APFIVE AP English Literature Exam Info
Download PDFThe AP English Literature and Composition Exam will test your understanding of the literary concepts covered in the course units, as well as your ability to analyze texts and develop written arguments based on your interpretations.
This is a fully digital exam. You’ll complete multiple-choice and free-response questions in the Bluebook testing app, with all responses automatically submitted at the end of the exam.
AP English Literature and Composition Exam
This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam.
Exam Components
Section 1: Multiple Choice
- There are 5 sets of questions made up of 8–13 questions each.
- Questions include excerpts from prose fiction, drama, or poetry. Each excerpt is accompanied by several multiple-choice questions.
- There will be at least 2 prose fiction passages (this may include drama) and at least 2 poetry passages.
Section 2: Free Response
In the free-response section, you’ll respond to three questions from the following categories with written answers:
- Poetry analysis: You will read a passage of poetry and respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a poetic interpretation backed up by evidence.
- Prose fiction analysis: You will read a passage of prose fiction (this may include drama) and respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a literary interpretation backed up by evidence.
- Literary argument: You will be presented with a literary concept or idea and analyze how the literary concept or idea contributes to an interpretation of a literary work. You can choose one from a list of roughly 40 works provided to you or cite another work of prose fiction or drama from your own reading to create an evidence-based argument that responds to the given topic. In responding to Question 3, select a work of fiction that will be appropriate to the question. A general rule is to use a work that is similar in quality to those you have read in your AP class(es).
Skills You'll Learn
Read a text closely and draw conclusions from details
Identify the techniques used by an author and their effects
Develop an interpretation of a text
Present your interpretation and make an argument for it in writing
Units
Unit 1 – Intro to Short Fiction
You’ll learn critical reading skills to help you critically read, interpret, and analyze prose.
Topics may include:
- Interpreting the role of character in fiction
- Identifying and interpreting setting
- Understanding how a story’s structure affects interpretations
- Understanding and interpreting a narrator’s perspective
- Reading texts literally and figuratively
- The basics of literary analysis
Unit 2 – Intro to Poetry
You’ll study different forms of poetry and examine how structure and figurative language can create and impact meaning.
Topics may include:
- Traits of closed and open structures in poetry
- Use of techniques like imagery and hyperbole
- Types of comparisons in poetry including personification and allusion
- Identifying and interpreting extended metaphors
Unit 3 – Intro to Longer Fiction & Drama
You’ll consider longer narratives in the context of the various techniques and interpretations you’ve learned in prior units and build a nuanced analysis of each complex work as a whole.
Topics may include:
- Looking at a character’s response to the resolution of a narrative
- Suspense, resolution, and plot development
- Narrative inconsistencies and contrasting perspectives
Unit 4 – Character, Conflict, & Storytelling in Short Fiction
You’ll delve deeper into the roles of character and conflict in fiction and explore how a narrator’s perspective can color storytelling.
Topics may include:
- Protagonists, antagonists, character relationships, and conflict
- Character interactions with setting and its significance
- Archetypes in literature
- Types of narration like stream of consciousness
- Narrative distance, tone, and perspective
Unit 7 – Societal & Historical Context in Short Fiction
You’ll examine how works of fiction interact with and comment on the world around them and the society their authors live or lived in.
Topics may include:
- Sudden and more gradual change in characters
- Epiphany as a driver of plot
- Relationships between characters and groups
- Character interactions with settings
- The significance of the pacing of a narrative
- Setting as a symbol
- Interpreting texts in their historical and societal contexts
Unit 8 – Advanced Techniques in Poetry
You’ll develop your interpretation of poetry further by examining how contrasts, ambiguous language, and various other techniques can add layers of meaning to a poetic work.
Topics may include:
- Looking at punctuation and structural patterns
- Interpreting juxtaposition, paradox, and irony
- How ambiguity can allow for various interpretations
- Identifying symbols, conceits, and allusions
- Learning proper attribution and citation in literary analysis