There are eight kinds of multiple choice questions on the AP Language exam. In this section, I’ll go over each type. There are example questions at the “Course and Exam Description.” You can find the original passages these questions are referring to there as well. 

Type 1: Main Idea / Reading Comprehension

These questions are about testing if you understood the passage on a concrete level: what does this particular sentence mean in a literal sense? And so on. You can usually identify them from phrases like “according to” and “refers.” To succeed on these kinds of questions, your best strategy is to go back and re-read the part of the passage the question is asking about. Do so carefully, and when you then answer the question, focus on what the passage is actually saying outright. Don’t infer on reading comprehension questions!

Main idea/theme/attitude

• • The speaker's attitude is best described as one of …

  • The tone of the piece (or parts of it) is one of… 

  • In context, the sentence "_____" is best interpreted as which of the following?

  • The atmosphere is one of …

  • Which of the following would the author be LEAST likely to encourage?

  • Which of the following best summarizes the main topic of the passage …

  • Rhetoric (syntax, diction, figurative language, tone, etc.)

  • A shift in point of view is demonstrated by

  • The repetitive syntax of lines “…” serves to

  • “..” can best be said to represent

  • The second sentence  is unified by the writer’s use of ….. rhetorical device?

  • The word “…” is the antecedent for

  • The style of the passage can best be characterized as

  • The author employs “…” sentence structure to establish

  • The tone of the passage changes when the writer

  • word choice and selection of details (connotation)

  • sentence structure (syntax); inferences; general conclusions

Rhetoric/Style

For these questions, you’ll need to identify the specific rhetorical strategy used by the author in the specific place in the passage. Essentially, you’ll be identifying the particular argumentative “move” that the author is deploying to try to convince the audience of their position. 

The last question type asks you about stylistic moments in the text and the effect created by those stylistic choices. Essentially, what does the author accomplish by making that particular stylistic choice? To address these questions, re-read the sentence or moment in question with an eye for how it sounds and feels. Don’t just think about what it says--what does it evoke?

1. The shift in point of view has the effect of …

2. The syntax of lines _____ to _____ serves to …

3. The author’s reference/allusion to “___” serves primarily to …

4. The second sentence is unified by metaphorical references to …

5. As lines _____ and _____ are constructed, "_____" is parallel to which of the following?

6. The antecedent for "_____" is …

7. The diction in the piece is best described as…

8. The syntax in the piece is best described as …

9. In paragraph __ the author employs which of the following rhetorical strategies …

Author's Purpose (Why did the writer…)

• • In the piece, the author makes all of the following assumptions about his/her readers EXCEPT…

  • The author would most likely agree with which of the following?

  • The narrator’s/writer’s/speaker’s attitude can be described as

  • The writer has  presented all of the following ideas except

  • We can infer that the author values the quality of

  • The attitude of the narrator helps the writer create a mood of

  • In context, lines “..” most likely refer to

  • “…” can best be defined as

  • The purpose of lines “…” can best be interpreted as

  • The writer clarifies “…” by

  • The writer emphasizes “..” in order to

  • By saying “..” the author intends for us to understand that

  • By “..” the author most likely means

  • The purpose of the sentence/paragraph/passage can be summarized as

  • The passage can be interpreted as meaning all of the following except

  • Which of the following best identifies the meaning of "_____"?

  • Which of the following best describes the author's purpose in the last sentence?

  • The author’s primary purpose is to…

  • The primary audience of the piece could be described as…

  • The authors uses (this certain image) for the purpose of…

  • The author emphasizes "_____" in order to …

  • The reason for the shift in tone in paragraph __ is due to …

  • The sympathy (or other word) referred to in line _____ is called "adjective" because it …

  • What is the function of _____ ?

  • The phrase, “__” functions primarily as …

Modes

• • Rhetorical modes (narration, description, argumentation, etc.)

  • Questions about Rhetorical Modes

  • Because the author uses expository format, he is able to …

  • The speaker's rhetorical strategy is to …

  • The author contrasts ___ and ___ in order to …

  • All of the following modes can be found within the passage except

  • The rhetorical mode that best describes this passage is

  • The author uses cause and effect in order to

  • Which of the following best describes the author’s method of presenting the information

  • The author combines retrospection with which other rhetorical mode within this passage?

