English Ap exam/ college entrance exams

[momofkhm]

DH and I are trying to figure out where to go with writing for my oldest. He remembers something from college entrance exams that I don't. We both took the SAT back in the day. But he also took the English AP exam. Maybe it wasn't called English, maybe it was literature.

 

To anyone whose kid has taken it recently, does this sound familiar:

 

My recollection of high school English, at least in Poquoson, is that you were made to read the books that would show up on the various college entrance exams -- and not just read them, but made to write essays about them. And so, for example, when asked to explain XYZ about a classic book, you were well prepared to write a five-paragraph essay about, e.g., the characters in The Sun Also Rises.

 

When I was trying to figure out what he was talking about, since college entrance exams meant the SAT, he started talking about writing an essay for the exam. Back then there was no writing component for the SAT. So does this make sense for the AP? He was saying that it was a set group of books that you had to read and know so you could answer the questions on the exam.

 

Right now, we're just trying to figure out if this is from his AP exam.

 

Thanks!

[Michelle in AL]

The AP Lit exam has several essays included (I'm thinking 3). One of the essays typically has you relate your answer to a specific piece of literature. Several pieces work well for this question and AP teachers typically assign a few of these works each yr. A student should be very familiar with the analysis of one such book before hand so that they can apply it to the essay question.

 

AP Lit will get you out of English Lit in most colleges.

AP Lang will get you out of English Composition in most colleges.