what is prose essay ap lit

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

How to Write the AP Lit Prose Essay with Examples

March 30, 2024

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples – The College Board’s Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Course is one of the most enriching experiences that high school students can have. It exposes you to literature that most people don’t encounter until college , and it helps you develop analytical and critical thinking skills that will enhance the quality of your life, both inside and outside of school. The AP Lit Exam reflects the rigor of the course. The exam uses consistent question types, weighting, and scoring parameters each year . This means that, as you prepare for the exam, you can look at previous questions, responses, score criteria, and scorer commentary to help you practice until your essays are perfect.

What is the AP Lit Free Response testing? 

In AP Literature, you read books, short stories, and poetry, and you learn how to commit the complex act of literary analysis . But what does that mean? Well, “to analyze” literally means breaking a larger idea into smaller and smaller pieces until the pieces are small enough that they can help us to understand the larger idea. When we’re performing literary analysis, we’re breaking down a piece of literature into smaller and smaller pieces until we can use those pieces to better understand the piece of literature itself.

So, for example, let’s say you’re presented with a passage from a short story to analyze. The AP Lit Exam will ask you to write an essay with an essay with a clear, defensible thesis statement that makes an argument about the story, based on some literary elements in the short story. After reading the passage, you might talk about how foreshadowing, allusion, and dialogue work together to demonstrate something essential in the text. Then, you’ll use examples of each of those three literary elements (that you pull directly from the passage) to build your argument. You’ll finish the essay with a conclusion that uses clear reasoning to tell your reader why your argument makes sense.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples (Continued)

But what’s the point of all of this? Why do they ask you to write these essays?

Well, the essay is, once again, testing your ability to conduct literary analysis. However, the thing that you’re also doing behind that literary analysis is a complex process of both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning takes a series of points of evidence and draws a larger conclusion. Deductive reasoning departs from the point of a broader premise and draws a singular conclusion. In an analytical essay like this one, you’re using small pieces of evidence to draw a larger conclusion (your thesis statement) and then you’re taking your thesis statement as a larger premise from which you derive your ultimate conclusion.

So, the exam scorers are looking at your ability to craft a strong thesis statement (a singular sentence that makes an argument), use evidence and reasoning to support that argument, and then to write the essay well. This is something they call “sophistication,” but they’re looking for well-organized thoughts carried through clear, complete sentences.

This entire process is something you can and will use throughout your life. Law, engineering, medicine—whatever pursuit, you name it—utilizes these forms of reasoning to run experiments, build cases, and persuade audiences. The process of this kind of clear, analytical thinking can be honed, developed, and made easier through repetition.

Practice Makes Perfect

Because the AP Literature Exam maintains continuity across the years, you can pull old exam copies, read the passages, and write responses. A good AP Lit teacher is going to have you do this time and time again in class until you have the formula down. But, it’s also something you can do on your own, if you’re interested in further developing your skills.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples 

Let’s take a look at some examples of questions, answers and scorer responses that will help you to get a better idea of how to craft your own AP Literature exam essays.

In the exam in 2023, students were asked to read a poem by Alice Cary titled “Autumn,” which was published in 1874. In it, the speaker contemplates the start of autumn. Then, students are asked to craft a well-written essay which uses literary techniques to convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.

The following is an essay that received a perfect 6 on the exam. There are grammar and usage errors throughout the essay, which is important to note: even though the writer makes some mistakes, the structure and form of their argument was strong enough to merit a 6. This is what your scorers will be looking for when they read your essay.

Example Essay 

Romantic and hyperbolic imagery is used to illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn, which conveys Cary’s idea that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.

Romantic imagery is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s warm regard for the season of summer and emphasize her regretfulness for autumn’s coming, conveying the uncomfortable change away from idyllic familiarity. Summer, is portrayed in the image of a woman who “from her golden collar slips/and strays through stubble fields/and moans aloud.” Associated with sensuality and wealth, the speaker implies the interconnection between a season and bounty, comfort, and pleasure. Yet, this romantic view is dismantled by autumn, causing Summer to “slip” and “stray through stubble fields.” Thus, the coming of real change dethrones a constructed, romantic personification of summer,  conveying the speaker’s reluctance for her ideal season to be dethroned by something much less decorated and adored.

Summer, “she lies on pillows of the yellow leaves,/ And tries the old tunes for over an hour”, is contrasted with bright imagery of fallen leaves/ The juxtaposition between Summer’s character and the setting provides insight into the positivity of change—the yellow leaves—by its contrast with the failures of attempting to sustain old habits or practices, “old tunes”. “She lies on pillows” creates a sympathetic, passive image of summer in reaction to the coming of Autumn, contrasting her failures to sustain “old tunes.” According to this, it is understood that the speaker recognizes the foolishness of attempting to prevent what is to come, but her wishfulness to counter the natural progression of time.

Hyperbolic imagery displays the discrepancies between unrealistic, exaggerated perceptions of change and the reality of progress, continuing the perpetuation of Cary’s idea that change must be embraced rather than rejected. “Shorter and shorter now the twilight clips/The days, as though the sunset gates they crowd”, syntax and diction are used to literally separate different aspects of the progression of time. In an ironic parallel to the literal language, the action of twilight’s “clip” and the subject, “the days,” are cut off from each other into two different lines, emphasizing a sense of jarring and discomfort. Sunset, and Twilight are named, made into distinct entities from the day, dramatizing the shortening of night-time into fall. The dramatic, sudden implications for the change bring to mind the switch between summer and winter, rather than a transitional season like fall—emphasizing the Speaker’s perspective rather than a factual narration of the experience.

She says “the proud meadow-pink hangs down her head/Against the earth’s chilly bosom, witched with frost”. Implying pride and defeat, and the word “witched,” the speaker brings a sense of conflict, morality, and even good versus evil into the transition between seasons. Rather than a smooth, welcome change, the speaker is practically against the coming of fall. The hyperbole present in the poem serves to illustrate the Speaker’s perspective and ideas on the coming of fall, which are characterized by reluctance and hostility to change from comfort.

The topic of this poem, Fall–a season characterized by change and the deconstruction of the spring and summer landscape—is juxtaposed with the final line which evokes the season of Spring. From this, it is clear that the speaker appreciates beautiful and blossoming change. However, they resent that which destroys familiar paradigms and norms. Fall, seen as the death of summer, is characterized as a regression, though the turning of seasons is a product of the literal passage of time. Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.

Scoring Criteria: Why did this essay do so well? 

When it comes to scoring well, there are some rather formulaic things that the judges are searching for. You might think that it’s important to “stand out” or “be creative” in your writing. However, aside from concerns about “sophistication,” which essentially means you know how to organize thoughts into sentences and you can use language that isn’t entirely elementary, you should really focus on sticking to a form. This will show the scorers that you know how to follow that inductive/deductive reasoning process that we mentioned earlier, and it will help to present your ideas in the most clear, coherent way possible to someone who is reading and scoring hundreds of essays.

So, how did this essay succeed? And how can you do the same thing?

First: The Thesis 

On the exam, you can either get one point or zero points for your thesis statement. The scorers said, “The essay responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis located in the introductory paragraph,” which you can read as the first sentence in the essay. This is important to note: you don’t need a flowery hook to seduce your reader; you can just start this brief essay with some strong, simple, declarative sentences—or go right into your thesis.

What makes a good thesis? A good thesis statement does the following things:

• Makes a claim that will be supported by evidence
• Is specific and precise in its use of language
• Argues for an original thought that goes beyond a simple restating of the facts

If you’re sitting here scratching your head wondering how you come up with a thesis statement off the top of your head, let me give you one piece of advice: don’t.

The AP Lit scoring criteria gives you only one point for the thesis for a reason: they’re just looking for the presence of a defensible claim that can be proven by evidence in the rest of the essay.

Second: Write your essay from the inside out 

While the thesis is given one point, the form and content of the essay can receive anywhere from zero to four points. This is where you should place the bulk of your focus.

My best advice goes like this:

• Choose your evidence first
• Develop your commentary about the evidence
• Then draft your thesis statement based on the evidence that you find and the commentary you can create.

It will seem a little counterintuitive: like you’re writing your essay from the inside out. But this is a fundamental skill that will help you in college and beyond. Don’t come up with an argument out of thin air and then try to find evidence to support your claim. Look for the evidence that exists and then ask yourself what it all means. This will also keep you from feeling stuck or blocked at the beginning of the essay. If you prepare for the exam by reviewing the literary devices that you learned in the course and practice locating them in a text, you can quickly and efficiently read a literary passage and choose two or three literary devices that you can analyze.

Third: Use scratch paper to quickly outline your evidence and commentary 

Once you’ve located two or three literary devices at work in the given passage, use scratch paper to draw up a quick outline. Give each literary device a major bullet point. Then, briefly point to the quotes/evidence you’ll use in the essay. Finally, start to think about what the literary device and evidence are doing together. Try to answer the question: what meaning does this bring to the passage?

A sample outline for one paragraph of the above essay might look like this:

Romantic imagery

Portrayal of summer

• Woman who “from her golden collar… moans aloud”
• Summer as bounty

Contrast with Autumn

• Autumn dismantles Summer
• “Stray through stubble fields”
• Autumn is change; it has the power to dethrone the romance of Summer/make summer a bit meaningless

Recognition of change in a positive light

• Summer “lies on pillows / yellow leaves / tries old tunes”
• Bright imagery/fallen leaves
• Attempt to maintain old practices fails: “old tunes”
• But! There is sympathy: “lies on pillows”

Speaker recognizes: she can’t prevent what is to come; wishes to embrace natural passage of time

By the time the writer gets to the end of the outline for their paragraph, they can easily start to draw conclusions about the paragraph based on the evidence they have pulled out. You can see how that thinking might develop over the course of the outline.

Then, the speaker would take the conclusions they’ve drawn and write a “mini claim” that will start each paragraph. The final bullet point of this outline isn’t the same as the mini claim that comes at the top of the second paragraph of the essay, however, it is the conclusion of the paragraph. You would do well to use the concluding thoughts from your outline as the mini claim to start your body paragraph. This will make your paragraphs clear, concise, and help you to construct a coherent argument.

Repeat this process for the other one or two literary devices that you’ve chosen to analyze, and then: take a step back.

Fourth: Draft your thesis 

Once you quickly sketch out your outline, take a moment to “stand back” and see what you’ve drafted. You’ll be able to see that, among your two or three literary devices, you can draw some commonality. You might be able to say, as the writer did here, that romantic and hyperbolic imagery “illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn,” ultimately illuminating the poet’s idea “that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.”

This is an original argument built on the evidence accumulated by the student. It directly answers the prompt by discussing literary techniques that “convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.” Remember to go back to the prompt and see what direction they want you to head with your thesis, and craft an argument that directly speaks to that prompt.

Then, move ahead to finish your body paragraphs and conclusion.

Fifth: Give each literary device its own body paragraph 

In this essay, the writer examines the use of two literary devices that are supported by multiple pieces of evidence. The first is “romantic imagery” and the second is “hyperbolic imagery.” The writer dedicates one paragraph to each idea. You should do this, too.

This is why it’s important to choose just two or three literary devices. You really don’t have time to dig into more. Plus, more ideas will simply cloud the essay and confuse your reader.

Using your outline, start each body paragraph with a “mini claim” that makes an argument about what it is you’ll be saying in your paragraph. Lay out your pieces of evidence, then provide commentary for why your evidence proves your point about that literary device.

Move onto the next literary device, rinse, and repeat.

Sixth: Commentary and Conclusion 

Finally, you’ll want to end this brief essay with a concluding paragraph that restates your thesis, briefly touches on your most important points from each body paragraph, and includes a development of the argument that you laid out in the essay.

In this particular example essay, the writer concludes by saying, “Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.” This is a direct restatement of the thesis. At this point, you’ll have reached the end of your essay. Great work!

Seventh: Sophistication 

A final note on scoring criteria: there is one point awarded to what the scoring criteria calls “sophistication.” This is evidenced by the sophistication of thought and providing a nuanced literary analysis, which we’ve already covered in the steps above.

