another name, but your work may be used in one of the College Board’s publications as, perhaps, a sample to train graders.

Before you can begin the exam, you still need to copy the name of the test and the form number (from the test booklet) onto your answer sheet. You also have to read the legal language on the front and back covers of your exam and then sign your name, indicating that you accept the terms. By accepting these terms, you agree not to cheat, not to talk about the multiple-choice questions ever (some are reused), and not to divulge the essay questions for a few days.

During the exam

The exam begins with the multiple-choice section. After you finish the multiple-choice section, you seal the question booklet with little stickers that are in your student pack. The proctor then collects the question booklets and answer sheets and gives you a 10-minute break. (You aren’t allowed to talk about the questions, but you can use the restroom if necessary and if you can get back to the exam room on time.)

During the second part of the exam, you return and open the next plastic-wrapped package. This pack contains a green question sheet and a pink answer sheet. You must listen to the legal terms again, write your name and stick bar-coded labels on the booklets, and then compose your essays. Two hours later, you hand in your packet, and you’re done.

What to do if you can’t take the exam

If you can’t take the exam on the scheduled day and have a good reason, tell your AP coordinator. He or she will arrange for an exam during the makeup week, which is the first week following the usual AP period — around the third week in May. If you can’t take the exam on the makeup day, you’re out of luck. You have to wait until next year and pay the fee again.

Don’t give up before checking with your AP coordinator. He or she may be able to arrange a last-minute accommodation (perhaps extra time for someone with a sprained wrist) that enables you to take the exam.

Accommodations for those with special needs

Students with special needs can take the AP English exam, and many do. Depending on your situation, you may be entitled to extra time, a computer (for those with dysgraphia, which is an impairment that causes you not to be able to write), large-type or Braille exams, a reader for the questions, or a writer to take down your answers.

If you need accommodations, the AP coordinator in your high school should take care of everything; if you’re not enrolled in a school that has an AP program, you can get help from the AP coordinator in your area. (See the earlier section, “Sign up,” for more information on finding an AP coordinator.) The College Board’s Services for Students with Disabilities Office is another good resource. Contact the office at 609-771-7137 (TTY 609-882-4118). You can also e-mail the office at [email protected]. Or go to www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/index.html for more information.

The school has to fill out and submit a “Services for Students with Disabilities Eligibility” (SSDE) form. In general, after the College Board has certified you as needing accommodations on one of its exams (the SAT, for example), you’re certified for all College Board exams. However, if anything changes — your address, your school, or your physical or mental ability — you need a new form.

The school has to do the work here, but you’re ultimately responsible for making sure that the SSDE is completed properly and submitted on time. The deadlines are in February or March before the exam, with the earlier date for students who are being certified for the first time and the later date for those who have been certified before. Check with your AP coordinator well before that time to be sure everything’s in order and to find out the exact dates.

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Exam Preparation

• Exam preparation guidelines

• How to read and annotate quality literature

• Vocabulary-building strategies

• Exam time frame and test-taking strategies

The AP English Literature and Composition Exam is given in early May (the exact date varies slightly from year to year). Preparing for the AP exam requires time, preferably a few hours per week over the span of one year, so find out when the exam is (look at a College Board AP Exam pamphlet or ask the AP coordinator at your school), and mark the date one year prior to exam day on your own calendar. If that ideal start date has already passed, then simply mark today as your starting point and skip to the section that applies to where you are right now. Near the end of this chapter, you also find guidance for managing your time during the exam so that you don’t run out of time before completing each section.

You can prepare for and take the AP English exam even if you aren’t in an AP English class. Chances are your English or language arts class is laying a strong foundation of reading and writing skills. If it isn’t and you still want to take the exam, fill the gap with some help from Chapter 3, which explains how to strengthen reading comprehension and essay writing. Chapter 3 can also help you with some of the many tasks presented in this chapter, such as planning your summer reading, annotating the texts that you read, starting a reading notebook, and working on your vocabulary.

ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THE EXAM

If you have an entire year to prepare for the AP English Literature and Composition exam, you’re in great shape. Here’s what you need to do now:

• Confer with your English teacher or with a guidance counselor about whether you should sign up for an AP English Literature course. (See Chapter 1 for more information about these courses.)

• Plan some quality summer reading. (Appendix A has a list of great works of literature.)

• Annotate the books you read and begin keeping a reader’s notebook. (See Chapter 3 for more about keeping a reader’s notebook.)

• Work on improving your vocabulary so that you’re prepared to interpret the difficult reading passages on the exam. Focus on regular words that people actually use, not literary terms, such as protagonist and onomatopoeia. Learning those words is helpful, too, but they’re not crucial to the AP exam.

• Gather and file corrected papers and notes from your most recent English classes. When you have a moment, look through the file and assess your work. You may discover areas that need some improvement — stating your thesis or supporting statements with evidence, for example. Focus your energy on improving those skills.

While you’re prepping for test day, you may want to participate in a few nonacademic activities that pump up the literary area of your brain. These are no substitute for formal study, but they will boost your overall knowledge, build your working vocabulary, and hone your thinking skills:

• Attend poetry readings. Most major book chains, as well as many local stores, sponsor free poetry readings. Check your local newspaper or the Internet for listings of nearby events. When you find one, mark it on your calendar. Not only will you have fun, but you’ll learn a lot, too.

• Write for publications. What you write or where your work appears really doesn’t matter, but the more you write and strive toward clarity of expression, the better your writing becomes.

• Solve crossword puzzles. AP-level work relies on mature vocabulary. A painless way to increase your store of words is to solve a daily or weekly puzzle from a local or national newspaper. Bookstores also sell compilations of puzzles on various levels. Aim for puzzles with difficult vocabulary (such as the one in the New York Times). And don’t forget to keep a dictionary nearby so you can look up unfamiliar words.

• Discuss literature at lunch. Instead of the usual banter, come up with a single, debatable idea — something catchy, such as “Hamlet has a lot in common with Spider-Man. He doesn’t want to be special, but he doesn’t have much choice. Neither does Spider-Man. Plus, they both lost father figures.” The discussion will force you to choose a position and back it up with evidence, just as the AP essay questions challenge you to do.

Be careful not to “borrow” someone else’s insight or idea mentioned during one of your informal literary discussions for use in an essay without citing your source. Talk to your English teacher to find out how to handle such citations.

• Attend a play. Seeing a play that you’ve read affects your understanding of the work. Even better, if you have the opportunity, is to see two productions of the same play. The directors’ and actors’ contributions become clear when you compare different interpretations. Just be sure to focus on the text and not on a certain production when writing about the play on the exam. The AP exam is oriented to the written word, not to performance.

As you prepare for the exam, don’t forget to play and sleep. Information overload isn’t conducive to scoring well on the exam. Your brain cells need some downtime to process the information you take in.

SEPTEMBER PRECEDING THE EXAM

When the school year begins, you may find that you have less time during the day to spend on preparing for the exam, but use the time you do have, especially on weekends, to keep your mind engaged in English literature and composition. Here are the most important tasks to attend to:

• If you haven’t done so already, work on vocabulary. The literature you read in AP English classes and on the exam is filled with tough vocabulary, so increasing your fund of words is a good strategy. You can also pick up some literary terminology, though those words play a minimal role on the exam.

• Annotate the literary works you read and continue or start a reader’s notebook, as explained in Chapter 3.

• Start or add to a file of your writing assignments and tests from current and previous English classes. From time to time, browse through the file to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. This file also helps you remember details about works you’ve read — a plus for the open-ended AP essay that allows you to choose what to write about.

• Keep a notebook or computer file of important points from the teacher and from student discussions in your current English class.

