Chapter 1: Inside the AP English Literature & Composition Exam
Congratulations! You should be proud of yourself for deciding to take the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Exam. If you have taken Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition in high school or have a good foundation in literary analysis, a broad reading background, and strong composition skills, taking the AP exam can help you earn college credit and/or placement into advanced coursework. Think of the money you can save! In addition to getting a head start on your college coursework, you can improve your chances of acceptance to competitive schools since colleges know that AP students are better prepared for the demands of college courses.
This book is designed to help you prepare for the AP exam in English Literature and Composition. We've included information about the format of the exam, test-taking strategies, and an extensive review of essential topics. Each chapter includes review questions, which will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and help you to establish a plan for preparing for the exam. Also included are three practice tests with answers and explanations. With Kaplan's proven test-taking strategies, dozens of practice questions, a review of literary terms, and guidelines for writing your essay responses, you will be able to take the exam with confidence.
What is the Exam?
The Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition exam is a three-hour exam, designed yearly by the AP Test Development Committee in English. The exam is an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have mastered skills equivalent to those typically found in introductory college composition classes. The exam is comprised of two sections:
Section I: 54-60 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes
Section II: 3 essay responses, 120 minutes
Total Length: 3 hours
Section I consists of 54-60 multiple-choice questions. You will be presented with four or five passages -- from poetry, drama, fiction, or even nonfiction (occasionally). Each piece will be followed by 12-15 questions. The multiple-choice questions are skills questions. These questions will not require you to recall facts from a particular play or novel, but rather they are questions that test your ability to analyze passages critically and/or analytically. The very few fact questions are based upon only the specific selection that is given. Generally, the difficulty of these questions ranges from easy to harder as you progress through each passage.
Section II consists of three essay questions, two on a specific passage or work of poetry, and one "open-ended" question that permits you to select the work you will write on. A prompt will direct your focus as to the themes, aspects, and literary elements to be included in your essay.
How the Exam is Scored
Your final score will be based on your performance on both multiple-choice section (45 percent of the final score) and the scores on your three essays (55 percent of the final grade). The essays are scored on a 9-point evaluation system. Your three essay scores and your total of correct responses on the multiple-choice section are then converted to the 1-5 point final grade. The formula for conversion approximates the following:
Multiple-choice: Number correct
Minus: ¼ X Number wrong (does not include questions left blank)
Total:
Take that total number and multiply it by 1.2272.
For multiple-choice questions, there is a penalty for answering incorrectly, as opposed to simply leaving an item blank -- one fourth of the questions you answer incorrectly are subtracted from your score as a correction for guessing. Some people refer to this as a guessing penalty, but it is really a wrong answer penalty. If you guess correctly, you don't lose anything.
The multiple-choice total is then added to the total of the three essay scores times 3.0556. This final total is then applied to a Conversion Chart. This conversion chart may vary a bit every year. The Chief Faculty Consultant for each year's test makes the final determination for converting students' composite scores to the 5-point AP scale. A sample conversion chart is provided with each of the three Practice Tests in this book.
All Advanced Placement exams are rated on a final scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest grade. The scores are defined as follows:
- 5 Extremely well qualified
- 4 Well qualified
- 3 Qualified
- 2 Possibly qualified
- 1 No recommendation
Getting Your Grades
The Advanced Placement exams are given in May. The multiple-choice sections are scored electronically, soon after they are returned to Princeton, New Jersey. The essay sections of all the exams, however, must be humanly read and scored. This reading of the exams does not take place until June, when the high school and college teachers who read the essays are available.
AP Grade Reports are sent in July to home, high school, and to any colleges designated by you. You may designate the colleges you would like to receive your grade on the answer sheet at the time of the test. You may also contact AP Services to forward your grade to other colleges after the exam or to cancel or withhold a grade. Each report is cumulative and includes grades for all the AP Exams you have ever taken, unless you have requested that one or more grades be withheld from a college or cancelled.
AP grades by phone are available for $15 per call beginning in early July. A touch-tone phone is needed. The toll-free number is (888) 308-0013
Registration
To register for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam, contact your school guidance counselor or your school's AP Coordinator. If your school does not administer the exam, contact AP Services no later than March 1 for a listing of schools in your area that do. Contact the AP Coordinators at these schools by March 15.
Fees
The fee for each AP Exam is $82. The College Board offers a $22 credit to qualified students with financial need. Only a portion of the exam fee will be refunded if a student does not take the test. Also, if there is an unavoidable conflict with the scheduled exam date, you may be able to take the alternative exam. If a student has a certified learning disability, special circumstance testing is available. Check with AP Services for further information about any of these circumstances.
Additional Resources
The College Board offers a number of publications about the Advanced Placement Program including Advanced Placement Course Description -- English, Teacher's Guide AP Literature and Composition, and the AP Bulletin for Students and Parents; in addition, past essay exams with students responses and discussion are released, and every five years the multiple-choice questions are also released.
For More Information
For more information about the AP Program and/or the AP Services contact:
AP Services
PO Box 6671
Princeton, NJ 08541-6671
Phone: (609) 771-7300; (877) 274-6474
TTY: (609) 882-4118
Fax: (609) 530-0482
E-mail: apexams@ info.collegeboard.
