5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literature - Estelle M. Rankin, Barbara L. Murphy 2019
The diagnostic/master exam
Determine your test readiness
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: Put yourself to the test with the diagnostic exam.
Key Ideas
Peruse the multiple-choice section in Section I of the exam
Familiarize yourself with the essays in Section II
A Walk Through the Diagnostic/Master Exam
“You know, from my experience with AP exams, I’ve learned never to assume anything.”
—Jeremy G. AP student
This chapter presents our version of an Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam which we use throughout this book to demonstrate processes, examples, terms, and so on. We call this the Diagnostic/Master exam. You will not be taking this exam at this point, but we would like you to “walk through” the exam with us now.
The first part of this 3-hour exam is always the multiple-choice section, which lasts 1 hour. It is related to both prose passages and poetry. The multiple-choice section of the Diagnostic/Master exam contains two prose passages from different time periods and of different styles. It also has two poems from different time periods and of different forms. The multiple-choice questions for each selection were developed to provide you with a wide range of question types and terminology that have been used in the actual AP Lit exams over the years.
To begin to know what the exam looks like, take some time to look through the multiple-choice section of the Diagnostic/Master exam. Do not try to answer the questions; just peruse the types of passages and questions.
• Take a turn through all of the pages of the test and familiarize yourself with the format.
• See where the longer and shorter readings are.
• See how many prose and poetry passages there are.
• Check the total number of questions and know what you are facing.
• Check out the essay prompts.
A Word About Our Sample Student Essays
We field-tested each of the essay questions in a variety of high schools, both public and private. We could have chosen to present essays that would have “knocked your socks off,” but we chose to present samples that are truly representative of the essays usually written within the time constraints of the exam.
These essays are indicative of a wide range of styles and levels of acceptability. We want you to recognize that there is not one model to which all essays must conform.
“To Thine Own Self Be True” (Polonius—Hamlet)
“Be true to yourself” is always the best advice and is especially appropriate for a writer. Listen to your teacher’s advice; listen to our advice; listen to your own voice. Yours is the voice we want to “hear” in your writing. Use natural vocabulary and present honest observations. It is wonderful to read professional criticism, but you cannot adopt someone else’s ideas and remain true to your own thoughts. Trust your brain—if you’ve prepared well, you’ll do well.
DIAGNOSTIC/MASTER EXAM
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
Section I
Total time—1 hour
Carefully read the following passages and answer the questions that come after them.
Questions 1—10 are based on the next passage.
Now Goes Under . . .
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
1. The poem is an example of a(n)
A. sonnet
B. lyric
C. ode
D. ballad
E. dramatic monologue
2. The setting of the sun is a symbol for
A. the beginning of winter
B. encountering danger
C. the end of a relationship
D. facing death
E. the onset of night
3. The second stanza is developed primarily by
A. metaphor
B. simile
C. personification
D. hyperbole
E. allusion
4. “He” in line 15 refers to
A. Wisdom
B. Truth
C. I
D. Pride
E. charity
5. According to the speaker, what separates man from beast?
A. love
B. friendship
C. charity
D. truth
E. wisdom
6. For the speaker, the relationship has been all of the following except
A. honest
B. dangerous
C. spiritual
D. ephemeral
E. nourishing
7. The reader can infer from the play on words in the last stanza that the speaker is
A. dying
B. frantic
C. wistful
D. bitter
E. capricious
8. “This once holy place” (line 12) refers to
A. the sunset
B. the relationship
C. the sea
D. the circus
E. the Church
9. The cause of the relationship’s situation is
A. a stranger coming between them
B. the lover not taking the relationship seriously
C. the lover feeling intellectually superior
D. the lover’s pride coming between them
E. the lover being insensitive
10. The speaker acknowledges the finality of the relationship in line(s)
A. 1—2
B. 7
C. 8
D. 16
E. 18—19
Questions 11—23 are based on the following passage.
