English Literature & Composition - PopulationMe.com

APPROACHING THE EXAM
CHAPTER 3
The Advanced Placement Exam
As we hope we have made clear, the value of the course is the course itself-the thinking and analytical
skills learned and, above all, an appreciation of the beauty, complexity, and richness of the
literary works examined. Still, students do want their money's worth. So it makes sense to offer
some information that will help prepare them for the exam itself so that-strange and depressing
irony-they might earn the right to "place out" of a college-level course in literary appreciation!
We should mention here that the College Board offers a number of publications that suggest
strategies for the course. Among the most valuable is the Course Description booklet, available
in both print and electronic versions. Be sure to read the course objectives and review the
sample multiple choice and essay questions that are offered in this booklet.
A. The Structure of the Exam
The actual three-hour exam consists of two parts. The first is a one-hour set of (usually around 55)
multiple choice questions, which counts as 450/0 of the student's final score. This part usually consists
of four passages, prose and poetry, followed by 10 or more questions on each passage.
Students then get a brief break, followed by the two-hour Free Response section, which consists
of three essays about literary works. Two of these free response essays require analysis either of an
entire literary work (if a poem) or of an excerpt from a prose-fiction passage. The third free response
essay asks students to apply a literary concept or technique to a literary work (novel or play). They
may either pick from the list of titles provided with the question or select a work of their own. That
section counts as 55% of the student's final score. Forty minutes is suggested for each essay, but in
fact students have two hours to complete the three essays, and they are free (and we encourage
them) to divide the available time in any way they choose. (See Part C, on tips for taking the exam).
During the College Board's eight-day grading session in June, the approximately 800,000
essays (more than 250,000 test takers, three essays each) are evaluated. (The multiple choice section
is scored by machine.) Each essay is scored by a different reader, using a scale from 0 (off
topic) to 9, according to a specific grading "rubric" that is developed by the Chief Readers and
three Question Leaders and, if necessary, refined by Table Leaders. The result is that all essays
are approached using identical criteria, a process that yields remarkable accuracy. The scores
on the three essays, plus the multiple choice section, are tabulated and then divided into the
1 through 5 1/Advanced Placement scores" with which you are probably familiar. These final
scores are mailed out during July.
B. Question Types
Multiple Choice Questions
Here's the format. A text is printed (for prose, usually 500 words in length or less; for poetry,
40 lines or fewer). A set of questions follows that text; for each question, students will see five
possible answers. First comes the actual query (the technical term is stem), which almost
always includes a phrase like "most likely" or "probably." That practice recognizes that the interpretation
of literature can be a subjective matter, even though reasonable (or "best") guesses
can be made and defended. ETS test-makers work on the assumption-as do we classroom
teachers-that an author's artistic intention (and effect) can be identified and analyzed.
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