Name:____________________________________

Answer Sheet for AP® English Literature and

Composition Practice Exam #2

No. Answer No. Answer

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Section I: Multiple-Choice Questions

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AP® English Literature and Composition Exam
SECTION I: Multiple Choice

DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

At a Glance Instructions
Section I of this exam contains 54 multiple-choice questions. Fill in only the circles for
Total Time
numbers 1 through 54 on your answer sheet. (Please note that there are 55 questions on a
1 hour
typical exam. One question has been removed from this specific practice exam because it
Number of Questions
no longer aligns with the current scope of the exam.)
54
Percent of Total Score Indicate all of your answers to the multiple-choice questions on the answer sheet. No
45% credit will be given for anything written in this exam booklet, but you may use the booklet
Writing Instrument for notes or scratch work. After you have decided which of the suggested answers is best,
Pencil required completely fill in the corresponding circle on the answer sheet. Give only one answer
Dictionaries to each question. If you change an answer, be sure that the previous mark is erased
None allowed completely. Here is a sample question and answer.

Sample Question Sample Answer

Chicago is a A C D

(A) state

(B) city

(C) country

(D) continent

Use your time effectively, working as quickly as you can without losing accuracy. Do not
spend too much time on any one question. Go on to other questions and come back to the
ones you have not answered if you have time. It is not expected that everyone will know
the answers to all of the multiple-choice questions.

Your total score on the multiple-choice section is based only on the number of questions
answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers or unanswered
questions.

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10
The inclusion of source material in this exam is not
intended as an endorsement by the College Board or ETS
of the content, ideas, or values expressed in the material.
The literary works and excerpts that appear in the AP
English Literature and Composition Exam represent a
range of different authors and literary styles and themes,
as appropriate for measuring the critical reading and
analytic writing skills that are the focus of this course.
AP students are not expected or asked to subscribe to
any specific cultural or political values but are expected
to analyze perspectives different from their own and to
question the meaning, purpose, or effect of such content
within literary works.
 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

SECTION I
Time—1 hour

Directions: This section consists of selections from literary works and questions on their content, form, and style. After
reading each passage or poem, choose the best answer to each question and then fill in the corresponding circle on the
answer sheet.

Note: Pay particular attention to the requirements of questions that contain the words NOT, LEAST, or EXCEPT.

Questions 1 through 10 refer to the following.

Read the following carefully before you choose
your answers.

Joseph S. Cotter’s poem “Prologue to a Supposed

Play” was published in 1898.

Prologue to a Supposed Play

My worthy hearers, have you come tonight The actors are a queer and jolly set,
To feast on comedy that’s brisk and light, Whose fun increases as you fume and fret;
And gladly spend an idle hour or two 35 So, should they hurl at you eccentric airs,
Line In viewing pictures that are just like you? Just dodge as though they struck you unawares,
5 If this is what you want, just let me say Or jesting strive to make a pointed hit,
You couldn’t turn your heads a better way; Just hold your peace and let it pass for wit.
And for each cent you gave to enter here Now, my good hearers, hint what I shall say next.
You should take back a modicum of cheer, 40 You want to hear no more? Bring on the play next?
And weigh yourselves so well that you will be Well, here it is, and if you don’t grow wiser,
10 Arrayed against your insufficiency. Censure yourselves as well as the advisor.

But this is preaching? Well, the comic stage 1

pelf: wealth
Has preached through ridicule to every age.
Man scorns his shallow deed and sordid pelf1
When he’s employed in laughing at himself. 1. The speaker indicates that the play will include
15 So let us preach in every way that can (A) discussions of subjects unfamiliar to the
Lift man up to the dignity of man. audience
Now, don’t be too exact, but let good sense
(B) mockery of characters similar to the audience
Decide the point of honest eminence;
And bear in mind that what is trite and true, (C) ridicule of outdated literary fashions
20 If well managed, is worthy through and through. (D) celebration of the audience’s desire to be
reassured
But to the play. It comes in five long acts,
In which the weapons used are naked facts. 2. The speaker anticipates the objection that
There is no effort made to polish darts “preaching” (line 11) is
That find a lodgement in deceitful hearts, (A) a scandalous feature in a drama
25 Nor to put on the rogue an honest mask,
(B) an inappropriate element in a comedy
For that would be, indeed, a fruitless task.
The characters are plain, as you will see, (C) an unexpected and annoying interruption
And richly freighted with humanity; (D) a deplorable practice in any social context
And, by the way, their actions prove in making
30 A man of noble parts; the undertaking
Is such that nature seldom deigns to run
The same material on from sire to son.

