AP English Literature
and Composition:
Study Guide
AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this
product.
,Key Exam Details
While there is some degree of latitude for how your specific exam will be arranged, every AP
English Literature and Composition exam will include three sections:
• Short Fiction (45–50% of the total)
• Poetry (35–45% of the total)
• Long Fiction or Drama (15–20% of the total)
The AP examination will take 3 hours: 1 hour for the multiple-choice section and 2 hours for the
free response section, divided into three 40-minute sections. There are 55 multiple choice
questions, which will count for 45% of your grade. The Free Response writing component,
which will count for 55% of your grade, will require you to write essays on poetry, prose fiction,
and literary argument. The Free Response (or “Essay” component) will take 2 hours, divided
into the three sections of 40 minutes per section.
The course skills tested on your exam will require an assessment and explanation of the
following:
• The function of character: 15–20 % of the questions
• The psychological condition of the narrator or speaker: 20–25%
• The design of the plot or narrative structure: 15–20%
• The employment of a distinctive language, as it affects imagery, symbols, and other
linguistic signatures: 10–15%
• And encompassing all of these skills, an ability to draw a comparison between works,
authors and genres: 10–15 %
The free response portion of the exam will test all these skills, while asking for a thesis
statement supported by an argument that is substantiated by evidence and a logical
arrangement of the salient points. This section tests an ability to think critically, construct a
solid argument, see many sides of an issue and, of course, write clearly, correctly, and with a
consistent focus on the subject.
1
, Selecting a subject for each essay is crucial. Only those works you are
thoroughly familiar with, and which you have a strong sense of what the
author’s purpose is should be the subject of the essay. Those works you
particularly like and which you can express your enthusiasm for are likely to
result in a positive reader response.
The Advanced Placement examination is not an easy test, but a passing grade is a realistic
expectation and an achievable goal. If an engagement with literature has been important for
you throughout your high school years, and if your written responses to the texts you studied
have developed through practice, revision and refinement, then the prospect for enrollment in
courses beyond the preliminary requirements of the university you chose to attend is within
reach.
The exam, in its most basic sense, tests the capability to read alertly, analyze with insight, and
write about imaginative literature with style and clarity. This corresponds to the AP course
curriculum, which is designed to deepen an understanding of how writers use language to
provide meaning and to evoke the pleasures of an engagement with the text.
About this Guide
The goal of this guide is not to teach you the entirety of a literature and composition course—
that would be impossible. Rather, it is designed to reacquaint you with the literature you have
examined and explored, and to point toward analysis methods you can use while prepping for
your exam.
This guide might be seen as an outline and overview of the larger purposes of the exam, and as
a roadmap through its divisions. We will walk you through a few key pieces of literature and
then show you how they might be tested on the AP exam. We’ll then provide detailed answer
explanations so you can see the thought process that goes into answering AP questions.
Let’s begin!
2
, Introduction to English Literature
From the earliest moments of the nation state, survival literally depended on the force of arms
summoned by warlords from every part of the population. The most powerful of these warriors
became the heroes of the tales that recounted their feats of bravery and valor. Achilles,
Beowulf, and Gilgamesh were celebrated in oral accounts that were transposed into the
national epics that formed the first enduring literary efforts of these proto-nations. The
familiarity of these folk tales, shaped into literature, drew the attention of leading public
intellectuals like Aristotle, whose commentaries became the first versions of the literary essays,
which have been inextricably linked to the works that constituted a national heritage.
The heroes of these epics would have been lost to history without the creators of their
memorable stories. Aristotle emphasized the primacy of place for literature at the apex of
Grecian civilization in 335 BC, when, in his Poetics, he composed a commentary on the most
accomplished literature of his time. He was establishing a tradition that has been continued to
the present—the composition of an analytical text that endeavored to explain and interpret the
intentions of the author.
The Aristotelian model has been replicated by scholars throughout history, becoming a distinct
genre with the formation of a middle class in Europe. Samuel Johnson continued this tradition
at the end of the eighteenth century in his Lives of the Poets, composing essays that combined
literary scholarship and biographical information. Now, when attention is diverted from books
by numerous electronic devices, Zadie Smith in an essay in 2019 writes “In Defense of Fiction,”
declaring, “I believe in a sentence of balance, care, rigor, and integrity,” because that “sort of
sentence—against all empirical evidence to the contrary—that what I am reading is, fictionally
speaking, true.”
This guide will utilize Aristotle’s conception of literary excellence to assist in the preparation for
an examination that measures the ability to write with an appreciative understanding—as
Aristotle did—of the literature of any era. Although the AP exam is not limited in scope, it will
include a higher number of twentieth century and contemporary texts than those published
prior to the twentieth century, and while focusing on works written in the English language, will
include translations of works recognized as masterpieces of world literature.
The specific focus of the Poetics are the dramatic presentations that were at the core of Grecian
culture: the plays of Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Aeschylus. Aristotle’s instructional
“text” was designed to establish some basic terminology to encourage an appreciative
engagement with literature. He identified some of the key elements of the poetic as plot,
character, diction, thought, and song—terms that have a complementary equivalent in
contemporary literary language.
3
and Composition:
Study Guide
AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this
product.
,Key Exam Details
While there is some degree of latitude for how your specific exam will be arranged, every AP
English Literature and Composition exam will include three sections:
• Short Fiction (45–50% of the total)
• Poetry (35–45% of the total)
• Long Fiction or Drama (15–20% of the total)
The AP examination will take 3 hours: 1 hour for the multiple-choice section and 2 hours for the
free response section, divided into three 40-minute sections. There are 55 multiple choice
questions, which will count for 45% of your grade. The Free Response writing component,
which will count for 55% of your grade, will require you to write essays on poetry, prose fiction,
and literary argument. The Free Response (or “Essay” component) will take 2 hours, divided
into the three sections of 40 minutes per section.
The course skills tested on your exam will require an assessment and explanation of the
following:
• The function of character: 15–20 % of the questions
• The psychological condition of the narrator or speaker: 20–25%
• The design of the plot or narrative structure: 15–20%
• The employment of a distinctive language, as it affects imagery, symbols, and other
linguistic signatures: 10–15%
• And encompassing all of these skills, an ability to draw a comparison between works,
authors and genres: 10–15 %
The free response portion of the exam will test all these skills, while asking for a thesis
statement supported by an argument that is substantiated by evidence and a logical
arrangement of the salient points. This section tests an ability to think critically, construct a
solid argument, see many sides of an issue and, of course, write clearly, correctly, and with a
consistent focus on the subject.
1
, Selecting a subject for each essay is crucial. Only those works you are
thoroughly familiar with, and which you have a strong sense of what the
author’s purpose is should be the subject of the essay. Those works you
particularly like and which you can express your enthusiasm for are likely to
result in a positive reader response.
The Advanced Placement examination is not an easy test, but a passing grade is a realistic
expectation and an achievable goal. If an engagement with literature has been important for
you throughout your high school years, and if your written responses to the texts you studied
have developed through practice, revision and refinement, then the prospect for enrollment in
courses beyond the preliminary requirements of the university you chose to attend is within
reach.
The exam, in its most basic sense, tests the capability to read alertly, analyze with insight, and
write about imaginative literature with style and clarity. This corresponds to the AP course
curriculum, which is designed to deepen an understanding of how writers use language to
provide meaning and to evoke the pleasures of an engagement with the text.
About this Guide
The goal of this guide is not to teach you the entirety of a literature and composition course—
that would be impossible. Rather, it is designed to reacquaint you with the literature you have
examined and explored, and to point toward analysis methods you can use while prepping for
your exam.
This guide might be seen as an outline and overview of the larger purposes of the exam, and as
a roadmap through its divisions. We will walk you through a few key pieces of literature and
then show you how they might be tested on the AP exam. We’ll then provide detailed answer
explanations so you can see the thought process that goes into answering AP questions.
Let’s begin!
2
, Introduction to English Literature
From the earliest moments of the nation state, survival literally depended on the force of arms
summoned by warlords from every part of the population. The most powerful of these warriors
became the heroes of the tales that recounted their feats of bravery and valor. Achilles,
Beowulf, and Gilgamesh were celebrated in oral accounts that were transposed into the
national epics that formed the first enduring literary efforts of these proto-nations. The
familiarity of these folk tales, shaped into literature, drew the attention of leading public
intellectuals like Aristotle, whose commentaries became the first versions of the literary essays,
which have been inextricably linked to the works that constituted a national heritage.
The heroes of these epics would have been lost to history without the creators of their
memorable stories. Aristotle emphasized the primacy of place for literature at the apex of
Grecian civilization in 335 BC, when, in his Poetics, he composed a commentary on the most
accomplished literature of his time. He was establishing a tradition that has been continued to
the present—the composition of an analytical text that endeavored to explain and interpret the
intentions of the author.
The Aristotelian model has been replicated by scholars throughout history, becoming a distinct
genre with the formation of a middle class in Europe. Samuel Johnson continued this tradition
at the end of the eighteenth century in his Lives of the Poets, composing essays that combined
literary scholarship and biographical information. Now, when attention is diverted from books
by numerous electronic devices, Zadie Smith in an essay in 2019 writes “In Defense of Fiction,”
declaring, “I believe in a sentence of balance, care, rigor, and integrity,” because that “sort of
sentence—against all empirical evidence to the contrary—that what I am reading is, fictionally
speaking, true.”
This guide will utilize Aristotle’s conception of literary excellence to assist in the preparation for
an examination that measures the ability to write with an appreciative understanding—as
Aristotle did—of the literature of any era. Although the AP exam is not limited in scope, it will
include a higher number of twentieth century and contemporary texts than those published
prior to the twentieth century, and while focusing on works written in the English language, will
include translations of works recognized as masterpieces of world literature.
The specific focus of the Poetics are the dramatic presentations that were at the core of Grecian
culture: the plays of Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Aeschylus. Aristotle’s instructional
“text” was designed to establish some basic terminology to encourage an appreciative
engagement with literature. He identified some of the key elements of the poetic as plot,
character, diction, thought, and song—terms that have a complementary equivalent in
contemporary literary language.
3