There are some things to avoid, however:

• Sweeping generalizations, such as, “From the beginning of human history, people have always searched for love,” or “Everyone goes through periods of darkness in their lives, much like the writer of this poem.”
• Only hinting at possible interpretations instead of developing your argument
• Oversimplifying your interpretation
• Or, by contrast, using overly flowery or complex language that does not meet your level of preparation or the context of the essay.

Remember to develop your argument with nuance and complexity and to write in a style that is academic but appropriate for the task at hand.

If you want more practice or to check out other exams from the past, go to the College Board’s website .

Brittany Borghi

After earning a BA in Journalism and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, Brittany spent five years as a full-time lecturer in the Rhetoric Department at the University of Iowa. Additionally, she’s held previous roles as a researcher, full-time daily journalist, and book editor. Brittany’s work has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Hopkins Review, and the Pittsburgh City Paper, among others, and she was also a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Data Visualizations
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Private High School Spotlight
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

I am a... Student Student Parent Counselor Educator Other First Name Last Name Email Address Zip Code Area of Interest Business Computer Science Engineering Fine/Performing Arts Humanities Mathematics STEM Pre-Med Psychology Social Studies/Sciences Submit

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, expert's guide to the ap literature exam.

Advanced Placement (AP)

If you're planning to take the AP English Literature and Composition exam, you'll need to get familiar with what to expect on the test. Whether the 2023 test date of Wednesday, May 3, is near or far, I'm here to help you get serious about preparing for the exam.

In this guide, I'll go over the test's format and question types, how it's graded, best practices for preparation, and test-day tips. You'll be on your way to AP English Lit success in no time!

AP English Literature: Exam Format and Question Types

The AP Literature Exam is a three-hour exam that contains two sections in this order:

• An hour-long, 55-question multiple-choice section
• A two-hour, three-question free-response section

The exam tests your ability to analyze works and excerpts of literature and cogently communicate that analysis in essay form.

Read on for a breakdown of the two different sections and their question types.

Section I: Multiple Choice

The multiple-choice section, or Section I of the AP Literature exam, is 60 minutes long and has 55 questions. It counts for 45% of your overall exam grade .

You can expect to see five excerpts of prose and poetry. You will always get at least two prose passages (fiction or drama) and two poetry passages. In general, you will not be given the author, date, or title for these works, though occasionally the title of a poem will be given. Unusual words are also sometimes defined for you.

The date ranges of these works could fall from the 16th to the 21st century. Most works will be originally written in English, but you might occasionally see a passage in translation.

There are, generally speaking, eight kinds of questions you can expect to see on the AP English Literature and Composition exam. I'll break each of them down here and give you tips on how to identify and approach them.

"Pretty flowers carried by ladies" is not one of the question types.

The 8 Multiple-Choice Question Types on the AP Literature Exam

Without further delay, here are the eight question types you can expect to see on the AP Lit exam. All questions are taken from the sample questions on the AP Course and Exam Description .

#1: Reading Comprehension

These questions test your ability to understand what the passage is saying on a pretty basic level . They don't require you to do a lot of interpretation—you just need to know what's going on.

You can identify this question type from words and phrases such as "according to," "mentioned," "asserting," and so on. You'll succeed on these questions as long as you carefully read the text . Note that you might have to go back and reread parts to make sure you understand what the passage is saying.

#2: Inference

These questions ask you to infer something—a character or narrator's opinion, an author's intention, etc.—based on what is said in the passage . It will be something that isn't stated directly or concretely but that you can assume based on what's clearly written in the passage. You can identify these questions from words such as "infer" and "imply."

The key to these questions is to not get tripped up by the fact that you are making an inference—there will be a best answer, and it will be the choice that is best supported by what is actually found in the passage .

In many ways, inference questions are like second-level reading comprehension questions: you need to know not just what a passage says, but also what it means.

#3: Identifying and Interpreting Figurative Language

These are questions for which you have to either identify what word or phrase is figurative language or provide the meaning of a figurative phrase . You can identify these as they will either explicitly mention figurative language (or a figurative device, such as a simile or metaphor ) or include a figurative phrase in the question itself.

The meaning of figurative phrases can normally be determined by that phrase's context in the passage—what is said around it? What is the phrase referring to?

Example 1: Identifying

Example 2: Interpreting

#4: Literary Technique

These questions involve identifying why an author does what they do , from using a particular phrase to repeating certain words. Basically, what techniques is the author using to construct the passage/poem, and to what effect?

You can identify these questions by words/phrases such as "serves chiefly to," "effect," "evoke," and "in order to." A good way to approach these questions is to ask yourself: so what? Why did the author use these particular words or this particular structure?

#5: Character Analysis

These questions ask you to describe something about a character . You can spot them because they will refer directly to characters' attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or relationships with other characters .

This is, in many ways, a special kind of inference question , since you are inferring the broader personality of the character based on the evidence in a passage. Also, these crop up much more commonly for prose passages than they do for poetry ones.

#6: Overall Passage Questions

Some questions ask you to identify or describe something about the passage or poem as a whole : its purpose, tone, genre, etc. You can identify these by phrases such as "in the passage" and "as a whole."

To answer these questions, you need to think about the excerpt with a bird's-eye view . What is the overall picture created by all the tiny details?

#7: Structure

Some AP Lit questions will ask you about specific structural elements of the passage: a shift in tone, a digression, the specific form of a poem, etc . Often these questions will specify a part of the passage/poem and ask you to identify what that part is accomplishing.

Being able to identify and understand the significance of any shifts —structural, tonal, in genre, and so on—will be of key importance for these questions.

#8: Grammar/Nuts & Bolts

Very occasionally you will be asked a specific grammar question , such as what word an adjective is modifying. I'd also include in this category super-specific questions such as those that ask about the meter of a poem (e.g., iambic pentameter).

These questions are less about literary artistry and more about the fairly dry technique involved in having a fluent command of the English language .

That covers the eight question types on the multiple-choice section. Now, let's take a look at the free-response section of the AP Literature exam.

Keep track of the nuts and bolts of grammar.

Section II: Free Response

The AP Literature Free Response section is two hours long and involves three free-response essay questions , so you'll have about 40 minutes per essay. That's not a lot of time considering this section of the test counts for 55% of your overall exam grade !

Note, though, that no one will prompt you to move from essay to essay, so you can theoretically divide up the time however you want. Just be sure to leave enough time for each essay! Skipping an essay, or running out of time so you have to rush through one, can really impact your final test score.

The first two essays are literary analysis essays of specific passages, with one poem and one prose excerpt. The final essay is an analysis of a given theme in a work selected by you , the student.

Essays 1 & 2: Literary Passage Analysis

For the first two essays, you'll be presented with an excerpt and directed to analyze the excerpt for a given theme, device, or development . One of the passages will be poetry, and one will be prose. You will be provided with the author of the work, the approximate date, and some orienting information (i.e., the plot context of an excerpt from a novel).

Below are some sample questions from the 2022 Free Response Questions .

Essay 3: Thematic Analysis

For the third and final essay, you'll be asked to discuss a particular theme in a work that you select . You will be provided with a list of notable works that address the given theme below the prompt, but you can also choose to discuss any "work of literary merit."

So while you do have the power to choose which work you wish to write an essay about , the key words here are "literary merit." That means no genre fiction! Stick to safe bets like authors in the list on pages 10-11 of the old 2014 AP Lit Course Description .

(I know, I know—lots of genre fiction works do have literary merit and Shakespeare actually began as low culture, and so on and so forth. Indeed, you might find academic designations of "literary merit" elitist and problematic, but the time to rage against the literary establishment is not your AP Lit test! Save it for a really, really good college admissions essay instead .)

Here's a sample question from 2022:

As you can see, the list of works provided spans many time periods and countries : there are ancient Greek plays ( Antigone ), modern literary works (such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale ), Shakespeare plays ( The Tempest ), 19th-century English plays ( The Importance of Being Earnest ), etc. So you have a lot to work with!

Also note that you can choose a work of "comparable literary merit." That means you can select a work not on this list as long as it's as difficult and meaningful as the example titles you've been given. So for example, Jane Eyre or East of Eden would be great choices, but Twilight or The Hunger Games would not.

Our advice? If you're not sure what a work of "comparable literary merit" is, stick to the titles on the provided list .

You might even see something by this guy.

How Is the AP Literature Test Graded?

The multiple-choice section of the exam comprises 45% of your total exam score; the three essays, or free-response section, comprise the other 55%. Each essay, then, is worth about 18% of your grade.

As on other AP exams, your raw score will be converted to a score from 1-5 . You don't have to get every point possible to get a 5 by any means. In 2022, 16.9% of students received 5s on the AP English Literature test, the 14th highest 5 score out of the 38 different AP exams.

So, how do you calculate your raw scores?

Multiple-Choice Scoring

For the multiple-choice section, you receive 1 point for each question you answer correctly . There's no guessing penalty, so you should answer every question—but guess only after you're able to eliminate any answer you know is wrong to up your chances of choosing the right one.

Free-Response Scoring

Scoring for multiple choice is pretty straightforward; however, essay scoring is a little more complicated.

Each of your essays will receive a score from 0 to 6 based on the College Board rubric , which also includes question-specific rubrics. All the rubrics are very similar, with only minor differences between them.

Each essay rubric has three elements you'll be graded on:

• Thesis (0-1 points)
• Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points)
• Sophistication (0-1 points)

We'll be looking at the current rubric for the AP Lit exam , which was released in September 2019, and what every score means for each of the three elements above:

To get a high-scoring essay in the 5-6 point range, you'll need to not only come up with an original and intriguing argument that you thoroughly support with textual evidence, but you’ll also need to stay focused, organized, and clear. And all in just 40 minutes per essay!

If getting a high score on this section sounds like a tall order, that's because it is.

Practice makes perfect!

Skill-Building for Success on the AP Literature Exam

There are several things you can do to hone your skills and best prepare for the AP Lit exam.

Read Some Books, Maybe More Than Once

One of the most important steps you can take to prepare for the AP Literature and Composition exam is to read a lot and read well . You'll be reading a wide variety of notable literary works in your AP English Literature course, but additional reading will help you further develop your analytical reading skills .

I suggest checking out this list of notable authors in the 2014 AP Lit Course Description (pages 10-11).

In addition to reading broadly, you'll want to become especially familiar with the details of four to five books with different themes so you'll be prepared to write a strong student-choice essay. You should know the plot, themes, characters, and structural details of these books inside and out.

See my AP English Literature Reading List for more guidance.

Read (and Interpret) Poetry

One thing students might not do very much on their own time but that will help a lot with AP Lit exam prep is to read poetry. Try to read poems from a lot of eras and authors to get familiar with the language.

We know that poetry can be intimidating. That's why we've put together a bunch of guides to help you crack the poetry code (so to speak). You can learn more about poetic devices —like imagery and i ambic pentameter —in our comprehensive guide. Then you can see those analytical skills in action in our expert analysis of " Do not go gentle into that good night " by Dylan Thomas.

When you think you have a grip on basic comprehension, you can then move on to close reading (see below).

Hone Your Close Reading and Analysis Skills

Your AP class will likely focus heavily on close reading and analysis of prose and poetry, but extra practice won't hurt you. Close reading is the ability to identify which techniques the author is using and why. You'll need to be able to do this both to gather evidence for original arguments on the free-response questions and to answer analytical multiple-choice questions.

Here are some helpful close reading resources for prose :

• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center's guide to close reading
• Harvard College Writing Center's close reading guide
• Purdue OWL's article on steering clear of close reading "pitfalls"

And here are some for poetry :

• University of Wisconsin-Madison's poetry-reading guide
• This guide to reading poetry at Poets.org (complete with two poetry close readings)
• Our own expert analyses of famous poems, such as " Ozymandias ", and the 10 famous sonnets you should know

Learn Literary and Poetic Devices

You'll want to be familiar with literary terms so that any test questions that ask about them will make sense to you. Again, you'll probably learn most of these in class, but it doesn't hurt to brush up on them.

