English 8 Honor

Essential Strategies to Pass the Multiple-Choice Section of the AP English Exam

2008-05-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

Hilda Paucar, Jessica Sosa, Angela Parra, Anais Roman, Geovanna Carrasco

Read questions and answers carefully

Keep track of time continuously

Scan:

Take approximately a total of 3 minutes to scan the entire test, observing the structure, the question styles, and overall length of test.

Do NOT spend too much time on one question.

If necessary, skip it and proceed to the next question

Anticipation/Taking Notes:

As you read passages, mark any details and ideas that you would ask a question about
Mark any details that seems to be important
Identify literary elements

Read all answers, considering each. Do not stop with the second or third choice, even if you think you have found the correct answer. Your objective is to pick the best answer

Underline keywords both in questions and answers

Process of Elimination: Eliminate answers that are not coherent and that do not make sense

Using context:

Consider context when the question directs you to specific lines, words, phrases

Substitution/Fill in Blank:

Rephrase question, leaving blank where answers should go.

Use each of choices to fill in blank until you have found the answer that best fits.

Make an educated guess if necessary

Trust your own resources
A question or choice may trigger a “remembrance of past things.” This can be the basis for your educated guess

If you must guess, then be aware of words like “never,” “always,” “must,” and “completely.” These can help you to further eliminate answers or to clarify what the question is asking.

Be aware that it is not unusual to find the necessary information needed to answer one question somewhere else on the exam.

If time is running out, scan the remaining questions and find the shortest questions as well as questions that direct to a specific line.

When considering whether you should change an answer when reviewing test, do so only if you are positive that the new choice is correct.

Do not pay attention to how many A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, or E’s you have marked. Patterns in answers do not necessarily mean anything and can distract you from taking the test properly.

Look out for grammatical cues of the text.

Pay attention to factual information in the text (understanding who, what, when, where, why, and how).
Read closely and work on recognizing the tone, humor, irony, and narrative techniques.

Don't be afraid to write in the test book.

Write whatever it takes in the book to get the right answer and cross out the letters of choices that are definitely wrong.

If you come across a question you can't answer, mark it so you can easily come back to it later.

Make sure that if you skip a question you make a mark on the answer sheet or you skip a space, that way you don’t mess up your entire test.

Don’t waste time trying to answer a difficult question, when you can answer three easy ones during that time.

Always remember that time is gold.

Take educated guesses if you don’t know the answer of a question, that way you only get one-fourth of a point reduced for each question answered incorrectly.

Watch for key phrases like "all of the following EXCEPT" and "NOT" in the questions.

To avoid confusion with this phrases mark true statements with a "T" in the test book and false statements with an "F."

If you know more than one answer is correct, there's a good chance the right answer is "all of the above", if you have that choice.

Don't worry about the pattern of the answers, you can answer a to five questions in a row and be right.

When you get the test thumb through the pages, that way you know how much work you have and are aware of how to distribute your time.

If you finish early check for careless mistakes like skipped questions or misread items.

*Information taken from:

Steps to a 5: AP English Literature (2007), McGraw-Hill Edition by Estelle Rankin and Barbara Murphy.

http://masteringmultiplechoice.com/multiple-choice-test-taking-strategies.html

http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/pages/departments/psychology/pages/current_students/test/multiple_choice.html

http://www.wmich.edu/asc/files/TestTakingStrategies.pdf

http://www.uwec.edu/geOGrApHY/Ivogeler/multiple.htm