  • The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage can best be described as …

  • The author's use of description is appropriate because …

  • Which of the following best describes the author's method?

Structure / Relationships Between Parts of the Text

• • Another question type will require you to identify or describe a relationship between two specific parts of the text. This could be paragraphs or shorter line segments, or a specific part of the passage compared to the rest of the passage or the passage as a whole.

My advice for answering these questions is similar to my advice for most questions--go back and read the parts of the passage in question! You may want to jot down an overarching impression of what each part of the text is accomplishing or saying as you do, which should help you compare them and identify the relationship.

• • Organization and structure (is their contrast, deduction, spatial description, etc.)

  • The shift from “…” to “….” Is seen by the author’s use of…

  • In presenting the author’s point, the passage utilizes all of the following except

  • The speaker has included “…” in her argument in order to…

  • The type of argument employed by the author is most similar to which of the following?

  • The can be said to move from “….” To “….”

  • The “…” paragraph can be said to be … in relation to …

  • The structure of this passage is primarily one of ….

  • The quotation "_____" signals a shift from …

  • The tone of the passage shifts from one of___ to one of ___.

  • The speaker's mention of "_____" is appropriate to the development of her argument by …

  • The type of argument employed by the author is most similar to which of the following?

  • The author uses a pattern of organization best described as …

  • The relationship between _____ and _____ is explained primarily by the use of which of the following?

  • Which of the following best describes the function of the ____ paragraph in relation to the paragraphs that precede it …

The Multiple-Choice Section: An Overview

Because the free-response section of the AP Lang and Composition exam is worth more than the multiple-choice section, we typically spend much more time with preparation for the free-response than multiple-choice. While it’s great to be prepared for the essays, this might leave you feeling like a lost and confused lamb when it comes to the AP English Language and Composition multiple choice section.

• Section I of the AP English Language and Composition test is the multiple choice section. This section will have 52-55 questions testing you on how well you can read and understand nonfiction passages for their use of rhetoric.

• On the exam, you will be presented with 4-5 nonfiction passages. You will receive a bit of orienting information at the beginning of this passage, for example “this essay originally appeared in a major national newspaper in the 1980s.” Each passage will have about 10-15 questions associated with it. 

• The AP Lang multiple choice section is worth 45% of your total exam score. You will receive one point to your raw score for every question you answer correctly. However, as on other AP exams, your raw score will be converted to a scaled score from 1-5.

• But what’s actually on the multiple-choice section? The next section explores what kinds of questions you can expect to actually be asked on the exam.

How to Prepare

There are several key strategies you can use to prepare yourself to rock the multiple-choice section of the AP Language and Composition exam.

Read and Engage With Nonfiction

A key prep strategy is to read nonfiction of all different types, particularly nonfiction that argues a position or advances an agenda of some kind. When you read, you should work on identifying and understanding how the author makes use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. Ask yourself:

1. What is the author’s argument?

2. What evidence do they use to support their position? What is the nature of their evidence--anecdotes, statistics, illustrative examples?

3. What rhetorical techniques and strategies do they use to build their argument?

4. Are they making particular kinds of appeals?

5. Is their argument strong? If yes, what makes it strong? If no, what makes it weak?

Constantly considering these questions as you read will help you learn to analyze passages quickly and informally, which is an essential skill for answering multiple-choice questions focused on rhetorical analysis.

Learn Rhetorical Terms and Strategies

In order to analyze works, of course, you need to know rhetorical terms and strategies.  You will undoubtedly learn many techniques and strategies from your teacher, and you should definitely review those before the exam. You can also check out my essential list of 55 AP English Language terms you need to know.

Make sure you aren’t just memorizing the terms and the definitions, but that you can actually identify all of the techniques at work in the things you read!

Practice Answering Multiple-Choice Questions

To succeed on the multiple-choice section, you need to practice answering multiple-choice questions! This will help you get familiar with the feel of the multiple-choice section and identify any gaps in your understanding.

Practice Question Resources

There are a variety of practice test resources you can use to hone your multiple choice skills. The best multiple-choice practice resources come from the College Board. This is because they write the AP exam, so their practice questions are the most like real AP multiple-choice questions. Unfortunately, there are not as many official resources for the AP Language and Composition exam as there are for some other tests.