Here are some comprehensive lists of literary terms with definitions :

• The 31 Literary Devices You Must Know
• The 20 Poetic Devices You Must Know
• The 9 Literary Elements You'll Find In Every Story
• What Is Imagery?
• Understanding Assonance
• What Is Iambic Pentameter in Poetry?
• Simile vs Metaphor: The 1 Big Difference
• 10 Personification Examples in Poetry, Literature, and More

Practice Writing Essays

The majority of your grade on the AP English Lit exam comes from essays, so it's critical that you practice your timed essay-writing skills . You of course should use the College Board's released free-response questions to practice writing complete timed essays of each type, but you can also practice quickly outlining thorough essays that are well supported with textual evidence.

Take Practice Tests

Taking practice tests is a great way to prepare for the exam. It will help you get familiar with the exam format and overall experience . You can get sample questions from the Course and Exam Description , the College Board website , and our guide to AP English Lit practice test resources .

Be aware that the released exams don't have complete slates of free-response questions, so you might need to supplement these with released free-response questions .

Since there are three complete released exams, you can take one toward the beginning of your prep time to get familiar with the exam and set a benchmark, and one toward the end to make sure the experience is fresh in your mind and to check your progress.

Don't wander like a lonely cloud through your AP Lit prep.

AP Literature: 6 Critical Test-Day Tips

Before we wrap up, here are my six top tips for AP Lit test day:

• #1: On the multiple-choice section, it's to your advantage to answer every question. If you eliminate all the answers you know are wrong before guessing, you'll raise your chances of guessing the correct one.
• #2: Don't rely on your memory of the passage when answering multiple-choice questions (or when writing essays, for that matter). Look back at the passage!
• #3: Interact with the text : circle, mark, underline, make notes—whatever floats your boat. This will help you retain information and actively engage with the passage.
• #4: This was mentioned above, but it's critical that you know four to five books well for the student-choice essay . You'll want to know all the characters, the plot, the themes, and any major devices or motifs the author uses throughout.
• #5: Be sure to plan out your essays! Organization and focus are critical for high-scoring AP Literature essays. An outline will take you a few minutes, but it will help your writing process go much faster.
• #6: Manage your time on essays closely. One strategy is to start with the essay you think will be the easiest to write. This way you'll be able to get through it while thinking about the other two essays.

And don't forget to eat breakfast! Apron optional.

AP Literature Exam: Key Takeaways

The AP Literature exam is a three-hour test that includes an hour-long multiple-choice section based on five prose and poetry passages and with 55 questions, and a two-hour free-response section with three essays : one analyzing a poetry passage, one analyzing a prose passage, and one analyzing a work chosen by you, the student.

The multiple-choice section is worth 45% of your total score , and the free-response section is worth 55% . The three essays are each scored on a rubric of 0-6, and raw scores are converted to a final scaled score from 1 to 5.

Here are some things you can do to prepare for the exam:

• Read books and be particularly familiar with four to five works for the student-choice essays
• Read poetry
• Work on your close reading and analysis skills
• Learn common literary devices
• Practice writing essays
• Take practice tests!

On test day, be sure to really look closely at all the passages and really interact with them by marking the text in a way that makes sense to you. This will help on both multiple-choice questions and the free-response essays. You should also outline your essays before you write them.

With all this in mind, you're well on your way to AP Lit success!

What's Next?

If you're taking other AP exams this year, you might be interested in our other AP resources: from the Ultimate Guide to the US History Exam , to the Ultimate AP Chemistry Study Guide , to the Best AP Psychology Study Guide , we have tons of articles on AP courses and exams for you !

Looking for practice exams? Here are some tips on how to find the best AP practice tests . We've also got comprehensive lists of practice tests for AP Psychology , AP Biology , AP Chemistry , and AP US History .

Deciding which APs to take? Take a look through the complete list of AP courses and tests , read our analysis of which AP classes are the hardest and easiest , and learn how many AP classes you should take .

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Find what you need to study

AP Lit Prose Analysis Practice Essays & Feedback

26 min read • january 2, 2021

Candace Moore

Writing essays is a great way to practice prose analysis and prep for the AP exam! Review student responses for an essay prompt and corresponding feedback from Fiveable teacher Candace Moore.

The Practice Essay Prompt

Here’s the prompt:   the 2013 exam prompt with a passage from  The Rainbow.

D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow (1915): The following passage focuses on the lives of the Brangwens, a farming family who lived in rural England during the late nineteenth century. Read the passage carefully.

Then write an essay in which you analyze how Lawrence employs literary devices to characterize the woman and capture her situation.

Try to give yourself a timer to do this – 45 minutes

Keep in mind everything about setting and social environment, diction as choice, and symbolism of spaces and thoughts.

Your completed essay should include:

• introduction optional
• thesis for sure
• at least two body paragraphs
• organized for complexity instead of by device
• a conclusion
• broader context application for sophistication

Student Responses and Teacher Feedback

Student response 1.

In D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, a woman wants to explore urban life but is restricted by her situation. Lawrence’s curious diction and juxtaposition of inquisitiveness and complacency portrays Mrs. Brangwen to be an ambitious yet judgmental woman who looks down on her husband and almost idolizes city people.

By using diction that implies a strong spirit of inquiry, the author establishes the ambiousness of the woman. She looks towards the cities and governments and wonders about the “scope” of man. The land outside of the village being “magic” in her eyes. She proclaims it is where “secrets” are revealed. Such words characterize her curiosity. She wants to know what their secrets are, how far can man go, what can he achieve? The author yet again uses similar descriptors such as “enlarge” and’ “range.” These imply that there’s a plethora of knowledge outside of her rural home in England. Although she is physically limited, her mind constantly wonders about the world outside. Her desires are not met as a wife in a farming and believes there’s other things that will fulfill her interests. Her word choice of describing outside life not only shows admiration for urban life, but her disdain of the village lifestyle.

Throughout the excerpt, Mrs. Brangwen’s husband is contrasted with urban men. When describing the farmers day to day life and activities, the author repeats “it was enough”. “Enough” meaning that menial physical activities and mother nature satisfied him. Unlike her husband, the men outside are “dominant and creative.” They strive to answer questions and problems. “whilst her husband looked out to the back at sky and harvest and beast and land, she strained her eyes to see what man had done in fighting outwards to knowledge.” Compared to her husband who enjoys farm life and passes time by looking at the sky and attending to his crops, city men are adventurous. They fight each day to expand their horizons and apprehension: hoping to increase their grasp of the world. Although it’s enough for her husband, it isn’t sufficient for Mrs. Brangwen. She wants to join the “war” with the men. Her husband represents a complacent farming lifestyle while the vicar (city man) represents a superior, inquisive lifestyle. She later expands her views by proclaiming it’s not power or money that makes the vicar a “master” over her husband: it was his knowledge. It’s knowledge that makes him more appealing. She yearns to appease her intellectual curiosity: what her current situation is not providing.

The curious diction and juxtaposition of inquisitiveness and complacency in the passage showcases Mrs. Brangwen’s ambitiousness and longing to obtain more knowledge, though she’s restricted by her rural life. She represent people who want to achieve more in their life, but are tied down by their circumstances.

Teacher feedback:

Very nice! I see that you have tightened your evidence points – these are word by word, as opposed to longer phrases or sentences, and this emphasizes your choice to analyze diction.

Your thesis is written well, although I’m not completely clear on what the situation is, in your argument. You have analyzed her character, and the devices that create it, but not the situation. Be sure to address all parts of the prompt, and if a concept is given (like “situation”), make sure that you qualify it and establish your interpretation. However, your use of 'restricted" implies your understanding. 1/1

Your evidence supports your assertion, but your commentary stops at interpretation of the words. In order to increase the effectiveness of your commentary, you would need to show more clearly not only how the words show her curiosity, but also how that curiosity shows the reader who the woman is. In the second paragraph, you show the contrast, but the paragraph’s focus on the men overshadows your argument about Mrs. Brangwen, although your thesis made a claim about her. This separates your commentary from your thesis, and therefore veers away from your line of reasoning. 2-3/4

I see your application of a broader context, which could have been more present throughout, but does push toward sophistication. But because your line of reasoning and argument are not supported consistently, and a few grammatical mistakes, you haven’t earned the sophistication point. 0/1

Student Response 2

Sometimes, viewing history, we find ourselves drawn into the trap of believing that oppressed groups completely lacked strength and power. This was not so; for years, minorities have fought for their empowerment and found communities within one another, enough to grant them the strength to persevere in a society that rejected them or that attempted to reduce their social power to nothing at all. People are not as altogether weak as we sometimes assume. But that strength can only come from community, from forcibly pulling that power out of the solidarity that comes from co-existing with people who are like you; it cannot exist in isolation. And thus is the plight of the woman in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rainbow,” who finds herself surrounded by men, forced to live on a farm, and trapped in a life far away from any urban area where she could hope to better herself or find a community of like-minded women. Thus, she begins to idolize the city as a miracle cure for all her ails, growing more and more resentful toward the men who keep her trapped in a life she never wanted nor chose. In “The Rainbow,” D. H. Lawrence characterizes the woman as unsatisfied with her traditional life and desperate to escape it by comparing her attitudes to those of the men, highlighting her interest in the outside world, and revealing her obsession toward the vicar.

Early on in the passage, Lawrence contrasts the woman’s attitudes toward her lifestyle with those held by the men in her family. Particularly, he uses the imagery of staring into the distance. Both the woman and the men, each drawn to certain lifestyles, engage in this action. However, the men stare toward “the sun […] the source of generation,” whereas she faces “toward where men moved dominant and creative.” Interestingly, both the men and the woman are seeking something similar. They are interested in “generation,” and she in creativity, both of which deal explicitly with creation and invention. However, by having them be physically turned in different directions, the author shows us that the woman wants to achieve her desire for creation elsewhere, somewhere where she is not burdened by her obligation to them as a wife and homemaker. Again, this disparity is given a physical description, with the men “faced inwards,” and her “faced outwards.” The repetition of this shared language, modified only slightly by a few letters at the beginning of the second word, helps to establish both the shared desires of the woman and the men, as well as their differences in approach. She seeks to find this “[creativity]” in the outside world, while they are already able to find it within themselves. Interestingly, this language suggests that, on some personal level, the woman is not satisfied with herself, or else she should, supposedly, find strength and meaning internally. Perhaps the problem exists within and cannot be solved by the outside world at all.

Lawrence also characterizes the woman’s dissatisfaction with fanciful language to describe the way that she views the outside world. The author uses the metaphor of a battle, saying that men have “[fought] outwards to knowledge” and that woman wants to be “of the fighting host.” The metaphor of physical conflict is so strong that it shows the extent to which the woman feels trapped in her life, as she is literally being subdued and kept at bay by malevolent enemy forces, rather than by where her family happens to live. For her, living in the city is not just a dream, but a noble fight against all the social norms that keep her down and bound to these men. Furthermore, the repetition of the word “outwards,” already used to interesting effect much earlier in the piece, reinforces the woman’s desperation to find this satisfaction in something outside of herself, something larger and more significant. She has constructed the image of this battle in order to justify that thinking, despite the fact that her desire and feeling of being trapped is something in which she is, as a result of being trapped in the country, utterly alone.

Finally, the author uses the woman’s obsession with the vicar to reveal just how dissatisfied she is with her life and her husband. Observing the vicar, she notes that he is “little and frail,” whereas her husband is like a “bull.” None of these words have especially positive connotations, but “bull” is still much harsher. “Little and frail” have to do with physical observation alone, whereas the word “bull” is very much tied to the imagery of destruction and physical power over intellectual power, such as in the idiom of “a bull in a china shop.” This word alone reveals much about her thoughts toward her husband, whom she also describes as seeming “dull and local” compared to the vicar. Throughout the piece, her husband has been described as having similar, though differently oriented, desires as her, but now we see just how much she has come to resent the situation in which she lives—so much so that her resentment has turned toward people. Yet with the vicar, she observes that he has “power” over her husband, despite his size and physical strength, or lack thereof. She is entranced by this notion, probably because she is envious of him. She, too, wishes to have some power of her husband, as she feels that he represents her trapped state in a rural area. Being a woman, it makes that she herself would also be “little and frail” compared to her husband, and she is astonished that someone like the vicar can be so powerful, in spite of his relative physical weakness. Although she does not make this connection explicitly, it is obvious that her obsession with the vicar comes from a desire to, like him, have such freedom and power that has been denied to her as a result of her gender.