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12AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

3. In both lines 11 and 21, the speaker begins 7. The speaker expects the audience to have felt all
sentences with “But” primarily to of the following by the end of the performance
(A) indicate a personal comment EXCEPT
(B) concede an exception (A) high spirits
(C) signal a shift in the discourse (B) relief
(D) reflect the confusion inherent in the poem’s (C) indignation
argument (D) impatience
4. The speaker suggests that the “naked facts” ­ 8. Overall, the speaker characterizes the audience as
(line 22) will (A) overly hostile to the play’s villainous characters
(A) shock naïve audiences with a cynical picture (B) ultimately agreeable to reforms of social
of human nature institutions
(B) enable those attending the play to indulge in (C) potentially receptive to humorous satire
wishful fantasies
(D) fundamentally decent despite its tendency to
(C) challenge playgoers to tolerate the playwright’s preach
bias against hypocrites
9. Which of the following best describes the effect
(D) encourage members of the audience to address
of the poem’s rhyming couplets?
their own weaknesses
(A) They playfully make the poem’s unpleasant
5. In context, the phrase “richly freighted” (line 28) points more palatable.
implies that
(B) They create a light tone to emphasize the frivolous
(A) characters’ flaws help make them human themes of the play.
(B) riches always carry imperfections with (C) They explicitly mock the audience’s expectations.
them
(D) They mirror the rapid shifts in the speaker’s
(C) being human involves unavoidable thoughts.
responsibilities
10. The poem is best described as
(D) all people carry the burden of personal anxieties
(A) an extended reflection on the nature of comedy
6. The figurative language in the final stanza
(B) a passionate monologue about the nobility of
(lines 33-42) draws most heavily on which activity?
human nature
(A) Musical performance
(C) a comical complaint about the shortcomings of
(B) Religious ritual playwrights
(C) Public celebration (D) an idiosyncratic description of a canonical play
(D) Armed confrontation

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 13

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

Questions 11 through 22 refer to the following. carried on without restraint, and no other attempt
Read the following carefully before you choose your 50 made at secrecy, than Mrs. Norris’s talking of it every
answers. where as a matter not to be talked of at present.
Edmund was the only one of the family who could
This passage is excerpted from Jane Austen’s novel see a fault in the business; but no representation of his
Mansfield Park, published in 1814. aunt’s could induce him to find Mr. Rushworth a
55 desirable companion. He could allow his sister to be
Mr. Rushworth was from the first struck with the the best judge of her own happiness, but he was not
beauty of Miss Bertram, and being inclined to marry, pleased that her happiness should centre in a large
soon fancied himself in love. He was a heavy young income; nor could he refrain from often saying to
Line man, with not more than common sense; but as there himself, in Mr. Rushworth’s company, “If this man
5 was nothing disagreeable in his figure or address, the 60 had not twelve thousand a year, he would be a very
young lady was well pleased with her conquest. Being stupid fellow.”
now in her twenty-first year, Maria Bertram was
beginning to think matrimony a duty; and as a 11. In the first sentence of the passage, the
marriage with Mr. Rushworth would give her the narrator implies which of the following about
10 enjoyment of a larger income than her father’s, as Mr. Rushworth?
well as ensure her the house in town, which was now (A) If he had already been married when he met
a prime object, it became, by the same rule of moral Miss Bertram, he would not have thought that
obligation, her evident duty to marry Mr. Rushworth she was beautiful.
if she could. Mrs. Norris was most zealous in
(B) If he had not been disposed to get married, he
15 promoting the match, by every suggestion and
might not have thought himself in love with
contrivance, likely to enhance its desirableness to
Miss Bertram.
either party; and, among other means, by seeking an
intimacy with the gentleman’s mother, who at present (C) If he had known much about Miss Bertram
lived with him, and to whom she even forced other than her physical beauty, he would not
20 Lady Bertram to go through ten miles of indifferent have thought he was in love with her.
road, to pay a morning visit. It was not long before (D) If he had truly loved Miss Bertram, he would
a good understanding took place between this lady have wanted to marry her even if she were not
and herself. Mrs. Rushworth acknowledged herself beautiful.
very desirous that her son should marry, and declared
12. Which statement best describes the narrative
25 that of all the young ladies she had ever seen,
technique employed in lines 3-6 (“He was . . .
Miss Bertram seemed, by her amiable qualities and
conquest”) ?
accomplishments, the best adapted to make him
happy. Mrs. Norris accepted the compliment, and (A) The narrator generates humor by means of
admired the nice discernment of character which hyperbole.
30 could so well distinguish merit. Maria was indeed the (B) The narrator uses negation to convey mere
pride and delight of them all—perfectly faultless— adequacy.
an angel; and of course, so surrounded by admirers, (C) The narrator cites a particular instance as the
must be difficult in her choice; but yet as far as basis for a generalization.
Mrs. Norris could allow herself to decide on so short
(D) The narrator underscores a point with a
35 an acquaintance, Mr. Rushworth appeared precisely
redundant reiteration.
the young man to deserve and attach her.
After dancing with each other at a proper number 13. In line 10, “enjoyment” is best understood to mean
of balls, the young people justified these opinions, (A) appraisal
and an engagement, with a due reference to the absent
(B) diversion
40 Sir Thomas, was entered into, much to the satisfaction
of their respective families, and of the general (C) interest
lookers-on of the neighbourhood, who had, for many (D) use
weeks past, felt the expediency of Mr. Rushworth’s
marrying Miss Bertram.
45 It was some months before Sir Thomas’s consent
could be received; but in the mean while, as no
one felt a doubt of his most cordial pleasure in the
connection, the intercourse of the two families was

