English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Close Reading 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A writer uses short, fragmented sentences in the climax of a narrative essay. The most likely purpose is to:
- Show the author's lack of writing skill
- Create urgency, tension, or immediacy (Correct answer)
- Demonstrate a formal academic register
- Signal a shift to a counterargument
Correct answer: Create urgency, tension, or immediacy
Sentence fragments and short sentences speed the reader's pace, mimicking the breathless quality of a high-stakes moment.
Question 2: Which of the following is the best definition of 'ethos' in a persuasive text?
- An appeal to the audience's emotions to generate sympathy or fear
- An appeal based on the author's credibility, character, and trustworthiness (Correct answer)
- An appeal that relies on statistical data and logical reasoning
- An appeal that uses narrative storytelling to illustrate a point
Correct answer: An appeal based on the author's credibility, character, and trustworthiness
Ethos establishes why an audience should trust the speaker or writer, often through credentials, fairness, or demonstrated expertise.
Question 3: When a close reader identifies 'juxtaposition' in a text, they are noting that the author:
- Repeats a key term to reinforce a central claim
- Places two contrasting ideas, images, or characters side by side for effect (Correct answer)
- Uses a series of parallel grammatical structures
- Introduces an extended metaphor that runs throughout the passage
Correct answer: Places two contrasting ideas, images, or characters side by side for effect
Juxtaposition highlights differences or ironies by placing contrasting elements directly adjacent to each other.
Question 4: An author cites a peer-reviewed study to support a claim about climate change. This primarily strengthens which rhetorical appeal?
- Pathos, because it makes readers feel alarmed
- Logos, because it provides empirical evidence for the argument (Correct answer)
- Ethos, because it shows the author knows famous scientists
- Kairos, because it demonstrates timely relevance
Correct answer: Logos, because it provides empirical evidence for the argument
Citing a peer-reviewed study introduces verifiable, logical evidence, which is the foundation of logos.
Question 5: In a passage, the author repeatedly uses the word 'merely' when describing the opposition's arguments. This word choice most likely serves to:
- Concede that the opposition has valid points
- Diminish and trivialize the opposing viewpoint (Correct answer)
- Acknowledge complexity in the debate
- Establish common ground with the audience
Correct answer: Diminish and trivialize the opposing viewpoint
'Merely' is a minimizing adverb that subtly belittles opposing claims without engaging them directly.
Question 6: What is the function of a 'concession' in an argumentative essay?
- To introduce the essay's central thesis statement
- To acknowledge a valid point in the opposing argument before refuting or qualifying it (Correct answer)
- To provide statistical evidence for the author's main claim
- To summarize the essay's conclusion in different words
Correct answer: To acknowledge a valid point in the opposing argument before refuting or qualifying it
A concession strengthens ethos and credibility by showing the author has considered counterarguments fairly before reasserting their own position.
Question 7: A passage moves from describing a specific family's poverty to arguing for broad economic reform. This rhetorical strategy is called:
- Moving from abstract to concrete
- Moving from the particular to the general (inductive reasoning) (Correct answer)
- Circular reasoning
- Deductive reasoning from a universal principle
Correct answer: Moving from the particular to the general (inductive reasoning)
Beginning with a specific example and drawing a broad conclusion from it is classic inductive reasoning.
English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Close Reading 3
A writer uses short, fragmented sentences in the climax of a narrative essay.
The most likely purpose is to: