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How to Write the AP Lit Prose Essay with Examples

March 30, 2024

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples – The College Board’s Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Course is one of the most enriching experiences that high school students can have. It exposes you to literature that most people don’t encounter until college , and it helps you develop analytical and critical thinking skills that will enhance the quality of your life, both inside and outside of school. The AP Lit Exam reflects the rigor of the course. The exam uses consistent question types, weighting, and scoring parameters each year . This means that, as you prepare for the exam, you can look at previous questions, responses, score criteria, and scorer commentary to help you practice until your essays are perfect.

What is the AP Lit Free Response testing? 

In AP Literature, you read books, short stories, and poetry, and you learn how to commit the complex act of literary analysis . But what does that mean? Well, “to analyze” literally means breaking a larger idea into smaller and smaller pieces until the pieces are small enough that they can help us to understand the larger idea. When we’re performing literary analysis, we’re breaking down a piece of literature into smaller and smaller pieces until we can use those pieces to better understand the piece of literature itself.

So, for example, let’s say you’re presented with a passage from a short story to analyze. The AP Lit Exam will ask you to write an essay with an essay with a clear, defensible thesis statement that makes an argument about the story, based on some literary elements in the short story. After reading the passage, you might talk about how foreshadowing, allusion, and dialogue work together to demonstrate something essential in the text. Then, you’ll use examples of each of those three literary elements (that you pull directly from the passage) to build your argument. You’ll finish the essay with a conclusion that uses clear reasoning to tell your reader why your argument makes sense.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples (Continued)

But what’s the point of all of this? Why do they ask you to write these essays?

Well, the essay is, once again, testing your ability to conduct literary analysis. However, the thing that you’re also doing behind that literary analysis is a complex process of both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning takes a series of points of evidence and draws a larger conclusion. Deductive reasoning departs from the point of a broader premise and draws a singular conclusion. In an analytical essay like this one, you’re using small pieces of evidence to draw a larger conclusion (your thesis statement) and then you’re taking your thesis statement as a larger premise from which you derive your ultimate conclusion.

So, the exam scorers are looking at your ability to craft a strong thesis statement (a singular sentence that makes an argument), use evidence and reasoning to support that argument, and then to write the essay well. This is something they call “sophistication,” but they’re looking for well-organized thoughts carried through clear, complete sentences.

This entire process is something you can and will use throughout your life. Law, engineering, medicine—whatever pursuit, you name it—utilizes these forms of reasoning to run experiments, build cases, and persuade audiences. The process of this kind of clear, analytical thinking can be honed, developed, and made easier through repetition.

Practice Makes Perfect

Because the AP Literature Exam maintains continuity across the years, you can pull old exam copies, read the passages, and write responses. A good AP Lit teacher is going to have you do this time and time again in class until you have the formula down. But, it’s also something you can do on your own, if you’re interested in further developing your skills.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples 

Let’s take a look at some examples of questions, answers and scorer responses that will help you to get a better idea of how to craft your own AP Literature exam essays.

In the exam in 2023, students were asked to read a poem by Alice Cary titled “Autumn,” which was published in 1874. In it, the speaker contemplates the start of autumn. Then, students are asked to craft a well-written essay which uses literary techniques to convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.

The following is an essay that received a perfect 6 on the exam. There are grammar and usage errors throughout the essay, which is important to note: even though the writer makes some mistakes, the structure and form of their argument was strong enough to merit a 6. This is what your scorers will be looking for when they read your essay.

Example Essay 

Romantic and hyperbolic imagery is used to illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn, which conveys Cary’s idea that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.

Romantic imagery is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s warm regard for the season of summer and emphasize her regretfulness for autumn’s coming, conveying the uncomfortable change away from idyllic familiarity. Summer, is portrayed in the image of a woman who “from her golden collar slips/and strays through stubble fields/and moans aloud.” Associated with sensuality and wealth, the speaker implies the interconnection between a season and bounty, comfort, and pleasure. Yet, this romantic view is dismantled by autumn, causing Summer to “slip” and “stray through stubble fields.” Thus, the coming of real change dethrones a constructed, romantic personification of summer,  conveying the speaker’s reluctance for her ideal season to be dethroned by something much less decorated and adored.

Summer, “she lies on pillows of the yellow leaves,/ And tries the old tunes for over an hour”, is contrasted with bright imagery of fallen leaves/ The juxtaposition between Summer’s character and the setting provides insight into the positivity of change—the yellow leaves—by its contrast with the failures of attempting to sustain old habits or practices, “old tunes”. “She lies on pillows” creates a sympathetic, passive image of summer in reaction to the coming of Autumn, contrasting her failures to sustain “old tunes.” According to this, it is understood that the speaker recognizes the foolishness of attempting to prevent what is to come, but her wishfulness to counter the natural progression of time.

Hyperbolic imagery displays the discrepancies between unrealistic, exaggerated perceptions of change and the reality of progress, continuing the perpetuation of Cary’s idea that change must be embraced rather than rejected. “Shorter and shorter now the twilight clips/The days, as though the sunset gates they crowd”, syntax and diction are used to literally separate different aspects of the progression of time. In an ironic parallel to the literal language, the action of twilight’s “clip” and the subject, “the days,” are cut off from each other into two different lines, emphasizing a sense of jarring and discomfort. Sunset, and Twilight are named, made into distinct entities from the day, dramatizing the shortening of night-time into fall. The dramatic, sudden implications for the change bring to mind the switch between summer and winter, rather than a transitional season like fall—emphasizing the Speaker’s perspective rather than a factual narration of the experience.

She says “the proud meadow-pink hangs down her head/Against the earth’s chilly bosom, witched with frost”. Implying pride and defeat, and the word “witched,” the speaker brings a sense of conflict, morality, and even good versus evil into the transition between seasons. Rather than a smooth, welcome change, the speaker is practically against the coming of fall. The hyperbole present in the poem serves to illustrate the Speaker’s perspective and ideas on the coming of fall, which are characterized by reluctance and hostility to change from comfort.

The topic of this poem, Fall–a season characterized by change and the deconstruction of the spring and summer landscape—is juxtaposed with the final line which evokes the season of Spring. From this, it is clear that the speaker appreciates beautiful and blossoming change. However, they resent that which destroys familiar paradigms and norms. Fall, seen as the death of summer, is characterized as a regression, though the turning of seasons is a product of the literal passage of time. Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.

Scoring Criteria: Why did this essay do so well? 

When it comes to scoring well, there are some rather formulaic things that the judges are searching for. You might think that it’s important to “stand out” or “be creative” in your writing. However, aside from concerns about “sophistication,” which essentially means you know how to organize thoughts into sentences and you can use language that isn’t entirely elementary, you should really focus on sticking to a form. This will show the scorers that you know how to follow that inductive/deductive reasoning process that we mentioned earlier, and it will help to present your ideas in the most clear, coherent way possible to someone who is reading and scoring hundreds of essays.

So, how did this essay succeed? And how can you do the same thing?

First: The Thesis 

On the exam, you can either get one point or zero points for your thesis statement. The scorers said, “The essay responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis located in the introductory paragraph,” which you can read as the first sentence in the essay. This is important to note: you don’t need a flowery hook to seduce your reader; you can just start this brief essay with some strong, simple, declarative sentences—or go right into your thesis.

What makes a good thesis? A good thesis statement does the following things:

• Makes a claim that will be supported by evidence
• Is specific and precise in its use of language
• Argues for an original thought that goes beyond a simple restating of the facts

If you’re sitting here scratching your head wondering how you come up with a thesis statement off the top of your head, let me give you one piece of advice: don’t.

The AP Lit scoring criteria gives you only one point for the thesis for a reason: they’re just looking for the presence of a defensible claim that can be proven by evidence in the rest of the essay.

Second: Write your essay from the inside out 

While the thesis is given one point, the form and content of the essay can receive anywhere from zero to four points. This is where you should place the bulk of your focus.

My best advice goes like this:

• Choose your evidence first
• Develop your commentary about the evidence
• Then draft your thesis statement based on the evidence that you find and the commentary you can create.

It will seem a little counterintuitive: like you’re writing your essay from the inside out. But this is a fundamental skill that will help you in college and beyond. Don’t come up with an argument out of thin air and then try to find evidence to support your claim. Look for the evidence that exists and then ask yourself what it all means. This will also keep you from feeling stuck or blocked at the beginning of the essay. If you prepare for the exam by reviewing the literary devices that you learned in the course and practice locating them in a text, you can quickly and efficiently read a literary passage and choose two or three literary devices that you can analyze.

Third: Use scratch paper to quickly outline your evidence and commentary 

Once you’ve located two or three literary devices at work in the given passage, use scratch paper to draw up a quick outline. Give each literary device a major bullet point. Then, briefly point to the quotes/evidence you’ll use in the essay. Finally, start to think about what the literary device and evidence are doing together. Try to answer the question: what meaning does this bring to the passage?

A sample outline for one paragraph of the above essay might look like this:

Romantic imagery

Portrayal of summer

• Woman who “from her golden collar… moans aloud”
• Summer as bounty

Contrast with Autumn

• Autumn dismantles Summer
• “Stray through stubble fields”
• Autumn is change; it has the power to dethrone the romance of Summer/make summer a bit meaningless

Recognition of change in a positive light

• Summer “lies on pillows / yellow leaves / tries old tunes”
• Bright imagery/fallen leaves
• Attempt to maintain old practices fails: “old tunes”
• But! There is sympathy: “lies on pillows”

Speaker recognizes: she can’t prevent what is to come; wishes to embrace natural passage of time

By the time the writer gets to the end of the outline for their paragraph, they can easily start to draw conclusions about the paragraph based on the evidence they have pulled out. You can see how that thinking might develop over the course of the outline.

Then, the speaker would take the conclusions they’ve drawn and write a “mini claim” that will start each paragraph. The final bullet point of this outline isn’t the same as the mini claim that comes at the top of the second paragraph of the essay, however, it is the conclusion of the paragraph. You would do well to use the concluding thoughts from your outline as the mini claim to start your body paragraph. This will make your paragraphs clear, concise, and help you to construct a coherent argument.

Repeat this process for the other one or two literary devices that you’ve chosen to analyze, and then: take a step back.

Fourth: Draft your thesis 

Once you quickly sketch out your outline, take a moment to “stand back” and see what you’ve drafted. You’ll be able to see that, among your two or three literary devices, you can draw some commonality. You might be able to say, as the writer did here, that romantic and hyperbolic imagery “illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn,” ultimately illuminating the poet’s idea “that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.”

This is an original argument built on the evidence accumulated by the student. It directly answers the prompt by discussing literary techniques that “convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.” Remember to go back to the prompt and see what direction they want you to head with your thesis, and craft an argument that directly speaks to that prompt.

Then, move ahead to finish your body paragraphs and conclusion.

