Instructions for Writing AP Multiple-Choice Questions
Overview One of the most effective ways to understand something is to take it apart and then try to put it together again to see how it works. The AP multiple-choice section is no different. In this exercise, students will be given a series of commonly-used AP MC "stems" and a teacher's passage-of-choice from a released AP Lang MC section. The students will then work collaboratively to design a MC section by using the stems.
This process will get students to do two things: read closely for the kinds of elements in a passage the AP asks for, and secondly, to think like the testmakers, understanding where and why they ask questions on the passages they do.
Finally, students will take each other's tests either individually, in collaboration, or a combination of both.
Please read the items below, particularly the information about the multiple-choice stems.
You and the members of your group will be working together to write a set of multiple-choice questions.
Each of you will write his or her OWN questions.
Your questions may be distributed to other groups with the same passage as a test-preparation activity.
Important Terms
Multiple-choice item: a test question in which a number of response choices are given from which the correct answer is to be selected; should have 4-5 options (A-D or A-E)
Stem: the initial part of the item in which the task is delineated—it may be a question, directions, or an incomplete statement
Options: all the choices in an item
Key: the correct answer
Distracters: the incorrect options
How to Write the Questions
The material to be tested should be significant. It is easy to write questions about trivia. Resist the temptation.
Focus instead on the author's use of any of the following: rhetorical strategies, figurative language, purpose, and so on.
Use an vocabulary level appropriate for the population being tested (AP students).
Word the test items clearly and concisely
Trickiness (usually subtle but unimportant distinctions) is never productive in questions.
Use “None of the above” rarely, and never use “All of the above”
Avoid options that logically overlap
Distracters should be plausible
Use common errors or misconceptions associated with the material as distracters
Have a single clear key (answer)
Writing the Stems
Must be long enough to make the question clear, but should not try to teach a lesson. Provide no more information in the stem than necessary.
May be either a question or an incomplete statement to be completed by the options
Avoid using “of the following” when the answer is obviously one of the options
If an uncertainty may exist about a universal answer to the question, then use the phrase “of the following”
Use the positive approach for asking the questions (avoid using “not”)
If you must use a negative approach, type the negative word in all caps (NOT, EXCEPT, LEAST, etc.)
AP Language and Composition Multiple Choice Stems
The speaker’s primary purpose in the passage is to
The phrase, “ ” functions primarily as
The attitude of the entire passage (or parts of the passage) is one of
The author uses this (a certain image) for the purpose of
The main rhetorical strategy of the ___ paragraph is for the purpose of
The word “ ” in context of line ___ is best interpreted to mean
By lines ___, it can be interpreted to mean
The reason for the shift in tone is due to
The phrase “ ” in line ___ refers to which of the following
The word/phrase “ ” in line ___ refers to which of the following
In relation to the passage as a whole, the statement in the first sentence presents
In lines ___, “ ” the speaker employs which of the following rhetorical strategies
Which of the following best summarizes the main topic of the passage
In the sentence beginning “ ” the speaker employs all of the following EXCEPT
The style of the passage as a whole is most accurately characterized as
The principle contrast employed by the author in the passage (paragraph) is between
The primary rhetorical function of lines --- “ ” is to
The speaker’s reference to “ ” serves primarily to
The tone of the passage shifts from one of ___ to one of ___
The second sentence lines ___ is unified by metaphorical references pertaining to (frame of reference)
It can be inferred by the description of ___that which of the following qualities are valued by the speaker
The antecedent for “it” in the clause “ ” is
The type of argument employed by the speaker is most similar to which of the following
The speaker describes ___ in an order best described as from the (loudest to softest)
The pattern of exposition exemplified in the passage is best described as
The point of view indicated in the phrase “ ” in line ___ is that of
The atmosphere established in the ___ sentence in line ___ is that of
The function of the three clauses introduced by “that” in lines ___ is to
The sentence “ ” in lines ___ contains which of the following
Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph in relation to the two paragraphs that precede it
The passage is an appeal for a
The primary rhetorical function of lines ___ is to
In the passage, the speaker makes all of the following assumptions about his/her readers EXCEPT
The diction in the passage is best described as
One prominent stylistic characteristic of the ___ paragraph is the use of
The ___ sentence in line ___ remains coherent chiefly because of its use of
a. Parallel syntactic structure
b. Colloquial and idiomatic diction
c. A series of prepositional phrases
d. Periodic sentence structure
e. Retrospective point of view
Source for the above information: http://cbsd.org/cms/lib07/PA01916442/Centricity/Domain/1933/how%20to%20write%20mc%20questions.pdf