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AP English Language Exam Study Guide

May 14, 2025

AP English Language and Composition Study Guide

Exam Overview

  • Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes
    • Multiple-Choice: 1 hour
    • Free-Response: 2 hours 15 minutes
    • 15 minutes reading time (suggested for Synthesis Essay)
    • Synthesis, Rhetorical Analysis, and Argument Essays: 40 minutes each

Exam Content

Multiple Choice

  • Focus on non-fiction texts
  • Includes five passages
  • Types of questions:
    • Reading (23-25 questions)
    • Writing (20-22 questions)
  • Total of 45 questions

Free Response

  • Synthesis Essay

    • Includes 6-7 sources on a given topic
    • 15 minutes reading/planning, 40 minutes writing
    • Use ideas from at least three sources
    • Topics often relate to current events
  • Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    • Read one passage
    • Analyze rhetorical choices
    • Includes diverse text types like speeches or articles
  • Argument Essay

    • Take a position on a topic
    • Support with own knowledge or experiences
    • Topics are broad/abstract

Scoring

  • Overall scale of 1-5
    • 5 = Extremely well qualified
    • 4 = Well qualified
    • 3 = Qualified
    • 2 = Possibly qualified
    • 1 = No recommendation
  • Multiple choice: 45% of score
  • Essays: 55% of score

The Rhetorical Situation

  • Rhetoric: Effective or persuasive speaking/writing
  • Analyzing includes identifying the relationship between speaker, subject, and audience
  • Use rhetorical appeals: Authority, Emotion, Logic

Key Elements

  • Main Idea: What is the passage about?
  • Purpose: What does the speaker hope to accomplish?
  • Tone: Author's attitude towards the subject

Diction

  • Diction: Vocabulary choices affecting tone and complexity
  • Words have denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (implied feeling)

Manipulation Techniques

  • Qualifying language affects certainty
  • Imagery enhances description

The Multiple-Choice Section

Question Types

  • Rhetorical Situation: Identify components like exigence, audience
  • Claims and Evidence: Identify and explain claims, evidence, thesis
  • Reasoning and Organization: Describe line of reasoning, coherence
  • Style: Word choice, syntax, grammar

Common Pitfalls

  • Look out for too literal, recycled language, partly true, extreme language

The Synthesis Essay

  • Draw ideas from multiple sources into a single argument
  • Analyze and plan before writing
  • Cite sources effectively in conversation

The Analysis Essay

  • Analyze rhetorical strategies of a single passage
  • Focus on how and why strategies are used
  • Use important rhetorical choices effectively

The Argument Essay

  • Take a position on a topic with own evidence
  • Develop a central claim and line of reasoning

Developing Commentary

  • Articulate HOW an author writes, not just WHAT
  • Use evidence to support commentary
  • Address meaning, impact, and purpose of rhetorical choices