'AP Lang' ... what's it all about?

Exam Format

Starting with the 2021 exam, the AP English Language and Composition Exam will have question types and point values that stay consistent from year to year, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Exam Tasks and Content

Section 1: Multiple Choice

• • Includes 5 sets of questions.

    • 23–25 Reading questions that ask students to read and analyze nonfiction texts.

    • 20–22 Writing questions, a new type of question, that ask students to “read like a writer” and consider revisions to stimulus texts.

Section 2: Free Response

• Students write essays that respond to 3 free-response prompts from the following categories:

  • Synthesis Question: After reading 6–7 texts about a topic (including visual and quantitative sources), students will compose an argument that combines and cites at least 3 of the sources to support their thesis.

  • Rhetorical Analysis: Students will read a nonfiction text and analyze how the writer’s language choices contribute to the intended meaning and purpose of the text.

  • Argument: Students will create an evidence-based argument that responds to a given topic and is supported by evidence and reasoning from their own reading, observations, and experiences.