AP Spanish Literature and Culture

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) and the CED’s companion audio files.

Encourage your students to visit the AP Spanish Literature and Culture student page for exam information.

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Section IA: Multiple Choice
15 Questions | 20 Minutes | 10% of Exam Score

• This section includes 3 sets of questions based on authentic audio texts including:
  • An excerpt from an interview with an author
  • A recited poem that is not on the required reading list
  • A presentation on a literary topic related to course content
     
• Students will have time to skim the questions for each set before listening to the audio.
• The interview and presentation will be played once; the recited poem will be played twice.

Section IB: Multiple Choice
50 Questions | 1 Hour | 40% of Exam Score

• This section includes 6 sets of 7–10 questions based on readings from a variety of genres, periods, and places in the Spanish-speaking world.
• Readings include:
  • Works from the required reading list
  • Works outside the required reading list
  • 1 passage of literary criticism regarding a work or author from the list
     
• 1 set will contain 2 passages that are related by theme—one of those passages is taken from the required reading list and the other is from a non-required text.

Section II: Free Response
4 Questions | 1 Hour, 40 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score

• 2 Short-Answer Questions. Suggested time: 15 minutes each (~30 minutes). 
  • Text Explanation: Students read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list, identify the author and period of the text, and explain the development of a given theme found within the excerpt in relation to the whole work from which the excerpt is taken.
  • Text and Art Comparison: Students read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and study an image of a work of art (e.g., a painting, photograph, sculpture, or drawing) related by theme to the text. They are asked to compare how a particular theme is represented in both the text and the image, and then to connect that theme to the genre, period, or movement of the text.
     
• 2 Essay Questions. Suggested time: 35 minutes each (~70 minutes).
  • Analysis of a Single Text: Students read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and then analyze how the text represents the characteristics of a particular genre as well as a particular historical, cultural, or social context.
  • Text Comparison: Students read 2 excerpts related by theme, one from a text on the required list, the other from a text not on the list and analyze the effect of literary devices that the authors use in the texts to develop a particular theme that is provided in the question prompt.