• Read one critical essay about every major work that you’re currently studying in English class, preferably just after you’ve completed the class-unit on the work. Don’t let the critics’ views overpower your own interpretation. As you read a critical essay, argue with “the expert” and assert your own ideas. Your own response, if you can support it with evidence from the text, is valid.

Taking up speed-reading

When I was in high school, the dumbest thing I had on my schedule (or so I thought at the time) was a three-week course in speed-reading. Decades later I understand that the ability to read quickly is one of the best things I ever learned. Why? Because no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to break the space-time continuum and squeeze five extra hours into the day. Without speed-reading, I’d never be able to get through all those student papers, not to mention the faculty memos that clutter my inbox.

With a minimum of effort, you can read more quickly as well. Think of yourself as an athlete, with your sport being reading. When athletes are preparing for a race, they build stamina by logging a certain number of miles. Similarly, you “log miles” simply by reading a lot. But runners also do wind-sprints when they train — short bursts of the fastest pace they can manage. A reading wind-sprint occurs when, for a few minutes, you consciously zoom as quickly as possible down the page, without passing the point where the words become meaningless. If you do one literary wind-sprint per day, after a few weeks your reading speed will increase. Fast reading is a great advantage on the AP exam because time is very tight.

The first half of the school year can short-circuit fairly easily. After all, you’re still figuring out what each teacher wants from you, and if you’re a senior, you’re also probably busy submitting college applications. Take a deep breath each morning, face the mirror, and say, “All I can do is my best.” That attitude is good for stress relief and also for your grades. You can’t prepare for the AP English Literature exam or do anything else properly if you’re sizzling with tension.

JANUARY PRECEDING THE EXAM

January through March is a calmer portion of the academic year. By now you know your teachers and have a comfortable rhythm. And at last, if you’re a senior, you’re done submitting your college applications. Now you can focus on enjoying yourself a little while you prepare for the AP exam.

Upon your return from winter break, though, the AP test seems a lot more real; at this point, you have slightly more than four months until the exam. Now’s the time to buckle down and do some serious exam prep, including the following:

• Start or continue with the steps listed in the earlier section, “September Preceding the Exam.”

• Set aside 30–45 minutes each week to read a chapter in Parts II through IV of this book. If you’re unfamiliar with the exam format, turn to Chapter 1.

• Go through your tests, quizzes, and papers from your current and previous English classes. Study the teachers’ comments and note where you lost points. Doing so helps you figure out which skills you need to improve, and then you can carefully review the chapters in this book that explain those points.

• If you aren’t sure what you need to work on, take the practice exam in Chapter 16 and score it with Chapter 17. Analyze your weaknesses and work through the corresponding chapters in this book.

MARCH PRECEDING THE EXAM

Spring break is a great time to catch up. As exam day approaches, you can probably glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, signaling the end of a long journey while warning you that you don’t have much time left to prepare — only about two months. Schedule an hour or so per day to prepare for the test. Here are some tasks to keep you on track throughout March and the first part of April:

• Start on or continue with the activities listed in the previous sections.

• If you haven’t already done so, take the practice exam in Chapter 16 and score it with Chapter 17. Review any topics that tripped you up.

• Select and answer practice questions from the chapters addressing areas that concern you (poetry, perhaps, or the open-ended essay).

• Seek out the help of a friendly English teacher who can read one of your practice essays and point out areas for improvement. Skim through the table of contents or the index to find sections in this book that address the weaknesses.

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM

If you’ve been dutifully preparing for the exam over the past several months, you can start to relax two weeks before the exam. Give your brain some downtime to process all the information you’ve taken in.

If, on the other hand, you just decided to crack open the books in preparation for the exam, you need to get to work with a sense of urgency and do the following:

• Review your class notes and papers on works you read in junior- or senior-level English classes and skim through your reader’s notebook. The goal is to prepare four literary works that are suitable for the open-ended essay. (Chapter 14 explains how to choose works and what you should know about each one.)