Fifth: Give each literary device its own body paragraph 

In this essay, the writer examines the use of two literary devices that are supported by multiple pieces of evidence. The first is “romantic imagery” and the second is “hyperbolic imagery.” The writer dedicates one paragraph to each idea. You should do this, too.

This is why it’s important to choose just two or three literary devices. You really don’t have time to dig into more. Plus, more ideas will simply cloud the essay and confuse your reader.

Using your outline, start each body paragraph with a “mini claim” that makes an argument about what it is you’ll be saying in your paragraph. Lay out your pieces of evidence, then provide commentary for why your evidence proves your point about that literary device.

Move onto the next literary device, rinse, and repeat.

Sixth: Commentary and Conclusion 

Finally, you’ll want to end this brief essay with a concluding paragraph that restates your thesis, briefly touches on your most important points from each body paragraph, and includes a development of the argument that you laid out in the essay.

In this particular example essay, the writer concludes by saying, “Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.” This is a direct restatement of the thesis. At this point, you’ll have reached the end of your essay. Great work!

Seventh: Sophistication 

A final note on scoring criteria: there is one point awarded to what the scoring criteria calls “sophistication.” This is evidenced by the sophistication of thought and providing a nuanced literary analysis, which we’ve already covered in the steps above.

There are some things to avoid, however:

• Sweeping generalizations, such as, “From the beginning of human history, people have always searched for love,” or “Everyone goes through periods of darkness in their lives, much like the writer of this poem.”
• Only hinting at possible interpretations instead of developing your argument
• Oversimplifying your interpretation
• Or, by contrast, using overly flowery or complex language that does not meet your level of preparation or the context of the essay.

Remember to develop your argument with nuance and complexity and to write in a style that is academic but appropriate for the task at hand.

If you want more practice or to check out other exams from the past, go to the College Board’s website .

Brittany Borghi

After earning a BA in Journalism and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, Brittany spent five years as a full-time lecturer in the Rhetoric Department at the University of Iowa. Additionally, she’s held previous roles as a researcher, full-time daily journalist, and book editor. Brittany’s work has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Hopkins Review, and the Pittsburgh City Paper, among others, and she was also a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.

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Ultimate Guide to the AP English Literature and Composition Exam

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The English Literature and Composition exam is one of the most popular AP exams among self-studiers and enrolled students alike. In 2019, a total of 380,136 students took the AP Literature exam, making it the third most favored AP exam, trailing only English Language and U.S. History in popularity. If you are interested in taking the AP Literature exam—and are taking a class or self-studying—read on for a breakdown of the test and CollegeVine’s advice for how to best prepare for it.

When is the AP Literature Exam?

2020’s AP English Literature and Composition exam day is Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 8 AM. Check out our blog 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know to learn more about this year’s AP exam dates and times. 

What Does the AP Literature Exam Cover?

The AP Literature course engages students in careful reading and critical analysis of fictional literature, leading to a deeper understanding of the ways in which writers provide both meaning and pleasure to their readers—considering structure, style, theme, and smaller-scale elements such as figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. 

Although there is no required reading list, the College Board formerly provided a list of prospective authors in its past AP Literature course description. Regardless of which specific titles are read in preparation for the exam, students should be familiar with works from both British and American authors written from the 16th century to the present. Ten of the commonly studied works in AP Literature courses are:

• Great Expectations , Charles Dickens 
• Invisible Man , Ralph Ellison
• Beloved , Toni Morrison 
• King Lear , William Shakespeare 
• Heart of Darkness , Joseph Conrad 
• The Portrait of a Lady , Henry James 
• Wuthering Heights , Emily Bronte 
• Their Eyes Were Watching God , Zora Neale Hurston 
• To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee 
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , James Joyce 

How Long is the AP Literature Exam? What is the Format?

The AP Literature exam is one of the longer AP exams, clocking in at 3 hours. It is comprised of two sections. 

Section 1: Multiple Choice

1 hour | 45 Questions | 45% of Score

The first section of the AP Literature exam is one hour long and consists of 45 multiple-choice questions—23-25 Reading questions and 20-22 Writing questions. The multiple-choice questions are grouped in five sets of questions, with each set linked to a passage of prose fiction or poetry that contains between 8 and 13 questions. Students receive two sets of questions about both prose fiction and poetry, with the fifth set varying between prose fiction and poetry. The function of the multiple choice section is to assess a student’s ability to: 

1. Understand and interpret word choice, comparisons, and figurative language

This is one of the most common questions types on the AP Lit exam. Students are frequently asked to infer the meaning of certain words and phrases, and how they impact the rest of the passage. You will also be asked to identify and interpret figurative language.

Source: The College Board

2. Understand the theme of the poem or passage

You should be able to summarize and articulate what the excerpt is about and what sort of message it conveys.

3. Paraphrase or reformulate selected lines from the passage

Students are tested on their reading comprehension by being asked to select the reformulated response that most closely aligns with the original excerpt.

4. Explain the function of…

• The narrator or speaker: Know how a narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text.

• Characters : Grasp how characters allow the reader to explore values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms.

• The plot and structure : Understand what the author conveys by the arrangement of the sections of text, their relationship to each other, and sequence, along with how the reader’s interpretation of the text is affected by these choices.

• Symbols and motifs : Describe the purpose of symbols and motifs and how they contribute to the meaning of the passage.

5. Identify parts of speech, verse forms, and meters

You’ll occasionally need more technical knowledge of parts of speech (adjective, adverb, etc.) and verse forms (blank verse, free verse, sonnet, etc.). You should also have a basic knowledge of poetic meter (iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, etc).

Section 2: Free Response

2 hours 15 minutes | 3 questions | 55% of Score

The second section of the AP Literature exam is two hours (plus a 15-minute reading period) and contains three free response questions. These prompts test three core abilities:

• A literary analysis of a poem
• A literary analysis of a piece of prose fiction (this may include drama) 
• An analysis that examines a specific concept, issue, or element in a meritorious literary work selected by the student. 

The free response essays are graded by college and AP Lit teachers following a standardized rubric.

Below are 3 example free response questions from 2019’s AP Literature Exam: 

1. “Carefully read P. K. Page’s 1943 poem “The Landlady.” Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the speaker’s complex portrayal of the landlady. You may wish to consider such elements as imagery, selection of detail, and tone.”

2. “Carefully read the following excerpt from William Dean Howells’ novel The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885). Then, in a well-constructed essay, analyze how the author portrays the complex experience of two sisters, Penelope and Irene, within their family and society.  You may wish to consider such literary elements as style, tone, and selection of detail.”

AP Literature Exam Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate

The AP Literature exam is extremely challenging, with less than half (49.7%) of students achieving a passing score of 3 or higher. The average student score is 2.62—only Physics (2.51) and Human Geography (2.55) have lower average scores. If you’re curious about other score distributions, see our post Easiest and Hardest AP Exams .

Best Ways to Study for the AP Literature Exam

One of the first steps you should take when preparing for the AP Literature exam is to look at its full course description . This will help guide your studying and understanding of the knowledge required for the AP Literature exam. Below are a few more steps you can take to ace the AP Literature exam. 

Step 1: Assess Your Skills

Practice Questions and Tests: Take a practice test to assess your initial knowledge. The College Board’s AP English Literature Course and Exam Description offers some sample multiple-choice questions, and the College Board also provides six sample AP Lit free-response questions with scoring commentaries . Older versions of the AP English Literature exam are also available; you can find a copy of the 2012 AP Lit exam and the 1999 AP Lit exam . Search around the web and you’ll likely turn up even more practice exams with answers keys —some will even have explanations of the questions. You’ll also find practice tests in many of the official study guides, and some even include a diagnostic test to act as your initial assessment.

Identify Areas in Need of Improvement: Once you have taken some kind of formative assessment, score it to identify your areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. It can be helpful to have a friend (or even better, a teacher) score your free-response essays, since they are more subjective than the multiple-choice section. With an accurate formative assessment, you’ll have a better idea of where to focus your studying efforts.

Step 2: Know Your Material

In the case of the AP Literature exam, this means focusing on your reading and writing skills.

Become an Active Reader: When reading, take care to go slowly and reread important or complex sections. Pause often to consider meaning, context, and intent. Become an active reader, underlining and taking notes as you go. Remember that the importance of the text comes not only from the author, but also from how the text affects you, the reader. Pay attention to how you feel and why you feel that way. Visit the College Board’s Reading Study Skills for more information.         

Write Frequently: Prepare for the writing section of your exam by writing frequently. According to the College Board, the goal is to become a “practiced, logical, clear, and honest” writer through the writing process. This means that you will plan, draft, review, redraft, edit, and polish your writing again and again. To be a successful writer on your exam, you will need to organize your ideas ahead of time, use your text wisely to support a clearly stated thesis, and provide a logical argument. Finally, you should pay close attention to your use of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Visit the College Board’s Writing Study Skills for more information. 

Get Expert Advice: For more specific guidance about test preparation, consider using a formal study guide. One good choice is Barron’s AP English Literature and Composition, 6th Edition . This study guide contains a review of test topics covering details test takers need to know about poetry, fiction, and drama, and includes five full-length practice tests. Some users do criticize it for providing few examples of scored student essays, but plenty of those are available on the College Board scoring examples page . 

The Princeton Review’s Cracking the AP English Language & Composition Exam, 2020 Edition: Proven Techniques to Help You Score a 5 is another solid choice containing a summary of test strategies and a focused review of course content. 

Alternatively, there are many online study resources available. Some AP teachers have even published their own study guides or review sheets online. You can find one such guide here .

Consider using an app to study: A convenient way to study is to use one of the recently-developed apps for AP exams. These can be free or cost a small fee, and they provide an easy way to quiz yourself on-the-go. Make sure you read reviews before choosing one—their quality varies widely. One that does receive good reviews is the McGraw Hill 5 which also saves you some money by covering 14 different AP subjects.      

Step 3: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Once you have your theory down, test it out by practicing multiple-choice questions. You can find these in most study guides or through online searches. There are some available in the College Board’s course description.

Try to keep track of which concept areas are still tripping you up, and go back over this theory again. Keep in mind that the key to answering questions correctly is understanding the passage, so practice active reading skills as you’re tackling the multiple-choice questions. This includes underlining, mouthing words, and circling key points. Remember, the answer will always be found in the text, and often the question will tell you exactly where in the text to look for it.

Step 4: Practice Free-Response Essays

Focus on Writing Skills: Use a rich vocabulary, varied sentence structure, and logical progression of ideas. Make sure that your words flow easily from one to the next. According to the College Board’s scoring criteria , writing that suffers from grammatical and/or mechanical errors that interfere with communication cannot earn a the maximum score of a 6, no matter how strong your thesis, compelling your argument, or convincing your evidence is.  

Cultivate Cohesive Writing: You should also strive to write a thoughtful and persuasive analysis of the literature. Begin by writing a quick outline to structure your piece. Make sure that your introduction leads to a clearly stated thesis and use supporting paragraphs to build this argument. Use quotes judiciously in your answers and focus on writing with sophistication and clarity.

