AP English Language and Composition: The Exam | AP Central

Event
- Wed, May 16, 2018
AP English Language and Composition Exam Day 2018
- 8 a.m. | 3 hrs 15 mins

Exam Overview

The AP English Language and Composition Exam includes multiple-choice and free-response questions that test essential skills covered in the course curriculum:

reading comprehension of rhetorically and topically diverse texts
rhetorical analysis of individual texts in isolation
synthesis of information from multiple texts
written argumentation

Encourage your students to visit the AP English Language and Composition student page for exam information and exam practice.

Exam Format

Section I

Multiple Choice — 52 to 55 Questions | 1 Hour | 45% of Exam Score

Excerpts from non-fiction texts are accompanied by several multiple-choice questions

Section II

Free Response — 3 Free-Response Questions | 2 Hours, 15 Minutes (includes a 15-minute reading period) | 55% of Exam Score

This section has three prompts:

Synthesis: Students read several texts about a topic and create an argument that synthesizes at least three of the sources to support their thesis.
Rhetorical analysis: Students read a non-fiction text and analyze how the writer's language choices contribute to his or her purpose and intended meaning for the text.
Argument: Students create an evidence-based argument that responds to a given topic.

The total Section II time is 2 hours and 15 minutes. This includes a 15-minute reading period. The reading period is designed to provide students with time to develop thoughtful, well-organized responses. They may begin writing their responses before the reading period is over.

Exam Questions and Scoring Information

For free-response questions from prior exams, along with scoring information, check out the tables below.

Be sure to review the Student Performance Q&A. In this invaluable resource, the Chief Reader of the AP Exam compiles feedback from members of the reading leadership to describe how students performed on the FRQs, summarize typical student errors, and address specific concepts and content with which students have struggled the most that year.

2017: Free-Response Questions

2017: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines

2016: Free-Response Questions

2016: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2015: Free-Response Questions

2015: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2014: Free-Response Questions

2014: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2013: Free-Response Questions

2013: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2012: Free-Response Questions

2012: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2011: Free-Response Questions

2011: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2011: Form B

2011: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2010: Free-Response Questions

2010: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Score Distributions

2010: Form B

2010: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Score Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2009: Free-Response Questions

2009: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2009: Form B

2009: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2008: Free-Response Questions

2008: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2008: Form B

2008: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2007: Free-Response Questions

2007: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2007: Form B

2007: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2006: Free-Response Questions

2006: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2006: Form B

2006: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2005: Free-Response Questions

2005: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses	Grade Distributions

2005: Form B

2005: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Responses

2004: Free-Response Questions

2004: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2004: Form B

2004: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2003: Free-Response Questions

2003: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

* Note: The third sample response has been replaced with the appropriate text (EE).

2003: Form B

2003: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2002: Free-Response Questions

2002: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples	Grade Distributions
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3	Grade Distributions

2002: Form B

2002: Form B
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2001: Free-Response Questions

2001: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

2000: Free-Response Questions

2000: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

1999: Free-Response Questions

1999: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3

AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITIONThe Exam

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