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14AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

14. The attraction that Miss Bertram feels for Mr. 19. In line 53, “representation” is best understood to mean
Rushworth is best characterized as (A) likeness
(A) material (B) symbol
(B) physical (C) argument
(C) idealistic (D) version
(D) intellectual
20. It can be inferred from the passage that the narrator
15. The “understanding” (line 22) between Mrs. Norris regards Edmund’s assessment of Mr. Rushworth
and Mrs. Rushworth is marked by (lines 52-61) as
(A) wary distrust (A) excessively charitable
(B) veiled hostility (B) surprisingly naïve
(C) mutual flattery (C) essentially correct
(D) genuine fondness (D) unfairly biased
16. The narrator’s attitude toward the characters presented 21. The thoughts described in lines 58-61 (“nor . . .
in the first paragraph (lines 1-36) is best described as fellow’ ”) most directly support which view of
(A) jovial enthusiasm Mr. Rushworth?
(B) scientific curiosity (A) Money is more important to him than is
intelligence.
(C) wry amusement
(B) His wealth makes him the undeserving target of
(D) scornful disrespect
criticism.
17. By noting that Mr. Rushworth and Miss Bertram (C) He denies that Miss Bertram is marrying him for
“justified these opinions” (line 38), the narrator his money.
implies that they
(D) People respect him only because he is wealthy.
(A) rapidly fell in love with each other despite
warnings to be cautious 22. Mrs. Norris ’s role in the passage is that of
(B) seemed to have no other serious marital prospects (A) an enthusiastic intermediary
(C) were widely praised as an attractive young couple (B) an exasperating meddler
(D) were viewed by members of their social circle as an (C) a self-serving critic
appropriate match (D) a detached observer
18. Lines 49-51 (“and no . . . present”) suggest that Mrs.
Norris did which of the following?
(A) Implied a fact by conspicuously refusing to
discuss it
(B) Spread gossip by pretending to be a mere
messenger
(C) Quelled a scandal by decisively forbidding it to
be talked of
(D) Bragged about an event by feigning ignorance
of its significance

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 15

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

Questions 23 through 31 refer to the following. Fancy might now her silken pinions try
Read the following carefully before you choose your To rise from earth, and sweep th’ expanse on high;
answers. From Tithon’s bed now might Aurora rise,
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies,
Phillis Wheatley’s poem “On Imagination” was published 45 While a pure stream of light o’erflows the skies.
in 1773. The monarch of the day I might behold,
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
On Imagination But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,
Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse;
Thy various works, imperial queen, we see, 50 Winter austere forbids me to aspire,
How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp by thee! And northern tempests damp the rising fire;
Thy wond’rous acts in beauteous order stand, They chill the tides of Fancy’s flowing sea,
And all attest how potent is thine hand. Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.6
Line
5 From Helicon’s1 refulgent heights attend, 1
Mount Helicon, the home of the nine Muses
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend: 2
Greek and Roman goddesses of beauty and charm
3
wings
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue, 4
Roman goddess of flowers
Ye blooming graces,2 triumph in my song. 5
Roman god of woodlands, fields, and flocks
6
song
Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
10 Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind, 23. Which statement best characterizes lines 1-4
And soft captivity involves the mind. (“Thy . . . hand”) ?

