Part III
About the AP English Language and Composition Exam
• The Structure of the AP English Language and Composition Exam
• How the AP English Language and Composition Exam Is Scored
THE STRUCTURE OF THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM
Below is a helpful outline that describes the basic format for the exam. The total time allotted for the completion of this exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes, or 195 minutes.
Section I: Multiple Choice (1 hour)—counts for 45 percent of your grade
Total number of questions: 52–55
Section II: Free Response (2 hours, 15 minutes; includes a 15-minute reading period)— counts for 55 percent of your grade
Composed of three essays, which the College Board describes as follows:
1. Synthesis essay: You will read several sources on a topic and create an argument that integrates information from at least three of the sources to support your thesis.
2. Rhetorical analysis essay: You will analyze a nonfiction text and discuss how the author’s language choices contribute to the purpose and intended meaning.
3. Argument essay: You will create an evidence-based argument in response to a given topic.
HOW THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM IS SCORED
Your Multiple-Choice Score
In the multiple-choice section of the test, you are awarded 1 point for each question that you answer correctly, and you receive no points for each question that you leave blank or answer incorrectly. So, even if you are completely unsure, guess. In Part IV, Chapter 1, we’ll show you how to narrow down your choices and make educated guesses.
Your Free-Response Score
Each AP essay is scored on a scale from 0 to 9, with 9 being the best score. Essay readers (who are high school or university English instructors) will grade your three essays, and the scores for your three essays will be added together. The resulting total (which ranges from 0 to 27) constitutes your free-response score.
We will go into the details of essay scoring in Part IV, Chapter 4, but, in general, an essay that receives a 9 answers all facets of the question completely, making good use of specific examples to support its points, and is “well-written,” which is a catch-all phrase that means its sentences are complete, properly punctuated, clear in meaning, and varied (that is, they exhibit a variety of structure and use a large academic vocabulary). Lower-scoring essays are considered to be deficient in these qualities to a greater or lesser degree, and students who receive a “0” have basically written gibberish. If you write an essay that is not on the topic, you will receive a blank (“—”). This is equivalent to a zero.
The essay readers do not award points according to a standardized, predetermined checklist. The essays are scored individually by individual readers, each of whom scores essays for only one prompt. Thus, you will have three different readers, and each reader will be able to see only the single essay that he or she reads. The readers do not know how you did on the other essays or what score you received on the multiple-choice section.
Your Final Score
Your final score of 1 to 5 is a combination of your scores from the two sections. Remember that the multiple-choice section counts for 45 percent of the total and the essay section counts for 55 percent. This makes them almost equal, and you must concentrate on doing your best on both parts. If you can get a score of 36 (number correct) on a multiple-choice section with 54 questions, you have exactly a 99 percent chance of getting at least a score of 3 on the exam.
You will have the opportunity to calculate your final score for each Practice Test in this book. Both Answers and Explanations chapters include a worksheet to guide you through the scoring formula step by step. (Remember, this worksheet is meant to serve as a guideline only!)
What Your Final Score Means
After taking the test in early May, you will receive your scores sometime around the first week of July, which is probably when you’ll have just started to forget about the entire harrowing experience. Your score will be, simply enough, a single number that will either be a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Here is what those numbers mean.
*Percentages are based on the May 2017 administration of the exam.
OVERVIEW OF CONTENT TOPICS
The AP English Language and Composition Exam tests your abilities to understand how authors use rhetoric and language to convey their purpose. Students are also expected to apply these techniques to their own writing and research projects. Some of the major skills tested include the ability to:
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identify an author’s purpose and intended audience
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recognize rhetorical devices and strategies in an author’s work
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demonstrate understanding of citations in research papers
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apply these skills and techniques to their own writing
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create and organize an argument defended with evidence and reasoning
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plan, write, and revise cogent, well-written essays
HOW AP EXAMS ARE USED
Colleges make their own decisions about the minimum AP score required to earn credit (points that count toward your college degree), the number of credit hours awarded, and whether advanced placement (the opportunity to skip introductory courses and enter higher-level courses) is offered.
Policies differ widely. Some colleges require a score of 3, while others require a 4, for instance. Some offer both credit and placement; some offer only credit, and some only placement.
The AP exam administrators have created a helpful tool that lets you check the AP credit policy for most colleges. Go to apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies and enter the names of the colleges that interest you. The tool will give you the minimum score required for credit and/or placement. It will also give you a link to the college’s website so you can check the most up-to-date policy information.
OTHER RESOURCES
There are many resources available to help you improve your score on the AP English Language and Composition Exam, not the least of which are your teachers. If you are taking an AP class, you may be able to get extra help from your teacher, such as obtaining feedback on your essays. If you are not in an AP course, reach out to an English teacher and ask if he or she will review your essays or otherwise help you review.
Another wonderful resource is AP Students, the official student site for the AP exams. The scope of the information at this site is quite broad and includes:
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a Course Description, which provides details on what is covered and sample questions
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the 2001 and 2007 AP English Language and Composition Released Exams, available for purchase at the College Board Store
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essay prompts from previous years
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frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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practice material for grammar, including a quiz and grammar guide
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tips for succeeding on the essays
The AP Students home page address is: apstudent.collegeboard.org/home
The AP English Language and Composition Course home page address is: apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-language-and-composition/course
Finally, The Princeton Review offers tutoring and small group instruction for the AP English Language and Composition Exam. Our expert instructors can help you refine your strategic approach and add to your content knowledge. For more information, call 1-800-2REVIEW or visit princetonreview.com/academic-tutoring/subjects/ap-english-language for AP English Language Homework Help.
DESIGNING YOUR STUDY PLAN
In Part I, you identified some areas of potential improvement. Now let’s delve further into your performance on Practice Test 1, with the goal of developing a study plan appropriate to your needs and time commitment.
Read the answers and explanations associated with the multiple-choice questions (starting on this page). After you have done so, respond to the following questions:
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Review the Overview of Content Topics on this page and, next to each skill listed, indicate your rank as follows: “1” means “I need a lot of work on this,” “2” means “I need some review of this,” and “3” means “I have sufficiently mastered this.”
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How many days/weeks/months away is your 2019 exam day?
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What time of day is your best, most focused study time?
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How much time per day/week/month will you devote to preparing for your exam?
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When will you do this preparation? (Be as specific as possible: Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:00 P.M., for example.)
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Based on the answers above, will you focus on strategy (Part IV) or the terms and modes review (Part V) or both?
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What are your overall goals in using this book?
Based on your answers to these questions, you should now have a better understanding of how to study for the exam. Use your answers to tailor the online study guide available for download when you register your book online.