Through the use of comparison between the woman and the men, fanciful language in the woman’s description of the city, and her obsession with the vicar, D. H. Lawrence creates a complicated and nuanced character, struggling to find a place for herself in a world where, isolated from other women, she is forced to become subservient, her opinions not a factor in her own life. The piece is a fascinating look into a time long gone, set almost 200 years in the past. And yet, much of the reality of that time still exists today, with women across the world, irrespective of all other factors, still not granted the same privileges as those given to men. In this way, “The Rainbow” is not simply a spyglass from which to view history, but a mirror to hold up to our own time, even in a world as different from the woman’s as ours today.

Good job bringing broader context into your introduction, which helps to show that it is a part of your line of reasoning. Your thesis establishes an argument about both the woman and her situation. I like that you’ve done so by referencing what the author’s language  does . 1/1

Good insight on the direction of the woman’s attention vs. the men’s. For your analysis, the contrast is stronger as evidence than the imagery, but your commentary does bring it together. The end of your first body paragraph seems slightly disjointed, as you go in various directions in your interpretation of the woman facing inwards, and don’t fully manage to bring them all together to connect to her dissatisfaction wth her traditional life. Your analysis of the diction of conflict is also strong, but the relationship between that language and “outwards” is tenuous. In the final paragraph, you also make clear arguments about the comparison of the vicar and her husband, but your evidence does not connect to your final insight about her desire for power like the vicar. The obsession with the vicar is an inference that you wrote as a device, so your evidence was unable to serve its purpose. Overall, you make plausible arguments, but the evidence is inconsistently supportive of them. Your commentary is therefore much stronger than your selection of evidence. 3/4

You have explored a broader context to this passage, and written persuasively, but the inconsistencies in your analysis/evidence relationship preclude a sophistication point. 0/1

Student Response 3

It is a common saying that knowledge is power. In the passage given, the author follows a woman’s search for dominance to demonstrate that knowledge, and therefore power, is available only to a select few. The author uses grimy imagery and combative but yearning diction to convey the woman’s dissatisfaction with her life on the farm and her ambitious character, which causes her to hopelessly seek power through knowledge and intellectual conquest.

The author begins by presenting dingy images of the mens’ labor on the farm, which portrays the life on the farm as primitive and unpleasant. The men must “ferret[] the rats from under the barn” and “br[eak] the back of the rabbit with a sharp knock of the hand” in order to maintain their lives on the farm. The descriptions of rats and the killing of the rabbits evoke images of disease and death, which are reinforced by the author’s mention of their “teeming life” of “blood-intimacy,” which implies that the woman’s life has been infested by her rural lifestyle. By selecting images that portray the lowliest aspects of farm living, the author illustrates the woman’s belief that her life is primitive, repulsive, and unwanted.

The woman’s dissatisfaction for her life manifests in her deep desire to seek a higher, magical knowledge to feel fulfilled. The author employs combative diction to develop the woman’s ambitious character and her futile attempts to gain knowledge and power. The woman wants to “enlarge [her] own scope and range and freedom” and wage a war “on the edge of the unknown.” She “crave[s]” knowledge of “conquest” as she believes that it will bring her “dominan[ce] and creativ[ity].” The author selects aggressive language that reflects the woman’s longing for control over her life. By implementing both assertive and longing language, the author characterizes the woman as ambitious while demonstrating her yearning for power that she cannot have. The author further develops the woman’s unfulfilled desires by repeating the word “man.” Despite the woman’s ambitious character, she acknowledges that she can only learn about “man[’s]” conquests, and experience “man[’s]” dominance and creativity. The woman craves higher knowledge “not in herself,” but in her children. By repeatedly mentioning mens’ accomplishments and failing to mention the accomplishments of women, the author suggests that men are the only ones capable of being dominant. The woman, therefore, is constrained by her gender and is unable to achieve the knowledge and power that she desires. Thus, by using assertive and longing diction to characterize the woman and by only associating men with knowledge and dominance, the author develops the woman’s unrealistically ambitious character and establishes her unfulfilled desires as the result of her gender.

Through primitive imagery and assertive but longing diction, the author characterizes the woman as ambitious and power-hungry and demonstrates that her gender confines to her distasteful rural lifestyle and prevents her from achieving the knowledge and control over her life that she craves. Much like rats on a farm, the passage reminds readers of the gender inequality that infests society and prevents people from achieving their dreams.

Grimy imagery! Love it. You fit all of the pieces into your thesis, which was quite a task for this prompt, and created a line of reasoning about power and knowledge that could wind through your essay and create a sophistication to your argument. 1/1

In your first body paragraph, I think you gave a solid analysis of the images, but missed the opportunity to make that connection to your argument about the woman, beyond that her life was infested. It would have been strengthened to point out there that the primitive life was good enough for the men, but the woman’s perspective showed her dissatisfaction. In the second paragraph, combative diction is appropriate and analytical, but I wonder if you have overcomplicated your argument by conflating the aggressive and longing language, and then how those show her ambition  and  her yearning. I appreciate how you continued the thread about power and gender, which adds to the insight you planted the seed for in your intro, but your ideas are entangled in each other, muddling your argument. It’s a great idea to have two bold and effective paragraphs, but it’s also a good choice to have your paragraphs be as streamlined as possible, so the diction of yearning and craving could have been its own paragraph. 3/4

However, noting the broader context and acknowledging the complexities of the woman, in addition to your mastery of language, I believe you have earned a sophistication point here. 1/1

Student Response 4

In D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, the author characterizes the woman with her sensible and perceptive observations. The author emphasizes her mental journey and desire for knowledge through figurative language and a third-person limited, inquiry-like narration. The contrasting descriptions between the vicar and the Brangwens further indicate the woman’s desire for a more intellectual life not only for herself but also for her children.

A sense of urgency and conflicting mind can be perceived by the woman’s inquiry-like tone and repeated diction: The passage opens with a parallel structure that describes the mundane farming tasks of the Brangwens. Yet the pervasive descriptions all started with the phrase “it is enough”. These lively scenes are so common to the woman as everyday events on repetition that they are emphasized and imprinted upon the woman’s mind. Though the woman half reserved her comments on those “dominant” tasks, which are full of strong senses and actions and with the “heat of blood”, she believes that her need is much more. The woman desires a greater range of freedom, like town life that is “perceived yet not attained”. The distance between the woman’s expectation and the reality she is living is also underscored by the repeated diction such as “face out”, “look out”, “outwards” and “far-off”. This emphasis on the imagery of “out” further indicates the woman’s pressing need and endless curiosity outside the limited worldview she possesses. She describes Brangwens living on the “desert island”, but that is her true reflection on her feeling about being trapped by the farmhouse.

Lawrence uses an interesting analogy to describe the woman’s passion toward the world beyond her. The writer shows that the woman desires the same level of freedom her husband enjoys: “strained her eyes to see what man had done in fighting outwards to knowledge.” She seeks to be a gladiator or an adventurer who is called out for a battle waged by the knowledge, a conquest of inquisition. The description is mirrored with the opening actions of the Brangwens, painted with masculinity and an “active scope of man”. The reader is able to perceive how the woman breaks the boundary of her social expectation and takes an active role of a woman who is secretly full of desire and makes future plans for her family on the journey toward civility.

The woman’s desire for more education in her household is punctuated by the juxtaposition between the vicar and Brangwens: Lawrence makes deft use of colorful contrast to show the conflicting value between a peaceful village life “pulsating the heat of creation” with a life of inquisition, a broader ambition, and meaningful conquest of knowledge, “waged on the edge of the unknown.” A lively analogy between Brangwens being cattle and the vicar being their master shows the woman’s astute opinion on the power of knowledge. While the vicar is week and frail, his scholarship exceeds the physical boundary of robust Brangwen men. The spiritual existence of the vicar is so appealing to the woman that she makes a final resolution acknowledging the importance of knowledge.

Through the woman’s mental journey, the reader can relate to the woman for not only her desire of knowledge but an elevated expectation for her children, and this cannot be better achieved by Lawrence’s skillful use of figurative language, inquisitive tone through questions she asked, and the contrast between the vicar and the Brangwens.

What a great insight about the narration – that’s a perspective I haven’t seen often. Your thesis is strong on the characterization of the woman, but slight on your argument about her situation, although perhaps her mental journey is her situation? Even with that lack of clarity, you have an argument and the plan for analysis. 1/1

Your body paragraphs are solid, although the first paragraph ends up in a different analytical point than it began. Your analysis of the language establishes your characterization of the woman as seeking and curious, but not urgent or conflicted. The repetition of “it is enough” is misinterpreted as her thought, as opposed to her attribution to the man. This paragraph suffers from an organizational weakness, since your evidence matches your commentary, just not your assertion. The second paragraph, though shorter, is still stronger because it all supports her desire for knowledge beyond her gendered expectations. It seems as though your commentary goes farther than your evidence supports, however, because the idea that she has broken the boundary is beyond the reach of the passage. The third is also slight on commentary, and does not sufficiently explain your own argument. Your commentary is more interpretation of the juxtaposition than application to the woman. Your line of reasoning is not clear throughout the essay, and your commentary is inconsistent in its connection to the thesis and between paragraphs. 2/4

You have reference to a broader context, and you have a line of reasoning about inquiry and knowledge that is introduced and concluded, but the body of your essay is not in line. 0/1

Student Response 5

In life, we often feel confined in our situation and are in a state of utter bewilderment as to how to rectify it. This passage, taken from The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence, speaks of a woman who feels trapped and confused in her calm, simple pastoral life. In the society she lives in, one is meant to pledge allegiance to the vicar and the church, to work the fields, and to stay inward, yet the woman is stuck because she understands that there is more to explore in the world and she wants to get out and see it. She also is not convinced about the vicar’s authority and ponders over the fact that he seems to have all power over her dear husband. The author uses vivid religious imagery, anaphora, and the symbol of light and heat in order to convey the message.

In the first sentence, the author uses anaphora with the refrain of “it was enough” and the second sentence with “so much”. This paragraph describes the contentment of the men in the society as the author prepares to introduce the woman and contrast her with the members of the opposite gender. These men are simple, and they do not need much in order to be happy. Their duties on the farm, such as plowing, hunting, and harvesting, are of utmost importance to them, but this is their main goal. The paragraph has two mentions of blood which points to this work as a sort of life force for them.

On the other hand, the woman feels that she needs something more than this basic life force of blood in order to feel fulfilled. She wants to see the outside world and see how other people live. It seems that she is tired of her way of life and wants to live a different way. All the men around her have “turned their back on the pulsing heat of creation.” This sentence has the religious imagery of creation and the heat and light energy. As opposed to the men who create with their hands, the woman wants to create with her mind. She feels stifled, as the church may control what people are allowed to think and she does not want to be controlled anymore. The men get their fulfillment of free thinking from working the farm, but she needs to be able to think for herself.

The woman, as we all are, is a product of her society. She presumably was brought up in a farm town, to farmer parents, married off to a farmer and is expected to raise a farming family. However, she deviates from this accepted norm as she wants to live in a city, away from the “magic” of the town. She feels conflicted, and by the end of the passage, she decides that the vicar is to blame. He has the most knowledge out of all the farmers, and this is what makes him superior. This passage brings truth to the cliche, “knowledge is power.”

