How Can I Be Prepared for the AP Spanish Literature Multiple Choice?

What's up, AP Spanish Lit students? When you've finished reading this blog, we hope you'll know all about the multiple-choice section of the exam 🎉

An Overview 🔎

Let's go over a few general details about the multiple-choice section:

• There are 65 multiple-choice questions on the AP Spanish Lit exam. ✍
• They are broken up into Part A and Part B.- Part A: Interpretive Listening — Audio Texts 🔉- 15 questions ‼- 20 minutes 🕐- Worth 10% of your exam score- Part B: Reading Analysis — Print and Texts 📖- 50 questions ‼- 60 minutes 🕐- Worth 40% of your exam score
• The multiple-choice section is worth 50% of your overall AP score 🌓- The other 50% is the free-response section (4 questions).
• There are no deductions. You only get points for the questions you get correct. This means there's no difference between a question that's left blank and a question answered incorrectly!- Don't leave questions blank ✨

Skills Assessed on the MC Section 🤓

College Board has 6 "practices" (skills) that it uses to assess students on the exam. 3 of those practices apply to the multiple-choice section. Here they are, along with some features of each skill:

• 🤔 Skill 1: Analysis - analyzing and interpreting authentic literary and audio sources - read/listen to literary text- explain themes and their development in a text- explain literary elements, stylistic features, and implied meanings in a text- interpret the tone of a text
• 🗺 Skill 2: Cultural Context and Connections - making connections between a literary text and a non-literary text or an aspect of culture- explain relationships between perspectives of Spanish-speaking cultures- make connections between a text and its historical and social contexts- explain how texts reflect or challenge a culture
• 📚 Skill 3: Comparing Literary Texts - making connections between multiple literary texts- describe the structural and stylistic similarities and differences in two texts- compare the contents of two literary texts — Taken from the College Board's Course/Exam Description for AP Spanish Literature 🎉

Set up a place where you can focus while studying! Image labeled for reuse. 

Types of Questions 📜

Now, keeping those skills in mind, College Board has designed a few different types of questions. Let's break them down!

• Multiple Choice: Part A (10% of the exam, 15 questions in 20 mins) ⏰- Each of the questions in Part A of the multiple choice section is about authentic audio texts (it's a listening assessment) 🔉- You will listen to 3 audio recordings, and then answer the questions for each.- 4 of the 15 questions will be about an interview that you will listen to 💬- 4 of the 15 questions will be about a poem that you will listen to (the poem is NOT one on the required reading list) 📃- 7 of the 15 questions will be about a discussion or presentation on a literary topic 👩‍🏫
• Multiple Choice: Part B (40% of the exam, 50 questions in 60 mins) ⏰- Each of the questions in Part B of the multiple-choice section will ask you to analyze authentic texts—some will be from the required reading list, others will not 📖- 2 sets of 7-10 questions will ask you to analyze a required text from the course 📗- 2 sets of 7-10 questions will ask you to analyze a non-required text 📕- 1 set of 7-10 questions will ask you to compare literary texts—one required and one non-required 📗 📕- 1 set of 7-10 questions will ask you to analyze a literary critique of one of the required texts or authors 🗯

Tips and Tricks for MC Questions ☺

1. Read all of the required texts 📚

• As you know, AP Spanish Lit focuses heavily on the 38 required texts for the course.

• It's super important that you read and analyze all of these throughout the year, as they will show up on the MC section of the exam. 2. Practice with listening assignments throughout the year 🔉

• Although only 15 of the 65 questions involve listening, you still want to make sure that you dedicate some time to listen to authentic audio 🤔

• Practice answering comprehension questions with each audio recording you listen to. If you can't find paired questions, make your own! 3.  Answer every question. 💬

• There is NO penalty for wrong answers on the AP exam 🙌

• If you can't figure out the answer to a question, just mark a random letter and move on!

• It'll be okay, and you can still do well even if you get questions wrong 😉 4. Manage your time wisely ⌚

• Make sure you're keeping an eye on the clock for Parts A and B of the multiple-choice section.

• Since you only have 15 minutes to answer the listening-based questions, make sure you use every minute wisely ⏰

• Read the questions as soon as you get the exam, and make notes so you know what to listen for when the audio begins 📝 5. Relax 😉

• You have studied for the exam!

• Don't get stressed out if you can't remember something. You'll still do great! 💪

In Closing... 👍

Good luck on your AP Spanish Lit exam! Remember, we're always here for you and we've got your back! Check out our resources for all AP subjects to help you get a 5 🎉