Cracking the Multiple Choice Section Breaking down the test

Cracking the Multiple Choice SectionBreaking down the test

Part 1• Looking at all three sections, decide which of the following EACH

question is really asking about; this may require examining the answer choices: • Level 1: Content

• Word’s Meaning• Main Idea• Author’s Purpose

• Level 2: Style• Rhetorical Device• Structure of Passage/Sentence

• Level 3:• Tone• Theme• Universal Implication

• Label the level and the specific category [Ex: Level 3: Tone] to the left of the number.

Part 2

Questions• Look at your answers with your

group.• Which question category did you

do the worst on?• Level 1: Content

• Word’s Meaning• Main Idea• Author’s Purpose

• Level 2: Style• Rhetorical Device• Structure of Passage/Sentence

• Level 3:• Tone• Theme• Universal Implication

Answers

• Look at the items you missed. • Did you choose an

answer that did not correspond to the category the question was actually asking about?

Part 3

Distractors

• A good distractor is almost indistinguishable from the correct answer.• Find the distractor for

each question from Reading 11- Music is My Bag• Highlight it

Things to Watch For:

• “$20 words” ‘big’ vocabulary words straight from the text• The idea that “well, I don’t

fully understand that word/answer, but it sounds smart, so it must be right” should be a RED FLAG

• Always and Never• Summary

Part 4

If the Distractor…

• Uses “$100 words” ‘big’ vocabulary words straight from the text• The idea that “well, I don’t

fully understand that word/answer, but it sounds smart, so it must be right” should be a RED FLAG

• Uses Always and Never• Is a summary

Then you should…

• Find something in the text that DIRECTLY supports that answer as being correct

• Assume it’s wrong- absolutes are usually there to point out the one time they aren’t absolute

• Be careful. Summarizing is rarely the way to answer ANY question on an AP test.

Cracking the AP Multiple ChoiceHow it’s Made

Part 5.1• Read Stone Soup on p. 394-405 silently.• SOAPSTone the piece to the 3rd slash• Speaker• Occasion• Audience• Purpose• Subject • Tone

Part 5.5• Read Women and the Future of Fatherhood by Barbara Dafoe

Whitehead p. 405-412• SOAPSTone the piece to the 3rd slash• Speaker• Occasion• Audience• Purpose• Subject • Tone

Part 6• With your group, use

the MC Question stems handout to write questions for your half of the story.• Two Level 1 questions• Two Level 2 questions• Two Level 3 questions

• Level 1: Content• Word’s Meaning• Main Idea• Author’s Purpose

• Level 2: Style• Rhetorical Device• Structure of

Passage/Sentence

• Level 3:• Tone• Theme• Universal Implication

Part 7

Writing Answers

• Five different choices divided like this:• One Correct• One “sexy answer” (lures you

into picking it)• One that answers the

question if you only read part of the question

• One mostly wrong• One a literate monkey

wouldn’t choose• Must still be related to the

question- “Cheeseburger” is not a valid 5th answer

Tips for Writing the Distractor

“Sexy answers” sound right!• Use a $100 word from the passage • Use an obscure rhetorical device• Employing the ‘the answer is smarter

than me’ fallacy

• Use always or never• The answer itself is correct, but

does not answer what was asked! (ex. Discusses author’s meaning, when tone was subject of question.)

• Summarize the passage or line rather than explaining it

Part 8• Turn it in via Google Docs as ONE document per group. • Document should contain: • Group members names at top• Name of story and which piece your group had (1st or 2nd)• 6 questions, total• 5 answer choices per question• Correct answer starred at end of answer. (*)

• Explanation of why this is the correct answer. Cite line numbers where possible.