Your introduction does a great job of establishing your line of reasoning about the woman and her situation – “trapped and confused in her calm, simple, pastoral life”. Your statement on her society also begins to open up a window into the broader context that could be followed through the essay. 1/1

Your analysis paragraphs clearly assert which device you are analyzing, and what the author’s language implies, but fall short of establishing why the author made those choices in his characterization of the woman. In the first body paragraph, you cite the anaphora, and then interpret it as the contrast between the woman and the men, but the commentary does not push deeper into the connection between these instances of anaphora and your line of reasoning about the woman. In the second body paragraph, there is a missing connection between Lawrence’s choice of religious imagery and the woman’s desire, so the line of reasoning is dropped. Because of these gaps in analysis, your evidence loses its relevance to your argument. 2/4

While you have made references to a broader context, that reference does not expand your own argument. 0/1

Student Response 6

Set in the late 20th century, the main character is the wife of a farmer who is satisfied by the routine of a rural farm life. The men are satisfied with the physical work they are performing, however the woman feels as if her life is missing the intellectual stimulation and this is made especially clear when she dotes over the vicar at her home. Through extrapolating the personification of the landscape to an abstract image of intellect and the nonchalant jabs at mens’ spirituality threaded throughout the story, the woman initially appears to be dissatisfied with the routine of being the wife of a farmer. With the introduction of the vicar, she becomes inquisitive and a sense of longing is communicated over her boredom in her current situation.

The story opens with an introduction of the men, although it is the earth that is personified, given living traits of ‘heaving’ and the wind is ‘blowing’ the wheat that the men planted. This structure establishes the static character of the men by drawing attention to the actions of the scenery that the men tend to. The men are static, unwilling and physically unable to change their ways because they are satisfied with their agricultural progress and developments on the farm alone. Despite having invested a significant amount of hard work, it remains that they live the same routine of tending to the crops and animals without intellectual challenge. However, this is what the woman craves. The verbal parallel between her house facing out toward the road, the church, and the earth beyond and herself facing outward highlights her desire to expand her sphere of contact to the outside world, she would feel at home in places that mentally challenge her. However, she herself is shackled to the men who work tirelessly to control the possibilities of the earth to something that they themselves can consume in a cycle for their own benefit. Her longing for adventure, even contingency, is why she is suffocated by the men who do not wonder for more.

For the woman, the vicar was a form of home because of the vast intellectual depth he offers. Emotional cracks in her marriage are hinted at in her comparison of her husband to the vicar, where she declares the vicar the winner if both were stripped and set on a desert island. Her husband Tom Brangwan was of greater physical might and could control the cattle which translated to food, a fundamental need of living, but the woman believes the vicar to be mightier than her husband because he was of greater intellectual and spiritual depth. This reveal hints at the woman being a sapiophile, as she focuses on his knowledge and soul when she decides him as the winner in a true, life-and-death situation of being stripped and thrown into the desert. Her attitude toward the vicar is so admiring because she wanted to be like him, and her stable marriage is something that keeps her from achieving the closeness she wants to feel with the mystique of a universe she does not know. To the woman, the vicar represents the emotional depth that she longs for and because of this, she establishes the vicar to be greater than all the other men she knows.

The woman craves intellectual and spiritual exploration, which is evident in her interest in the vicar despite being the least physically noticeable man in the story. The immediate world she experiences is not of her interest, instead she wants an abstract life and this is highlighted in the juxtaposition of her husband and the vicar. The woman is discontent because of the mens’ secure aims of agricultural tending, and this is expressed through the narrator corresponding action with what is in the landscape rather than the men that tend to it. Her interest in the vicar indicates her shift from mere boredom to someone that desires to know more about the abstraction in the world she lives in.

Through your introduction, you have thoroughly established your interpretation of the woman’s situation, and your argument about her character. 1/1

I strongly recommend using more quoted text as evidence, instead of paraphrase, summary, or even your interpretation. It strengthens your argument when you ground it in the author’s specific words and language devices (evaluated in the rubric), and then make connections between those two essay elements in your own voice. Quoting evidence also helps to distinguish your analysis, and make sure that you are not restating the text as commentary. In this essay, your thesis clearly establishes the woman as dissatisfied and inquisitive, but your analysis paragraphs do not analyze the  creation  of these traits (through the author’s language and devices) as deeply as the  portrayal  of these traits. The second analysis paragraph also is less grounded in the literary language of the text, although it is still making inferences about the character of the woman. Your evidence is not consistently specific, therefore your line of reasoning, while established by the thesis, is not thoroughly supported by the evidence. 2/4

Your style of writing is clear, but you have not analyzed complexity or a line of reasoning that explores broader context, so this essay does not earn a sophistication point.

Student Response 7

Society’s progress has been driven because humanity craves knowledge of the unknown, because it gives them power. When deprived of knowledge, a person is left powerless. This deprivation can stem from many places: youth, willful ignorance, and, most notably, societal expectations. In “The Rainbow,” D. H. Lawrence’s use of contrasting foils, monotonous listing, repetition, and conservative setting convey that the woman longs for knowledge and power, but is trapped in a stagnant situation by the rural area and society’s expectations for women.

The passage first speaks of the men, content with their station in life, not wanting anything more. These men are then used as a foil to contrast their contentment with the woman’s longing for something greater, for knowledge of what is unknown to her. Lawrence writes “Her house faced out from the farm-buildings and fields, looked out to the road and the village with church and Hall and the world beyond.” This by itself characterizes the woman as unsatisfied, yearning for the world beyond her rural life. By contrasting it to the previously mentioned contentment of the men, Lawrence places the woman and her desires on a stark background, highlighting the intensity and bizarreness of her wanting. This is further highlighted by the repeated use of diction meant to indicate longing. Lawrence writes that the woman “strained” to see more than her situation, that the “wanted to know” more, that she “craved to know” and “craved to achieve.” This language is pervasive, appearing throughout the passage. By repeatedly using this language, Lawrence depicts the extent of the woman’s longing and further solidifies that her craving is unique to her, a defining character trait that sets her apart from her surroundings. Additionally, the vicar is used as another foil. Lawrence writes, “the vicar, who spoke the other, magic language, and had the other, finer bearing, both of which she could perceive, but could never attain to,” and later “She decided it was a question of knowledge.” In the first quote, Lawrence sets the vicar aside from the rest men in the area, who are content with their lives and their ignorance. He also establishes that the vicar has what the woman wants, which is, as shown in the latter quote, knowledge. The vicar is characterized as a powerful man, starkly contrasting the woman, who longs for that which the vicar has but cannot attain it. Through character foils and repetitive diction, Lawrence characterizes the woman as someone who longs for knowledge and power.

The woman cannot obtain the knowledge and power she so craves because she is stuck in a stagnant, rural area and chained by conventional gender roles. The stagnancy of her situation is shown when Lawrence lists the life of the men, and then contrasts that to how the woman feels about that life. The listing uses no commas, instead joining each item with “and” or “or”. This gives the writing a dreary feeling, showing the monotonous nature of the woman’s situation. This is partially due to the fact that she is in a rural area, where “the world beyond” and “the battle that she heard” are far from her grasp. This highlights the powerlessness of the woman’s situation, because she is trapped in her house that faces out but cannot go out to see the battles that she has heard of and wishes to take part in. The reader may infer that she cannot take part in these battles because she is a woman, which is forms the other aspect of her stagnant situation. The setting of the passage is the late eighteenth century in rural England. It can be inferred that due to the sentiments of the time, women were not expected to have power or knowledge, showing that the woman was stuck in her powerless situation by gender roles.

Through his use of contrasting foils, dreary listing, fervent repetition, and conservative setting, D. H. Lawrence depicts the woman as someone who wants knowledge and power but cannot achieve it because of her stagnant situation.

My feedback is brief, but this is a very strong essay. Your thesis establishes an argument that is defensible and thorough. 1/1

Your evidence and commentary support the thesis, although some of the devices are analyzed more effectively. Your second paragraph analyzes the syntax succinctly, but the second half of the paragraph is less strong. Your first body paragraph feels a little disorganized, although you have a reference to your argument as both a first and last sentence, which brings the focus back. I don’t think the diction section feels connected to the men and vicar as foils argument in style or content. However, overall, you chose significant evidence and explained its role in the characterization of the woman thoroughly and consistently. 4/4

The essay does not earn a sophistication point, although it strongly meets the criteria for other points.

Stay Connected

© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.

AP® English Literature

The best ap® english literature review guide for 2024.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: January 29, 2024

Scoring a 5 on the AP® English Literature and Composition exam is no easy task. In 2019, for example, only 6.2% of students earned a 5 on the test. While this statistic may be discouraging at first glance, it does indicate that a perfect score is possible for those willing to do extra preparation and practice. In 2022, nearly 17% of test-takers earned a 5 – a big improvement!

It may take some hard work, but it’s possible to ace this exam! We’re here to help.

In this comprehensive review, we’ll unpack the exam’s basic format, analyze the common structures and shapes of AP® Literature questions, provide useful tips and strategies for scoring a 5, and offer a variety of helpful additional resources and study tools.

Let’s get to it!

What We Review

How is the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam formatted? 

The AP® English Literature and Composition exam is divided into two sections: multiple-choice and free-response. 

The multiple-choice section is broken into five chunks equipped with 8-13 questions each, totaling 55 questions. You will be asked to analyze excerpts from diverse literary texts, including prose fiction, drama, or poetry. Moreover, there will always be at least 2 prose fiction passages and 2 poems in this section of the exam. The fifth text can be either. 

The multiple-choice section has a time limit of 1 hour, and it counts as 45% of your overall exam score. 

Section 2 of the exam, often informally called the “essay section,” contains 3 free-response prompts which demand literary analysis of a given poem, a passage of prose fiction, or an excerpt from a play. 

The first two prompts will provide a passage or a poem requiring analysis, while the third and final prompt will ask you to engage with a concept, issue, or element in a literary work that you are expected to have encountered during the school year. A list of appropriate works is provided for the third prompt. 

You have 2 hours to complete Section 2, which comprises 55% of your final exam score.

Return to the Table of Contents

How Long is the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam?

The AP® English Literature and Composition exam is 3 hours long. Students will have 1 hour to complete the multiple-choice section (55 questions) and 2 hours to complete the free-response section (3 questions). 

Since you must answer 55 questions in 60 minutes on the multiple-choice portion of the exam, you should pace yourself at about 1 minute per question and about 12 minutes per passage. 

Likewise, since the free response section is timed at 120 minutes, you should aim to complete each essay in 40 minutes or under.

Time yourself when you practice, and don’t get caught up trying to answer a question that you totally do not know the answer to. Don’t rush through the test, but don’t take too much time.

How Many Questions Does the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam Have? 

Section i: multiple-choice.

• 5 passages, 55 questions total: 8-13 questions per passage
• Passages include 2 Prose, 2 Poems, and 1 of either

Section II: Free-Response

• 1 literary analysis of a given poem
• 1 literary analysis of a given passage of prose fiction
• 1 literary argument

What Topics are Covered on the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam? 

Perhaps the best way to begin thinking about the topics covered on the exam is through a holistic approach. Overall, the test assesses the six big ideas covered within the AP® English Literature and Composition course itself: 

• Figurative Language
• Literary Argumentation

These components comprise the whole exam, and you will be tested specifically on material from these broad concepts. 

Now, let’s return to its formatting. Remember, the exam is divided into multiple choice and free response, each carrying its own set of demands and topics.

Section I: Multiple Choice

Since the AP® English Literature and Composition exam is a skills-based test, there’s no way to know what specific passages or topics might appear on the official exam. Rather, CollegeBoard uses a variety of excerpts from literary texts, including prose, poetry, and drama. 

The passages often range from the 16th to the 21st century, and the authors and literary works change yearly. So it is imperative that you sharpen your critical reading skills and hone your ability to engage with the forms, styles, and content of a diverse range of literature. 

However, we have some good news. We do know how the multiple choice section is organized and weighted. It is divided into three broad units: short fiction, poetry, and longer fiction or drama, with each unit carrying its own weighted percentage. The chart below outlines this weighting:

Moreover, the multiple choice portion of the exam can be further broken down into 7 assessed skills:

Remember, the multiple-choice section will include five sets of 8 to 13 questions per set, so be prepared to encounter many if not all of these skill sets per passage. But it is safe to say that you should review certain skill categories more thoroughly than others on account of how frequently they appear on the exam. 

Below we’ve compiled a descending list of priorities for you to consider. 