Practice, Practice, Practice: The best way to prepare for these free-response questions is through repeated exercises analyzing short prose passages and poems, and through practicing with open analytical questions. 

Understand Scoring: As you prepare for the writing portion of your exam, be sure to review how your free responses will be scored. Each free-response essay is graded on a scale from 0 to 6 with points awarded for three elements: Thesis (0-1 point), Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points), and Sophistication (0-1 point). A comprehensive explanation of the College Board’s scoring rubric is found on their website.  

Study the free-response questions and scored student responses with written explanations provided by the College Board . The most effective way to use these is to read and respond to the prompts first, then review the student samples and scoring explanations. Use this feedback to practice another prompt and repeat the cycle until you are confident that your responses are as strong as the top scorers’. 

Step 5: Take Another Practice Test

As you did at the beginning of your studying, take a practice test to see which areas you’ve improved in and which still require practice.

If you have time, repeat each of the steps above to incrementally increase your score.

Step 6: Exam Day Specifics

If you’re taking the AP course associated with this exam, your teacher will walk you through how to register. If you’re self-studying, check out CollegeVine’s How to Self-Register for AP Exams .

For information about what to bring to the exam, see CollegeVine’s What Should I Bring to My AP Exam (And What Should I Definitely Leave at Home)?

CollegeVine can’t predict how you’ll score on your AP Literature exam, but we can help take the guesswork out of college admissions. Our free chancing engine uses a data-driven algorithm taking into consideration criteria such as GPA, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities to tell you your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges and universities.

Check out these other Collegevine articles for more information about AP exams. 

• 2020 AP Exam Schedule
• How Long is Each AP Exam?

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., guide to the ap english literature and composition exam.

Do you know how to conduct a close reading of prose and poetry? Can you write effectively under time constraints? The AP ® English Literature and Composition exam tests topics and skills discussed in your AP English Literature course. If you score high enough, your AP English score could earn you college credit!

Check out our AP English Literature Guide for what you need to know about the exam:

• Exam Overview
• Structure & Question Types
• How to Prepare

What’s on the AP English Literature & Composition Exam?

The College Board lists 6 Skill Categories that should be covered in your AP English Literature and Composition course, or as you prepare for the test:

•  Character—Characters in literature show a wide range of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms, and provide an opportunity to study and explore what the characters represent.
• Setting—A setting and the details associated with it represent a time and place, but also convey values associated with the setting.
• Structure—Structure refers to the arrangements of sections and parts of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the sequence in which the text reveals information. These are all choices made by a writer that allow you to interpret a text.
• Narration—Any narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that readers encounter; therefore, narration affects how readers experience and interpret a text.
• Figurative language—Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative. Figurative language can include word choice, imagery, and symbols. Simile, metaphor, personification, and allusions are all examples of figurative language.
• Literary argumentation—How do you write about literature yourself? You develop your interpretation (using the first five of the Big Six!) and then communicate it. You need to develop a thesis—a defensible claim—and support it with textual evidence. 

The multiple-choice section of the AP English Literature and Composition exam will be testing your knowledge of the Big Six. Each one is weighted a certain amount in the multiple-choice questions.

AP English Literature & Composition Book List

There is no required reading or book list for the AP English Literature exam, but the College Board provides a list of authors and poets with whom you should be familiar and whose work is of the caliber and density that you are expected to understand. These lists include:

• Poetry: W.H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, William Blake, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Browning, George Gordon/Lord Byron, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lucille Clifton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Billy Collins, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Rita Dove, Paul Laurence Dunbar, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Joy Harjo, Seamus Heaney, George Herbert, Garrett Hongo, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Ben Jonson, John Keats, Philip Larkin, Robert Lowell, Andrew Marvell, John Milton, Marianne Moore, Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander Pope, Adrienne Rich, Anne Sexton, William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Leslie Marmon Silko, Cathy Song, Wallace Stevens, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Derek Walcott, Walt Whitman, Richard Wilbur, William Carlos Williams, William Wordsworth, William Butler Yeats
• Drama: Aeschylus, Edward Albee, Amiri Baraka, Samuel Beckett, Anton Chekhov, Caryl Churchill, William Congreve, Athol Fugard, Lorraine Hansberry, Lillian Hellman, David Henry Hwang, Henrik Ibsen, Ben Jonson, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Molière, Marsha Norman, Sean O’Casey, Eugene O’Neill, Suzan-Lori Parks, Harold Pinter, Luigi Pirandello, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Sam Shepard, Sophocles, Tom Stoppard, Luis Valdez, Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, August Wilson
• Fiction (Novel and Short Story): Chinua Achebe, Sherman Alexie, Isabel Allende, Rudolfo Anaya, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Saul Bellow, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Raymond Carver, Willa Cather, John Cheever, Kate Chopin, Sandra Cisneros, Joseph Conrad, Edwidge Danticat, Daniel Defoe, Anita Desai, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Eliot, Ralph Ellison, Louise Erdrich, William Faulkner, Henry Fielding, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, Thomas Hardy, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, Kazuo Ishiguro, Henry James, Ha Jin, Edward P. Jones, James Joyce, Maxine Hong Kingston, Joy Kogawa, Jhumpa Lahiri, Margaret Laurence, D.H. Lawrence, Chang-rae Lee, Bernard Malamud, Gabriel García Márquez, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Herman Melville, Toni Morrison, Bharati Mukherjee, Vladimir Nabokov, Flannery O’Connor, Orhan Pamuk, Katherine Anne Porter, Marilynne Robinson, Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, John Updike, Alice Walker, Evelyn Waugh, Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, John Edgar Wideman, Virginia Woolf, Richard Wright
• Expository Prose: Joseph Addison, Gloria Anzaldua, Matthew Arnold, James Baldwin, James Boswell, Joan Didion, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Hazlitt, bell hooks, Samuel Johnson, Charles Lamb, Thomas Macaulay, Mary McCarthy, John Stuart Mill, George Orwell, Michael Pollan, Richard Rodriguez, Edward Said, Lewis Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, E.B. White, Virginia Woolf

Read More: Review for the exam with our AP English Literature Cram Courses

AP English Literature Structure & Question Types

The AP English Literature & Composition exam takes 3 hours to complete and consists of two sections: a multiple-choice section and a free response section.

Multiple-Choice

AP English Literature multiple-choice questions are grouped in sets.  You will be given 5 passages or poems to read, with 8-13 multiple-choice questions to assess your reading comprehension. Each multiple-choice question has 5 answer choices (A through E). That’s a lot of reading then recalling, understanding, and interpreting. Use your time effectively and wisely! 

Free Response

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents an interpretation and may establish a line of reasoning.
• Select and use evidence to develop and support your line of reasoning.
• Explain the relationship between the evidence and your thesis.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

How to Interpret AP English Literature Scores

AP scores are reported from 1 to 5. Colleges are generally looking for a 4 or 5 on the AP English Literature exam, but some may grant credit for a 3. (Here's a quick overview of AP credit policy .) Each test is curved so scores vary from year to year. Here’s how AP English Lit students scored on the May 2022 test:

Source: College Board

How can I prepare?

AP classes are great, but for many students they’re not enough! For a thorough review of AP English Literature content and strategy, pick the AP prep option that works best for your goals and learning style.

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Every AP Literature Practice Test Available: Free and Official

Advanced Placement (AP)

When you're studying for your AP Literature Exam, you're going to want to use practice tests and questions to hone your skills. But where can you find AP literature practice tests? And are all practice exams equally useful for you?

The real exam has 55 multiple-choice questions and three free-response questions, but there are practice tests with every conceivable number and combination of question types.

In this article, you'll learn where to find every official College Board AP English Literature and Composition practice exam, free unofficial tests, and paid practice test resources. You'll also find out which tests are high-quality and how you can best use different practice exams to fulfill your studying needs.

Official Free AP Literature Practice Tests

The gold standard of AP English Literature practice tests and AP English Literature practice exam questions are College Board released materials . That's because the College Board administers the AP exams, so their practice questions are most like the actual AP questions you'll see on the test.

There are three different kinds of resources offered by the College Board: complete released exams from past years, released free-response questions from past years, and sample questions from the "AP Course And Exam Description."

Official Released College Board Exams

There are three official released College Board Exams. However, only the most recent one (from 2012) is complete. The 1999 and 1987 exams have the standard 55 multiple-choice questions, but both are missing parts of the three question free-response section. You can still use them as complete exams if you supplement them with released free-response questions from past years which we recommend since official multiple-choice problems are hard to come by.

2012 AP English Literature and Composition Exam

This is the best AP Lit practice test available. It's the most recent exam released by the College Board, and it follows the format of the current test with 55 multiple-choice questions and three free-response questions. Definitely make use of this test!

1999 AP English Literature and Composition Exam

This test excludes the poetry and prose analysis questions of the free-response section and only has the student choice question. So, to take it as a complete exam, you'd need to supplement it with questions 1 and 2 from the released free-response questions below . You can actually get question 2 for the 1999 test from the official free-response questions bank, but the excerpt for question 1 can't be reprinted, so you'll need to supplement with another poetry analysis question.

1987 AP English Literature and Composition Exam For reasons that are not totally clear, this exam excludes the third essay question, the poetry analysis. If you want to take this as "complete" exam practice, use a free-response poetry analysis prompt from the bank of free response questions linked below.

Or supplement with this tree-poem.

Official Free-Response Questions

There may not be very many complete released exams, but there are tons of free-response questions available from previous administrations of the test. These are great practice, not just for writing complete essays, but for practicing writing thesis statements, outlines, and so on.

What's also great about these is that most of them come with sample response and scoring guidelines, so you'll be able to see exactly what makes a high-quality AP essay by College Board standards. Be aware, though, that some of the prose and poetry excerpts can't be reprinted due to copyright concerns.

Below is the link to all the free-response questions available. The questions go all the way back to 1999, and since there haven't been many changes to the free-response part of the exam, all of these questions can be useful during your studying.

AP English Lit Free Response Questions 1999-2021

Sample Questions From the Course and Exam Description

The 2019 AP English Literature Course and Exam Description has practice multiple-choice questions and free-response questions.They don't add up to a complete test--there are only 19 multiple-choice questions instead of 55–but there are three free response questions (enough for a full test). Even though there aren’t many multiple-choice questions, they are great for simple practice.

If you're looking for more questions like these, you can revisit the old exam description booklets as well . (Just keep in mind that some of the other information in the booklet may be out of date!)

Your Teacher

Your AP teacher may have access to copies of old AP exams that you can use for practice. They probably can't let you take them out of the classroom, but they may be allowed to loan them to you in a supervised setting. This is because teachers can purchase resources directly from the College Board that students can't. Asking your teacher may not bear fruit, but it's worth a try.

Why are you asking me for AP Lit practice tests? I'm your Econ teacher!

