AP Lit Exam Test Prep - Sat. 4/22 9-12

We will focus on multiple choice - timed work plus detailed review.
Please RSVP to shari.marks@wjps.org. I need an idea of how many students plan on attending.

Due Monday

Poetry Essay Group: Practice Sets 1 & 2 (Jane Eyre)
(See Multiple Choice Question Types notes below)
MC Group: Practice Sets 1 & 2 PLUS Practice Test 1 (The Awakening)

Lens Paper Draft due May 5.
The Importance of Being Earnest due May 15.

Multiple Choice Question Types:

Reading Comprehension

These are questions that test your ability to understand what the passage is saying. They don’t require you to do a lot of interpretation--you just need to know what is actually going on. You can identify these from words and phrases like “according to,” “asserting,” “mentioned,” and so on. Basically, words that point to a fairly concrete meaning. You can succeed on these questions by carefully reading of the text.

Think: What is the passage saying?

Inference

These questions ask you to infer something - a character or narrator’s opinion, an author’s intention, etc. - based on what is said in the passage. It will be something that isn’t stated directly or concretely, but that you can assume based on what is stated clearly in the passage. You can identify these questions from words like “infer,” and “imply.”  

The key to these questions is to not be tripped up by the fact that you are making an inference--there will be a best answer, and it will be the choice that is best supported by what is actually found in the passage.

THINK: What does the passage mean?

Identify and Interpret Figurative Language

These are questions in which you have to either identify what word or phrase is figurative language OR provide the meaning of a figurative phrase. You can identify these as they will either explicitly mention figurative language (or a figurative device like simile or metaphor) or will include a figurative language phrase in the question itself. The meaning of figurative language phrases can normally be determined by its context in the passage. Think: what is said around it? What is the phrase referring to?

Literary Technique

These questions involve identifying why an author does what they do: from using a particular phrase to repeating certain words, what techniques is the author using to construct the passage/poem and to what effect? You can identify these questions by words like “serves chiefly to,” “effect,” “evoke,” and “in order to.”

Think: SO WHAT? Why did the author use these particular words or this particular structure?

Character Analysis

These questions will ask you to describe something about a character. Look for words or phrases that ask you directly about characters’ attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or relationships with other characters.

These are more common in prose passages.

Think: What can I infer about the character based on 5 facets of characterization?

Overall Passage Questions

Some questions will ask you to identify or describe something about the passage/poem as a whole: its purpose, tone, genre, etc. You can identify these by phrases like “in the passage,” and “as a whole.”

THINK: What is the bigger picture message created by the smaller details?

Structure

Some questions will ask you about specific structural elements of the passage--a shift in tone, a digression, the specific form of a poem, etc. Often these questions will specify a part of the passage/poem and ask you to identify what that part is accomplishing.

THINK: Why are these shifts (structural, tonal, etc. ) important?

Grammar

Very occasionally you will be asked a specific grammar question, such as what word an adjective is modifying. Sometimes, about the meter of a poem (i.e. iambic pentameter). These questions are less about the literary artistry and more about a fluent command of the English language.

THINK: Grammar, mechanics, usage.

Cool Opportunity For Aspiring Writers

Break Work Due 4/19

Read the remainder of How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
Choose min. 8 chapters.
Write one entry for each chapter you choose to read.
Make a copy of the form and share it with me, allowing me to "comment".
Dialectical Journal Form