The best thing you can do this year is read as many classics as you can (see my guide below).
The English AP's are very special because they actually test a student's natural ability in that subject. It's not at all like biology or chemistry where if you don't know the material, you can't answer the question.
That being said, knowing what's on the exam gives one a HUGE advantage, as well as practicing the specific essay styles. Usually a difficult story/poem will have easier questions/prompt and vice versa.
Multiple choice suggestions: The actual exam is very much like the old style SAT and ACT reading, just at a slightly higher level and with some questions on "advanced" literary devices (i.e. know what antecedent means). If you're good at the SAT and ACT reading style questions, you'll be fine. If not…try practicing by googling "AP literature practice." Regardless of literary comprehension level, over the school year one should have a list of devices with examples and go over a few now and then.
Free response suggestions: It's important in all of the essays to go back to the prompt when you can. Remember you may write the essays in whatever order you want.
Essay #1: Usually an analysis of a poem, sometimes old but you might luck out with something modern. Take a deep breath, read the prompt, read the poem, annotate important things (esp. when related to prompt!), plan if you want (three reasons/main ideas) and start writing.
Essay #2: Old exam used to be a compare/contrast. Nowadays usually a short story with a prompt (see suggestions for essay #1). Good advice with these essays: brownie points if you could somewhere call and compare the style/plot/whatever with another piece-as in, old person represents time like Ms. Havisham from Great Expectations-or add personal humor (can be cynical). Shoutout to Mr. Pickle.
Essay #3: Really the only true free response question. Prompt is usually very vague/open and student must address the prompt with a piece of prose (novel or play) they have read before. It's totally ok to write about Hamlet or Othello or any classic play you really fell in love with if it fits the prompt. Total massive brownie points for using "hard" novels like anything by Dickens (esp. Bleak House, do NOT use Christmas Carol the movie is too well known), the Brontë sisters, Crime and Punishment, etc. Please note you are not allowed to bring a book with you to the exam so write about something you know well.
At the end of the day, if you love reading or writing or writing about things you've read this will be a relatively easy and enjoyable class that most colleges accept for credit.
Guide to AP Literature Reads:
Before I start let me mention that this guide is heavily inspired by my AP Literature class and its teacher, Ms. Silverman. Our class had a lot of character (Jake's porter ohmigod), and it made me realize everyone's experience with (and therefore thoughts on) books is different. Use below as a template, although generally any prose on this list is a good one to read this year.
What you should have read by exam day (minimum):
1 prose that you honestly really enjoyed
1 prose that is a tragedy
1 prose that is a comedy/ironic
1 prose written by a non-white or non-male author
1 novel/1 play if your list has not included one so far
Just as an example, my list was: Great Expectations, Othello, Huck Finn, Jane Eyre, Macbeth
Best advice: make a personal list of like 10ish books you want to read this year, read maybe seven or eight of your personal list, and then make the list above. Go over at least three plays either in class or (preferably) follow along a movie of the play (make sure the movie follows the original script as accurately as possible) with a physical copy of the script in your hands, stopping every other scene to analyze/Sparknotes. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF SPARKNOTES, it does not make you a bad student or reader to use extra help for plays, short stories, or novels.
About four to seven days before the exam, after you've made this list and are semi-satisfied, cut a paper in half vertically. Each half-paper will be dedicated to one piece on your list; it can be used front and back. Each paper should have on it: Title at top, short paragraph of plot summary, important characters, symbols/items, themes, fav quotes*, and any comments. After completing each one, go on Youtube and look up crashcourse or whatever video about the piece; write down anything interesting you find out (like historical significance maybe) on your paper in a different color than the rest. Then move onto the next half-paper. I recommend doing about two a day leading up to the exam.
*- try to memorize short quotes like Jane Eyre's "Reader I married him" and pop them into an essay, it looks very impressive!
Some advice for teachers: Our teacher used a very logical system called "The book diary." Essentially, every week a student writes a short essay addressing a past essay #3 prompt on whatever book they are reading literally in a diary/journal. If they just started the novel they may write a more basic essay like "write a letter to a character" or "Describe the opening scene" or "How do you identify with the protagonist," etc. etc. Usually students are to write three to four essays on each book (about one novel a month), and a few names are picked out of a hat each week to decide who reads their "diary entry."
^Really a fantastic system to get a lot of practice with essay #3, and before the exam a very quick and easy review to read. My actual essay #3 on the AP exam was very similar to the Jane Eyre entrees in my book diary and made me feel less scared/more confident in my free response writing.
Ms. Silverman's list (we were suggested to read books from this list or books by the same author):
Jane Eyre*- Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice*- Jane Austen
Native Son- Richard Wright
Bleak House- Charles Dickens
Great Expectations*- Charles Dickens
Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
The Bluest Eye- Toni Morisson
The Bell Jar*- Sylvia Plath
Catcher in the Rye*- J.D. Salinger
Crime and Punishment- Fyoder Dostoyevsky
Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
1984*- George Orwell
The Joy Luck Club- Amy Tan
The Awakening- Kate Chopin
The Adventures of Huck Finn*- Mark Twain
(stars means I read it and liked it)
Required reading: First 200 pages of How to Read Literature like a Professor. This book will blow your mind, seriously if you're ready to have all your conceptions of literature shattered (it doesn't ruin any book which I was afraid of) read that book.
Click on the side of this page for my all time favorite books under "Favorites." I read a lot of ebooks and whatnot so at this point I've read over 300 novels since the start of middle school. That's over the top, as long as you can read English well the exam won't be too hard (or much of a bore, I liked the readings).
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