Analytical Focus-
**Be Aware that Questions may have other literary elements that are not explicitly explained.But don’t be afraid to research the definition and learn more about how they are used.**
The AP English Literature Exam can have either a poem or a prose that you will have to answer questions from. Being able to identify which type of question the question is helps you have a better understanding of what is on the test.
There are Four different types of Multiple Choice Questions.
Factual:
PROSE:
Allusion
Genre
Setting
POEM:
Allusion
Technical:
PROSE:
imagery
point of view
conflict
irony
POEM:
Imagery
paradox
syntax
metrics
rhetorical shifts
Analytical:
PROSE:
Metaphor
narration
imagery
POEM:
Imagery
paradox
irony
Inferential:
PROSE:
tone
symbolism
POEM:
Mood
Tone
Theme
diction
IMAGERY-
Is used to see if you understand the importance behind what the image in the passage or Poem is trying to show. The author doesn’t just put Imagery to put it there, there’s a reason behind it and you must be able to IDENTIFY WHY to answer the question.
TONE (SHIFTS)- (This always comes up on questions.) Tone is usually Positive or Negative. However when they ask about the tone they wont say
Hey is the tone of the Passage...
a. Negative
b. Positive
They will use BIG Vocabulary words, such as:
Remorseful, exhortative, pedantic, etc. Sometimes there might be a shift in which may cause a different meaning to the literature as a whole. This appears all the time in questions and they want you to identify what was the tone shift.
METAPHOR- They may be hard to comprehend but they will give us one of these questions to see if we can identify the importance of two unlikely things.
DICTION- A lot of the questions like to use diction to see if you understand what the author wrote. They may ask you to refer back to the Prose or Poem to explain the meaning of a line or word. It is very easy to get side track and lose focus while reading but by annotating, reading carefully, and understand what the question is asking you will be able to complete the questions with no problem.
Thematic Focus
TIMING - You are given an hour to complete 55 AP English multiple choice questions. It is important that you use your time effectively and wisely so that you can get through all the readings and questions. You are suggested to spend no more than a minute on each question.
HELPFUL HINTS TO PRACTICE BEFORE THE TEST-
KNOW YOUR VOCABULARY-
At often times the multiple choice questions try to throw you off by using vocabulary words that no one except dictionaries use, so to prepare for this it would be beneficial if you learn and brush up on vocabulary. Also studying roots is also very helpful, by knowing roots you can break up words and have a better understanding of words you do not know the meaning of.
TAKE PRACTICE TESTS-
By taking practice tests under real conditions you are allowing yourself for a better understanding of the multiple choice questions that are given. When you expose yourself to past tests you are preparing yourself for the actual test since by taking practice tests you understand and have the knowledge and an idea of what is on the test and the difficulty level of the questions.
FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE TYPES OF QUESTIONS-
Knowing the types of questions that are given on the test help because by knowing what question it is you understand what they are asking from you, and you can eliminate answers that do not agree with what the question is asking you. There are four main types of questions, they include factual, technical, analytical, and inferential questions. When you take practice tests there are certain words being used, or a certain thing that the question asks for which helps you identify what kind of question it is.
- Answering factual questions (are based off of allusions, settings, genre, words referring to, paraphrasing, subject, sequence of events... ) you have to understand the facts of the prose/ poem. Factual questions are used to prove to the person grading your test if you were able to understand the prose/ poem.
- Answering technical questions ( including sentence structure, grammar, POV, syntax, imagery, function of diction, function of literary elements)tells the grader that you understand what the author is trying to express by the way he writes, not by what he writes. You must pay close attention to any patterns or styles the author expresses in the poem/ prose.
- Answering analytical questions ( including comparison, cause/ effect, description, purpose of, importance of ironies and paradox) tells the grader that you understand what the author is expressing through techniques that he uses throughout the poem/ prose, it also proves that you understand why, and how the author uses the techniques to express the theme, moral, etc.
- Answering inferential questions (including tone, effect on reader, symbol, inferences, image suggests, theme of poem, reader suggests) tells the person grading your test that you were able to read the text and look beyond just the words, and you were able to find the meaning and purpose that the author expresses in the poem/ prose. The inferential questions ask you to prove that you know the meaning behind the text.
TIPS DURING THE TEST-
ANNOTATE- When you annotate the poem or prose you gain a clearer understanding of what is in front of you, also when reading the text you you may run along a sentence that is 10 lines long, but you can eliminate the non important dependent clauses. These sentences cause confusion, but when you eliminate parts of the sentence that don't need to be in there you rid yourself of confusion.
ELIMINATE ANSWERS- Sometimes answers may seem too far fetched, and others may seem completely wrong, but before you can eliminate the answer you must know what the answer is asking you. You cannot misinterpret the questions, so read them carefully. Once you know what the question is asking, but still cannot get the answer right away eliminate those that you know are wrong. Remember guessing from 2 choices is better than guessing from 5.
DO NOT RE-READ- Re-reading takes too much time from your questions, it is better to skim, but if you annotate when you're reading in the beginning, your skimming becomes easier and more effective.
THINGS TO REMEMBER-
Remember that for every question that you get wrong, 1/4 of a point is taken off. This is when the eliminating answers strategy works nicely. It is not okay to guess on a question that you cannot eliminate any answer choices from, but if you get down to 2, maybe even 3 choices you may want to take a risk and try to answer. Also remember that you have an hour to answer all these questions, if you are spending too much time on a question skip and move on, it is better to miss 1 question and move on, then stay on that question until time is up.
