AP SPANISH
LITERATURE AND
CULTURE
AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam – Student Guide
AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam - Exam Overview
The AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam will test your ability to apply communication and language skills developed in the course and ask you to demonstrate your understanding of Spanish-speaking cultures.
Exam Duration
3hrs
Exam Components
Section IA: Multiple Choice Interpretive Listening - 15 questions | 20mins | 10% of Score
This section includes 3 sets of questions based on authentic audio texts including:
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An excerpt from an interview with an author
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A recited poem that is not on the required reading list
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A presentation on a literary topic related to course content
You will have time to skim the questions for each set before listening to the audio.
The interview and presentation will be played once; the recited poem will be played twice.
Section IB: Multiple Choice Reading Analysis - 50 questions | 1hr | 40% of Score
This section includes 6 sets of 7–10 questions based on readings from a variety of genres, periods, and places in the Spanish-speaking world.
Readings include:
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Works from the required reading list
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Works outside the required reading list
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A passage of literary criticism regarding a work or author from the list
One set will contain 2 passages that are related by theme—one of those passages is taken from the required reading list and the other is from a non-required text.
Section II: Free Response - 4 questions | 1hr 40mins | 50% of Score
The free-response section includes two short-answer questions and two long-essay questions:
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2 Short-Answer Questions: Suggested time: 15 minutes each (~30 minutes)
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Text Explanation: You’ll read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list, identify the author and period of the text, and explain the development of a given theme found within the excerpt in relation to the whole work from which the excerpt is taken.
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Text and Art Comparison: You’ll read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and study an image of a work of art (e.g., a painting, photograph, sculpture, or drawing) related by theme to the text. You will compare how a particular theme is represented in both the text and the image, and then connect that theme to the genre, period, or movement of the text.
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2 Essay Questions: Suggested time: 35 minutes each (~70 minutes)
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Analysis of a Single Text: You’ll read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and then analyze how the text represents the characteristics of a particular genre as well as a particular historical, cultural, or social context.
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Text Comparison: You’ll read 2 excerpts related by theme—one from a text on the required list, the other from a text not on the list—and analyze the effect of literary devices that the authors use in the texts to develop a particular theme that is provided in the question prompt.
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AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam – Scoring
For the first section (multiple-choice), for every question you answer correctly, you will get one point each. There is no negative marking. It means that even if your answer is wrong or left blank, no points are deducted.
Next is the free response section. Its scoring system is a bit complicated. Rather than being graded by AI, it is reviewed by AP graders and scored following these guidelines for AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam.
For more information about AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam and scoring, you can visit the College Board’s website.
AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam – Credit
Keep in mind, credit and advanced standing based on AP scores vary widely from school to school. Though a score of 3 is typically considered passing, it is not always enough to receive credit. Regulations regarding which APs qualify for course credits or advanced placement depend on the policy that your desired college or university has for AP exams.
AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam - Study Resources
• College Board Classroom Resources
• Azulejo
• Youtube Channel – Mary Estrada
• Youtube Channel – Javier Ruescas
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Best Ways to Study for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam
Assess Your Knowledge
Before you can make a solid study plan, you’ll need to get a good idea of your starting point. The College Board has free-response questions and scoring information from past exams that will be helpful for you.
Study the Material
The AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is organized thematically around six primary themes designed to promote the exploration of Spanish literature in a variety of contexts and to develop your ability to make cross-cultural and cross-textual connections. They are presented in the course alongside well-defined learning objectives. These learning objectives fall under two categories of specific goals: “Communication” and “Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.”
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Communication: The goals for Communication in this course specify, as in all AP World Language and Culture courses, that you continue to develop your interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication skills. Specifically, interpersonal communication will build active negotiation of meaning among individuals, interpretive communication will emphasize the appropriate cultural interpretation of meanings that occur in written or spoken form, and presentational communication will include the creation of written or spoken messages in a manner that facilitates interpretation by an audience.
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Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities: The goals for Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities include the acquisition of knowledge and understanding of the relationships between products, practices, and perspectives of the cultures studied in literary texts and through other media. In addition, you can expect to continue to develop language proficiency across a full range of language skills, with special attention paid to the specific language used in critical reading and analytical writing. AP Central provides a glossary of specific literary terms expected for proficiency on the exam.
While preparing for the exam, remember that you will be expected to have read and studied the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Required Reading List.
