Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Test

1. Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Test Preparing for Success

2. Format of the Test • Test is broken into two major sections • Section 1 – Multiple Choice • Allowed 1 hour • Section 2 – Writing • Allowed 2 hours

3. Multiple Choice • Typically there are 55 questions asked on the test • Try to find a half way point • If there are 60 questions, try to be at question 30 halfway through the allotted time • Multiple choice passages broken up in two ways • Prose • Poetry

4. Multiple Choice - Prose • Read actively and visually – underline and circle • Examine organizational pattern • Identify transitional words and phrases • Acknowledge point of view • Evaluate tone through diction and sentence structure • Be especially watchful for irony and satire • Watch for odd words that may shift the language • Pay attention to punctuation for changes in tone • Use context clues to identify any unknown vocabulary • Notice and mark SOAPStone • Speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, tone

5. Multiple Choice - Prose • Question Categories • Rhetoric • How does language work in the passage? • Author’s meaning and purpose • Why does the author choose a specific wording? To what effect? • Main Idea • What is the author’s thesis, attitude and tone? • Organization and Structure • How is the passage organized? • Comparison/Contrast, definition, specific to general

6. Multiple Choice - Poetry • Pay attention to punctuation, looking for complete sentences indicated by periods, semi-colons, etc. • Watch for shifts in tone, point of view, verb tense, and time • Consider repetitions • Parallel syntax, imagery, simile/metaphor • What is the logic? • Asking – then answering questions • Developing an argument • Story with a conflict and climax • Series of analogies and comparisons to prove a point

7. Multiple Choice - Poetry • Dramatic situation • Analyze for speaker • Note sentence structure • Identify any enjambment • Discriminate between literal and figurative elements • Scansion – handout from earlier • Inferred attitude from author • Note the difference between author and speaker • Notice literary devices • Simile, metaphor, personification • Notice sound devices • Alliteration, assonance, internal and external rhyme

8. Multiple Choice - Poetry • Question Categories • Dramatic Situation (speaker, occasion, audience, purpose) • Structure and form • Universal theme • Definitions of words in context • Images and figurative language • Diction and connotations • Tone • Literary devices • Sound devices • Scansion

9. Multiple Choice - Poetry Meter Foot Monometer 1 Dimeter 2 Trimeter 3 Tetrameter 4 Pentamter 5 Hexameter 6 Heptameter 7 Octameter 8 Iamb U/ Trochee /U Anapest UU/ Dactyl /UU

10. Free Response Questions • Three prompts– poetry, prose, open-ended • Use about 40 minutes per question (2 hours total) • Most questions ask you to analyze • Analyze – to break something into smaller pieces • You can do some prewriting • Develop a working thesis that requires proof • Full introduction not necessary • Do not need to list the items of analysis in thesis • It is okay to scratch something out – reader should only read what is intended to be read • Understand punctuation of poems, novels, plays, short stories

11. Free Response - Poetry • When utilizing poetic devices, do not list rhyme scheme as a device – pointless • Show a working knowledge of poetic language • Know the difference between the following: • Sonnet – 14 lined poem, often about love • Ode – long, serious, meditative lyric poem • Elegy – serious, reflective; often love poetry • Epic – narrative poem, recounts adventure of a hero • Dramatic monologue – speaker addresses silent listener, revealing himself in a dramatic situation • Mock heroic poem – lengthy poem about a trivial subject written in the manner of an epic

12. Free Response - Prose • Make sure you carefully answer the prompt given • Sometimes individuals have the tendency to wander • Specific textual examples are helpful to mention when you identify ideas • Be sure not to simply repeat the prompt • Do not analyze the quality of a text unless you are asked to do so • Understand the language of prose • Specifically, be able to describe and analyze tone

13. Free Response – Open-Ended • Discuss specific elements – don’t generalize • Do not merely summarize plot • Analyze, analyze, analyze • Develop strong and varied sentences • Choose a work from the list or an appropriate literary work for the prompt • Do not use Hamlet • Write about a work you feel comfortable and knowledgeable • Refresh yourself with works from past school years • What works have you read in high school?

14. A few last thoughts… • Come prepared • Get plenty of rest the night before • Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test • Be sure you are hydrated • Test fatigue can set in, so be patient and mindful • Everything we have learned this year has been review for this test • Novels, discussions, writing prompts, essays, practice passages • Ask me questions if you have any • jvanengen@sfcss.org – @j_man_v – (605) 759-3914