• Skill Category 4 : Explain the function of the narrator or speaker
• Skill Category 1 : Explain the function of character
• Skill Category 3 : Explain the function of plot and structure
• Skill Category 5 : Explain the function of word choice, imagery, and symbols
• Skill Category 7 : Develop textually substantiated arguments about interpretations of part or all of a text
• Skill Category 6 : Explain the function of comparison
• Skill Category 2 . Explain the function of setting

Section 4, “Explain the function of the narrator or speaker,” should be studied the most since it holds a substantial amount of weight in determining your score. Skill category 2, as you see above, accounts for a small percentage of the exam so we recommend you don’t spend hours upon hours brushing up on the function of the setting. Don’t blow it off, though!

Section II: Free Response

Like the multiple choice section, the free response portion is also skills-based. We cannot predict what specific passages or poems will make it onto the test, but we do know the type(s) of essays you will be required to write:

• 1 Poetry Analysis: After reading a poem of 100 to 300 words, you will respond to a prompt based on the poem with a well-developed essay. Your essay, of course, must offer a defensible interpretation, make adequate use of textual evidence, engage critically with cited evidence, and use appropriate grammar and punctuation when communicating its argument. These requirements are present throughout all three free-response essays. 
• 1 Prose Fiction Analysis: This part of the free response section will provide a passage of prose fiction (500 to 700 words) and, like the poetry analysis, ask you to respond to a prompt through writing a well-developed essay. Your argument must adhere to the rigor and clarity outlined above in the poetry analysis description.
• 1 Literary Argument Essay: Here, you will be given an open-ended topic and be asked to write an evidence-based argumentative essay in response to the topic. There will be a quote or small passage to read, a corresponding prompt, and an extensive list of literary works you may use when developing your argument. While you do not have to use a work from this list, you must select a work of literary merit. Avoid choosing fantasy novels or works designed more for pure entertainment. It needs to be a work of “deep” literature.

What Do the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam Questions Look Like?

Multiple choice examples:.

The Course and Exam Description (CED) for AP® Lit provides 10 practice questions that address prose fiction and 9 practice questions that address poetry.

Below, we’ll look at examples of each question type and cover the skills and essential knowledge they address. First, we will examine the multiple-choice questions involving prose fiction:

Skill: 5.B Explain the function of specific words and phrases in a text.

Essential Knowledge: FIG-1.M Descriptive words, such as adjectives and adverbs, qualify or modify the things they describe and affect readers’ interaction with the text.

Skill: 4.C Identify and describe details, diction, or syntax in a text that reveal a narrator’s or speaker’s perspective.

Essential Knowledge: NAR-1.R Information included and/or not included in a text conveys the perspective of characters, narrators, and/or speakers.

Skill: 3.C Explain the function of structure in a text.

Essential Knowledge: STR-1.F A text’s structure affects readers’ reactions and expectations by presenting the relationships among the ideas of the text via their relative positions and their placement within the text as a whole

Now that we’ve taken a look at samples of multiple-choice questions involving prose fiction, let’s turn our attention toward questions that address poetry. 

Skill 7.B: Develop a thesis statement that conveys a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and that may establish a line of reasoning. 

Essential Knowledge: LAN-1.D A thesis statement expresses an interpretation of a literary text, and requires a defense, through use of textual evidence and a line of reasoning, both of which are explained in an essay through commentary.

Skill 4.C: Identify and describe details, diction, or syntax in a text that reveal a narrator’s or speaker’s perspective.

Essential Knowledge: NAR-1.X Multiple, and even contrasting, perspectives can occur within a single text and contribute to the complexity of the text.

Skill: 5.D Identify and explain the function of an image or imagery.

Essential Knowledge: FIG-1.O Descriptive words, such as adjectives and adverbs, contribute to sensory imagery.

As you see, these questions force you to engage with literature more critically and technically. CollegeBoard’s main objective is to shape you into a budding literary critic capable of producing college-level work, so they consistently ask questions that look like those above. 

To develop your skills to a level that would be acceptable by a university, then, the test-makers over at CollegeBoard often craft questions involving analysis of literary devices, character perspective, figurative language, and more. The individual skills assessed by these questions are designed to take your thinking to a much higher level.

Free Response Examples: 

The Course and Exam Description (CED) for AP® Lit also provides samples of free response questions. Let’s begin by taking a look at a sample of a poetry-based free response prompt.

Poetry Analysis

Skills: 4.C, 7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E

Note how the prompt is somewhat vague and open-ended. While it does ask you to hone in on a specific topic within the poem—aging—through discussion of the writer’s use of poetic elements and techniques, it also does not specify which of those elements and techniques should be discussed:

• Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Emerson uses poetic elements and techniques to convey the speaker’s complex perspective on aging.

So, it is imperative that you come to this exam with a deep and clear understanding of literary devices and motifs such as parallelism, imagery, irony, etc.

If you struggle with literary and rhetorical terms, check out our guide on essential AP® Literature Rhetorical Terms !

In a bit, we’ll provide some additional resources to help you build your knowledge of these literary tools.

Prose Fiction Analysis

Skills: 1.A, 7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E

The prompt requires you to read the excerpt and construct a well-developed literary analysis in response. Like the poetry prompt, note how this prompt is somewhat vague and open-ended. Again, it points you in a direction but leaves it up to you on how you’re going to get there:

• Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Kincaid uses literary elements and techniques  to portray the complexity of the narrator’s new situation.

Therefore, it is imperative that you come to the test prepared with knowledge of literary elements and techniques.

Literary Argument 

Skills: 1.E, 2.C, 7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E

Unlike the other two essays, this prompt contains neither a prose excerpt nor a poem. Rather, it provides a brief quote and then asks you to expand on its central concept and, in our case, the notion of home. 

It then provides a list of works that would suit your analysis. You are to select one work from the list or choose another work of literary merit and analyze it in the context of the prompt. Again, note how much of the analysis is up to you. The prompt points you in a direction and then leaves you on your own to select how you’re going to get there. 

Therefore, it is imperative that you have not only a solid understanding of literary terms and concepts but also a diverse and deep history of reading. We will direct you toward some additional resources that will strengthen your knowledge below but start by consulting our Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List to get started!

And if you’re not an avid reader, do not fret! You can guarantee the AP® English Literature and Composition course itself will cover at least one of the books on the list. You will likely be familiar with at least 2-3 of the texts just from taking the course. And if all else fails, you may select your own work of literary merit to discuss!

Free Response Rubric Breakdowns

In previous years, the AP® Lit essays were scored using holistic rubrics on a scale of 0-9. However, after the 2019 exam, the evaluation changed to a new analytic rubric which runs on a scale of 0-6. 

Switching to an analytic rubric from a holistic one can be difficult, especially if you’ve already taken another AP® English class or prepared using the holistic version. But, unlike the holistic rubric, the analytic model tells you exactly what to include in your essay to earn maximum points. 

Consider the new analytic rubric a How-To Guide, designed to earn you a 6 on each essay. And, unlike the AP® Lang exam, all three AP® Lit essays are graded essentially through the same rubric.

Below, we’ll spend some time breaking down the elements of the new rubric. First, let’s take a look at the Thesis row.

Row A: Thesis (0-1 Points)

A well-developed thesis statement is crucial to making your overall argument effective and convincing. Unsurprisingly, the Thesis row on the rubric is essentially all or nothing; you either earn the point or you don’t.

Let’s break down the wording on the rubric to further understand the significance of the thesis point.

It’s important to note what the rubric warns against: 

• No thesis at all
• The thesis only restates the prompt
• The thesis merely summarizes 
• The thesis does not respond to the prompt 

Doing any of these will miss the mark, and a weak thesis often leads to a weak essay. Rather, the rubric emphasizes that you: 

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation of the poem, prose passage, or selected work.

Easier said than done, we know. But notice the key phrase, “defensible interpretation.” The basis of your argument, the rubric insists, is entirely up to you as long as you adequately defend and your point. This means you must be ready to dig into the text, cite textual evidence, and analyze your findings sophisticatedly and persuasively. Your thesis, then, must contain a claim. 

If thesis statements are particularly troubling to you, we recommend tuning into CollegeBoard’s official online workshop . It’s helpful, really. 

Below are two examples of thesis statements from the 2019 exam:

• This thesis statement thoroughly considers both the positive and negative consequences of idealism and explains how this portrayal illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
• This thesis statement fails to identify a character and confusingly identifies the government’s repressive efforts as presenting a “fabricated view of an Ideal world.” It ultimately makes no claim and overly generalizes.

Row B: Evidence and Commentary (0-4 Points)

Think of evidence and commentary as the meat of your essay. This is where you will really dig into your argument, cite the text, and make specific claims and arguments.

As mentioned, this portion of the rubric works on a scale of 0-4:

As you see, earning all four points requires direct and specific textual citation and thorough, deep analysis throughout your entire essay. Cite evidence that fits your main argument, do not simply cite for the sake of citation. Always avoid paraphrasing (except on the third free-response question where paraphrasing is acceptable). Do not simply cite text and then give a basic summary. Dig deep and analyze. 

If you struggle with analyzing evidence and developing commentary, check out one of our many practice models ! 

Row C Sophistication (0-1 Points)

Similar to the Thesis row, the Sophistication evaluation is also all or nothing — you either earn the point or you don’t. 

However, earning the sophistication point is not as cut and dry as earning the thesis point. You can’t really pinpoint or locate sophistication in the way you can a thesis statement. If it’s there, it’s everywhere; if not, it’s nowhere. 

So to unpack this complex idea, let’s return to the rubric. 

The rubric states that essays that earn the point “demonstrate sophistication of thought and/or develop a complex literary argument.” 

To be more precise, this means that your essay does these four things: 

• Identifies and explores complexities or tensions within the poem, prose passage, or selected work. 
• Situates your overall interpretation within a broader, more universal context. 
• Accounts for alternative interpretations of the poem, prose passage, or selected work. 
• Employs a style that is consistently vivid and persuasive.

Conversely, then, you will not earn the point if your essay:

• Contains sweeping generalizations
• Only hints at other positions or interpretations
• Uses overly complex sentences or language that doesn’t add anything to the argument

Above all, sophistication cannot be reduced to a checkbox. You can’t really add it here or there. It must pervade the entire essay for you to earn the point. It’s a difficult task, but it can be done with a little practice and perseverance. 

For additional tips on writing well-developed analyses, check out our guide on how to tackle prose passages !

What Can You Bring to the AP® English Literature and Composition Exam?

If you’re taking the  digital  exam, you must use a laptop computer (Mac, Windows, or school-managed Chromebook). Because the full-length digital AP® Exams require typewritten free responses, the exams can’t be taken on smartphones. For more details,  here is the full digital AP® exam specifications  from College Board.

If you’re traveling to a testing location to take an in-person exam, make sure to arrive early. If you’re testing digitally from home, be sure all of your digital login details are confirmed beforehand.

Given the sheer importance and seriousness surrounding AP® exams, the College Board has imposed very strict rules and regulations regarding what you can and cannot bring into your testing room (if you’re testing in-person at a school). Not adhering to these rules can lead to score invalidation and even room-wide exam cancellation, so it’s important to know what you can and cannot bring with you on testing day!

What You Should Bring to Your AP® English Literature Exam

If you’re taking the paper AP® English Literature exam in-person at school, you should bring:

• At least 2 sharpened No. 2 pencils for completing the multiple choice section
• At least 2 pens with black or blue ink only. These are used to complete certain areas of your exam booklet covers and to write your free-response questions. CollegeBoard is very clear that pens should be black or blue ink only, so do not show up with your favorite neon gel pen!
• You are allowed to wear a watch as long as it does not have internet access, does not beep or make any other noise, and does not have an alarm. It should be a standard analog or digital watch, nothing fancy!
• If you do not attend the school where you are taking an exam, you must bring a government issued or school issued photo ID.
• If you receive any testing accommodations , be sure that you bring your College Board SSD Accommodations Letter.

