AP Language and Composition MCQ Tips

The AP Language and Composition exam is administered online on the Bluebook app, and it has two sections. Section I (multiple choice) has 45 questions and students have one hour to complete it with standard timing. Section II (free response) consists of three questions and has a time limit of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The two sections are nearly equal in their weight towards an AP score: Section I counts for 45% of the score and Section II is 55%.

Section I: Multiple choice questions are divided into 23-25 problems that are designed to test reading skills, and 20-22 questions oriented towards testing writing skills. For each type, the AP test targets understanding of four “big ideas:”

• Understanding Rhetorical Situation: Have a clear idea of the author’s purpose, the audience’s perspective, and writing choices that could help build a stronger connection between the author and audience.
• Claims and Evidence: Find ways to identify main conclusions, specific claims, and the supporting information that the author uses to make a convincing case for their argument. Form more sophisticated statements by including counterclaims and multiple perspectives.
• Reasoning and Organization: Show how a piece of writing develops through its structure. Find the thesis of an argument and understand how the rest of an essay coheres around proving this thesis.
• Style: Recognize common writing styles and understand how a conscious choice of style can make writing clearer and more effective. Analyze word choice, word order, and sentence structure.

Reading passages: passages that include a piece of published writing and ask the meaning, structure, context, and rhetorical purpose of various choices made by the author. On these passages, the key word to consider as a reader is why. Why did the author include an example, use figurative language, or structure paragraphs in a particular order? 

Writing passages: this type of passage is going to be marked as a “draft.” Questions are going to be posed with the goal of improving the passage but changing language, moving sentences, or adding context and evidence. 

Multiple choice question (MCQ) general tips

• Early in the year, focus on concepts. Study rhetorical devices, distractor answers, and close reading techniques.
• Close to the test, bring timing into the picture. Think of a minute per question as good, 90 seconds as acceptable, and two minutes as pushing into too much for one problem, if you have standard timing.
• Read passages with structure in mind, looking for key transition words and familiar rhetorical moves. If the passage uses detailed examples that might slow you down, be willing to skip over the small fine points at first, understanding that it is okay to come back later to untangle them.
• Eliminate wrong answers in two passes. On the first pass through, there should be a few choices that are obviously incorrect, but a couple of “contenders” will remain. Take a closer second look at the contenders on a second pass, taking apart the last remaining distractor answer and finding the provably correct one.
• Pay special attention to the question itself. Often the language of the question provides a very specific task if you read it carefully and word-for-word.
• Practice is worthwhile! Some people only focus on the free response questions and assume that the multiple choice questions will just stay at an unchangeable baseline. Working on sets of questions and reviewing mistakes can make you much more prepared, increase your MCQ score, and take some pressure off your free response score!

How can I be better prepared to identify and name literary devices?

• One classic online resource is the Silva Rhetoricae (forest of rhetoric). It is a great place to check out for AP Language students, aspiring debaters, or writers. Not every single term is necessary to know by name, but the information, organized into “trees,” “branches,” “roots,” and “flowers,” is high-quality and deep.

What if I keep narrowing down to two answers and picking the wrong one?

• It’s natural to review in a way that hel ps you to understand why the right answer is correct. You may also want to spend more time focusing on why that last “second best” answer was wrong! Challenge yourself in your review and dive into an investigation of what hidden flaws and faults made that shiny incorrect choice end up less than it seemed at first.

What score should be my target for multiple choice?

• If you are going for a 5 on the test (Why not? You can do it!) It’s good to plan on at least a 35/45 on multiple choice. With absolutely perfect free response questions, it is possible to get a 5 with a lower multiple choice score, but it is best to give yourself some breathing room by getting 80% or more of the available multiple choice points!