Free Unofficial AP Literature Practice Tests

In addition to the free College Board resources, there are also several places online where you can get free, unofficial practice tests. Be aware that, because these resources aren't College-Board created or approved, they are of variable quality. For each of these resources we'll describe what's offered and how it compares to official College Board tests.

Varsity Tutors AP Literature Practice Tests

This site has multiple-choice practice quizzes divided by concept--things like "interpreting the passage," "claims and argument," and "interpreting excerpts." The questions aren't worded exactly the same way as AP test questions, but they are still okay for testing your passage-interpretation skills. Basically, the questions test for similar skills, but don't necessarily mimic AP test questions in style.

Also, the site provides the date, title, and author of each work, which is not something you'll receive on the AP exam. You can make a free account at the site to track your scores, but it's not necessary to be able to take the tests.

Kittens not included with free practice tests, unfortunately.

Albert AP English Literature Quizzes

Albert offers multiple-choice quizzes divided into prose, poetry, and drama categories. You are given the title, date, and author of the work--which you will not receive on the real AP exam. Like the Varsity Tutors quizzes, Albert offers questions that test similar skills as the AP exam, but the questions are worded differently.

High School Test Prep Tests

This site offers three short multiple-choice practice tests. You're given the title and author of the work. The questions for these tests are fairly surface-level, so I would only use these if you are working on your reading comprehension skills.

CrackAP English Literature Quizzes

CrackAP has over 40 short AP Lit quizzes. Each quiz gives a passage then has 15 multiple-choice questions on it. The questions are somewhat easier than you'll find on the real AP exam, but if you need some quick practice, this can do the trick. This resource also has examples of past free response questions, which can be useful study tools, too!

Practice Quiz AP English Literature

This site offers a 20-question multiple-choice quiz on two passages--one poetry, and one prose. The passages are extremely basic, however, so I would only use this resource if you are working on your reading comprehension skills.

The queens of AP Lit practice give you their blessing.

Paid Unofficial Practice Tests

There are also several paid resources that offer unofficial practice questions.

This is a subscription service with questions for tons of different tests—SAT, ACT, and AP exams.They also have videos and other review resources. We can't really speak to the quality of the questions because the entire service is behind a paywall of about $25 a month.

The Princeton Review AP Literature Study Guide 2021

Published study guides are an excellent way to practice for the AP Literature exam. These books are put together by experts who have inside knowledge of the test, and The Princeton Review is one of the best out there.

This study guide has three practice tests, along with other types of sample questions and expert explanations to help you improve your analytical skills.

Barron's AP English Literature and Composition, 7th Edition

Like The Princeton Review study guide, the Barron's AP Literature study guide is another great resource for students looking for extra exam prep. This guide has four practice tests and sample essay questions , along with an expert walk-through of the AP Literature exam itself.

If you're looking for a guide that gives you practice and provides tips for mastering the exam, this would be a good pick!

This subscription service offers access to tons of test prep, including the SAT, ACT and lots of AP courses. Their AP Literature resources include two full-length practice tests, three sets of flashcards to help you study, and several instructional videos.

Prices for subscriptions start at $39 dollars per month, and some plans include live tutoring and writing instruction . If you choose to subscribe, you get access to all of their course and test-prep materials, so if you’re taking several AP classes, this could be a good source.

I definitely advise paying for all of these resources with whatever loose foreign change you have lying around.

How to Use AP Literature Practice Tests

How to use a given practice test depends somewhat on the resource itself. We'll offer some recommendations here on how to best use different resources.

Complete Official Released Tests

The best way to use a complete official practice test is to do a practice-run for the exam . So find a quiet room, bring a timer or watch so you can time sections, and get to work! This will help you get familiar with the exam experience so you'll feel more comfortable on exam day!

Since there are two complete AP Lit practice tests, it makes sense to take one early on in your studying time, and one later. You can get a parent, tutor or teacher to grade the exams. The early test will help you figure out what you need to work on, and the later test will show you how you've improved! Since the AP English Literature test is more skills-heavy than content-heavy, you shouldn't feel totally lost taking a practice test even in the middle of the school year.

Official Released Free-Response and Sample Questions

Official resources that aren't complete tests are best for practicing individual sections of the test. The sample multiple-choice questions in the "Course and Exam Description" make for great AP English Literature multiple-choice practice--they'll help you get familiar with the style of the questions and practice close-reading.

The wealth of released free-response questions are great resources for building your timed essay-writing skills. You can practice complete essays or develop essay outlines.

Unofficial Practice Tests and Resources

Since unofficial practice tests aren't going to be quite as similar to the real AP exam as official College Board materials, they won't be quite as useful for preparing for the format of the exam or its questions. However, they can be very valuable close-reading practice. And since that's a critical skill for the exam, it's still worth it to use unofficial resources.

Be very quiet. She's close-reading.

Key Takeaways

Practice tests and questions are a hugely important resource as you prep for the AP Lit exam. The gold standard of practice resources are those that come from the College Board, but there are many other places where you can get practice questions that will help you hone your close-reading skills for the exam. Most of the resources listed in this article are free, but a few are paid.

Remember: official College Board practice tests are best for simulating the exam experience. Actual College Board questions are good for focused preparation for individual sections of the exam--especially the essays. Unofficial resources are best used for further honing your close-reading skills after you’ve practiced with the official materials.

Now that you know where to find these resources, you're ready to start studying for your AP Literature exam!

What's Next?

Wondering what you should be reading for AP Lit? Check out our list of 127 great books to help you prepare for the AP Literature exam.

Need more study guidance for your APs? See my five-step AP prep plan. Or see our guide on when to start studying for your APs.

If you're looking for practice tests for other AP exams, see our assembled practice tests for AP US History , AP Chemistry , AP Biology , AP World History , and AP Psychology .

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, writing an ap lit literary argument essay: what are the key elements.

Hi! I'm taking AP Lit this year and I need some help with the literary argument essay. Can someone give me some guidance on the key elements I need to include, like thesis statement, evidence, structure, etc., to have a strong essay? Thank you so much!

Hey! Here are some key elements to include in your essay for a strong result:

1. Introduction: Start with a hook to engage the reader. Introduce the work you'll be discussing (including the title and author). Provide any necessary context or background info.

2. Thesis statement: In a clear, concise sentence, state your overall argument or claim. This should appear towards the end of your introduction.

3. Body paragraphs: In each body paragraph, present a specific point that supports your thesis. Begin with a topic sentence, provide textual evidence (like quotes), and then analyze the significance of that evidence. Make sure to connect each point back to your thesis.

4. Structure: Make sure your essay follows a logical structure. Each paragraph should flow smoothly into the next, and your ideas should be organized in a coherent manner.

5. Conclusion: Restate your thesis (in slightly different words) and summarize your main points. Finish your essay with a final thought that connects your argument to a broader context or theme.

Good luck with your essay, and I hope this helps!

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2024 AP English Literature Exam Guide

15 min read • july 11, 2024

Your Guide to the 2024 AP English Literature Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP English Literature exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day.  Unlock Cram Mode  for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions. 

Format of the 2024 AP English Literature Exam

Going into test day, this is the exam format to expect:

• Multiple Choice | 1 Hour | 45% of Exam Score
• 55 questions- - 5 sets of questions with 8–13 questions per set.- - Each set is preceded by a passage of prose fiction, drama, or poetry of varying difficulty.- - will always include at least 2 prose fiction passages (this may include drama) and at least 2 poetry passages.
• Free Response | 2 hours | 55% of your score
• 3 questions- A literary analysis of a given poem- A literary analysis of a given passage of prose fiction (this may include drama)- - An analysis that examines a specific concept, issue, or element in a work of literary merit selected by the student

FRQ Scoring Rubric for the 2024 AP Lit Exam

View an example set of questions and the corresponding  scoring guidelines  from the College Board to get an idea of what they look for in your responses!

Check out our study plan below to find resources and tools to prepare for your AP English Literature exam.

When is the 2024 AP exam and How Do I Take It?

** The exam is on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 8:00 AM, your local time—this will be a paper test at your school.  **

How Should I prepare for the Exam?

• First, download the  AP English Literature Cheatsheet 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. We’ve 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
• We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via  Cram Mode . Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized.

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also, create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First, set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

AP English Literature 2024 Study Plan

🌱 unit 1: intro to short fiction, big takeaways:.

Unit 1 is the first prose analysis unit, focusing on short fiction.  It helps to establish your prose analysis vocabulary, focusing on identifying and describing basic literary elements such as plot, narrator, and setting. This unit also gives the foundations for writing analyses of text, beginning with paragraph structuring and claim defense.

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• Unit 1 Overview: Introduction to Short Fiction
• 1.1 Interpreting the role of character in fiction
• 1.2 Identifying and interpreting setting
• 1.3 Identifying how a story’s structure affects interpretation
• 1.4 Understanding and interpreting a narrator’s perspective
• 1.5 Reading texts literally and figuratively
• 1.6 The basics of literary analysis 🎥 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 this articles:

• [object Object] : Short stories of literary merit to stretch your analysis muscles ✍️ Practice

Best Quizlet Decks for AP English Literature :  Practice with these quizlets to strengthen your AP Lit vocabulary!

🎭 Unit 2: Intro to Poetry

Unit 2 is the first poetry analysis unit, focusing on everyone's favorite figurative language devices --  metaphor and simile .  Because poems often have a specific form, this unit also begins  analysis of form/structure and also looks at  contrasts in a text (which create the  complexity that the exam expects you to analyze).  All of these poetic elements, though, are being analyzed for their  function in the poem -- this unit helps you practice looking for  why authors make the choices that they do.  

This unit continues the work of Unit 1 in  developing paragraphs  that establish a claim and provide evidence to support that claim.  It’s more important that you can write a stable, defensible, claim-based paragraph at this point than it is that you can write an entire essay (that might not be as strong).

• Unit 2 Overview: Introduction to Poetry
• 2.1 Identifying characters in poetry
• 2.2 Understanding & interpreting meaning in poetic structure
• 2.3 Analyzing word choice to find meaning
• 2.4 Identifying techniques in poetry to analyze literary works 🎥 Watch these videos:

Literary Device Review : An overview of some literary devices that you may have forgotten, or an introduction to some new ones that you want in your analysis vocabulary.

Defending a Claim : Before practicing your paragraphs, watch this stream for guidance in building a claim from the passage in response to a prompt.

How to Read a Poem : A stream dedicated to developing poetry reading skills, including a useful acronym (SIFT) for prioritizing important elements of a poem.

Annotating for Understanding: This stream guides you through the annotation process, making sure that you are annotating purposefully, and developing your own library of symbols. 📰 Check out these articles:

Poetry Overview : Our Fiveable guide to the poetry analysis question -- what to expect and what you need to do to respond effectively.

