AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITIONThe Exam

Exam Overview

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP English Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description (CED).

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

Exam Format

The AP English Literature and Composition Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines every year, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day. There will also be a consistent range of difficulty in the reading passages across all versions of the exam from year to year. The free-response questions will be scored using analytic rubrics, rather than the previous holistic rubrics.

Note on 2021 exams: Both the paper and digital versions of the AP English Literature and Composition Exam will be full-length, containing the typical multiple-choice and free-response sections, and cover the full range of skills and knowledge specified in the course and exam description.

There are differences between the paper and digital versions of some 2021 AP Exams, and those variations differ by course. The information below applies to AP English Literature and Composition only. View a summary of all 2021 AP Exam formats.

Section I: Multiple Choice

55 Questions | 1 Hour | 45% of Exam Score

• Includes 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.
• The multiple-choice section will always include at least 2 prose fiction passages (this may include drama) and at least 2 poetry passages.

 Section II: Free Response

3 Questions | 2 Hours | 55% of Exam Score

• Students write essays that respond to 3 free-response prompts from the following categories:
  • 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

Exam Questions and Scoring Information

2020 (Last Year’s) Free-Response Questions

Last year’s free-response questions are available in the AP Classroom question bank for teachers to assign to students as homework or in class, and do not require secure assessment using the LockDown Browser. Since the 2020 exams had to be designed for highly unusual circumstances, these questions were updated, where possible, to best match the format of free-response questions in the course and exam description and on traditional AP Exams.

Sign in to AP Classroom to access resources including personal progress checks and a question bank with topic questions and practice exams aligned to the current course and exam.

To preserve the large number of new FRQs for teacher use, only teachers have access to the 2020 FRQs. If you are a higher education faculty member interested in seeing questions, please fill out this request form.

Student Samples and Scoring Commentaries from the 2020 Exam

A selection of prompts, student responses, and scoring information from the 2020 exam is available below. These resources align with the new rubric. You can find all of the 2020 FRQs and corresponding scoring information in AP Classroom.

Additional Samples and Scoring Information for 2020-21

The free-response sample packets below contain actual student responses from the 2018 and 2019 exams, re-scored using the rubrics that were meant to take effect with the May 2020 exams. Scoring commentaries and specific scoring guidelines that explain how the rubrics were applied are also provided below.

*Important: These documents may refer to the “2020 exam” or the “2020 rubric” since they were released before the coronavirus crisis caused a temporary shift to a shortened, online format for May 2020. The first full exam administered with these rubrics will be in May 2021.

Past Exam Questions and Scoring Information