However, once you run out of official College Board practice questions, there are still some unofficial resources that you can use for multiple choice practice. In this section I’ll go over both.

Official Multiple-Choice Resources

The College Board offers both complete released exams and sample multiple-choice questions.

Complete Released Exams

Complete official exams are a great resource if you can find them, because they will have complete multiple-choice sections for you to practice with.

Unfortunately, the College Board has not released any official previous exams for AP Language and Composition, as they have for many other tests. You may, though, still be able to find complete official exams from past years by Googling “AP Language complete released exam” or similar variations on that. You might also ask your AP teacher if there are copies of old AP exams you can use for practice. They often have access to past exams and may be able to loan them to you.

Sample Questions From the “AP Course and Exam Description”

The AP Course and Exam description for AP Language and Composition includes 50 sample multiple-choice questions. This is actually only two questions short of a complete multiple choice section, so this a pretty sizable collection of questions to add to your practice bank. 

Unofficial Multiple-Choice Practice Resources

There are tons of sites out there offering free multiple-choice practice questions and quizzes for the AP Language and Composition exam.  But they aren’t all created equal! In this section I’ll highlight just several of these resources that are most worth your time. For an even more comprehensive list, see my list of all practice tests available for AP Lang and Comp.

College Countdown Complete AP Language Practice Test

This site has a complete unofficial practice test. You can ignore the essays for the purposes of multiple choice practice. The wording of questions on the multiple-choice section aren’t exactly the same as on a real AP exam, but the tasks are very similar and the passages are well-selected. This is a great source for sample multiple choice questions once you run out of College Board official options.

McGraw-Hill AP Practice Quiz

McGraw-Hill, an academic book publisher, offers this free 25-question multiple-choice “diagnostic quiz.” It has difficult, well-written multiple-choice questions that really look and feel like real AP questions. The passages do open in another window, which is slightly awkward and annoying, but the questions are so good that it’s worth it!

The quiz is supposed to be 25 questions, but you could theoretically get more than 25 questions from this resource since every time you open a new test window you get a subset randomly selected questions from a question pool.

Albert.io English Language Practice

Albert.io has a decent number of small multiple-choice quizzes that offer practice questions analyzing the rhetoric of various notable nonfiction passages. The style of the questions is a little more informal and to the point than genuine AP questions published by the College Board, but they are still good practice for answering multiple-choice questions about rhetorical techniques deployed in a passage. So when you’ve exhausted your other resources this is still a solid multiple-choice practice question source.

In order to answer questions, you need to sign up for a free account. It then costs “credits” to answer questions. You can both buy additional credits and earn credits for answering questions correctly, so if you are good at answering questions, you can use this service for free pretty much indefinitely! Otherwise I don’t really advise buying credits since there are frankly better paid resources available (like review books).

Review Books

Most review books also have practice multiple-choice questions designed to mimic College Board questions and are a good resource when you’ve used all of your official and unofficial free questions. However, not all review books are of equal quality, and some have questions that are downright poor quality. Be sure to look at reviews and flip through the book to check out its questions and how they compare to College Board questions before buying if you can. As a starting place, Barron’s and the Princeton Review are usually reliable review book sources.

Test Day Tips

Here are four key strategies to help you succeed on the multiple choice section on test day.

Interact With the Text

When you are initially reading a passage, do some preliminary marking up! Underline things that seem particularly significant, like a thesis statement or major shift in the text. Make notes of motifs or confusing sentences. These marks will help you familiarize yourself with the text and navigate it when you come back to answer the questions.

Identify Main Ideas

Once you finish reading a passage through, quickly jot down the main idea/argument of the piece, the author’s purpose, and the intended audience. This will help you answer overarching passage questions. Additionally, preemptively identifying these points before addressing the questions should help make many of them more clear and help you keep the passage framed in your mind as you work through questions.

Always Re-read

Never rely on your memory when the question is about a specific place in the text: always go back and read the line in question. If the answer still isn’t clear once you’ve consulted the text, read a little bit around the specified line for more context and clarity.