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

• Theme Statements and Thesis Statements : This stream teaches you how to determine and state a theme, and how to establish a claim to defend for poem analysis.
• 💎 Play  Figurative Language Trivia ! It’s not the names that are important, but it’s fun to know them, anyway!

🎭 Unit 3: Intro to Longer fiction or Drama

Here we go with the novels!  Because the exam’s literary argument essay (also affectionately known as Q3 in the Lit circles) asks students to analyze a novel-length text, it’s important to get practice on analyzing novels or plays (did someone say, Shakespeare?). This unit boils down to paying closer attention to character and plot, with a sprinkling of setting analysis.  Because novels are longer than short stories, not only can authors spread out the creation of literary elements and go deeper, but you can see more about how it’s done.  

In terms of composition, this unit starts discussing the development of a thesis statement!  So now we can establish a thesis, and  then support it with a paragraph (or two).  This means we’re also starting to create a  line of reasoning that is introduced in the thesis statement, and supported in the body of your essay.

• Unit 3 Overview: Introduction to Longer Fiction and Drama
• 3.1 Interpreting character description and perspective
• 3.2 Character evolution throughout a narrative
• 3.3 Conflict and plot development
• 3.4 Interpreting symbolism
• 3.5 Identifying evidence and supporting literary arguments 🎥 Watch these videos:

Theme Statements and Thesis Statements: This stream distinguishes between these two important statements in a Q3 response, and further discusses thesis statements in general.

Annotating for Analysis, part 2: This stream is more about annotating an exam prompt, and then preparing to respond to it.

Characters and Relationships : All about characterization, with terms and tips for understanding the creation of characters and why they matter. 📰 Check out these articles:

Fiveable study guide to the Literary Argument prompt

• 💎  Check out John Green’s YouTube channel   [object Object]  for help analyzing some English teacher novel favorites.  These don’t substitute for reading, but they help when you’re done.
• 📖  Read this   [object Object]  from Albert.io to see what you’ve read, or what you might want to read. You might even find them free online, or you can support your local library.

⚔️ Unit 4: Character, Conflict, & Storytelling in Short Fiction

Because of the way that the AP Lit units are structured, we spiral skills and text types, so this is phase 2 of short fiction analysis.  While the first short fiction unit was focused on identifying and describing elements, now you’re being asked to  explain the function (that  why again) and describe relationships.  

This unit also asks you to start analyzing  how those relationships and elements are created by authors.  That means you are reading more closely for  diction and syntax and paying more attention to how a speaker/narrator’s  perspective is shown to you.

We’re still working on defensible thesis statements and building  commentary to make clear connections between our claim and the evidence.  This is what builds the  line of reasoning and earns a 4 in  evidence and commentary on the Lit rubric.

• Unit 4 Overview: Character, Conflict, and Storytelling
• 4.1 Protagonists, antagonists, character relationships, and conflict
• 4.2 Character interactions with setting and its significance
• 4.3 Archetypes in literature
• 4.4 Types of narration like stream of consciousness
• 4.5 Narrative distance, tone, and perspective 🎥 Watch these videos:

Prose Analysis Prompt Deconstruction and Strategies : Before you read the text, make sure that you know the task before you, and you’re ready to read with that in mind.

Q2 Thesis and Introduction :  There are some exam-taking tips in here, from a college freshman who conquered the exam.  She also discusses forming a thesis and an introduction that works. Quickly.

Q2 Evidence and Commentary : Practicing creating commentary to respond to the prompt efficiently.  This stream uses practice prompts to show the process of reading a text with the prompt in mind to select evidence while reading. 📰 Check out these articles:

Short Fiction Overview : Revisit this guide!  Read the section on “How to Read a Short Story.  Like, Really Read It.”

💎 Check out this stream on  creating a "boot camp" that was originally meant for teachers, but gives guidelines and suggestions on how to dive into short fiction. ✍️ Practice

AP Lit Prose Analysis Practice Prompt Answers & Feedback – [object Object] (Diction): The focus of this practice prompt is diction – analyzing it AND using it yourself, with a little syntax thrown in! Try it yourself and compare it with student responses and feedback.

AP Lit Prose Analysis Practice Prompt Samples & Feedback  –  [object Object] :  Practicing prose analysis is a great way to prep for the AP exam! Respond to this practice prompt and review practice writing samples and their corresponding feedback.

AP Lit Prose Analysis Practice Essays & Feedback – [object Object] :  Writing essays is a great way to practice prose analysis and prep for the AP exam! Review student responses for an essay prompt and corresponding feedback

🌈 Unit 5: Structure & Figurative Language in Poetry

We’re going back to poems! This unit asks you to “identify and explain the function” of various poetic elements and devices.   All at the same time. Those literary devices you learned in Poetry I might come in handy here, but the analysis is more about why the author made those choices about repetition, reference, comparison, etc.

In order to select the most significant, “relevant, and sufficient” evidence to support your  line of reasoning from your  thesis , you have to know the function of the personification or metaphor or imagery.  Ask yourself, “Why would the author write ____ instead of ____?” This helps you analyze the  connotations of the choice, and therefore the function in the text.

By now, we’re writing a thesis plus paragraphs.  This is also an opportunity to work on the organization of your essays (hint: organizing by the device is neither efficient nor sophisticated; try to find a shift or two in the poem and use them to develop your paragraph chunks.

• Unit 5 Overview: Structure and Figurative Language
• 5.1 Traits of closed and open structures in poetry
• 5.2 Use of techniques like imagery and hyperbole
• 5.3 Types of comparisons in poetry including personification and allusion
• 5.4 Identifying and interpreting extended metaphors 🎥 Watch these videos:

How Form Creates Meaning: Learn about poetry-specific choices authors make, and what elements of form look like in practice.  Also, explore a couple of common forms and why they might be used.

Open Poetry Study :  An opportunity to practice some of the skills from  “How to Read a Poem ”.

Q1 Evidence and Commentary : Follow the process of reading a poem and selecting evidence in real-time.  You can have an essay before it’s through.

The complexity of Poetry: This is an opportunity to look specifically at how poets create tensions and complexity in their work.  Since this complexity is always a point of analysis on the exam, you can study how it works, and how to write about it

• 💎 Browse through the Poetry Foundations  resources for students , including annotations, poem guides, podcasts, and poet studies.

🛠️ Unit 6: Literary Techniques in Longer Works

Because novels are longer stories, we can look at more elements at a time.  That’s what this unit wants from you -- examining speaker perspective and reliability, the formation and function of literary or contextual symbolism, characterization, character relationships and contrasts, the function of plot events, etc.   All at the same time.  

What you need to know: The bottom line of reading for Q3 is the  meaning of the work as a whole or  theme .  And you might not fully understand what that is until the novel or play is finished, but you can start to build ideas around what BIG IDEA the author is addressing.  Your job is to keep track of how characters, plot, and setting contribute to the discussion of this big idea (like greed or isolation or jealousy or love or anger or insanity).   

• Unit 6 Overview: Literary Techniques in Longer Works
• 6.1 Interpreting foil characters
• 6.2 Understanding and interpreting character complexity
• 6.3 Understanding nonlinear narrative structures like flashbacks and foreshadowing
• 6.4 The effect of narrative tone and bias on reading
• 6.5 Characters as symbols, metaphors, and archetypes
• 6.6 Developing literary arguments within a broader context of works 🎥 Watch these videos:

Finding Theme Through Characterization : A discussion of the function of characterization as it applies to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) Resources

🎥 Watch these videos:

Multiple Choice Intro :  an introduction to the AP Literature multiple choice -- an overview of the weights, number and types of questions you will encounter, with some tips for practice and preparation.

Prose MC Strategies and Practice:  covers all aspects of the Multiple Choice section of the AP Lit Exam, including tips on-time efficiency, annotation, and picking the best answer choice. This is followed by 2 sets of practice passages and questions and explanations for each of the provided answer choices. 📰 Check out these articles:

English Literature Multiple Choice Study Guide

AP English Literature Multiple Choice Help (MCQ) ✍️ Practice

• AP English Lit MCQ Practice Tests -----

🏛️ Unit 7: Societal & Historical Context in Short Fiction

The last three units of AP Lit ask you to dig even deeper into what you're reading to analyze it. In Unit 7, you'll focus on how characters fit into the societal and historical context of the work they're in, and how those features can become important facets of stories. Importantly, you'll be asked to  analyze how complexity develops over the course of the story.

• Unit 7 Overview: Societal and Historical Context
• 7.1 Sudden and more gradual change in characters
• 7.2 Epiphany as a driver of plot
• 7.3 Relationships between characters and groups
• 7.4 Character interactions with changing and contrasting settings
• 7.5 The significance of the pacing of a narrative
• 7.6 Setting as a symbol
• 7.7 Interpreting texts in their historical and societal contexts -----

🤾 Unit 8: Advanced Techniques in Poetry

Unit 8 will introduce you to more complicated techniques in poetry that are harder to spot and analyze. You will be asked to identify and analyze devices like punctuation and structural patterns, juxtaposition, paradox, irony, symbols, conceits, and allusions. Although these are a little harder to correctly identify in poetry, if you can master them, they can earn you major points on the exam. Additionally, you'll learn about how to correctly cite and attribute information when writing literary analysis!

• Unit 8 Overview
• 8.1 Looking at punctuation and structural patterns
• 8.2 Interpreting juxtaposition, paradox, and irony
• 8.3 How ambiguity can allow for various interpretations
• 8.4 Identifying symbols, conceits, and allusions
• 8.5 Learning proper attribution and citation in literary analysis -----

🚣🏿 Unit 9: Nuanced Analysis in Longer Works

The final unit of AP Lit will task you with creating even more nuanced analyses of longer works and drama. To do this, we'll look at how characters change over the course of the plot and react to the resolution of the narrative, how suspense, resolution, and plot development contribute the meaning of a work, and how inconsistencies and differing perspectives create nuance in longer works. 

• Unit 9 Overview: Nuanced Analysis
• 9.1 Looking at a character's response to the resolution of a narrative
• 9.2 Suspense, resolution, and plot development
• 9.3 Narrative inconsistencies and contrasting perspectives -----

Exam Skills

Breaking Down an Exam Prompt: A discussion of how to break down an AP Literature exam prompt into smaller questions. We end with some do's, don'ts, and common pitfalls for students writing AP Literature essays.

Commentary and Sophistication FAQs:  Review the criteria for earning maximum evidence/commentary points and the one sophistication point from the rubric. Next, read scored examples and see what they earned in those two categories. ✍️ Practice

AP English Literature Free Response Questions (FRQ) – Past Prompts : A sortable list of all the AP English Literature free-response questions.

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Ap® and sat® are trademarks registered by the college board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website..

Lit & More

March 29, 2024 ·

Preparing For the AP English Literature Test

Multiple Choice and Test Prep

As I write this, it’s six weeks until the AP Lit exam. This is usually when AP teachers start worrying about their students’ performance on the test, which often (unfairly) reflects on us. While it’s true we’re tasked to prepare students for the exam, we must also prepare them for college and their lives beyond this stage. We also must battle truancy, plagiarism and AI issues, senioritis, and lingering Covid-era issues. Test prep is just one more thing to stress about.

