The Best AP® English Literature Review Guide

The Best AP® English Literature Review Guide for 2025

Read this post if you’re looking for guidance on how to approach the 2020 online AP® English Literature exam. In it, we’ll review the latest exam format changes, different study tips and test taking strategies for an open-book exam, and provide you with a hand-picked list of practice FRQs to go through to better prepare.

How to Approach AP® English Literature Free-Response Questions

As we approach AP® exam time, you’ll want to explore how to best prepare yourself for the AP® English Literature free-response section of the exam. Free-response makes up 55% of your test score. In this section, you will write three essays regarding prompts from poetry, a selected passage, and a work of literary fiction you select.

how_to_approach AP® English literature multiple choice questions

How to Approach AP® English Literature Multiple-Choice Questions

As you prepare for the AP® English Literature Exam, it’s easy to disregard the multiple-choice section as a given. However, the AP® English Literature multiple-choice questions make up 45% of the total score. In 2016, only 7.6% of students scored a 5 on the Exam. In order to boost your chances of being in those elite few, this year, follow the guide herein towards success.

ultimate AP® English literature reading list

The Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

Knowing which literary works to study when preparing to face the AP® English Literature exam takes some thought on your part. You can prepare your own AP® English Literature reading list using some of the following selections and the commentary I’ve provided.

3_ways_to_tackle AP® English literature prompts

3 Ways to Tackle AP® English Literature Prompts

Each open-ended AP® English Literature essay prompt focuses upon a specific idea or theme common in canonical literature (such as justice, sacrifice) or a certain type of work or technique used within many works. It will then ask you to explain how whatever device it focuses on works within a particular piece of literature and then justify that explanation. Here are three sample AP® English Literature prompts (all from actual AP® exams) and a quick explanation of one way you could tackle each of them. Studying and practicing these methods will definitely help you perform better on the AP® English Literature exam!

AP® English literature test taking strategies

11 AP® English Literature Test Taking Strategies

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.

How to Score Your Own AP® English Literature Practice Essay

Part of effectively preparing for the free response section of the AP® English Literature exam is accepting at least this one old truism: practice makes perfect. However, you can up the ante by adding just one more word to that statement. In truth, perfect practice makes perfect.

ap_english_literature_book_list_essential reads

AP® English Literature Book List: 5 Essential Reads

You can write about any novel or play that is considered “canonical literature” for the AP® English Literature essays, but there are a few works every student taking this test should read because of their literary importance and variety of themes and situations – making them versatile subjects good to respond to almost any essay prompt with.