Eliminate Off-Topic Answers

An easy trick to eliminating wrong answers for many questions is to simply identify answer choices that are clearly off-topic. At a first pass these might not be obvious, since they may use a word or phrase from the passage and will sound stylistically similar to the other choices. But a closer look will reveal that the answer has nothing to do with the paragraph or passage topic!

Key Takeaways

The multiple-choice section of AP Lang and Comp has 52-55 questions and is worth 45% of your exam grade.

There are eight types of questions you can expect to see on the AP Language and Composition multiple choice exam:

1. Reading Comprehension

2. Implication

3. Overall Passage and Author Questions

4. Relationship between parts of the text

5. Interpretation of imagery/figurative language

6. Purpose of part of the text

7. Rhetorical strategy

8. Style and effect

The multiple-choice section of the AP Language and Composition exam can be challenging for students who are more used to literary close-reading than rhetorical analysis. However, you can learn to succeed!

Here’s how to prepare:

1. Read and engage thoughtfully with nonfiction so you can identify essential rhetorical elements quickly and thoroughly.

2. Learn rhetorical terms and strategies and both how to identify them in other works and how to use them in your own writing.

3. Practice for the multiple-choice section!

There are a number of resources, both official and unofficial, where you can get practice AP language and composition multiple-choice practice questions. There are some official resources from the College Board and some unofficial free online resources, though you should always be careful to thoroughly investigate unofficial material for quality.

Once it’s time for test day, here are four strategies to succeed on the multiple-choice section:

1. Interact with the passages as you read them for the first time.

2. Identify the main ideas--the author’s purpose, argument, and audience--right after the first time you read the passage.

3. Always go back and re-read the part of the passage in question--don’t rely on memory!

4. Watch out for answer choices that are clearly off-topic and eliminate them!

Go here for practice exam questions and explanations!!

Question Stems

• The shift in point of view has the effect of . . .

• The syntax of lines _____ to _____ serves to . . .

• The second sentence is unified by metaphorical references to . . .

• As lines _____ and _____ are constructed, "_____" is parallel to which of the following?

• The antecedent for "_____" is . . .

• Which of the following best identifies the meaning of "_____"?

• Which of the following best describes the author's purpose in the last sentence?

• The author emphasizes "_____" in order to . . .

• The sympathy referred to in line _____ is called "_____" because it . . .

• What is the function of _____ ?

• The theme of the second paragraph is . . .

• The speaker's attitude is best described as one of . . .

• In context, the sentence "_____" is best interpreted as which of the following?

• The atmosphere is one of . . .

• Which of the following would the author be LEAST likely to encourage?

• The quotation "_____" signals a shift from . . .

• The speaker's mention of "_____" is appropriate to the development of her argument by . . .

• The type of argument employed by the author is most similar to which of the following?

• The relationship between _____ and _____ is explained primarily by the use of which of the following?

• The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage can best be described as . . .

• The author's use of description is appropriate because . . .

• Which of the following best describes the author's method?

• Because the author uses expository format, he is able to . . .

• The speaker's rhetorical strategy is to . .

Types of Included Passages 

The passages will include mostly American literature from the time periods of when America was first being built and expanding, these time periods include:

• Native American literature

• Puritan/Colonial literature

• The Age of Reason and Nationalism

• Romanticism

• Transcendentalism

• Realism/Regionalism/ Naturalism

• Modernism

Rules

• The multiple choice section is worth 45%

• The multiple choice question consists of 52-55 questions and is 1 hour long.

• guessing does not count against you (guess...don't leave it blank)

Advice for Tackling This Section

• Always start with the easiest passage

• Decide well in advance whether to read the questions or the passages first

• Use context clues from the passages to help you with more difficult questions

• ​Use the process of elimination to guestimate the correct answer when you don't know it

• Be mindful of your time

• Stay calm and don't get nervous. Stay focused!

Annotation Advice

• If you have four passages to read in 60 minutes, allot 15 minutes/per passage, moving steadily 

• Answer DISCOURSE MARKERS FIRST!! Answer first the questions that limit you to a particular paragraph or line. 

