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.