AP English Language MC Question Stems

From its appearance, he judged it to be one of those botanic gardens which were of earlier date in Padua than elsewhere in Italy or in the world. Or, not improbably, it might once have been the pleasure-place of an opulent family; for there was the ruin of a marble fountain in the centre, sculptured with rare art, but so woefully shattered that it was impossible to trace the original design from the chaos of remaining fragments. The water, however, continued to gush and sparkle into the sunbeams as cheerfully as ever. A little gurgling sound ascended to the young man's window, and made him feel as if the fountain were an immortal spirit that sung its song unceasingly and without heeding the vicissitudes around it, while one century embodied it in marble and another scattered the perishable garniture on the soil. All about the pool into which the water subsided grew various plants, that seemed to require a plentiful supply of moisture for the nourishment of gigantic leaves, and, in some instances, flowers gorgeously magnificent. There was one shrub in particular, set in a marble vase in the midst of the pool, that bore a profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the lustre and richness of a gem; and the whole together made a show so resplendent that it seemed enough to illuminate the garden, even had there been no sunshine."  Imagery, symbolism, point of view

A Sampling of Typical Multiple Choice Question Stems

From Past AP English Language & Composition Exams

Structure

The structure of…is marked by…

The syntax of the sentence in lines…serves to…

Describe the structure of the sentence in lines…

…is unified by metaphorical references pertaining to…

As the sentence in lines…is constructed,…is parallel to which of the following?

The speaker describes…in an order best described as…

The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage is best described as…

Despite its length,…remains coherent chiefly because of its use of…

In line…the use of…instead of…accomplishes which of the following?

Which of the following best describes the function of…in relation to… Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph in relation to the two paragraphs that       precede it

Purpose

What is the speaker’s primary purpose in writing this passage?

Which of the following best states the speaker’s purpose in lines…

The speaker accomplishes all of the following EXCEPT…

In line…the author emphasizes…because…

…is described as…because it…

What is the function of…introduced by…in line…

What is the effect achieved by the speaker’s using the phrases…

Rhetorical Strategies

What dominant technique/rhetorical strategy is the speaker using in lines…

The sentence…contains which of the following?

The main rhetorical strategy in paragraph…is used in order to…

All of the following may be found in the passage EXCEPT…

All of the following qualities are present in the scene described in…EXCEPT… The function of the three clauses introduced by “that” in lines…is to… Line…is parallel to what other line in the passage?

Argument

The author uses which method to develop his argument?

The speaker’s mention of…is appropriate to the development of the argument as an illustration of..

The type of argument employed by…is most similar to which of the following?

The author’s discussion of…depends on which of the following?

Assertions/Beliefs

In lines…, the speaker/author asserts that…

The term…conveys the speaker’s belief that…

Which of the following is true about the various assertions made in the passage?

Which of the following would the author be least likely to encourage in a person?

Contrast

What contrast does the speaker develop in lines…

The contrast between…and…is based on…

Juxtaposing…and…serves the purpose of…

In sentences…the speaker develops or implies contrasts between all of the following EXCEPT…

Attitude

The speaker’s attitude toward…is best described as one of…

In…, which of the following most suggests a…attitude on the part of the author?

The speaker assumes that the audience’s attitude toward…will be one of…

Main Point

The passage is about…

Which of the following best summarizes the main point in…

The overall point in…involves which of the following? The primary comparison is between…

Style/Tone

The style of the passage is best characterized as (usually has paired adjectives or paired tone nouns)

The tone of the passage is…

The atmosphere established in…is mainly one of…

Word/Phrase Meaning

Which of the following best restates the meaning of…

In lines…the phrase...is used to refer to…

In…, the speaker seeks to interest us in the subject of the discussion by stressing the…

Word/Phrase Meaning in Context

In line…the word…refers to… The phrase…functions primarily as…

In lines…”______” is the metaphorical way of saying…

In context, all of the following meanings are probably contained in…EXCEPT…

Grammar

The antecedent for…is…

The subject of the sentence in lines…is…

Point of View

The point of view indicated in…is that of…

The shift in point of view from…has the effect of…

Shifts

A shift of tone occurs in the passage in lines…

The phrase…signals a shift from…to… The tone of the passage shifts from one of…to one of…

Misc.

In the passage, the speaker makes all of the following assumptions about his/her readers EXCEPT… Which of the following best describes the result of…

What is the effect of…

It can be inferred by…that…

In lines…the speaker depicts himself as…

…is chiefly remarkable for its…

The allusion…best reflects the thought that…

According to the passage,…is…because…

Finish the analogy…