• When the question refers to a part of the sentence and asks for the meaning of a word or phrase in context, what a word refers to, or how a word functions, go back to the beginning of that sentence—or even to the previous sentence—and read completely to the end of that sentence. Some questions ask what the antecedent of a word is, and the answer is found in the preceding sentence. You may also want to read the sentence that follows—the answer could be there 

• Quickly scan the passages before you begin to get a sense of what each is about. Decide which one is the least comprehensible (usually a pre-1900 passage). That’s the passage to skip at first 

• When annotating the passage try to reword every paragraph to what you understood

• Make side notes of questions you have then try to answer them as you go along with the passage

Sample Passages

Questions 1–11. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. 

This passage is excerpted from an essay written in nineteenth-century England. 

    It has been well said that the highest aim

​    in education is analogous to the highest aim in

    mathematics, namely, to obtain not results but

    powers, not particular solutions, but the means by

5  which endless solutions may be wrought. He is the

    most effective educator who aims less at perfecting

​    specific acquirements than at producing that mental

    condition which renders acquirements easy, and leads

    to their useful application; who does not seek to make 

10 his pupils moral by enjoining particular courses of

    action, but by bringing into activity the feelings and

    sympathies that must issue in noble action. On the

    same ground it may be said that the most effective

    writer is not he who announces a particular discovery, 

15 who convinces men of a particular conclusion, who

    demonstrates that this measure is right and that

    measure wrong; but he who rouses in others the

    activities that must issue in discovery, who awakes

    men from their indifference to the right and the 

20 wrong, who nerves their energies to seek for the truth

    and live up to it at whatever cost. The influence of

    such a writer is dynamic. He does not teach men how

    to use sword and musket, but he inspires their souls

    with courage and sends a strong will into their 

25 muscles. He does not, perhaps, enrich your stock of

    data, but he clears away the film from your eyes that

    you may search for data to some purpose. He does

    not, perhaps, convince you, but he strikes you,

    undeceives you, animates you. You are not directly 

30 fed by his books, but you are braced as by a walk up

    to an alpine summit, and yet subdued to calm and

    reverence as by the sublime things to be seen from

    that summit. 

    Such a writer is Thomas Carlyle. It is an idle

35 question to ask whether his books will be read a

    century hence: if they were all burnt as the grandest

    of Suttees1 on his funeral pile, it would be only like

    cutting down an oak after its acorns have sown a

    forest. For there is hardly a superior or active mind 

40 of this generation that has not been modified by

    Carlyle’s writings; there has hardly been an English

    book written for the last ten or twelve years that

    would not have been different if Carlyle had not lived.

    The character of his influence is best seen in the fact

45 that many of the men who have the least agreement

    with his opinions are those to whom the reading of 

    Sartor Resartus was an epoch in the history of their

    minds. The extent of his influence may be best seen in

    the fact that ideas which were startling novelties when

50 he first wrote them are now become common-places.

    And we think few men will be found to say that this

    influence on the whole has not been for good. There

    are plenty who question the justice of Carlyle’s

    estimates of past men and past times, plenty who

55 quarrel with the exaggerations of the Latter-Day

    Pamphlets, and who are as far as possible from

    looking for an amendment of things from a Carlylian

    theocracy with the ‘greatest man’, as a Joshua who is

    to smite the wicked (and the stupid) till the going

60 down of the sun.2 But for any large nature, those

    points of difference are quite incidental. It is not as a

    theorist, but as a great and beautiful human nature,

    that Carlyle influences us. You may meet a man

    whose wisdom seems unimpeachable, since you find

65 him entirely in agreement with yourself; but this

    oracular man of unexceptionable opinions has a

    green eye, a wiry hand, and altogether a Wesen, or

    demeanour, that makes the world look blank to you,

    and whose unexceptionable opinions become a bore;

70 while another man who deals in what you cannot but

    think ‘dangerous paradoxes’, warms your heart by the

    pressure of his hand, and looks out on the world with

    so clear and loving an eye, that nature seems to reflect

    the light of his glance upon your own feeling. So it is

75 with Carlyle. When he is saying the very opposite of

    what we think, he says it so finely, with so hearty 

    conviction—he makes the object about which we 

    differ stand out in such grand relief under the clear 

    light of his strong and honest intellect—he appeals 

80 so constantly to our sense of the manly and the 

    truthful—that we are obliged to say ‘Hear! hear!’ to 

    the writer before we can give the decorous ‘Oh! oh!’ 

    to his opinions. 

