Unit : Short Fiction I
Big takeaways:
Definitely do this:
Watch these videos:
- Prose Prompt Deconstruction: An overview of the Prose Analysis prompt and strategies for preparing to respond
- What Lit Is: An overview of the course and exam and their expectations
Check out these articles:
- 12 Classic Short Stories: Short stories of literary merit to stretch your analysis muscles
- Short Fiction Unit Guide by Laura Walton
Practice
- Best Quizlet Decks for AP English Literature: Practice with these quizlets to strengthen your AP Lit vocabulary!
Is Ap English Literature Worth It
The AP® English Literature exam is worth taking for a variety of reasons, from academic to financial. When you successfully complete an AP® course, you can know that you are prepared for the increased pace and academic rigor that is required of college level courses. This knowledge will increase your confidence as you move into this new phase of academic life.
Passing the AP® English Literature exam can also help you with the college admissions process. AP® courses send a signal to admissions counselors that you are prepared for college and that you approached your high school education with ambition and determination.
Perhaps the most important benefit of AP® courses is in their ability to save you money. Graduating from high school with college credits means that those are classes you wont need to pay for in college. You can either bank those savings or use the freed-up credit hours to explore a minor or other classes outside your major.
This chart shows just a few of the colleges that will allow you to use your passing AP® English Literature score for college credit and the estimated savings you could see from that decision.
School |
$7,470 |
As you can see from the chart, there is a real financial savings opportunity when you take and pass AP® English Literature. These savings combined with the academic benefits of AP® exams shows that taking AP® English Literature is definitely worth it.
When Are Ap Exams Scored
Most AP exams include written responses that take time to grade. Because AP exams require a long assessment process, the scoring typically takes place in June.
Students generally receive their AP scores in July. Test-takers receive a number between 1 and 5 for their exam score â 5 represents the highest score.
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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:
To Increase Your Familiarity With Different Eras And Genres Of Literature

Reading a diverse array of novels, poetry and plays from different eras and genres will help you be familiar with the language that appears in the various passages on the AP Lit exam’s multiple choice and essay sections. If you read primarily modern works, for example, you may stumble through analyzing a Shakespeare sonnet. So, having a basic familiarity level with the language of a broad variety of literary works will help keep you from floundering in confusion on test day because you’re seeing a work unlike anything you’ve ever read.
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When Do Students Typically Take Ap English Literature When Is Best
AP® English Literature is typically taken during your junior or senior year in high school. Technically, the course has no prerequisites, so you could theoretically take it earlier.
However, this course is considered one of the more time consuming AP® courses, so students typically wait until they have more experience with time management before they take it.
AP® English Literature is an extremely reading and writing intensive course. You should wait to take this course until you feel confident you can spend long periods of time reading complex texts.
You should also have enough writing experience that you feel comfortable crafting a written argument about the assigned texts and meeting the page requirements.
If you want to take AP® English Literature, you should consider all of these factors and decide when it feels right for you to take it. You will want to be sure to balance AP® English Literature with any other AP® courses you may want to take.
As with all academic decisions, you may want to consult your guidance counselor and get advice from some of the AP® teachers before you make the decision on when to take AP® English Literature.
Advanced Placement Exam Fees
Taking an AP exam is not free. The cost per exam in 2022 is $96 for students testing in the U.S., U.S. territories, Canada, and DoDEA schools. For students taking an exam outside of specifications, the cost per exam is $126. AP Seminar and AP Research exams are the notable exceptions. The fee to take either of these exams is $144, regardless of whether a student is inside or outside the U.S.
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To Improve Your Close
You’ll also want to read to improve your close-reading and rhetorical analysis skills. When you do read, really engage with the text: think about what the author’s doing to construct the novel/poem/play/etc., what literary techniques and motifs are being deployed, and what major themes are at play. You don’t necessarily need to drill down to the same degree on every text, but you should always be thinking, “Why did the author write this piece this way?”