What You Should NOT Bring to Your AP® English Literature Exam

If you’re taking the paper AP® English Literature exam in-person at school, you should NOT bring:

• Electronic devices. Phones, smartwatches, tablets, and/or any other electronic devices are expressly prohibited both in the exam room and break areas. Seriously, do not bring these into the testing room. You could invalidate the entire room’s scores.
• Books, dictionaries, highlighters, or notes 
• Mechanical pencils, colored pencils, or pens that do not have black/blue ink. Sometimes the lead used in mechanical pencils cannot be read when run through the scantron reader, so it is best to just avoid them altogether. 
• Your own scratch paper
• Reference guides
• Watches that beep or have alarms
• Food or drink

This list is not exhaustive. Be sure to double-check with your teacher or testing site to make sure that you are not bringing any additional prohibited items.

How to Study for AP® English Literature and Composition: 7 Steps

Start with a diagnostic test to see where you stand. Ask your teacher if they can assign you one of our full-length practice tests as a starting point. Your multiple choice will be graded for you, and you can self-score your free response essays using the College Board’s scoring guidelines. If you would prefer to take a pencil and paper test, Princeton Review or Barron’s are two reputable places to start. Be sure to record your score.

Once you’ve completed and scored your diagnostic test, it’s time to analyze the results and create a study plan. 

• If you used Albert, you’ll notice that each question is labeled with the skill that it assesses. If any skills stand out as something you’re consistently getting wrong, those concepts should be a big part of your study plan. 
• If you used Princeton Review, Barron’s, or another paper test, do your best to sort your incorrect answers into the skill buckets from Albert’s AP® English Literature and Composition Standards Practice .

The tables below sort each set of skills into groups based on their Enduring Understandings and Big Ideas.

Big Idea: Character 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Characters in literature allow readers to study and explore a range of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms represented by those characters.

Big Idea: Setting

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Setting and the details associated with it not only depict a time and place, but also convey values associated with that setting.

Big Idea: Structure

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: The arrangement of the parts and sections of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the sequence in which the text reveals information are all structural choices made by a writer that contribute to the reader’s interpretation of a text.

Big Idea: Narration

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: A narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text.

Big Idea: Figurative Language

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative and invite readers to interpret a text.

Big Idea: Literary Argumentation 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Readers establish and communicate their interpretations of literature through arguments supported by textual evidence.

Once your list of practice questions is complete, check out our Ultimate List AP® English Literature Tips for some pointers.

Now that you’ve developed a study plan for the multiple choice section, it’s time to tackle the FRQs. You should have self-scored your essays using CollegeBoard’s scoring guidelines . If you notice that there is one particular prompt you struggled with, use Albert’s AP® Lit FRQ Approach Guide to help hone your skills!

Check out Albert’s AP® Lit FRQ prompts for more practice!

If you didn’t struggle with a particular prompt as much as you did a particular part of the rubric, try to figure out what went wrong. Does your thesis restate the prompt instead of proposing your own position? Did you generalize too much? Did you remember to provide evidence but forget to augment it with commentary and analysis? Maybe your word choice wasn’t varied enough to earn the sophistication point.

Whatever element you struggled with, have a look at our comprehensive page dedicated to AP® Lit for some expert advice!

Once you’ve developed an effective study plan using the links and practice above, and you’ve identified the skills which need more practice, it’s time to set your plan in motion. Check and mark your calendar. How many days, weeks, or months do you have until your exam? Pace your studying according to this time-frame. Pro-tip: If you only have a few weeks or days to go, prioritize the skills that you scored the lowest on. 

About halfway through your study schedule, plan to take a second practice test to check your progress. You can either have your teacher assign another full-length Albert practice test or use one of the additional practice tests included in whatever AP® English Literature and Composition review book you purchased. Use these results to inform the rest of your study schedule. Are there skills that you improved on or scored lower on this time? Adjust accordingly, and use our tips in the next section to guide you.

AP® English Literature and Composition Review: 15 Must Know Study Tips

5 AP® English Literature and Composition Study Tips for Home

1.  read as much as possible..

And read widely. Read everything from epic poetry and Victorian novels to New Yorker articles and album reviews to Buzzfeed-style listicles. Read a combination of high and lowbrow texts to make your knowledge more worldly and syncretic.

Make a schedule for personal reading time and stick to it. Reading widely, of course, has incalculable benefits that will not only help you score a 5 on the test but also strengthen your academic performance across the board. 

Reading will help you develop a more impressive vocabulary and a better understanding of varied sentence structure and syntax. The more you read, the better equipped you will be to score a 5 on this exam.

2. Become familiar with the Western Canon.

The Western canon, often referred to simply as “The Canon,” is the body of high-culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that is highly valued in the West, i.e., the poems, prose passages, and drama selections that you will mostly see on the AP® Lit exam. 

The canon contains the “classics,” so to speak, and it includes everything from Homer to Junot Diaz. Cultivating a basic understanding of these texts and their authors will not only familiarize you with the history and development of the English tradition but also strengthen your understanding of the so-called “conversation of literature,” the innumerable and complex ways that authors and their works speak to each other and interact. We recommend reading at least the first chapter of Harold Bloom’s book on the subject to get a basic understanding. 

We also insist that you familiarize yourself with the various problems that the perseverance of such a canon produces. During the 80s and 90s, a canon war of sorts took place among English departments, with progressives aiming to dismantle the canon on the grounds that it neglects many African-American, female, queer, and impoverished writers in favor of spotlighting “dead white males.” 

This friction between advocates and opponents of the canon is extremely important to the history and status quo of literary criticism, and understanding this battle will deeply enrich your understanding of literature and increase your chances of scoring a 5 on the exam.

3. Read Thomas Foster’s How To Read Literature Like a Professor .

This book is a lively and entertaining introduction to the tools frequently used in literary criticism, including symbolism, theme, context, irony, and more. It is an excellent way to begin thinking deeply about literature, and it offers clear examples of close-reading.

It also discusses a wide variety of works that will help familiarize you with the canon. It’s very accessible too. Buy it, read it, mark it up, and keep it by your side throughout class. It’s a great tool. 

4. Make flashcards.

You will need to have a strong understanding of different literary devices, authors, works, and rhetorical techniques, and you don’t want to waste time scrambling for definitions on the day of the exam. 

Make yourself some flashcards with the most common literary devices, authors, works, and rhetorical techniques, and carve out at least 30 minutes per day to review. If you’d prefer to use an online resource, make some flashcards over at Quizlet ! 

5. Form study groups!

The beauty of reading literature is that it often produces different and conflicting responses in people, so discussing literature with your friends is a good way to explore new and diverse perspectives. 

What you bring to a text, for instance, may be completely different from what your friend or peer brings. Discussion is a great way to comprehend and investigate difficult works. And it’s also pretty fun!

5 AP® English Literature and Composition Multiple Choice Study Tips

1. practice, practice..

Practice answering multiple choice questions as often as you can. AP® English Literature and Composition multiple choice questions will address either fiction, poetry, or drama, and they will ask you to identify and analyze various literary devices, techniques, and motifs. So study these very devices. If you find yourself totally stuck, consult our guide on how to tackle the multiple choice section . 

2. Sharpen your close-reading skills.

The true key to acing the multiple choice section of this exam is staying engaged with the passages provided to you and actively reading. That means staying alert through the passages, marking them up, and engaging with them directly, not passively skimming them.

Find a method of active reading that works best for you. Some like to mark up the passage extensively, while others prefer to just read the passage twice and take notes here and there. Select which method works for you and go with it. However, do not just choose the easy or lazy way out. You’ll regret it later when you receive your scores. 

3. Look over the questions before reading the passage.

This is often a semi-controversial piece of advice because it doesn’t work for all readers. But it can be helpful if you’re someone who gets easily distracted when reading old prose passages or difficult poetry! 

If you find your mind wandering when reading AP® Lit passages, glancing at the questions beforehand can give your brain a purpose to focus on and a point of entry into the passage. It’s always easiest to begin searching when you know what you’re looking for.

4. Use process of elimination.

Often, an AP® Lit multiple choice question will have one or two answer choices that can be crossed off pretty quickly. So try and narrow your choices down to two possible answers, and then choose the best one. 

If this strategy isn’t working on a particularly difficult question or it seems to hold you up longer than you’d like, it’s perfectly okay to circle it, skip it, and come back to it at the end. Do not get hung up on eliminating choices. Rather, use this strategy to make your reading more efficient and quicker. 

5. It doesn’t hurt to guess.

Obviously, while guessing on every single question isn’t a good strategy and will lead to a 1 on the exam, an educated guess on particularly difficult questions that you truly don’t know how to answer can help. You are scored only on the number of correct answers you give, not the number of questions you answer, so it makes sense to guess on questions that you seriously have no idea how to answer.  

5 AP® English Literature and Composition FRQ Study Tips

1. practice your writing skills by answering questions from collegeboard’s archive of past exam questions or explore our free response practice modules ..

Typically, the same skills are assessed from year to year, so practicing with released exams is a great way to brush up on your analysis skills, and our review practice allows you to pinpoint skills you may need help with.

2. Explore and use the rubric!

The best part about the updated AP® English Literature and Composition revised rubrics and scoring guidelines is that it’s very clear to discern which elements are needed to earn full credit for your essay. Granted, it can be tough to include each element—especially that tricky sophistication section—but the rubric’s outline offers a clear and concise portrait of the perfect essay .

Be sure to construct your thesis statement into a clear and definable interpretation. Provide specific evidence and compelling commentary that supports your thesis. If you check these boxes, then you will have a much greater chance of developing a clear and defensible interpretation. 

3. Pay attention to the task verbs employed in your free response prompts .

Task verbs are verbs that essentially indicate what it is you should do in your free response. The three common task verbs include: 

• Analyze: Examine methodically and in detail the structure of the topic of the question for purposes of interpretation and explanation.
• Choose: Select a literary work from among provided choices.
• Read: Look at or view printed directions and provided passages.

4. Have a solid understanding of literary devices.

Most of the FRQ’s require you to not only specifically identify a passage’s array of literary and rhetorical devices but also analyze and unpack how those devices construct mood, meaning, tone, and more. Study up, read the aforementioned Foster book , and take a look at our list of 15 Essential Rhetorical Terms to Know For AP® English Literature . 

5. Fine-tune your thesis statement.

Your thesis statement is arguably the most important sentence in your essay. It informs the reader of your central argument and summarizes your interpretation, and it sets the tone for the rest of your essay. It is imperative that you master the tricky art of the thesis statement before taking your exam. 

Many university writing centers offer online education on thesis statements that can prove extremely beneficial. Consult UNC Chapel Hill’s thesis statement handout for extra help!

The AP® English Literature and Composition Exam: 5 Test Day Tips to Remember

Be sure you put at least something in your stomach before taking the exam, even if it might be in knots from nerves. You don’t need to eat a deluxe breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, biscuits, etc. (unless that’s your routine), but you do need to eat at least something . Your brain and your body need the energy. If you’re hungry during the exam, it might be harder for you to focus, leading to a lower score or an incomplete exam.

2. Make sure you know the location of your testing site before taking the test.

You do not want to be scrambling and running around the school trying to find your testing room on the day of the exam. Know your room number and know how to get there. There’s truly nothing worse than running around your school trying to find a room when a hugely-important test is underway. 

If you’re getting a ride from a parent or friend, be sure they know the address beforehand. If you’re taking public transit, check the schedule. If you are taking your exam at your own school, don’t get too comfortable. Be sure you know the room number! This is something small but impactful that you can do to reduce your stress the morning of your exam.

3. Prepare everything you need the night before.

Waking up and scrambling to choose an outfit, find pencils, or make breakfast will just stress you out and put you in a negative headspace. Plan your outfit the night before to reduce stress and have an easy breakfast ready to go.

Being prepared saves time and cuts back unnecessary stress. 

And wear something comfortable. You don’t want to be adjusting your outfit throughout the test. It’ll just be distracting. 

4. Bring mints or gum with you.

The rules say that you can’t have food or drink in the testing room, but mints and/or gum are usually allowed unless it’s against your testing site’s own rules. If you find yourself getting distracted, pop a mint or a stick of gum in your mouth! This can help to keep you more awake and focused.

