AP English Language and Composition, AP exams, 45%

Section I: Multiple Choice

Section I pairs two question types across several passage sets. Reading questions ask what a nonfiction writer is doing rhetorically and why; writing questions present a student draft and ask which revision best serves the writer's purpose, audience, or line of reasoning. College Board publishes 23 to 25 reading questions and 20 to 22 writing questions in the 45-question section.

Position: 1 of 2 exam sections
Published weighting: 45% in the official framework
Questions: 45 questions
Time: 60 minutes
Topics covered: 6 topics in this guide

What is covered

Topics inside this exam section.

These topics describe the scope students most often review for this part of AP English Language and Composition. Treat them as a study checklist rather than an exhaustive list of what a single exam form can sample.

Rhetorical situation: Identifying writer, audience, purpose, context, exigence, and message, and explaining how those constraints shape choices in the passage.
Claims and evidence: Distinguishing claims from evidence, tracking how evidence is qualified, and recognizing responses to opposing positions.
Reasoning and organization: Following a line of reasoning through methods of development, paragraph order, and transitional moves.
Style and word choice: Diction, syntax, tone, and figurative language questions that ask what an effect is, not merely what a device is named.
Revision and composition questions: The writing sets: choosing sentences that sharpen a thesis, add relevant evidence, or improve coherence in a draft.
Source use in a draft: Questions on integrating and attributing evidence from provided sources so a draft supports its claim responsibly.

Study tips

How to practice Multiple choice.

Section-specific guidance that follows from how this material is usually tested.

Answer every question with a because clause in your head; the correct choice explains an effect, not just a label.
Work timed sets of one passage rather than full sections at first, then build to the full hour.
Keep a log of the writing-question types you miss; revision questions repeat a small number of patterns.
Read published nonfiction weekly and name the writer's purpose and audience in one sentence each time.

Where this fits

Section I: Multiple Choice is 1 of 2 exam sections in the AP English Language and Composition guide, and it carries a published weighting of 45% in the official framework. Use the full guide to balance it against everything else you have to review.

Back to the AP English Language and Composition guide Official exam information

Sample Multiple choice questions

Practice questions, not yet expert-reviewed

Original practice questions written to the published framework for this section. No expert has reviewed them, and they are not taken from any official exam. Try each one before you open the answer.

Question 1Foundational
Which elements make up the rhetorical situation as AP English Language and Composition defines it?
1. AWriter, audience, purpose, context, exigence, and message
2. BEthos, pathos, logos, and kairos
3. CThesis, evidence, commentary, and sophistication
4. DClaim, counterclaim, rebuttal, and qualifier
Show answer
Answer: A. Writer, audience, purpose, context, exigence, and message
The course framework names six components of the rhetorical situation: exigence, audience, writer, purpose, context, and message. Ethos, pathos, and logos name appeals a writer may use inside that situation rather than the situation itself.
Key insight: Before naming devices, name the situation: who is writing to whom, why, in what context, and with what message.
Question 2Foundational
What is the rhetorical term for repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences?
1. AAntithesis
2. BAnaphora
3. CAnecdote
4. DAsyndeton
Show answer
Answer: B. Anaphora
Anaphora is repetition at the start of consecutive clauses, and it builds emphasis and rhythm. Asyndeton is the opposite kind of choice, the deliberate omission of conjunctions, while antithesis pairs contrasting ideas in parallel form.
Key insight: Anaphora repeats openings; on the exam, always pair the term with the effect it produces.
Question 3Intermediate
In an argument, what is the term for a word such as 'usually' or 'in most cases' that limits the scope of a claim?
1. AA qualifier
2. BA concession
3. CA rebuttal
4. DA warrant
Show answer
Answer: A. A qualifier
A qualifier narrows how strongly or how widely a claim applies, which makes the claim easier to defend with the available evidence. A concession is different: it grants a point to the opposing side rather than limiting the writer's own claim.
Key insight: Qualifiers limit a claim's reach; concessions grant ground to the other side.
Question 4Intermediate
A student draft asserts that a recycling policy has clearly failed and supports that claim with one neighbor's complaint. Which revision most improves the support for the claim?
1. AAdd cited data on the policy's measured outcomes
2. BRestate the claim more forcefully in the topic sentence
3. CMove the neighbor's complaint to the conclusion
4. DReplace the word 'clearly' with the word 'obviously'
Show answer
Answer: A. Add cited data on the policy's measured outcomes
A sweeping claim about a policy needs evidence at the scale of the claim, so measured outcomes from a cited source do work that a single anecdote cannot. Sharpening the wording or swapping one intensifier for another changes the tone without adding any support.
Key insight: Match the evidence to the size of the claim, or qualify the claim to match the evidence.
Question 5Advanced
A columnist writes: 'Critics say the program is expensive. They are right about the price and wrong about the value.' What rhetorical move does the second sentence make?
1. AA concession followed by a refutation
2. BAn appeal to the critics' credentials
3. CA definition of a disputed term
4. DAn analogy between two unlike things
Show answer
Answer: A. A concession followed by a refutation
The sentence grants the opposing point about cost and then rejects the judgment drawn from it, which is the classic concede-and-refute structure. No comparison is drawn and no term is defined, so analogy and definition do not describe the move.
Key insight: Concede the fact, then contest its significance.

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Practice Multiple choice deliberately.

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Section I: Multiple Choice