Practice Multiple-Choice Questions
The first part of the multiple-choice section is the listening portion. In this part of the exam, you are asked to demonstrate your interpretive listening skills by responding to 15 questions that are grouped into three sets. Each set of questions refers to an authentic audio text related to course content. The audio texts include an interview with an author, a recited poem that is not from the required reading list, and a presentation on a literary topic. The interview and presentation are played once, and the poem is played twice, so be sure to listen carefully while they’re available.
In the next part of the multiple-choice section, you must display your ability to analyze text. This section contains 50 questions grouped into six sets. You are expected to respond to questions based on literary readings representing a variety of genres, periods, and places in the Spanish-speaking world. These literary readings include, but are not limited to, works from the required reading list.
To prepare for the multiple-choice section, your best bet is to practice actual multiple-choice questions. These can be found in a commercial study guide (Azulejo), the course and exam description, or on a website with AP Spanish Literature study resources or study.com
Practice Free-Response Tasks
The free-response portion of your exam consists of four tasks, two of which are short answers and two of which are essay questions. You may complete these tasks in any order.
Essay 1: One essay question will ask you to offer an analysis of a single text. You will be asked to read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list (or the whole work in the case of a short poem) and then analyze how the text represents the characteristics of a particular genre. You’ll also need to give insights about the particular historical, cultural, or social context. Be sure to discuss relevant literary devices in the text and cite examples in support of your analysis.
Essay 2: The other essay question will ask you to compare two texts. You will read two excerpts related by theme, with one coming from the required reading list and the other from a text not on the list. Again, in the case of a short poem, the entire text will be included. In your essay, you should analyze the effectiveness of specific literary devices in developing a particular theme as indicated by the prompt. You will compare the theme’s presentation in each of the two works and cite examples from both texts to support your analysis.
It is recommended that you spend about 35 minutes on each of the essay questions. Keep in mind while writing that this section of the exam is your best opportunity to show off your knowledge of vocabulary specific to literary analysis. Review the Glossary of Literary Terms thoroughly to ensure success. Be sure to include specific quotes and cite line numbers in your responses.
The short-answer portion of your free-response section will include one text explanation and one text and art comparison.
Short Answer 1: You will read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and be asked to identify the author and period of the text. Also, you will need to explain the development of a particular theme found in the excerpt, relating it to the whole work from which the excerpt is taken. Basically, this question is designed to test your knowledge of the required reading list, so make sure that you can identify each of the works on it, and provide some basic details about each one, including thematic information.
Short Answer 2: It will test your knowledge of the required reading list while relating directly to thematic knowledge. This question will present an excerpt or poem from the required reading list alongside an image of a piece of art. You will then compare how a particular theme is represented in both the text and the image, and connect the theme to the genre, period or movement of the text.
On the entire free-response section, remember that the content of your response is valued above the language of your response. While specific vocabulary to describe literary devices and support literary analysis is definitely imperative on this section, don’t stress too much about exact grammar or specific vocabulary outside of the core glossary. Your score will be weighted 70% for content and 30% for language.
As on the multiple-choice section, your best bet to prepare for the free-response section is to practice free-response prompts as much as possible. Be sure to review not only the free-response questions themselves but also the scoring explanations.
Task Verbs
Pay close attention to the task verbs used in the free-response questions. Each one directs you to complete a specific type of response. Here are the task verbs you’ll see on the exam:
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Analyze: Examine methodically and in detail literary texts for purposes of explanation and interpretation.
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Compare: Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.
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Discuss: Provide information about a selected topic with some elaboration.
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Explain: Provide information about how or why a selected topic is significant.
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Identify: Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.
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Include examples: Provide specific examples and explain how they support a claim.
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Read: Look at or view printed directions and information.
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Write: Produce a response in writing.
Take Another Practice Test
It’s important to support your studying with consistent assessment. By assessing your knowledge throughout the studying process, you’ll be able to better focus your efforts. Take another practice test to identify areas that still need reinforcement.
Conclusion
The aim of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture is to test your core skills (the tools necessary to think like a literary critic and speak Spanish proficiently) and check if you developed a deep understanding of the content taught in the course through critical reading, literary analysis, and contextualizing literary works within historical, geopolitical, sociocultural, and cultural contexts. Your dedication towards preparedness will get you to your goal of passing this exam. Good luck!