An Addendum On Poetry
You probably won’t be writing about poetry on your student choice essaymost just aren’t meaty enough in terms of action and character to merit a full-length essay on the themes when you don’t actually have the poem in front of you . That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be reading poetry, though! You should be reading a wide variety of poets from different eras to get comfortable with all the varieties of poetic language. This will make the poetry analysis essay and the multiple-choice questions about poetry much easier!
See this list of poets compiled from the list given on page 10 of the AP Course and Exam Description for AP Lit, separated out by time period. For those poets who were working during more than one of the time periods sketched out below, I tried to place them in the era in which they were more active.
I’ve placed an asterisk next to the most notable and important poets in the list you should aim to read one or two poems by each of the starred poets to get familiar with a broad range of poetic styles and eras.
You might rather burn books than read them after the exam, but please refrain.
Why do you need to read books to prepare for AP Lit? For three reasons:
#1: To become familiar with a variety of literary eras and genres#2: To work on your close-reading skills#3: To become closely familiar with four-five works for the purposes of the student choice free-response essay analyzing a theme in a work of your choice.
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How Do Ap Exams Impact Your College Chances
Top colleges are looking to admit students who are intellectually curious and who challenged themselves in high school with rigorous coursework. The more selective the school youre applying to, the more beneficial AP classes are. At Ivy League schools and Top-30 colleges, its common for admitted students to have completed upwards of 12 AP classes.
Many high-ranking colleges use a tool known as the Academic Index to facilitate admissions decisions. Academic Index is a representation of your entire academic performance by a single numerical score and failure to meet a schools threshold can lead them to deem you unqualified for admission. AP classes will help boost your Academic Index and improve the odds that your application will receive serious consideration.
CollegeVine can help shed some light on how AP classes affect your odds of college admission. Our free chancing engine uses a variety of factorslike GPA, test scores, and extracurricular activitiesto show how you stack up against other applicants and predict your odds of admission at hundreds of colleges across the country. It even provides tips to improve your profile .
Ap English Literature Faq: Everything You Need To Know For 2022
- The Albert Team
Are you hoping to find answers to the most commonly-asked questions about the 2022 AP® English Literature exam? Youve come to the right place!
In this article, well cover how difficult the AP® English Literature exam is, how the exam is scored, strategies for passing the exam, and much more. Lets get started!
What We Review
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Ap Late Exam Schedule
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Statistics |
United States Government and Politics World History: Modern |
Once again, the only exception to the AP Late Exam Schedule is Alaska, where the morning exam administration must begin between 7 am and 8 am local time and the afternoon administration between 11 am and 12 pm local time.
Expert’s Guide To The Ap Literature Exam

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 2022 test date of Wednesday, May 4, 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!
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Don’t Forget Your Other Classes
Most teachers should be sympathetic about homework and assignments during the AP test period, but you still want to be sure that your schedule isn’t crammed with cramming in case you have to deal with non-AP class assignments, too.
Your high school GPA is very important for college admissions, so don’t let AP exams completely distract you from your other classes!
For The Student Choice Free
Perhaps the most critical piece in reading to prepare for the AP Lit test, however, is for the student choice free-response question. For the third question on the second exam section, you’ll be asked to examine how a specific theme works in one novel or play that you choose. The College Board does provide an example list of works, but you can choose any work you like just so long as it has adequate “literary merit.” However, you need to be closely familiar with more than one work so that you can be prepared for whatever theme the College Board throws at you!
Note: Not an effective reading method.
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When Is The 2022 Ap Exam And How Do I Take It
The exam is on Wednesday, May 4 at 8 am, your local timethis will be a paper test at your school.
How should I prepare for the exam?
- Next, download the AP English Literature Cram Chart PDF – a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
- Review every unit and question type, and focus on the areas that need the most improvement and practice. Weve put together this plan to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam
- Practice essays are your best friends! The more essays you write, the more automatic the process will come, and the easier the AP exam will be!
- Try some of the past exam essays here
- Join Hours to talk to real students just like you studying for this exam!
What Is The 2023 Ap Schedule
The 2023 AP Exams will be administered as a paper-and-pencil test from May 15 and May 812. The only exceptions to this rule are for the AP Chinese and AP Japanese tests, which are administered on computer.