11. In the passage, darkness implies all of the following except
A. the unknown
B. savagery
C. ignorance
D. death
E. exploration
12. The setting of the passage is
A. Africa
B. Ancient Rome
C. the Thames River
D. the Mediterranean
E. Italy
13. The tone of the passage is
A. condescending
B. indignant
C. scornful
D. pensive
E. laudatory
14. Later events may be foreshadowed by all of the following phrases except
A. “Imagine the feelings of a commander . . . ”
B. “. . . live in the midst of the incomprehensible . . . ”
C. “. . . in some inland post feel the savagery . . . ”
D. “They must have been dying like flies here.”
E. “. . . the very end of the world . . . ”
15. The narrator draws a parallel between
A. light and dark
B. past and present
C. life and death
D. fascination and abomination
E. decency and savagery
16. In this passage, “We live in the flicker . . .” (lines 7—8) may be interpreted to mean ALL of the following EXCEPT
A. In the history of the world, humanity’s span on earth is brief.
B. Future civilizations will learn from only a portion of the past.
C. Periods of enlightenment and vision appear only briefly.
D. The river has been the source of life throughout the ages.
E. A moment of present-day insight about conquest.
17. One may conclude from the passage that the speaker
A. admires adventurers
B. longs to be a crusader
C. is a former military officer
D. recognizes and accepts the presence of evil in human experience
E. is prejudiced
18. In the context of the passage, which of the following phrases presents a paradox?
A. “The fascination of the abomination . . .”
B. “. . . in the hearts of wild men”
C. “There’s no initiation . . . into such mysteries”
D. “. . . a flash of lightning in the clouds”
E. “. . . death skulking in the air . . . ”
19. The lines “Imagine him here . . . concertina . . . ” (lines 13—14) contain examples of
A. hyperbole and personification
B. irony and metaphor
C. alliteration and personification
D. parallel structure and simile
E. allusion and simile
20. According to the speaker, the one trait which saves Europeans from savagery is
A. sentiment
B. a sense of mystery
C. brute force
D. religious zeal
E. efficiency
21. According to the speaker, the only justification for conquest is
A. the “weakness of others”
B. it’s being “proper for those who tackle a darkness . . . ”
C. their grabbing “what they could get for the sake of what was to be got”
D. “. . . an unselfish belief in the idea . . . ”
E. “The fascination of the abomination”
22. In the statement by the speaker, “Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this” (line 36), “this” refers to
A. “. . . a Buddha preaching in European clothes . . . ” (lines 35—36)
B. “. . . imagine the growing regrets . . . the hate.” (lines 31—32)
C. “What redeems it is the idea only.” (lines 45—46)
D. “. . . think of a decent young citizen in a toga . . . ” (line 24)
E. “I was thinking of very old times . . . ” (line 5)
23. The speaker presents all of the following reasons for exploration and conquest except
A. military expeditions
B. “. . . a chance of promotion”
C. “. . . to mend his fortunes . . . ”
D. religious commitment
E. punishment for a crime
Questions 24—35 are based on the following poem.
24. “That time of year” (line 1) refers to
A. youth
B. old age
C. childhood
D. senility
E. maturity
25. “Death’s second self” (line 8) refers to
A. “That time of year”
B. “sunset fadeth”
C. “the west”
D. “ruin’d choirs”
E. “black night”
26. Line 12 is an example of
A. paradox
B. caesura
C. parable
D. hyperbole
E. metonymy
27. “Twilight of such day” (line 5) is supported by all of the following images except
A. “sunset fadeth”
B. “the glowing of such fire”
C. “west”
D. “Death’s second self”
E. “ashes of his youth”
28. “This thou perceiv’st” (line 13) refers to
A. the beloved’s deathbed
B. the sorrow of unrequited love
C. the passion of youth expiring
D. the beloved’s acknowledgment of the speaker’s mortality
E. the speaker sending the lover away
29. The poem is an example of a(n)
A. elegy
B. Spenserian sonnet
C. Petrarchan sonnet
D. Shakespearean sonnet
E. sestina
30. The poem is primarily developed by means of
A. metaphor
B. argument
C. synecdoche
D. alternative choices
E. contradiction
31. The irony of the poem is best expressed in line
A. 5
B. 7
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12
32. “It” in line 12 can best be interpreted to mean
A. a funeral pyre
B. spent youth
C. the intensity of the speaker’s love
D. the impending departure of his beloved
E. the immortality of the relationship
33. An apt title for the poem could be
A. Love Me or Leave Me
B. Death Be Not Proud
C. The End Justifies the Means
D. Love’s Fall
E. Grow Old Along with Me
34. The tone of the poem can best be described as
A. contemplative
B. defiant
C. submissive
D. arbitrary
E. complaining
35. The speaker most likely is
A. jealous of the beloved’s youth
B. pleased that the lover will leave
C. unable to keep up with the young lover
D. unwilling to face his own mortality
E. responsive to the beloved’s constancy
Questions 36—47 are based on the following passage.