Imagination! who can sing thy force? (A) Classical allusions set the tone for the poem.
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course? (B) Strong assertions announce a challenge to other
15 Soaring through air to find the bright abode, poets.
Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God, (C) Elevated diction evokes the splendor and power
We on thy pinions3 can surpass the wind, of the poem’s subject.
And leave the rolling universe behind:
(D) Heroic couplets accentuate the poem’s frivolous
From star to star the mental optics rove,
subject matter.
20 Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole, 24. In context, “attend” (line 5) is best understood to
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul. mean

Though Winter frowns to Fancy’s raptur’d eyes (A) wait

The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise; (B) prepare
25 The frozen deeps may break their iron bands, (C) listen
And bid their waters murmur o’er the sands.
(D) take charge
Fair Flora4 may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flow’ry riches deck the plain; 25. In lines 5-8 (“From . . . song”), the speaker conveys
Sylvanus5 may diffuse his honours round, all of the following EXCEPT
30 And all the forest may with leaves be crown’d: (A) the sanctity and power of music
Show’rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose,
(B) the intention to praise Imagination
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.
(C) a rejection of classical icons
Such is thy pow’r, nor are thine orders vain,
(D) a desire for poetic success
O thou the leader of the mental train:
35 In full perfection all thy works are wrought,
And thine the sceptre o’er the realms of thought.
Before thy throne the subject-passions bow,
Of subject-passions sov’reign ruler Thou,
At thy command joy rushes on the heart,
40 And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.

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16AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

26. Which of the following statements most precisely 29. The tone of lines 48-53 (“But . . . lay”) is most accurately
characterizes the significance of the imagery in the characterized as
fifth stanza (lines 23-32) ? (A) celebratory
A) The reality of winter intensifies the resurgence (B) determined
of hope that attends the arrival of spring.
(C) resigned
(B) Two personifications—one harsh, one
(D) vindictive
inspirational—confront each other in a mythic
struggle for victory. 30. The poem’s final line (“Cease . . . lay”) provides an
(C) Classical divinities of nature illustrate the fallacy ironic antithesis of which previous phrase?
that nature sympathizes with human emotion. (A) “From Helicon’s refulgent heights” (line 5)
(D) Envisioned as powerful even over nature, (B) “triumph in my song” (line 8)
Imagination seems to transform winter into (C) “bid their waters murmur” (line 26)
spring.
(D) “sweep th’ expanse on high” (line 42)
27. The quality most emphasized in lines 29-32
31. In the poem as a whole, the classical allusions serve
(“Sylvanus . . . rose”) is
most significantly to
(A) opulence
(A) imply that poets’ access to the power of
(B) dominance Imagination is diminishing over time
(C) movement (B) signal the speaker’s unconventional treatment of
(D) reverence traditional poetic subjects and forms
28. The imagery in lines 37-40 (“Before . . . dart”) most (C) highlight the intense contrast between the grand
clearly likens Imagination to imaginary realm and the speaker’s everyday
reality
(A) a soldier enduring a long war
(D) dramatize a complex set of stories that illustrate
(B) a monarch sending an army into battle
humankind’s role in the universe
(C) the winner of a hotly contested race
(D) the physician of a gravely ill patient

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 17

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

Questions 32 through 44 refer to the following. atmosphere harshens color. The boy was a full man
Read the following carefully before you choose your 45 before he ever knew what was meant by atmosphere;
answers. his idea of pleasure in light was the blaze of a
New England sun. His idea of color was a peony, with
This passage is excerpted from Henry Adams’ the dew of early morning on its petals. The intense
autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, published blue of the sea, as he saw it a mile or two away, from
in 1918. Adams, a prominent Bostonian, wrote this 50 the Quincy hills; the cumuli3 in a June afternoon sky; the
autobiography in third person. strong reds and greens and purples of colored
prints and children’s picture-books, as the American
The chief charm of New England was harshness of
colors then ran; these were ideals. The opposites or
contrasts and extremes of sensibility—a cold that
antipathies, were the cold grays of November
froze the blood, and a heat that boiled it—so that the
55 evenings, and the thick, muddy thaws of Boston
Line pleasure of hating—one’s self if no better victim
winter. With such standards, the Bostonian could not
5 offered—was not its rarest amusement; but the
but develop a double nature. Life was a double thing.
charm was a true and natural child of the soil, not a
After a January blizzard, the boy who could look with
cultivated weed of the ancients. The violence of the
pleasure into the violent snow-glare of the cold white
contrast was real and made the strongest motive of
60 sunshine, with its intense light and shade, scarcely
education. The double exterior nature gave life its
knew what was meant by tone. He could reach it only
10 relative values. Winter and summer, cold and heat,
by education.
town and country, force and freedom, marked
Winter and summer, then, were two hostile lives,
two modes of life and thought, balanced like lobes of
and bred two separate natures. Winter was always the
the brain. Town was winter confinement, school, rule,
65 effort to live; summer was tropical license.
discipline; straight, gloomy streets, piled with six feet
15 of snow in the middle; frosts that made the snow sing 1
Syringas are ornamental shrubs.
under wheels or runners; thaws when the streets 2
Pennyroyal is a mint plant; flagroot is the root of a particular herb.
became dangerous to cross; society of uncles, aunts,
3
Cumuli are thick clouds.