5. Remember to breathe and just relax.

Seriously, just breathe. If you’ve followed the rest of the tips in this post, listened to your teacher, read up on your literary devices, and done your homework, then you’re well-prepared for this exam. Trust yourself. Know that you have done all you can do to prepare and don’t cram the morning of the exam. Last-minute studying helps no one, and it often just leads to stress!

AP® English Literature and Composition Review Notes and Practice Test Resources

Ap® collegeboard’s official youtube channel.

This YouTube channel provides tons of tips, advice, and strategies for tackling the AP® English Literature and Composition exam. It offers online seminars and classes on a diverse range of Lit-related topics such as plot structure, unpacking symbolism, and crafting strong commentary. The best thing about it is that real-life teachers lead the classes, so they feel very personalized.

If you’re a more visual learner who thrives on video content, then this channel is perfect for you!

How-to Guide for Literary Analysis Essays

While we 100% do not condone using Sparknotes textual summaries to get your way through AP® English Literature, we do recommend taking a look at some of their guides and workshops and using them as supplementary resources. This how-to guide offers a 7-step method of approaching literary analysis that might help you get the ball rolling if you’re totally stuck.

This guide is perfect for anyone needing to brush up on their writing skills or anyone needing to find a solid step-by-step approach to writing the free response questions.

AP® English Literature Jeopardy Game

This online Jeopardy game is not only tons of fun but also super helpful in developing your memory and strengthening your understanding of basic literary elements and devices. It contains categories involving poetry terms, general Lit, syntax, style, and figurative language. It’s a great way to review basic terms for the exam, and you can play with up to ten people through its make-your-team feature.  

This is a perfect review for anyone looking to quickly review literary terms in a fun way.

Ms. Effie’s Lifesavers

If you’re a seasoned AP® English teacher, Ms. Effie (Sandra Effinger) probably needs no introduction! Ms. Effie’s Lifesavers website has helped many AP® Lang and AP® Lit teachers plan effective and thoroughly aligned lessons and assignments. Sandra was an AP® Reader for many years, so she knows her stuff. She has tons of free content on her page, as well as a Dropbox full of AP® English goodies for anyone who makes a donation via her PayPal. You’ll find resources for both AP® Language and AP® Literature here. 

Ms. Effie’s webpage is perfect for all students. Really, it has material that would benefit those looking for quick reviews, deeper analysis of free response questions, or help with multiple choice questions.

Summary: The Best AP® English Literature and Composition Review Guide

Remember, the structure of the AP® Lang exam is as follows:

Because AP® English Literature and Composition is a skills-based course, there’s no way to know what specific passages, poems, authors, or concepts might make it onto the official exam. But, we do know exactly which skills will be assessed with which passages, so it’s best to center your studying around brushing up on those skills!

Use the provided charts to help you understand which skills you should focus on, and use Albert’s AP® English Literature and Composition Course Guide to brush up on your understanding of each skill and its corresponding essential knowledge.

Start with a diagnostic test, either on Albert or with a pencil and paper test via Princeton Review or Barron’s . Once you’ve completed and scored your diagnostic, follow our 7 steps on how to create an AP® English Literature and Composition study plan. 

And remember: start reading now! The more you read, the more equipped you will be to ace this exam. Review the Western Canon, study your literary terms, and begin critically engaging with writers!

Practice answering multiple choice questions on Albert and free-response questions from The College Board’s archive of past exam questions. 

If you’ve followed the rest of the tips in this post, listened to your teacher, and done your homework, you’re well-prepared for this exam. Trust that you have done all you can do to prepare and don’t cram the morning of. Last-minute studying helps no one!

Interested in a school license?​

Popular posts.

AP® Score Calculators

Simulate how different MCQ and FRQ scores translate into AP® scores

AP® Review Guides

The ultimate review guides for AP® subjects to help you plan and structure your prep.

Core Subject Review Guides

Review the most important topics in Physics and Algebra 1 .

SAT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall SAT® score

ACT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall ACT® score

Grammar Review Hub

Comprehensive review of grammar skills

AP® Posters

Download updated posters summarizing the main topics and structure for each AP® exam.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write the AP Lit Poetry Essay

What’s covered:.

• How to Write the AP Literature Poetry Essay
• Tips for Writing The AP Lit Poetry Essay

To strengthen your AP Literature Poetry Essay essay, make sure you prepare ahead of time by knowing how the test is structured, and how to prepare. In this post, we’ll cover the structure of the test and show you how you can write a great AP Literature Poetry Essay.

What is the AP Lit Poetry Essay? 

The AP Literature exam has two sections. Section I contains 55 multiple choice questions, with 1 hour time allotted. This includes at least two prose fiction passages and two poetry passages. 

Section II, on the other hand, is a free response section. Here, students write essays to 3 prompts. These prompts include a literary analysis of a poem, prose fiction, or in a work selected by the student. Because the AP Literature Exam is structured in a specific, predictable manner, it’s helpful to prepare yourself for the types of questions you’ll encounter on test day. 

The Poetry Essay counts for one-third of the total essay section score, so it’s important to know how to approach this section. You’ll want to plan for about 40 minutes on this question, which is plenty of time to read and dissect the prompt, read and markup the poem, write a brief outline, and write a concise, well-thought out essay with a compelling analysis. 

Tips for Writing the AP Lit Poetry Essay

1. focus on the process.

Writing is a process, and so is literary analysis. Think less about finding the right answer, or uncovering the correct meaning of the poem (there isn’t one, most of the time). Read the prompt over at least twice, asking yourself carefully what you need to look for as you read. Then, read the poem three times. Once, to get an overall sense of the poem. Second, start to get at nuance; circle anything that’s recurring, underline important language and diction , and note important images or metaphors. In your annotations, you want to think about figurative language , and poetic structure and form . Third, pay attention to subtle shifts in the poem: does the form break, is there an interruption of some sort? When analyzing poetry, it’s important to get a sense of the big picture first, and then zoom in on the details. 

2. Craft a Compelling Thesis

No matter the prompt, you will always need to respond with a substantive thesis. A meaty thesis contains complexity rather than broad generalizations , and points to specifics in the poem.

By examining the colloquial language in Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool”, we can see the tension of choosing to be “cool”. This raises important ideas about education, structure, and routine, and the consequences of living to be “real cool”.

Notice how the thesis provides a roadmap of what is to follow in the essay , and identifies key ideas that the essay will explore. It is specific, and not vague. The thesis provides a bigger picture of the text, while zooming in the colloquial language the speaker uses. 

A good thesis points out the why as much as the what . Notice how in the above example, the thesis discusses language in the poem as it connects to a bigger message about the poem. For example, it’s not enough to discuss Emily Dickinson’s enjambment and hyphens. A good thesis will make a compelling argument about why those infamous Dickinson hyphens are so widely questioned and examined. Perhaps a good thesis might suggest that this unique literary device is more about self-examination and the lapse in our own judgement. 

3. Use Textual Evidence 

To support your thesis, always use textual evidence . When you are creating an outline, choose a handful of lines in the poem that will help illuminate your argument. Make sure each claim in your essay is followed by textual evidence, either in the form of a paraphrase, or direct quote . Then, explain exactly how the textual evidence supports your argument . Using this structure will help keep you on track as you write, so that your argument follows a clear narrative that a reader will be able to follow. 

Your essay will need to contain both description of the poem, and analysis . Remember that your job isn’t to describe or paraphrase every aspect of the poem. You also need lots of rich analysis, so be sure to balance your writing by moving from explicit description to deeper analysis. 

4. Strong Organization and Grammar

A great essay for the AP Literature Exam will contain an introduction with a thesis (not necessarily always the last sentence of the paragraph), body paragraphs that contain clear topic sentences, and a conclusion . Be sure to spend time thinking about your organization before you write the paper. Once you start writing, you only want to think about content. It’s helpful to write a quick outline before writing your essay. 

There’s nothing worse than a strong argument with awkward sentences, grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Make sure to proofread your work before submitting it. Carefully edit your work, paying attention to any run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, commas, and spelling. You’d be surprised how many mistakes you’ll catch just by rereading your work. 

Common Mistakes on the AP Literature Poetry Essay 

It can be helpful to know what not to do when it comes time to prepare for the AP Literature Poetry Essay. Here are some common mistakes students make on the AP Literature Poetry Essay:

1. Thesis is not arguable and is too general 

Your thesis should be arguable, and indicate the central ideas you will discuss in your essay. Read the prompt carefully and craft your thesis in light of what the prompt asks you to do. If the prompt mentions specific literary devices, find a way to tie those into your thesis. In your thesis, you want to connect to the meaning of the poem itself and what you feel the poet intended when using those particular literary devices.

2. Using vague, general statements rather than focusing on analysis of the poem

Always stay close to the text when writing the AP Literature Poetry Essay. Remember that your job is not to paraphrase but to analyze. Keep explicit descriptions of the poem concise, and spend the majority of your time writing strong analysis backed up by textual evidence.

3. Not using transitions to connect between paragraphs

Make sure it’s not jarring to the reader when you switch to a new idea in a new paragraph. Use transitions and strong topic sentences to seamlessly blend your ideas together into a cohesive essay that flows well and is easy to follow. 

4. Textual evidence is lacking or not fully explained 

Always include quotes from the text and reference specifics whenever you can. Introduce your quote briefly, and then explain how the quote connects back to the topic sentence after. Think about why the quotes connect back to the poet’s central ideas. 

5. Not writing an outline

Of course, to write a fully developed essay you’ll need to spend a few minutes planning out your essay. Write a quick outline with a thesis, paragraph topics and a list of quotes that support your central ideas before getting started.

To improve your writing, take a look at these essay samples from the College Board, with scoring guidelines and commentary. 

How Will AP Scores Affect My College Chances?

While you can self-report AP scores, they don’t really affect your admissions chances . Schools are more interested in how you performed in the actual class, as your grades impact your GPA. To understand how your GPA impacts your college chances, use our free chancing engine . We’ll let you know your personal chance of acceptance at over 1500 schools, plus give you tips for improving your profile.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, ap lit prose essay prompts.

Hey everyone! I'm currently preparing for the AP Lit exam and was wondering if you guys have any tips on tackling the prose essay prompts. What should I focus on and how should I approach these prompts on test day? Thanks!

Hi there! The AP Lit prose essay prompts can be quite challenging, but with a few strategies in mind, you'll be able to tackle them confidently. Here's a general approach to help you on test day:

1. Read the prompt carefully: Before you start reading the passage, make sure you understand the prompt and what it's asking you to analyze. This will help you focus on relevant aspects of the passage while reading.

2. Annotate the passage: As you read the passage, underline key phrases, circle important words, and make notes in the margin that relate to the prompt. This will help you remember the necessary details when you start writing your essay, and find them easily later if you forget anything.

3. Identify literary techniques: Pay attention to the author's use of literary techniques like diction, imagery, syntax, and tone. Consider how these techniques contribute to the overall meaning or effect of the passage.

4. Develop a strong thesis: Your thesis should directly answer the prompt, by stating what you will analyze in your essay. It's important to be specific and make sure your thesis can be supported by evidence from the passage.

5. Structure your paragraphs: Each body paragraph should focus on one main idea or literary technique that supports your thesis. Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence that introduces the idea, and then present evidence from the passage and explain how the evidence supports your thesis.

6. Address opposing viewpoints: If there are any alternative interpretations or counterarguments that could be made about the passage, briefly address them in your essay. This demonstrates to the reader that you have considered various perspectives and can still support your thesis.

7. Edit and revise: After writing your essay, take a few minutes to read it over and make necessary revisions. Check for clarity, grammatical errors, and effective organization.

8. Practice: To get comfortable with these techniques, familiarize yourself with past AP Lit prose essay prompts and practice writing essays in response to them. This will help you become more comfortable with the format and expectations of the test. You can find past prompts online, or you can reach out to your teacher, as they may have some online.

Remember, the key to successfully tackling the AP Lit prose essay prompts is preparation and practice. Focus on analyzing the passage with respect to the prompt, using evidence to support your thesis, and considering different perspectives. For more detailed guidance, you can also check out CollegeVine's blog post on how to tackle this essay, which includes an example that received a perfect score: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-ap-lit-prose-essay.

Best of luck with your AP Lit prose essay!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.