Sample Questions

​

1. What is the relationship between the two paragraphs in the passage? 

    (A)  The first paragraph describes strengths of a writer that Carlyle exhibits, and the second discusses his legacy. 

    (B)  The first paragraph surveys various types of writers, and the second focuses on Carlyle. 

    (C)  The first paragraph describes Carlyle’s critics, and the second depicts his supporters. 

    (D)  The first paragraph considers who influenced Carlyle, and the second lists those he influenced.​

   (E)  The first paragraph explains Carlyle’s major ideas, and the second evaluates his predictions.

Questions 12–24. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. This passage consists of excerpts from an essay published in the 1940s. 

    It is the fate of actors to leave only picture postcards

    behind them. Every night when the curtain goes down

    the beautiful coloured canvas is rubbed out. What

    remains is at best only a wavering, insubstantial

5  phantom—a verbal life on the lips of the living.

    Ellen Terry was well aware of it. She tried herself,

    overcome by the greatness of Irving as Hamlet and

    indignant at the caricatures of his detractors, to

    describe what she remembered. It was in vain. She

10 dropped her pen in despair. “Oh God, that I were a

    writer!” she cried. “Surely a writer could not string

    words together about Henry Irving’s Hamlet and say 

    nothing, nothing.” It never struck her, humble as she

    was, and obsessed by her lack of book learning, that

15 she was, among other things, a writer. It never occurred

    to her when she wrote her autobiography, or scribbled

    page after page to Bernard Shaw late at night, dead

    tired after a rehearsal, that she was “writing.” The

    words in her beautiful rapid hand bubbled off her pen.

20 With dashes and notes of exclamation she tried to give

    them the very tone and stress of the spoken word. It is

    true, she could not build a house with words, one room

    opening out of another, and a staircase connecting the

    whole. But whatever she took up became in her warm,

25 sensitive grasp a tool. If it was a rolling-pin, she made

   perfect pastry. If it was a carving knife, perfect slices

    fell from the leg of mutton. If it were a pen, words

    peeled off, some broken, some suspended in mid-air,

    but all far more expressive than the tappings of the

30 professional typewriter.

    With her pen then at odds and ends of time she has

    painted a self-portrait. It is not an Academy portrait,

    glazed, framed, complete. It is rather a bundle of loose

    leaves upon each of which she has dashed off a sketch

35 for a portrait—here a nose, here an arm, here a foot,

    and there a mere scribble in the margin. The sketches

    done in different moods, from different angles, some 

    times contradict each other... .

    Which, then, of all these women is the real Ellen

40 Terry? How are we to put the scattered sketches

   together? Is she mother, wife, cook, critic, actress, 

    or should she have been, after all, a painter? Each part

    seems the right part until she throws it aside and plays

    another. Something of Ellen Terry it seems overflowed 

45 every part and remained unacted. Shakespeare could

    not fit her; not Ibsen; nor Shaw. The stage could not

    hold her; nor the nursery. But there is, after all, a

    greater dramatist than Shakespeare, Ibsen, or Shaw.

    There is Nature. Hers is so vast a stage, and so 

50 innumerable a company of actors, that for the most

    part she fobs them off with a tag or two. They come

    on and they go off without breaking the ranks. But

    now and again Nature creates a new part, an original

    part. The actors who act that part always defy our 

55 attempts to name them. They will not act the stock

    parts—they forget the words, they improvise others

    of their own. But when they come on the stage falls

    like a pack of cards and the limelights are extinguished.

    That was Ellen Terry’s fate—to act a new part. And 

60 thus while other actors are remembered because they

    were Hamlet, Phèdre, or Cleopatra, Ellen Terry is

​    remembered because she was Ellen Terry. 

Sample Questions

​

1. Which of the following statements is best supported by information given in the passage?

​    (A)  Terry never focused on one career; she was skilled at so many things that she did not excel in any one thing

    (B)  Terry was so clever an actress that her portrayal of a role seemed to change every night.

    (C)  Shaw encouraged Terry to become a play-wright by carefully tutoring her in creating plots and characters.

    (D)  Because Terry lacked confidence in certain of her skills, she never fully realized she was a person of rare talents and gifts.

    (E)  Because Terry did not have natural talent for either writing or acting, she struggled to learn her crafts and became great through sheer willpower. 