and cousins who expected children to behave

themselves, and who were not always gratified; above 32. Which of the following best describes the narrator’s
20 all else, winter represented the desire to escape and go main purpose in the passage?
free. Town was restraint, law, unity. Country, only
(A) To re-create the childhood environment that
seven miles away, was liberty, diversity, outlawry, the
shaped his perceptions of the world
endless delight of mere sense impressions given by
nature for nothing, and breathed by boys without (B) To detail how the hardships of living in
25 knowing it. New England contributed to a sense of
Boys are wild animals, rich in the treasures of disillusionment
sense, but the New England boy had a wider range (C) To describe the influence that boyhood friends
of emotions than boys of more equable climates. He had on his character
felt his nature crudely, as it was meant. To the boy (D) To relate a particularly memorable summer in
30 Henry Adams, summer was drunken. Among senses, New England
smell was the strongest—smell of hot pine-woods
and sweet-fern in the scorching summer noon; of 33. In the context of the passage as a whole, the phrase
new-mown hay; of ploughed earth; of box hedges; “chief charm” (line 1) is best interpreted to mean
of peaches, lilacs, syringas1; of stables, barns, cow- (A) unexplainable magic
35 yards; of salt water and low tide on the marshes; (B) defining characteristic
nothing came amiss. Next to smell came taste, and the
(C) unwavering virtue
children knew the taste of everything they saw or
touched, from pennyroyal and flagroot2 to the shell of (D) main resource
a pignut and the letters of a spelling-book—the taste
40 of A-B, AB, suddenly revived on the boy’s tongue
sixty years afterwards. Light, line, and color as
sensual pleasures, came later and were as crude as
the rest. The New England light is glare, and the

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18AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

34. Lines 2-5 (“a cold . . . amusement”) primarily 38. In line 42 “crude” is best interpreted to mean
suggest that (A) shallow
(A) New England residents can easily dismiss (B) literal
hardship in favor of merriment
(C) unrefined
(B) the nature of New England society breeds a
(D) obscure
perverse enjoyment of misfortune
(C) the New England weather produces a coldness 39. In the context of the passage, the words “atmosphere”
of character and a profound self-loathing (line 45) and “tone” (line 61) suggest
(D) New England seasonal contrasts produce the (A) unattainable insights into nature
capacity to discover a counterintuitive pleasure in (B) overwhelming states of awareness
adversity (C) subtle aspects of one’s environment
35. The statement in lines 5-7 (“the charm . . . ancients”) (D) concrete physical manifestations
most clearly implies which of the following about New
40. Which of the following most accurately conveys the
England contrasts?
meaning of “these were ideals” (line 53) ?
(A) They are the undesirable result of outdated
(A) Henry’s sensory perceptions were vague and
customs.
inaccurate.
(B) They came about naturally, not from established
(B) Henry’s sensory perceptions were defined by
social customs.
books.
(C) They tend to make people forget the teachings of
(C) The objects and colors of summer existed for
their elders.
Henry, not as reality, but as symbols.
(D) They foster local agricultural methods rather than
(D) The intense qualities of Henry’s surroundings
hinder them.
represented unqualified standards.
36. The phrase “To the boy Henry Adams” (lines 29-30)
41. In context, “reach” (line 61) is best understood to mean
functions primarily as
(A) strain after
(A) a device meant to encourage the reader’s empathy
(B) arrive at
(B) an indication of a narrative shift from general to
specific (C) extend
(C) a means of introducing structural irony in the (D) influence
passage 42. In context, “tropical license” (line 65) is best
(D) an implication that one boy’s point of view is interpreted to mean
unique and radical (A) undeserved privilege
37. Which of the following best characterizes lines 30-41 (B) exotic novelty
(“Among . . . afterwards”) ? (C) sanctioned indulgence
(A) Language that is understated and spare (D) extravagant freedom
(B) Evocative details that are arranged systematically
(C) An argument that is provocative but ultimately
specious
(D) A description that alternates between subjective
impressions and fact