If you were to ask me what my test prep looks like, I think you’d be disappointed. I only do 2-3 days of direct test prep in the days leading up to the exam. However, this is because so much of my year-long activities are directly prepping for the exam.

But in order to help new and stressed AP Lit teachers out there, I’m taking a different approach to helping with test prep. Here is a list of different elements of the AP Lit Exam that you could prepare for, with my opinion on how important that task actually is. Remember that my students are not your students, so ultimately prepare however works best for you!

If you’re searching for test prep materials, check out my TpT store where I have dozens of no-prep, customizable resources you can use. I’ll link to resources that can help to specific needs, as well as some free resources and blog posts that you can access right away!

Studying the Rubric – HIGH Priority

I think this is a hugely underutilized skill, both in test prep and in education in general. Too many students don’t look at the rubric before submitting an assignment. For students to score well on the free response questions, it is imperative that they know how they are graded. This goes beyond point values (1/4/1) and includes learning the criterial needed to get top scores on each poetry, prose, and open question.

For example, for Evidence and Commentary on the open question, students must “provide specific evidence to support all claims in a line of reasoning” and “explain how some the evidence supports a line of reasoning” to earn 3/4 points. However, on the poetry and prose essays, they must do this AND “explain how at least one literary element or technique of the poem contributes to its meaning.” Students that don’t know this requirement could seriously limit their potential score if they don’t go out of their way to analyze literary techniques in FRQs 1 & 2. Yet, it isn’t a requirement for FRQ 3. This also means that students have more freedom to analyze theme and complexity for FRQ 3, since they won’t have to go out of their way to identify literary elements.

Too many students score 2s rather than 3s because they approach each essay with a one-size-fits-all rubric in mind. Knowing the subtle differences in the FRQ rubrics can help students score best on each essay and boost their overall score.

For help teaching the rubrics, I recommend my Understanding the Rubric lesson, available on TpT. This is also part of the AP Lit Test Prep bundle , available in the same place.

Reviewing the Test Format – MEDIUM Priority

As a high school senior, I took the AP Lit Exam. However, because we were on semester blocks, I got the “remix” version of the class. Suddenly it was test day, and I had no idea what to expect. (To be fair, I was a part-time listener, so I may have been told about the test format and just wasn’t listening.) In short, you’ll want to warn students about what to expect, and you’ll probably want to do it more than once.

Even though I go over this many times throughout the year, I always spend a few minutes reviewing the test format. To do this in a succinct way, I have created a Kahoot that covers the test’s format, strategies, and main literary elements. Feel free to use this with your own students!

Reviewing Lit Terms – MEDIUM Priority

The importance of literary terms in preparation for the AP Lit exam has gone down drastically since the 2019 update. Before that, there were several multiple-choice questions devoted purely to obscure literary terms, so students needed to study hundreds of them to even have a chance on these questions. However, the new CED only address 31 literary terms directly. These are the only terms that students must know, as they could have multiple choice terms referring to their definitions.

Does this mean you shouldn’t teach literary terms? Absolutely not. In fact, as said above, they’re required for high-scoring essays in prose and poetry analysis. However, the “drill and kill” method for teaching vocabulary is not very effective for use in written analysis. I prefer spending time on literary terms in an isolated setting, learning about the effect and purpose of each term through examples. My students do this through bellringers, available here i f you’re interested in integrating them.

AP Classroom Practice – LOW Priority

I’m going to get some flak for this one, especially since I created the study documents that pair with the 2020 test prep videos. But I think the AP Classroom progress checks are more trouble than their worth. Don’t get me wrong, the multiple-choice questions are very helpful, as are the practice FRQs. But AP Classroom is a mess . The website is frequently offline, has inconsistent difficulty settings, and provides an incredibly complicated user experience. I struggled with it for a year and a half and then gave up.

That being said, I do use their multiple-choice quizzes as multiple-choice practice in my classes (see below). I also like that the progress checks can show students what skills they struggle with. However, I feel like my students can usually pinpoint their weaknesses on their own, rather than taking a series of annoying online quizzes. I’ve created a graphic organizer for each AP Lit Essential Skill. As the test approaches, I’ll pass out the appropriate graphic organizer to each student, regardless of the text we’re studying. To learn more about these skill-based organizers, check them out in my TpT store .

Poetry Analysis – HIGH Priority

Please hear me shouting this—DO NOT LEAVE POETRY TO THE LAST MINUTE! Students and teachers often forget that poetry is not just about an essay. 50% of the multiple-choice questions are based on poetry analysis as well, so truly students should spend 35-50% of their class time in AP Lit in poetry study.

Luckily, there is an endless supply of great poems out there on any topic under the sun. There are a lot of ways to teach poetry, but the critical thing is to expose students to poetry regularly. Weekly (or even daily!) poetry analysis takes the fear factor away and students won’t feel so uncertain on the AP Lit exam.

Vocabulary Review – LOW Priority

My answer here is similar to what I said on literary terms (see above). When I talk about vocabulary, I don’t mean literary terms specific to AP Lit. I’m talking about domain-specific words to increase a student’s general vocabulary. To do this year-round is a great exercise in strengthening diction and written analysis. But to do it in the weeks before the exam to try and make students “sound smarter” is often a waste of time. Their writing won’t improve too much in the final weeks of April , so I wouldn’t recommend worrying about this.

Long Fiction Plot Review – LOW Priority

Before the 2019 course restructuring, AP Lit used to be very much about the books you taught. It wasn’t rare to hear teachers at the Reading comparing title selections and talking about teaching 8-12 long works per year. However, with the new emphasis on short fiction in the CED, we don’t need to emphasize long fiction as much as we thought. Truly, students only need to know the plot of ONE novel or play, for the open question (Q3). Every other essay and quiz is going to be about analysis of a text that they can’t choose.

To prep for the open essay, students should still have a few titles in their toolkit, ready to analyze. I ask my students to create study guides for five novels or plays, which they review the days leading up to the exam. This helps refresh character names and plot details, so they don’t space during the test. But again, this isn’t a high priority issue.

Excerpt Practice – HIGH Priority

THIS. Excerpt analysis is the most under-emphasized test prep activity.

Let me explain: our students study short stories, poems, plays, and novels in our classes. Most of the time they study them with their peers and participate in whole class discussions, although more of us are shifting towards independent reading. Even so, the students study the work as a whole . However, 35% of the AP Lit test requires students to study an excerpt of a text. With little explanation. Out of context. Often, even the author isn’t explained.

Because of the way the exam emphasizes literary skills rather than test-taking skills, College Board doesn’t really tell teachers how much they need to prepare students for the study of excerpts. But as an AP Lit teacher of almost 20 years, I’m telling you that they need it. This is where multiple choice practice through prose excerpts are helpful. I also have a prose analysis unit that studies excerpts only available in my TpT store. This 1-2 week unit is the third unit my AP Lit students do, but can also be taught as a test prep resource. It’s excellent for teaching students strategies for cold analysis and excerpt dissection.

Multiple Choice Strategies – MEDIUM Priority

No matter where you get your test questions, I do think it is important to review multiple choice strategies with students. If this is a student’s first AP exam, they will be in for a rude awakening when they see College Board’s version of multiple choice. These five-option questions are often an exercise in mind games, manipulated meanings, and finding the rightest answer among several strong options.

Multiple choice practice includes helping students annotate questions and answer options. If you’re looking for some quick strategies for multiple choice analysis, check out this blog post!

I’m sure I missed some things here and I know there will be others who disagree with me. I’d love to hear from you! What are your favorite test prep activities and what questions do you still have? Let me know!

Reader Interactions

March 31, 2024 at 10:59 am

Do you provide the list of the 31 lit terms in you TPT or anywhere?

March 31, 2024 at 12:06 pm

I had a list in my bellringers file but I just uploaded it to this blog post if you want to download it!

March 31, 2024 at 12:58 pm

I’m going to use the prose analysis unit you developed as test prep. The first thing we’ll do each day is a practice FRQ2 based on the homework (and focused on the skill): because they’ve already read the excerpt they should only need about 8 minutes to develop a defensible thesis with a line of reasoning. They have told me they want more practice getting started with timed writing. Fingers crossed!

March 31, 2024 at 1:01 pm

That sounds like a great plan! We spend so much time cold reading and talking about texts this time of year. Last week was so entertaining watching them figure out “Hills Like White Elephants!”

April 1, 2024 at 6:02 am

Thanks so much, Gina! After drinking from the fire hose all year, it’s blessed relief to be offered a tall glass of cool, clear water. Here we go!

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AP® English Literature

The ultimate ap® english literature reading list.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Introduction: How to Use this Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

With such a vast number of novels to choose from, it can be tough to decide which books to put on your AP® English Literature Reading List.

Let us help take out the guesswork! We break down exactly which books you should be studying, and why. 

We’ve categorized 40 different literary works. We’ve also included a thoughtful literary analysis on their key elements. With our help, you’ll be able to organize your list of AP® English Literature books to study in a way that works for you and your schedule.

Let’s get started!

What We Review

The Top 10 AP® English Literature Reading List

Everyone plays favorites, and The College Board is no exception. For example, Invisible Man has popped up on 29 of the past 49 AP® Lit exams! Chances are, we’ll see it again this year. 

We devoted this portion of the list directly to the top ten works that appeared most frequently on past exams. They should be on the top of your College Board reading list.

Do your best to gain at least some familiarity with this list of books, as it’s likely that one of these will appear somewhere on the test.

1. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Ellison’s Invisible Man is a long read but it is definitely worth your time. It expertly tackles race and bigotry, and its effect on the minds of everyone involved. Themes of race, identity, ideology, and stereotypes are explored.

The story follows a marginalized character. He’s not literally invisible, but he’s invisible in a society that is unable and unwilling to recognize the individuality of the black man.

It’s as culturally relevant today as it was when published in 1954. This is the most frequently referenced title on the AP® English Literature book list since 1971.

2. Great Expectations by Charles Dicken

This exciting novel is considered a Victorian “Bildungsroman”, or a coming-of-age story. Pip is a young and poor blacksmith’s son, who suddenly finds himself the owner of a large fortune and is whisked off to London.

One of the most versatile titles on this list, Great Expectations addresses many of the Victorian-era genres including: satire, crime, Silver Fork, Newgate, Gothic, serial fiction, romance, politics, and history.

Dickens gives us a fun plot, but the deeper literary analysis questions on the AP® Exams will focus on his writing, or his prose. Concentrate on instances of his beautiful use of language, and how they affect the novel as a whole. 

The character, Estella, gives us the beautiful quote, “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” This prompts the reader to consider how difficult times allows us to grow as people, and how Estella and Pip have grown from their sufferings. 

