Taking any of the multitude of AP® exams can seem like a daunting task in the beginning stages of your preparation. That’s why it’s important to be organized about the work you do in studying for these tests. The AP® English Literature exam is frankly no different. Each of these tests requires extensive, specific preparation. But how do we know what to prepare for and how to prepare for it? Answering that question requires some solid strategy.
Continue reading for 11 specific AP® English Literature strategies that you can use to tie all of your tireless preparation together.
The Test
The AP® English Literature test takes three hours to complete and consists of two parts: multiple choice and free response. The multiple-choice section is worth 45%, and the free response section 55% of the final exam grade. The AP® English Literature multiple-choice section is 55 questions and takes place over the first hour of testing. The free response section takes place over the final two hours of testing and requires the completion of three essay responses.
Understanding the importance of these separate parts and how they make up the whole of the AP® English Literature test should inform your test-taking strategies.
AP® English Literature Test-Taking Strategies
1. Know the Material
The multiple-choice section of the AP® English Literature test makes up almost half of your final grade. The scoring of this section allows you to bolster your base score easily! No points are subtracted for unanswered or incorrectly answered questions. This means that really knowing the material, the terms, concepts, and literary works discussed, in the multiple-choice section can only help you. Rattle off the multiple-choice answers to gain a strong base on which you can build with your essay responses.
2. Annotate AP® English Literature Passages
Annotate the passages that you’re expected to analyze. Take note of the time period if it is provided or make an inference about the time period by analyzing the diction. Mark up literary terms and devices. Paraphrase things in your head in order to cut through the sometimes complicated diction of the sample passages. These notes can come in handy on the upcoming questions. Just a few extra, collective minutes spent on annotation can save you a lot more than that in time spent rereading the passage while trying to answer a question.
3. Accept the Best Possible Answer
Many of the questions on the multiple-choice section of the AP® English Literature test come with many answer choices that could be considered correct. But which one is the best, the most correct? This is intentional, though certainly subjective, but should not scare you. Remember: incorrect answers don’t count against your score. If faced with this situation, make a reasoned decision based on facts that you know about the piece and the question.
4. Guess
Once more, incorrect answers do not count against you. So, at least make a reasonable guess at every question on the test. Every question has 5 possible answer choices. That means an outright guess has a 20% chance of being correct. Eliminate as many choices as possible and increase your odds of guessing correctly.
5. Know These Works
As of 2014, the top 5 most frequently cited literary works appearing on the AP® English Literature exam are:
1. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (26)
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (20)
3. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (18)
4. King Lear by William Shakespeare (17)
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (16)
BONUS: Hamlet by William Shakespeare*
These pieces can, with a good read, reveal several constant themes and tropes that will be of use to you on the multiple choice and response sections of the test.
6. Read the Passage, Read the Questions, then Read the Passage Again
When utilizing a quick first read through the text and then the questions on the multiple choice portion, you might get a better sense of which questions you can answer easily and maximize the time you have to spend on more difficult questions. Then, upon rereading the passage, you may have an idea of what to look out for without attempting to cherry pick your answers out of the passage and wasting even more valuable time. Alternatively, you could get a similar effect from reading the questions to start with and then reading the passage. Go with what feels right for you, considering your personal preferences about how to best utilize the time you’re provided.
7. Compose Effective Essays
The other half of the test, comprising a little over half of your final grade, asks for responses to three separate prompts. Concentrate on what you’re being asked to do and provide a response as relevant to the prompt as possible. To receive at least a 5 on the AP® English Literature test, according to the College Board rubric, test takers must demonstrate the ability to select a suitable work, explain this piece in a relatively nuanced fashion, and exercise control over some college-level composition practices. The first steps in writing an effective essay for the AP® Literature test are identifying what you’re being asked and selecting a work that allows you to provide a relevant response to the prompt.
8. Have a Set of Go-To Literary Novels for AP® English Lit
A good way to prepare for the response section of the test is to know a few literary works, typically from a class-reading list, pretty well. Composing an effective essay depends on your knowledge of a few texts that you can reference, even if it is what you might consider superficial knowledge. On test day, have a list of well-known poetry and fiction pieces ready to call up when you need them.
9. Plan Before you Begin
Make notes in the margins of the text. Use the DIDLS prose analysis method. Use the TP-CASTT poetry analysis method. Whatever you do, make a plan. By just beginning to write without a road map, you’re more likely to waste time writing around an appropriate response to the prompt without actually addressing it.
10. Employ College-Level Composition Strategies
This can make or break your response section score. If you can at least employ some of these strategies with ease, you can score decently on the response section. Some of these strategies include:
1. Logically organizing your thoughts (planning!)
2. Demonstrating generalization as well as detail
3. Controlling your tone, voice, and usage of rhetorical strategies
4. Using an expanded vocabulary (correctly!)
5. Varying your sentence structures
This probably seems like a general test-taking skill, and it is. However, breathing and staying relaxed are of particular importance on the AP® English Literature test. When we’re anxious, stressed, or worked up, we tend to lose cognitive efficacy. Letting the moment get the best of you is a surefire way to lose points on the response section of this test.
Breath, stay calm, and understand that the body’s natural stress response impairs our ability to plan ahead and to recall memories. On this portion of the test, the readers want to see that you’ve at least organized your thoughts. If you stay calm, you will have a much easier path to meeting that extremely important expectation put forth in the rubric.
Conclusion
These 11 AP® English Literature test-taking strategies can be of great use to you if you consider them ahead of time and tailor your preparation and studying to them. Make sure you know the material, understand what’s being asked of you, and address the prompts directly. Annotate, plan, and use a logical approach to answering the multiple-choice questions as well as the free response prompts. Bulk up your literary analysis skills by studying relevant works ahead of time. Most importantly, breath and stay focused while you’re taking the test.
Given an appropriate amount of study time and some solid strategizing on your part, you can start strong on the multiple-choice section and confidently continue on to the free response section. Given an understanding of the literary works and the writing skills you are expected to demonstrate, you can create clean essays for the free response portion with ease.
Now, since you have some ideas of how to tackle it, which strategies can you use to improve your odds of acing the AP® English Literature exam?
Let’s put everything into practice. Try this AP® English Literature practice question:
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