If you’re a student who’s taking lots of AP classes and finds you have two tests scheduled at the same time on the same day, the College Board has a late-testing schedule that can accommodate the changes you need. You can learn more about the late-testing schedule here.
At this point, the College Board has not announced any changes to the 2023 AP Exam schedule due to COVID-19. However, you can always check our COVID-19 article for up-to-date information on any AP Exam changes.
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Ap Literature Reading List: 127 Great Books For Your Prep
A lot of students wonder if there’s a specific AP English reading list of books they should be reading to succeed on the AP Literature and Composition exam. While there’s not an official College-Board AP reading list, there are books that will be more useful for you to read than others as you prepare for the exam. In this article, I’ll break down why you need to read books to prepare, how many you should plan on reading, and what you should readincluding poetry.
When Was The Ap Lit Exam 2022
Week 1 |
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Human Geography Macroeconomics |
Will 2022 AP exams be online?
Can I Take AP Exams Online in 2022? No.After a switch to online testing in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, exams will be administered in 2022 as paper-and-pencil exams.
Are there makeup AP exams 2022?
Exams will be given from May 2-13, 2022. Makeup test are only in the case of an emergency and must be approved by the school site.
How do I cancel my AP 2022 College Board?
AP 2022 Exam Cancellation Form The LHS AP Cancellation Request form at the bottom must be completed and submitted to the AP Coordinator. Cancellations after the October 29, 3:00 pm deadline incur a $40 cancellation fee.
How long is the AP macro exam 2022?
The test is on paper at your school on Thursday, May 5, at 8 am your local time. You will have 2 hours and 10 minutes to take the exam.
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How Do Students Typically Score On Ap English Literature Whats The Score Distribution
The AP® English Literature exam is one that has a wide variety in the score distribution. As one of the most popular AP® exams, past scores reflect a variety of factors such as how well students studied for the exam, their writing aptitude and their ability to do well at the advanced placement level. You can find the score distributions for the AP® English Literature exam for the last three years below.
Year | |
13.5% | 52.6% |
Over the past three years, the AP® English Literature exam has averaged a passing rate of slightly below 50%. The exam typically attracts around 400,000 exam takers each year. The relatively low passing rate can likely be attributed to a portion of the test takers being under-prepared for the exam content or the academic rigor of the exam.
In 2019, the mean score among all 380,136 test takers for the AP® English Literature exam was 2.62.
How To Study For Ap Exams

The 2022 AP exams all take place within two weeks. So if you’re taking more than one exam, you’ll need to plan ahead.
Create a study schedule based on the dates of every test. You can aim for a target score based on what you’ll need to receive college credit on that exam.
Most AP tests must be taken in person. AP Art and Design requires that you submit a portfolio exam. If possible, complete and submit your portfolio before your other AP exams so you can focus on upcoming tests.
If you struggle with test anxiety, take practice tests and focus on stress-management techniques.
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Im Homeschooled/my School Doesnt Administer Ap Exams How Can I Take An Ap Exam
If youre homeschooled or you go to a school that doesnt administer AP Exams, youll need to arrange to take exams at a local school that does administer them.
Your first step is to search the AP Course Ledger. The AP Course Ledger is the official, up-to-date, comprehensive list of schools that have passed the AP Course Audit. You can search by country, state/province, or city to find a school where you might be able to test. After finding schools near you that offer the courses you want to take exams for, do an internet search for the schools phone number. Then call and ask to speak with the schools AP coordinator to learn if the school is allowing homeschooled students to test there this year.
Look for and contact schools as early in the school year as possible. Note that schools may have their own local deadlines and policies for receiving requests from outside students to test at their school, so youll want to give yourself as much time as possible to contact schools. Updates will be made to the AP Course Ledger for 2022-23 in November, so if you still need to find possible schools, you can check the Ledger again in November to see if any schools in your area were added. The exam ordering deadline for schools is November 15.
When you find an AP coordinator able to administer your AP Exam, they are responsible for ordering your exam materials, telling you when and where to report for the exams, and collecting the exam fees.