<p>It probably won’t happen, but I would really like to score a 5 on the AP Lit exam. It doesn’t even count for the college I’m going to, but I really want to please my teacher since he thinks so highly of me. He always goes on about how I’m talented with writing, but I understand that there’s a difference between being handy with a pen and answering literally-complex questions. </p>
<p>Any words of wisdom for a pressured yet has-nothing-to-gain-or-lose senior? Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>Answer the question is probably the best piece of advice I can give. When you read the question, underline what it says to do.
Define- explain the meaning and point out the most important qualities
Explain- make plain or understandable
Discuss- examine in detail and outline various views and their effect
Illustrate- make clear by giving examples and the impact they have
Compare/Contrast- highlight the similarities/differences; explain the impact they might have
Interpret- explain the meaning/relevance/importance
Analyze- point out the main features and show their relationships to one another
Evaluate- judge the quality, supporting your judgement with sound reasoning</p>
<p>If you understand what the question is asking, then you will be able to better answer it. Make sure your thesis answers the question. Don’t get off topic in your paper because it’s just wasting time. When you read an essay, you can tell the score of the paper by the thesis sentence. Get that down and you should be good.
Avoid passive verbs and try and elevate your language. Also, write neatly so they understand what you’re saying. If they suggest using certain literary terms, try to use those, but you don’t have to. Don’t write a whole paragraph on a term you don’t know.</p>
<p>Your introductory paragraph should be shaped like a cone, in the sense that it should start wide and narrow to the end. The first sentence of your introduction should talk about literature as a whole or humanity as a whole. Then you want to narrow it down to your genre of literature or time period that it was written in. Then you want to hone in on your author or your novel of choice. Finally you write your thesis. This isn’t necessary, but I find it cuts down on time when I go in with a formula and this one is pretty solid. It tends to lean more towards the thematic side and less towards “mere plot summary.”</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Same here Harvestmoon. The AP Lit exam won’t count for squat at my school. I’m taking it for no reason. My teacher also seems to think that I am a master of British literature. My score may shed some light on the truth.</p>
<p>@ohmylatte: that cone thing is exactly what I always do!! My teacher has pestered me for the past two years about cutting the universal fluff and starting with the literature, but I’m glad I found someone else that understands the whole broad-to-specific concept!! Haha. Thanks so much so the insight. Hopefully that helped with my exam. I think i did pretty well, especially since all of my essays had the upside-down cone approach nestled in the intro 
but multiple choice was an entirely different story… /:</p>
<p>And Fermat25, isn’t it horrible?? I don’t understand how an AP English test isn’t accepted by some colleges. Isn’t English the same in any area? Aren’t your writing skills evaluated equally in both AP Lit and AP Lang? It makes me so angry lol, especially since Calc, the one that CAN count, went over horrible the day before :P</p>