• Take the practice exam in either Chapter 16 or Chapter 18. For early birds, this is your second round. If you’re one of the many procrastinators, this is round one. You can score the exams with Chapter 17 (for the exam in Chapter 16) or Chapter 19 (for the exam in Chapter 18).

• After taking the practice exam, make a list of areas to watch out for. For example, if you know that your essays seldom include enough support for your ideas, put “evidence” on your “watch out” list. The simple act of writing this list will focus your energy and help you remember what you need to do on exam day.

• Check out the later section “Time-Saving Test-Taking Strategies” for last-minute tips on how to finish on time.

• Log on to www.collegeboard.com, register (it’s free), and navigate to the AP English Literature and Composition section. Try answering sample questions and responding to essay questions from previous exams.

• Locate everything you need for the exam, including a supply of No. 2 pencils, pens with dark blue or black ink, photo identification, and an accommodation letter for special needs. (Chapter 1 explains how to qualify for accommodations.) Store everything in one place.

• Determine how you will travel to the exam — public transportation, family car, or a friend’s car, for example.

• If you’re taking the exam in a place that you aren’t familiar with, consider making a trip to map out the route from your home to the test site. Try to take your trip on the same day of the week and at the same time of day as exam day, and time yourself so that you have a good idea of how long the trip will take.

Arrange an alternate mode of travel and an alternate route to the exam site and plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early, just in case a last-minute disaster befalls you. If your car doesn’t start on test day or road construction forces a detour, having a plan B in place can ensure that you arrive on time and are calm enough to perform your best.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM

If you just opened this book for the first time, go to Chapter 1 immediately. Read about the format of the exam, and then turn to Chapter 16 or Chapter 18 for a practice exam. Don’t do all the questions. Instead, hit the multiple-choice questions for one selection and check your answers (in either Chapter 17 or Chapter 19). Then write one essay from either practice exam and read the sample answers and criteria for grading. After grading your answers, make a “watch out” list that includes the errors that show up most frequently, as well as the correct answers. Then go on to the following list of tasks.

If you’ve been preparing for a while, you’re almost done. You just need to take care of a few more last-minute tasks:

• Read your “watch out” list and then stop studying. Anything you do now will only make you more nervous.

• Do something that’s relaxing but not too strenuous. An hour or two of television, a chat with a friend (who isn’t taking the exam), or an easy game of basketball are all good activities.

• Make sure you have everything you need for the exam packed and ready (see the preceding section for a list), including your car keys and directions to the exam site. If you’re relying on someone else for a ride, call the person and confirm your arrangements.

• Set your alarm clock and a backup (perhaps your cellphone alarm) and go to bed a little earlier than normal.

THE MORNING OF THE TEST

On the morning of the test, your stress level is likely to peak and then start to decline. Keep reminding yourself that you’re well prepared, and the exam will soon be over. Here are some additional tips to alleviate anxiety and improve performance:

• Get up early enough so that you don’t have to rush.

• Wear comfortable clothing. Layers are a good idea because you never know how warm or cool the test room will be.

• Bring everything you need. (See the earlier section, “Two Weeks before the Exam” and Chapter 1 for a list of what to bring.)

• Leave anything that you can’t bring into the test at home or in the car, which is everything not required in the exam room, including electronic devices, beverages, papers, and books.

• Eat a healthy breakfast, even if you usually skip this all-important meal. Go heavy on the protein (eggs, cheese, tofu, meat, and the like). Avoid simple carbohydrates, such as those in doughnuts, pastries, and pancakes, because they give you a spike of energy and then a huge drop, which can make you drowsy in the middle of the exam.

• If you have time, skim your notes on the four works that you may write about for the open-ended essay. (Check out Chapter 14 for details on selecting and preparing those works.)

• Avoid discussing the exam. If you’re carpooling, make a strong effort to talk about non-test-related topics. Any discussion of the exam at this point will only increase stress, which is probably high already.

• When you walk into the test room, choose a seat (if you’re allowed) with a good view of the clock and away from anything or anyone you might find distracting.

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