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 19

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

43. The author sets up all of the following contrasts 44. Which of the following quotations most accurately
in the passage explicitly EXCEPT conveys the central theme of the passage?
(A) hot versus cold (A) “The double exterior nature gave life its relative
(B) urban versus rural values” (lines 9-10)

(C) moral versus immoral (B) “winter represented the desire to escape” (line 20)

(D) vivid versus drab (C) “Boys are wild animals” (line 26)
(D) “the atmosphere harshens color” (lines 43-44)

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20AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

Questions 45 through 54 refer to the following. 45. The image in lines 2-5 (“Whose . . . value”) suggests
Read the following carefully before you choose your that the beloved’s love for the speaker is
answers. (A) reverent
(B) self-serving
John Donne’s poem “Elegy X: The Dream” was published
in 1633. (C) flattering
(D) class-conscious
Elegy X: The Dream
46. In the context of the second stanza, “When you are
Image of her whom I love, more than she, gone” (line 9) implies the
Whose fair impression in my faithful heart, (A) beloved’s death
Makes me her medal, and makes her love me,
(B) beloved’s rejection of the speaker
Line As kings do coins, to which their stamps impart
5 The value: go, and take my heart from hence, (C) speaker’s falling asleep
Which now is grown too great and good for me: (D) speaker’s feelings of loneliness
Honours oppress weak spirits, and our sense
47. In the second stanza (lines 9-16), the speaker finds
Strong objects dull; the more, the less we see.
relief in all of the following EXCEPT
When you are gone, and reason gone with you, (A) sense
10 Then fantasy is queen and soul, and all;
(B) sleep
She can present joys meaner1 than you do;
Convenient, and more proportional. (C) dream
So, if I dream I have you, I have you, (D) fantasy
For, all our joys are but fantastical.
48. The repetition of “all” at the end of lines 10 and 16
15 And so I ‘scape the pain, for pain is true;
highlights an opposition between
And sleep which locks up sense, doth lock out all.
(A) fantasy and truth
After a such fruition I shall wake,
(B) sense and pain
And, but the waking, nothing shall repent;
And shall to love more thankful sonnets make, (C) fantasy and soul
20 Than if more honour, tears, and pains were spent. (D) sense and reason
But dearest heart, and dearer image stay;
49. Lines 13-14 (“So, if . . . fantastical”) convey the idea
Alas, true joys at best are dream enough;
that
Though you stay here you pass too fast away:
For even at first life’s taper is a snuff.2 (A) the dream is frustrating
(B) the speaker is anticipating the future
25 Filled with her love, may I be rather grown
Mad with much heart, than idiot with none. (C) dreaming creates new desires
1
more moderate
(D) dreaming and reality seem equivalent
2
candle end; burned-out piece of wick

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 21

 AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

50. The argument of the second stanza (lines 9-16) is that 53. The final couplet creates emphasis in part through
ultimately the use of
(A) fantasy governs the waking lover’s mind (A) consonance
(B) love brings the purest form of joy (B) assonance
(C) sense precludes the joys supplied by fantasy (C) oxymoron
(D) the joy of love makes one forget the pain (D) enjambment
51. As used in line 18, “but” most nearly means 54. By the end of the poem, the speaker arrives at which
(A) upon of the following resolutions to his dilemma?
(B) despite (A) Love is not worth all the suffering it entails.
(C) except for (B) Sense and reason are often aligned with love.
(D) in addition to (C) Love and truth are preferable to fantasy and
dream.
52. In lines 22-24, the speaker suggests that “true joys”
(D) The joys of love are too brief and illusory to be
are “dream enough” in that
valued.
(A) as time goes by, memories of childhood
inevitably fade
(B) because life is fleeting, its joys are necessarily
temporary
(C) once true joys have been experienced, dreams
become irrelevant
(D) even lovers who remain together can find that
their love gradually diminishes

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22AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

AP ® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2

STOP
END OF SECTION I
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CHECK YOUR WORK ON THIS SECTION.

DO NOT GO ON TO SECTION II UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

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AP® English Literature and Composition Practice Exam #2 23