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is one of the most highly regarded pieces on the College Board reading list. A strong example of Gothic Romanticism, it deals heavily with questions of emotion and violence.

The language is easier to decipher than most literary works on the AP® reading list. But, where it really shines is in its considerations of class and gender from a woman’s perspective.

As you read, look out for the poetry in her language and the mastery of composition that Emily Bronte uses in her only published novel. 

4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is celebrated on many of the AP® English Literature prep message boards as a go-to literary work for the free response section- and with good reason! It’s a relatively short novella containing mystery, psychology, and adventure.

Heart of Darkness is particularly useful for the AP® exam in answering questions about the modern world it was written in. It pointedly deals with imperialist greed, taking place in the 1890s African Congo.

Be sure to keep this in mind- Above all else, Heart of Darkness effectively explores and answers questions about morality. Does doing something wrong for the right reasons make it justified?

Use Albert’s Heart of Darkness course for help understanding tough concepts.

5. King Lear by William Shakespeare

King Lear , referenced 17 times on the exam since 1971, is the most frequently cited work by Shakespeare. King Lear is a brutal play containing themes ranging from familial love and duty, to anger and deception.

This one play provides a wealth of both literary and stylistic elements for you to analyze. This seminal tragedy focuses on King Lear, who foolishly exiles his one loving daughter, giving his kingdom to his two evil ones. As you read, consider how themes of loyalty tie in with compassion and forgiveness.

Albert’s King Lear course is a great resource for understanding the themes and concepts.

6. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The main theme of Crime and Punishment is redeeming oneself through suffering. This is another long but worthwhile read at 545 pages. Crime and Punishment psychologically analyzes young Raskolnikov’s crime to reveal how psychological analysis itself keeps us imprisoned. Intellectualizing events, says Dostoevsky, keeps us imprisoned.

As the name tells us, the two major themes of the story are Crime and Punishment, and their relationship to each other.

Think about questions of sacrifice when studying this piece. Nihilism, the superhero complex, alienation, and poverty are also analyzed at length.

Check out Albert’s Crime and Punishment course.

7. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Another bildungsroman (or coming-of-age story), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an examination of how morality and religion can confine an artist.

A Portrait reflects Joyce’s own development as a young boy through adulthood at university. Read A Portrait with an eye out for Joyce’s stream of consciousness style. As Stephen, the main character, develops morally and psychologically, the style of Joyce’s writing adapts and grows, so to speak.

Utilize this title on questions of how style can inform the meaning of the development of characters.

8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is a highly cited Victorian Romantic novel. At its core, this is a story of a woman yearning for more than what traditional society would allow her to have.

This well-known novel centers on a strong feminist character, who fights control her own destiny. Bronte’s novel resonates deeply with current feminist movements across the globe. It focuses on themes of love, social class, and gender roles.

Albert has a great Jane Eyre course to help you prepare.

9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Huck Finn is one of the best-known titles on this list among American students. It’s rich and complex, yet the language is accessible.

If you’re asked about the era of Slavery or Reconstruction on the exam, Huck Finn should come to mind. It relentlessly discusses slavery, racism, and the hypocrisy of civilized society.

While reading the story, think of the Mississippi River as a symbol for remaining neutral on issues of race. Use that to inform your reading of Huck Finn.

10. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Last on this top 10 list is Moby Dick. Universally accepted as a masterful work of fiction, Melville himself described this novel as a meditation on America.

Reading this big novel might not fit into your studying time frame, but you should at least read summaries and key portions. This will help you gain an understanding of Melville’s particular use of symbolism. There are many symbols that may appear on the AP® English Literature exam, including his The Pequod, the color white, and Moby Dick (the whale itself).

In summary, the College Board tends to repeat similar titles on the exam. Studying these top 10 novels should be a priority on your list! They cover a wide range of themes, genres, and cultural time periods to help you effectively answer different varieties of exam questions.

Return to the Table of Contents

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from the Lost Generation

It could be useful to organize your reading list in terms of time period. For instance, take the Lost Generation. Many of the most frequently cited literary works on the AP® exam were written by Lost Generation, or World War I era, authors.

Not only is this an interesting time period that’s receiving more attention as the years draw on, many of the following titles from this era reflect the distinct American voice in literature in a lyrical, interesting, and unique way. 

11. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying , is a good example to use if you’re asked about stream of consciousness writing style. Consider how this style develops tone, and how this style aids in character development.

This novel alternates between 15 different character’s points of view. While this sounds intimidating, it’s actually easy to follow. The intimate tone helps us understand each different character.

Additionally, As I Lay Dying is considered part of the foundation of the Southern Renaissance.

12. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

As you read this novel, it’s important to remember it’s a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis (the one with Adam and Eve). If you’re faced with questions on the exam about allegory, it’s a good novel to reference.

East of Eden takes place around the end of WWI in California. It revolves around themes of jealousy, love, the consequences of the absence of love.

13. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Probably one of the best-known Lost Generation literary works, The Great Gatsby is iconic in high school English Literature education. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work has come to represent the Jazz Age in America.

If you’re asked about early-20 th century American society, The Great Gatsby should be a novel you reference..

Check out Albert’s The Great Gatsby course.

14. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Faulkner’s fourth novel, The Sound and the Fury , is another exercise in style. He again uses a stream of consciousness writing to tell a personal story of fear about the corruption of family values.

This is a difficult book to decipher, but, if you can get a handle on how Faulkner utilizes point of view, this piece will be valuable in both the multiple choice and free response exam sections.

15. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises represents the pinnacle of Hemmingway’s “Iceberg Theory,” also known as “theory of omission.” This style intentionally uses sparse language, to inspire curiosity in the reader.

Hemingway only shows the “tip of the iceberg” in his characterization and descriptions. He leaves it to the reader to formulate a deeper literary analysis (the part of the iceberg that’s underwater).

This novel not only represents Hemingway’s style; it represents the whole Lost Generation itself, through its stories of American expatriates in Europe.

16. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a a stylistic masterwork with unique diction. Hurston juxtaposes Southern Black dialect with the voice of a literary narrator.

If you’re asked about her work, chances are that understanding her style and structure will score you points.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from WWI to Present

These following literary works appear on the College Board’s most frequently cited list, and they were published after WWI. These titles are useful references to this time period in particular.

17. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Ceremony is a commentary on how tradition and spirituality are a source of healing.

It takes place from the point of view of a service-age Native American man. He returns from World War II with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. His mentally instability forces him to turn to alcohol to ease his mind. But, eventually, he returns to his spirituality, healing from it.

18. Beloved by Toni Morrison

This work of literature explores Mother-Daughter relationships and the psychological impact that slavery has had on the African-American community in this country. Use Beloved to comment on the importance of identity and also community.

As you read, also consider how the supernatural elements of the story (like ghosts) contrast with its stark realism.

19. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is set in rural Georgia in the 1930s. It’s written in the form of letters from the main character, Celie, to God and to her sister.

It deals with racism and sexism, along with women’s rights. The power of language also plays an important role . As we read further into the story, the language in Celie’s letters changes to reflect her emotional and psychological development.

This development through language reinforces the idea that language, or the ability to express yourself, is essential in developing your sense of who you are.

20. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Williams draws from a lot of his own personal experiences in The Glass Menagerie. This play has only four main characters, and its overarching theme is the importance of accepting reality. Each character in The Glass Menagerie retreats into their own world to escape realities they can’t cope with.

Look for this selection in free response prompts about symbolism. Laura’s array of delicate glass animals is the single strongest symbol in the play and a strong symbol in general. This Glass Menagerie comes to represent Laura herself and her escape from her own illusory world.

21. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22 is a first and foremost a satire. It comments on war by reducing it to a bureaucratic concern. Men’s lives and deaths are ultimately controlled by an uncaring, unfeeling government. Use this literary work in discussions of plot and irony.

Consider how devices, like the Catch-22 rule , serve to form the plot of a story.

We have a great Catch-22 course in our Albert library.

22. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

This play has won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Death of a Salesman critiques the American dream and questions its attainability. It grapples with themes like facing reality or giving in to illusion and living in denial.

The main character, Willy, is an aging salesman who struggles to cope with his current life. Much of the play is told through his own flashbacks to earlier in his career.

As you read, consider the effects of flashback on the interpretation of the themes.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from Shakespeare

Many of William Shakespeare’s works appear on the exam’s most frequently cited list. Even though you’ve probably studied his plays all through high school, it’ll help to refresh your memory on these essential texts.

23. Othello

Othello is an African general in the Venetian army, and the play examines the racial prejudice he faces. It’s a story of love and deception surrounding his insecurity in his personal relationships. Jealousy is an overarching theme throughout the play.

Exam questions on Othello may be concerned with issues of an isolated character and what characteristics contribute to that isolation.

Enhance your understanding and analysis with our Othello Albert course .

24. The Tempest

One of the prominent themes in The Tempest is the artist in relation to his creation. Prospero can be viewed as a kind of artist, in that he controls the fate of every other character. It’s as if Shakespeare inserted himself into the story as Prospero.

The Tempest is widely regarded as Shakespeare’s “Farewell” performance.

25. The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is important in preparing for the AP® English Literature exam because it covers a timeless debate about racial and religious supremacy.

This work could appear on either the multiple choice or free response sections, because it explores the concept of dynamic characters using a culturally-charged and well-defined example: Shylock the Moneylender.

Hamlet has been performed more than any other Shakespearean work. For this reason alone, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with it.

There are many religious, philosophical, and psychoanalytical undercurrents in Hamlet. All of these will help in free responses and multiple choice questions pertaining to character.

Use Albert’s Hamlet course for extra prep.

27. Macbeth

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!” Macbeth is a cautionary tale warning against evil as a means of power. Themes of ambition, madness, and war all intertwine.

Studying Macbeth is a good opportunity for you to develop your critical analysis skills in tragedy.

Check out Albert’s Macbeth course here .

28. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This one’s a classic example of a Shakespean comedy, one of his most popular works overall. This play has four separate storylines that all revolve around the marriage of two main characters, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta.

The entire play takes place in the span of one night and is set in both Fairyland and a real-world forest. This play provides great opportunities for an analysis of symbolism. Focus on how enchantments and magic are used throughout. Consider how images of roses and use of love juice symbolize falling in love too quickly.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from the Classics

The classics are also frequently cited on the AP® English Literature exam. These five classic works could appear on the multiple choice section of the test, as well as on the free response section. Be sure to familiarize yourself with them.

29. Antigone by Sophocles

Antigone addresses issues of authority, faith, and fidelity. Sophocles examines the destructive repercussions on following the law over what you believe is right. He uses the family drama of the character Antigone to highlight this.

Remember to use Albert’s Antigone course for help.

30. Candide by Voltaire

Candide is a unique coming-of-age story and a satirical novella. It asks the question, ‘With so many hardships in the world, what’s the point of trying to be optimistic?’