Poets and Language
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
36. The passage is an example of
A. the opening of a novel
B. the opening of an autobiography
C. an essay
D. an ode
E. a dramatic monologue
37. According to Shelley, a poet is a combination of
A. historical figure and patriot
B. artist and priest
C. grammarian and poet
D. sculptor and musician
E. lawmaker and seer
38. In lines 5 and 6, “the germs of the flower and the fruit of latest time” can best be interpreted to mean
A. the guardian of the future
B. that the poet’s thoughts destroy conventional thinking
C. that the poet is clairvoyant
D. that the poet is the gardener of thought
E. that the current thoughts of the poet presage the future
39. According to Shelley, “the pretense of superstition” (lines 7—8) is
A. the ability to “foreknow” events
B. the ability to control the future
C. to grant immortality to the poet
D. to be a legislator
E. the ability to change the future
40. Shelley asserts that grammatical forms (lines 10—15) serve all the following purposes except
A. to indicate verb tense
B. to clarify pronoun agreement
C. to solidify relative pronouns
D. to forbid citation
E. to enhance poetry
41. The reader may infer that the book of Job and the works of Aeschylus and Dante
A. are too far in the past to be of value today
B. are examples of Shelley’s theories
C. have injured poetry
D. deal with superstition
E. are more decisive than art
42. According to Shelley, poetry, sculpture, music, and painting have what characteristic in common?
A. They are dependent on one another.
B. They rely on grammatical forms.
C. They are at odds with one another.
D. They are eternal.
E. They can only relate to a specific time and place.
43. In lines 19—20, the phrase “that imperial faculty, whose throne . . . ” refers to
A. legislators
B. language
C. synonyms
D. nature
E. poetry
44. According to Shelley, which of the following is not part of the nature of language?
A. It is imaginative.
B. It is a reflection of passion.
C. It causes civil habits of action.
D. It deals with the eternal self.
E. It is connected only to thought.
45. In line 27, if the word “former” refers to language, then “latter” refers to
A. art
B. motion
C. limits
D. imagination
E. metrics
46. Lines 27—28, beginning with, “The former . . .” contain ALL of the following literary devices EXCEPT
A. parallel structure
B. simile
C. imagery
D. personification
E. metaphor
47. According to the final paragraph, the greatest attribute of the poet is his
A. sensitivity to light and dark
B. depiction of fantasy and reality
C. perception of others
D. ability to reflect the future
E. creation of art
END OF SECTION I
The second part of the test is the 2-hour essay-writing section. You take this part of the exam after the break following your completion of the multiple-choice section. You will be required to write three different essays. In all likelihood, one of the questions will be based on a prose passage, one on a poem or two, and one will be what is called the free-response essay.
Do not write any essays at this time. Just take a careful look at each of the questions to get an idea of the types of writing assignments you are expected to be able to handle. Essay questions are called “prompts” by the AP.
Section II
Total time—2 hours
Question 1
(Suggested time 40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total score for Section II.)
In the following passage from the short story “The Dead,” James Joyce presents an insight into the character of Gabriel. Write a well-organized essay in which you discuss various aspects of Gabriel’s complex character that Joyce reveals to the reader and to Gabriel himself. Refer to such techniques and devices as imagery, point of view, motif, diction, and syntax.
The Dead
Question 2
(Suggested time 40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total score for Section II.)
In “On the Subway,” Sharon Olds brings two worlds into close proximity. Identify the complex contrasts that develop both portraits in the poem and discuss the insights the narrator comes to as a result of the experience. Refer to such literary techniques as tone, poetic devices, imagery, and organization.
On the Subway
by Sharon Olds
Question 3
(Suggested time 40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total score for Section II.)
Often in literature, a literal or figurative journey is a significant factor in the development of a character or the meaning of the work as a whole. Choose a full-length work and write a well-organized essay in which you discuss the literal and/or figurative nature of the journey and how it affects characterization and theme. You may choose a work from the list below or another play or novel of literary merit.
END OF SECTION II
Afterword
So that’s what the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam looks like. If you’re being honest with yourself, you’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed at this point. Good! This is primarily why we are going to deconstruct this entire Diagnostic/Master exam for you and with you throughout this book. By the time you reach Practice Exams 1 and 2, you should be feeling much more confident and comfortable about doing well on the AP Literature exam.
As you progress through this book, you will:
• Take each section of the Diagnostic/Master exam.
• Read the explanations for the answers to the multiple-choice questions.
• Read sample student essays written in response to each of the three prompts.
• Read the rubrics and ratings of the student essays.
• Evaluate your own performance in light of this information.