AP English Literature and Composition Practice Test 1 Study Notes

AP® English Literature and Composition Exam Overview

  • Exam Logistics:     - Section I (Multiple-Choice):         - Number of Questions: 5555.         - Time Allotted: 11 hour.         - Weighting: 45%45\% of the total grade.         - Materials: HB Pencil required for filling answer ovals.     - Scoring System:         - Points are based solely on the number of questions answered correctly.         - No Penalty for Guessing: No points are deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for unanswered questions.         - Strategic Recommendation: Candidates are encouraged to answer all questions. If unsure, eliminate as many choices as possible before selecting an answer.     - Section II (Free-Response/Essays):         - Total Time: 22 hours.         - Number of Questions: 33 essays.         - Weighting: Each question counts as one-third of the total essay score (55%55\% of total grade).

Kate Chopin’s "The Awakening" (Excerpt Analysis)

  • Setting and Atmosphere:     - Location: Grand Isle (specifically Lebrun cottages and Klein’s hotel).     - Time: A Sunday morning during summer; the atmosphere is characterized by heat and leisure.     - Auditory Details: A green and yellow parrot in a cage repeats — "Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That’s all right!"; a mockingbird whistles with "maddening persistence"; Farival twins play "Zampa" on the piano.

  • Characters:     - Mr. Pontellier: A man of 4040, medium height, slender build, with neatly trimmed beard and eyeglasses. He is characterized as restless, judgmental, and viewing his wife as a "valuable piece of personal property."     - Mrs. (Edna) Pontellier: Returns from the beach with Robert Lebrun; described as having "strong, shapely hands." She is criticized by her husband for being "burnt [sunburned] beyond recognition."     - Robert Lebrun: A young companion to Edna; prefers her company over playing billiards with Mr. Pontellier.     - Madame Lebrun: Managing the cottages, described as "fresh, pretty," and constantly giving orders in a "high key."     - Supporting Cast: The lady in black (telling her beads), the quadroon nurse (following children aged 44 and 55), and the Farival twins.

  • Key Narrative Interactions:     - The Rings: Edna gives her rings to her husband before bathing; upon return, she reaches out silently, and he drops them into her palm from his vest pocket.     - Domestic Power Dynamic: Mr. Pontellier instructs Edna to "send him [Robert] about his business when he bores you," reflecting a dismissive or possessive attitude.     - Mr. Pontellier’s Departure: He leaves for Klein’s hotel to play billiards, potentially returning for dinner based on the "size of 'the game'" and the company found.

  • Literary Devices Noted in Exercises:     - Metonymy/Synecdoche: Use of "the sunshade" to refer to Edna and Robert approaching.     - Tone: The passage opening is described as cacophonous due to the bird noises; character interactions suggest "unapologetic intimacy" between Edna and Robert vs. "aloofness" or "indifference" from Mr. Pontellier.

Christina Rossetti’s "Passing Away" (Poetry Analysis)

  • Structure: Three stanzas, each representing a different perspective ("the World," "my Soul," "my God").

  • Refrain: Each stanza concludes with "Then I answered: Yea."

  • Stanza 1 (The World):     - Theme: Physical decay and the transience of youth.     - Key Imagery: Hair changing to gray; the World clothing itself in "Spring" while the narrator is "root stricken" and unable to rebuild decay.     - Allusions: "Laurel" and "bay" as symbols of poetic achievement or honor.

  • Stanza 2 (My Soul):     - Theme: Moral and spiritual corruption requiring preparation for the end.     - Key Imagery: "Rust in thy gold," "a moth is in thine array," "a canker is in thy bud." These signify the internal destruction of the soul/body.     - The Bridegroom: Reference to the second coming of Christ or death (— "Lo the bridegroom shall come").

  • Stanza 3 (My God):     - Theme: Divine renewal and the invitation to the afterlife.     - Key Imagery: New grapes, figs, and the "turtle" [turtledove] calling in "Heaven’s May."     - Synthesis: The third stanza recasts the first stanza's imagery of decay as renewal/rebirth through the divine.

Anthony Trollope’s "Barchester Towers" (Character Study)

  • Character Comparison:     - Mrs. Proudie: Ruling her husband with a "rod of iron"; she is "habitually authoritative" and "despotic." She extends her power into spiritual matters and domestic movements, making the Bishop "henpecked."     - Mrs. Grantly: Contrasts Mrs. Proudie as "easy and beneficent," a "pattern of obedience" before the world, though she still values and acquires power within proper limits.

  • Strict Sabbatarianism:     - Mrs. Proudie enforces a "perfect abstinence from any cheering employment on the Sunday."     - Servants are punished for secular activities: a housemaid "sent adrift" for listening to a sweetheart; a "six-foot hero" [footman] punished for visiting a beer-shop instead of sitting in his pew.     - The Eyes of Argus: A mythological allusion to Mrs. Proudie’s constant vigilance for Sabbatarian offenders.

  • Style: Witty, analytical, and ironic. For example, the claim "It is not my intention to breathe a word against Mrs. Proudie" serves as ironic litotes given the subsequent harsh description.

Carolyn Kizer’s "A Long Line of Doctors" (Poetry Analysis)

  • Subject: A mother serving on jury duty for a trial involving a dentist accused of malpractice and assault.

  • The Mother’s Attitude:     - Prejudice: She finds the dentist guilty "before she half-heard a word" because he is a "mechanic" and a "wielder of pliers" rather than a proper physician. She views him as being "beyond the iron palings" of true medical respectability.     - Intellectual Detachment: She reads Three Volumes of A Life of Voltaire during the trial, using the reading as a "breast stroke" through the testimony.

  • The Dentist’s Crime:     - He chased his "siren girl receptionist" around the lab amid "plaster teeth."     - The Incident: In a state of agitation ("still unstrung"), he ran the drill through a patient’s tongue.

  • The Verdict: The mother leads the other eleven jurors ("docile") to her "adamantine view." She is described as "Nice Mrs. Nemesis."

  • Metaphor: Reading is likened to "swimming" (gliding, depth, brine); God is depicted as a physician with a "general practice" who "invents diseases for His cure and care."

Section II: Essay Prompts and Themes

  • Question 1 (Libra by Don DeLillo):     - Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald’s youth.     - Themes: The "world inside the world"; the power and "secret" of the NYC subway system.     - Imagery: "Copper light," "blue-white sparks," "tremendous hissing bursts," and the feeling of being on the "edge of no-control."     - Task: Analyze methods of portrayal (diction, imagery, POV).

  • Question 2 (Infancy Comparison):     - William Blake’s "Infant Sorrow": Depicts infancy as a struggle into a "dangerous world," where the child is a "fiend hid in a cloud" who eventually sulks in defeat.     - Sylvia Plath’s "Morning Song": Depicts the infant as a "fat gold watch" and a "new statue"; exploring the distance between mother and child and the transition to individual identity.

  • Question 3 (Social Conflict):     - Prompt: Analyze a work where a genius or main character is in conflict with social or moral values (the "dunces in confederacy").     - Suggested Works: The Awakening, Invisible Man, Crime and Punishment, Moby-Dick, Wuthering Heights, etc.