2.The author’s attitude toward Terry can best be described as 

    (A)  superior and condescending

    (B)  unbiased and dispassionate

    (C)  sympathetic and admiring

    (D)  curious and skeptical

    (E)  conciliatory and forgiving

3. In line 1, “picture postcards” functions as a metaphor for the

    (A)  published text of a play

    (B)  audience’s impressions of the actors’ performances

    (C)  critical reviews of plays

    (D)  plays in which the actors in the company have previously performed

    (E)  stage designer’s sketches of sets and scenes

2. Which of the following best represents the author’s intended audience?

    (A)  Individuals who are fairly well acquainted with Carlyle’s writing

    (B)  Readers who are having trouble understanding Carlyle’s prose

    (C)  Writers who hope to produce books that are like Carlyle’s

    (D)  Instructors looking for different ways to teach Carlyle

    (E)  Scholars seeking information about Carlyle’s personal life 

3. Lines 5–12 (“He is ... noble action”) contrast

    (A)  the acquisition of skills and the possession of aptitude

    (B)  the labor of reasoning and the exhilaration of acting

    (C)  the dissemination of knowledge and the cultivation of intellectual and moral powers

    (D)  the traits of practical students and those of creative thinkers

​    (E)  the benefits of learning and the rewards of teaching

​ 

4. The author uses the phrase “On the same ground” (lines 12–13) to set up a comparison between

    (A)  the aims of mathematics and those of education

    (B)  conceptually powerful writers and exemplary educators

    (C)  intellectual challenges faced by writers and those faced by readers

    (D)  the formulation of solutions and the identification of problems    

    (E)  scientific writing and inspirational writing

5. On the basis of the first paragraph, Thomas Carlyle is best characterized as a writer who is

    (A) ambitious, seeking to increase the number of people buying his books

    (B) revolutionary, agitating his readers to adopt a radically new worldview

    (C) charismatic, enticing his readers to support his views and beliefs

    (D) provocative, compelling his readers to reach their own conclusions

    (E) masterful, overpowering his readers with a sense of awe and veneration 

​

6. The “acorns” (line 38) represent

    (A) Carlyle’s young children

    (B) Carlyle’s less prominent contemporaries

    (C) ideas in Carlyle’s books

    (D) books written about Carlyle

    (E) those who are critical of Carlyle 

7. In lines 47–48, the author refers to “an epoch in the history of their minds” to

    (A) illustrate the ways in which other intellectuals disagreed with Carlyle

    (B) define the meaning of the title Sartor Resartus

    (C) question the continued relevance of Carlyle’s ideas 

    (D) describe the major impact that Carlyle had on other people (E) characterize the arduous process of reading Sartor Resartus 

8. The author mentions the Latter-Day Pamphlets (lines 55–56) primarily to

    (A) provide an example of what is indisputably “good” (line 52)

    (B) identify the book that discusses “past men and past times” (line 54)

    (C) acknowledge some of the concerns held by the “plenty” (line 54)

    (D) justify Carlyle’s desire for “an amendment of things” (line 57)

    (E) explain Carlyle’s inspiration for the theory of the “‘greatest man’” (line 58) 

9. Which rhetorical strategy does the author adopt in lines 44–63 (“The character ... influences us”)?

    (A)  She goes on the offensive, berating opponents of Carlyle for their absence of wisdom, judgment, and foresight.

    (B)  She acknowledges but discredits other arguments, accusing Carlyle’s critics of misunderstanding the originality of Carlyle’s ideas.

    (C)  She claims that most people do not recognize Carlyle’s genius, suggesting that only a discerning few are capable of doing so.

    (D)  She cites facts to counter opposition to Carlyle’s eminence, claiming that all of Carlyle’s judgments are unassailable.

    (E)  She gives examples of Carlyle’s far-reaching influence, noting that even criticism of Carlyle implies praise. 

10. What purpose do lines 63–74 (“You may ... own feeling”) serve?

    (A)  They contrast the appeal of a writer who merely confirms his readers’ views with that of a writer who boldly challenges them.

    (B)  They develop an analogy between the kinds of individuals people are attracted to and the kinds of writing they prefer.

    (C)  They challenge the idea that writers modify their ideas to appeal to a wide range of readers.