Keep in mind that Candide is a unique take on the bildungsroman (coming-of-age story), and it’s a relatively short read.

Though Candide was first published in 1759, it is still considered a classic literary work.

31. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

Oedipus Rex (The King) demonstrates a unique take on the Greek Tragedy. Rather than following the sealed-fate plot that would have made sense to the audience of the time, Sophocles made Oedipus’s choices and faults contribute to his downfall.

You may have heard of Freud’s famous “Oedipus Complex” psychological theory. This play is where it gets its name.

Use Albert’s course on Oedipus Rex for additional help.

32. Medea by Euripides

Medea contains feminist undertones, which was a revolutionary occurrence for the time. Medea is a young woman who wants to take control of her own life in a patriarchal society. This ultimately that drives her to the extreme of committing murder.

Furthermore, the structure of the play is interesting in itself. In every scene, the only actors are Medea and one other person.

33. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein represents, arguably, the first science fiction story. But, it does this while remaining true to Shelley’s Gothic and Romantic roots.

The entire novel is a study in how power can corrupt. The power of knowledge allows Victor to animate “The Beast.” The power of his hatred for his creation pushes him toward his own death. The story in itself is a study in power and its dangers.

Frankenstein was first published in 1818. Though not in the same time period as most works on this list, it’s still considered a classic. Remember to use Albert’s Frankenstein course for help.

34. The Odyssey by Homer

Chances are, you’ve already read Odysseus’s sweeping tale of adventure at some point in your high school career. But whether you have or haven’t, this epic poem is worth revisiting before you take your exam.

Taking place in ancient Greece, this story follows the epic hero Odysseus as he tries to return home after the Trojan war. On his way, Odysseus encounters a number of mythical monsters, all preventing him from reaching his wife, Penelope. Consider the use of symbolism in this play, and what each different monster represents in a relationship between a husband and wife. 

Check out Albert’s The Odyssey course for additional practice.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List: Other Helpful Texts to Check Out

The list above is full of familiar titles. The list that follows contains titles referenced less often.

If you’re able to include mention of some of these, you may be able to score points for the breadth of your literary knowledge.

35. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Streetcar is considered one of the greatest American plays of all time. Like The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar also deals with the interplay between reality and fantasy. It’s considered at least vaguely autobiographical.

Consider reading this piece along with Menagerie.

36. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart chronicles the life of a Nigerian, and it comments on the effect of British colonialism and Christianity. Read this novel if you’re searching for a piece that comes from a different culture. Also, check out the work of Ngugi wa Thiong’o if you’re interested in African perspectives on fiction.

Albert has a practice course to help you with this novel.

37. Obasan by Joy Kogawa

Obason details the Japanese internment camps of World War II, an often under-represented piece of history. The story is told from the point of view of a young child.

Joy Kogawa displays her mastery of imagery in Obasan. This piece is rife with examples of figurative language. Referencing its language and/or its cultural significance can help you earn points on the exam.

38. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

Albee challenges the traditional notions of success for both individuals and families in this play. This is one more work that comments on reality vs. fantasy.

The title itself is a reference to the “Big Bad Wolf,” and Virginia Woolf herself (though the play isn’t really about her at all.) This dark comedy-drama centers on the struggling marriage of its two, flawed main characters.

39. Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

O’Connor’s first novel, Wise Blood, deals with the crisis of faith in those who’ve seen war. The main character, Hazel Motes, returns home wounded from World World II to an empty house. Raised as the grandson of a preacher, he grew up conflicted with religion. War has turned him into a very vocal atheist.

Consider how O’Connor’s style affects the exploration of faith in Wise Blood.

40. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

If you enjoy dystopian science fiction, look no further! Brave New World takes place on Earth in the future where the entire planet is governed by just one government, the World State. The citizens of Earth are all genetically modified and sorted in a social hierarchy based on intelligence. 

The novel has numerous allusions to Shakespeare- the title, Brave New World, is a quote from The Tempest. As you read, consider the impact of these allusions on the meaning of the story as a whole.

Wrapping Things Up: The Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

We hope this English literature book list will help you decide which books you want to use to prepare for the AP® exam. In beginning your study, keep these things in mind:

• You don’t need to read every book cover to cover. Familiarize yourself with important plots and characters from especially dense texts (like Moby Dick).
• Understand the AP® exam scoring guidelines, and how different literary works can earn you points in different areas.
• Choose books that interest you! You’ll have an easier time reading and remembering texts that you’re already motivated to read.

By reading and retaining as much information as possible before test day comes, you’re maximizing your odds of receiving the grades you want. Happy reading!

Remember to check out Albert’s How to Study for AP® English Literature for useful tips and skills!

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‘Cher: The Memoir, Part One’ to come out in November. Part Two is set for 2025

This cover image released by Dey Street Books shows “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” releasing on Nov. 19. (Dey Street Books via AP)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Cher has long known only one person could take on the job of telling her story.

And she’s telling it in two parts.

Dey Street Books announced Wednesday that “Cher: The Memoir, Part One” will come out Nov. 19, with the second volume to follow in 2025. Dey Street, a HarperCollins imprint, is promising a “true story, in intimate detail,” starting with her “often-chaotic” childhood and famed and troubled partnership with Sonny Bono.

“With her trademark honesty and humor, ‘Cher: The Memoir’ traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century,” the publisher’s announcement reads in part. “‘Cher: The Memoir, Part One’ follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono — and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.”

Cher, 78, is the only woman to top the Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, her hits including “Dark Lady,” “Believe” and “DJ Play a Christmas Song.” She won an Oscar for her starring role in “Moonstruck” and has received numerous other honors, including membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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How Kamala Harris Performs Against Donald Trump in the Polls

The vice president could enter the general election campaign in a better position than President Biden.

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By Ruth Igielnik

• Published July 21, 2024 Updated July 23, 2024

[Follow the latest polls and see updated polling averages of the Harris vs. Trump matchup .]

After President Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party’s nomination, questions have turned to her electoral viability — and how she might perform against former President Donald J. Trump.

Across recent polls, Ms. Harris trails Mr. Trump by two percentage points nationally, 46 percent to 48 percent, according to The New York Times’s polling average on Sunday.

National Polling Average ›

This is an improvement over Mr. Biden’s standing in the race: When he announced that he was ending his campaign on Sunday, he trailed Mr. Trump by three percentage points in The Times’s national polling average , 47 percent to 44 percent.

In recent swing state polls , taken before Mr. Biden announced he would withdraw from the presidential race and completed before the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, Ms. Harris was only down by a percentage point in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania in a hypothetical matchup with Mr. Trump. And she was winning by a more comfortable five percentage points in Virginia, a state where Mr. Biden was up by only a razor-thin margin.

THE NEW YORK TIMES/SIENA COLLEGE POLL

July 9 to 12

How Biden and Harris

Fare Against Trump

Pennsylvania

Shaded areas represent margins of error.

How Biden and Harris Fare Against Trump

In both states, Ms. Harris performed slightly stronger than Mr. Biden with Black voters, younger voters, and women — all groups that Democrats need in order to be successful this fall. And, importantly, those are groups where Mr. Biden appeared to be losing ground.

As recently as April, Ms. Harris was polling substantially behind Mr. Biden’s standing, but she has gained ground in recent surveys.

At the same time, increasing shares of Democrats had said that they wanted Mr. Biden to step aside. In an AP-NORC poll conducted between July 11 and July 15, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said they wanted the president to withdraw and allow the party to select a different candidate. On Sunday, they got their wish.

Ruth Igielnik is a Times polling editor who conducts polls and analyzes and reports on the results. More about Ruth Igielnik

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CHART: Harris has backing of enough delegates to become Democratic presidential nominee, AP tally finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey, as top Democrats rallied to her in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for reelection.

WATCH: Harris solidifies Democratic support and is favorite to replace Biden on ticket

The quick coalescing behind Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden’s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day. Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris in the day after Biden’s exit from the race and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.

Several state delegations met late Monday to confirm their support for Harris, including Texas and her home state of California. By Monday night, Harris had the support of well more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot, according to the AP tally. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.

California state Democratic Chairman Rusty Hicks said 75 percent to 80 percent of the state’s delegation were on a call Tuesday and they unanimously supported Harris.

“I’ve not heard anyone mentioning or calling for any other candidate,” Hicks said. “Tonight’s vote was a momentous one.”

Still, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That’s because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go through with a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.

Harris, in a statement, responded to the AP tally, saying she is “grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people.”

Worries over Biden’s fitness for office were replaced by fresh signs of unity after a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties’ carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.

Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris acknowledged the “rollercoaster” of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.

“It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” she said. She promised to “unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation, and to win this election.”

She quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump’s felony convictions — “I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said — and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.

“Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms,” she said. “The baton is in our hands.”

The president called into the meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from COVID-19 , to lend his support to Harris. He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.

“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden said in his first public remarks since announcing his decision to step aside, promising he was “not going anywhere” and plans to campaign on Harris’ behalf.

Biden said of his decision, “It was the right thing to do.”

As he handed off the mantle of leadership to Harris, Biden added: “I’m watching you kid. I love you.”

WATCH: A look at Kamala Harris’ legal career and political record

Harris was headed to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday as her campaign for the White House kicks into high gear. The event in Milwaukee will be her first full-fledged campaign event since announcing her candidacy.

The AP tally is based on interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties, many of which have announced that their delegations are supporting Harris en masse, and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.

Locking up the nomination was only the first item on the staggering political to-do list for Harris after learning of Biden’s plans to leave the race Sunday morning on a call with the president. She must also pick a running mate and pivot a massive political operation that had been built to reelect Biden to boost her candidacy instead.

On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President, reflecting that she is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. She added $81 million to that total in the first 24 hours after Biden’s endorsement, her campaign said — a presidential fundraising record — with contributions from more than 888,000 donors.

The campaign also saw a surge of interest after Harris took over, with more than 28,000 new volunteers registered since the announcement — a rate more than 100 times an average day from the previous Biden reelection campaign, underscoring the enthusiasm behind Harris.

Big-name Harris endorsements Monday, including from Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, left a vanishing list of potential rivals.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who had been one of the notable holdouts, initially encouraging a primary to strengthen the eventual nominee, said she was lending her “enthusiastic support” to Harris’ effort to lead the party.

Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to be president.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced before Biden dropped out that it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The convention’s rules committee is scheduled to meet this week to finalize its nomination process with a virtual vote as soon as Aug. 1, the party announced on Monday, with the process completed by Aug. 7.

“We can and will be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination,” Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee’s chair, said on a conference call with reporters.

The party said the virtual roll call would feature multiple rounds of voting on nominees if multiple candidates meet the qualification threshold. To qualify, candidates must have the electronic signatures of 300 convention delegates.

AP writers Seung Min Kim and Will Weissert in Washington and Chris Megerian in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed.

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What to know as Biden drops out of the 2024 presidential race and endorses Harris

Politics Jul 21