AP English Literature and Composition Practice Test 1

Complete all 55 items in 60 minutes. The official exam allots this same time to Section I: Multiple-Choice, which counts for 45 percent of the total AP score. Items 1--50 appear in five scenarios, each built around an original literary passage---a poem or a short prose fiction excerpt---written specifically for this practice archive; between seven and ten close-reading questions follow each passage, covering theme, structure, figurative language, tone, characterization, and syntax. Items 51--55 are standalone items, each built around a brief original excerpt. All poems and passages below are original works created for this practice set and do not reproduce or closely paraphrase any published poem, story, or novel. Note: the official AP exam also includes Section II, three free-response essays (a poetry-analysis essay, a prose-fiction-analysis essay, and a literary-argument essay in which the student selects a previously read work) administered in a separate 2-hour writing period and worth 55 percent of the total score. That written section is not represented in this multiple-choice-only practice test. No calculator or outside reference material is permitted.