    (D)  They examine whether relationships based on shared ideas and interests are rewarding to both parties.

    (E)  They provide examples from various writers in which the appearance of good and evil is deceptive. 

11. In lines 75–83 (“When he ... his opinions”), the author develops her rhetorical purpose by

    (A)  contrasting “he” and “we” to set Carlyle apart and show how he is critical of everyone else

    (B)  inserting dashes to highlight Carlyle’s most influential ideas and opinions

    (C)  employing dramatically urgent adverbs to create a surprising conclusion for the reader

    (D)  delaying the conclusion of the independent clause to build up the reader’s sense of anticipation

​    (E)  utilizing the parallel “Hear! hear!” and “Oh! oh!” to imitate a chorus of approval for Carlyle 

4. The passage implies that the primary enemy of the “beautiful coloured canvas” and the “wavering, insubstantial phantom” (lines 3 and 4–5) is the

    (A)  cost of producing plays

    (B)  whims of critics

    (C)  passage of time

    (D)  incredulity of audiences

    (E)  shortcomings of dramatists

5. The phrase “a verbal life on the lips of the living” (line 5) suggests that

    (A)  performances live only in the memories of those who witness and speak of them

    (B)  actors do not take the trouble to explain their art to the public

    (C)  the reviews of critics have a powerful influence on the popularity of a production

    (D)  dramatists try to write dialogue that imitates ordinary spoken language

    (E)  audiences respond to the realism of the theater 

6. What is the relationship of the second and third sentences (lines 2–5) to the first sentence (lines 1–2)? 

    (A) They are structurally less complex than the first.

    (B) They are expressed in less conditional terms than the first.

    (C) They introduce new ideas not mentioned in the first.

    (D) They clarify and expand on the first.

    (E) They question the generalization made in the first. 

7. The pronoun “it” (line 6) refers to which of the following?

    (A) “fate” (line 1)

    (B) “curtain” (line 2)

    (C) “canvas” (line 3) 

    (D) “phantom” (line 5) (E) “life” (line 5) 

8. The effect of italicizing the words “nothing, nothing” (line 13) is to        

    (A) emphasize Terry’s sense of frustration

    (B) indicate a sarcastic tone

    (C) suggest the difficulty of writing great parts for actors 

    (D) link a clear sense of purpose to success in writing

    (E) imply that Terry’s weakness in writing is her tendency to exaggerate 

9. The words “bubbled off ” (line 19) and “peeled off ” (line 28), used to describe the way Terry wrote, emphasize

    (A)  polish and sophistication

    (B)  thoughtfulness and application

    (C)  bluntness and indiscretion

    (D)  mystery and imagination

    (E)  ease and spontaneity

10. Which of the following stylistic features is used most extensively in lines 25-30 ?

    (A)  Inversion of normal subject/verb/object order

    (B)  Repetition of sentence structure

    (C)  Periodic sentence structure

    (D)  Sentence fragments for emphasis

    (E)  Use of connotative meanings that add complexity

11. The effect of mentioning an “Academy portrait” (line 32) is to 

    (A)  imply that Terry deserved to have her portrait painted by a great artist

    (B)  suggest that Terry was adept at self-expression both in writing and in painting

    (C)  clarify the informal nature of Terry’s self-portrait through contrast

    (D)  hint that Terry’s self-absorption prevented her from writing about herself dispassionately

    (E)  blame Terry for her rebellion against the conventions of art form

12. The “sketches” (line 36) are most probably 

    (A)  responses to reviewers who have criticized Terry’s acting

    (B)  paintings by Terry of other actors

    (C)  stage directions from playwrights

    (D)  self-revelatory remarks

    (E)  descriptions of characters Terry has portrayed

13. The author suggests that Shakespeare, Shaw, and Ibsen could not “fit” (line 46) Terry chiefly because

    (A)  the parts they created did not allow Terry to make use of every aspect of her talents

    (B)  their dramatic talents were focused on plot rather than on character

    (C)  Terry was better at conveying certain kinds of characters and emotions than she was at conveying others

    (D)  their plays were set in historical periods different from the one in which Terry lived

    (E)  the speeches they wrote for their female characters were written in accents and dialects different from Terry’s