AP English Literature and Composition · Exam guide

AP English Literature Literary Argument Essay Explained: How to Earn the 6 Points

Question 3 asks how a literary concept or idea contributes to the interpretation of a work of fiction as a whole. You choose the work from your own reading or from a list the exam provides. There is no passage on the page, so everything depends on how well you remember a work and how clearly you connect it to the prompt. Plan on about 40 minutes.

What the rubric asks for

Row	Points	What earns it
A: Thesis	1	A defensible interpretation of the work, either of the idea in the prompt as the work treats it, or of how that idea contributes to the whole work.
B: Evidence and commentary	4	Specific evidence recalled accurately from the work, in a line of reasoning, with commentary. The 4 requires addressing the interpretation of the work as a whole.
C: Sophistication	1	A complex argument, such as exploring tensions in the work or accounting for another interpretation.
Total	6

Our sample prompt: In many works of literature, a character's secret has a powerful effect. Select a work of fiction in which a secret shapes the plot and meaning. Write an essay that analyzes how the secret contributes to the work as a whole. Our example work is Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850).

Point 1: the thesis

Does not earn the pointIn The Scarlet Letter, a secret is important to the story.

It restates the prompt and makes no interpretation.

Earns the pointIn The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale's hidden guilt to argue that concealed sin corrodes a person more than punished sin, as the contrast between Hester's open punishment and Dimmesdale's decline shows, and the novel's meaning depends on this comparison.

It makes a claim about the work's meaning and sets up a comparison that can organize the essay.

Points 2 to 5: evidence and commentary

Plot summaryDimmesdale is a minister who has a secret. Eventually the secret comes out and he dies. This shows the secret is important.

It summarizes the plot and does not use specific details or explain them.

Specific evidence with commentaryHester wears the scarlet letter openly, embroidered in gold thread, and her public shame becomes a kind of freedom to be herself. Dimmesdale, who has told no one, presses his hand over his heart and weakens in body, and Hawthorne shows him standing on the scaffold at night, where no one can see him. The difference shows that hidden guilt isolates a person, while public punishment, however cruel, leaves room for a community to know and respond.

It uses specific scenes from the work and explains how each supports the argument.

Point 6: sophistication

Earns the pointThe ending complicates this reading. Dimmesdale's confession on the scaffold, after his Election Day sermon, brings relief and death at once, and the crowd's reaction is divided about what they saw. The novel does not simply praise openness, since the community that demands confession is also the one that punishes, and that tension keeps the argument about the secret from being simple.

It accounts for a complication in the work and keeps it as part of the interpretation.

How to prepare

Choose two or three works you know deeply, and list five specific scenes or details from each.
Practice linking each work to common ideas, such as conflict, secrets, memory, isolation, power, and change.
On the exam, choose the work that connects best to the prompt, not the one you think sounds most impressive.
Avoid plot summary. Every paragraph should connect a scene to a claim about the whole work.

Common mistakes

Summarizing the plot instead of arguing about meaning.
Misremembering details. Accuracy matters because the evidence is recalled from the work.
Discussing only one scene, which cannot address the work as a whole.
Choosing a work you know only from a movie or a summary.

Frequently asked questions

Can I choose a work that is not on the list?

Yes, if it is a work of literary merit. The list is a set of suggestions. Choose a work you know in detail.

Does it have to be a novel?

It must be a work of fiction, such as a novel or a play. Choose one you can write about at length.

How many scenes should I use?

Two to four well-chosen scenes, explained in depth. One scene cannot address the whole work.

What if I misremember a detail?

Stay with details you are sure about. Accurate, specific evidence is more valuable than a dramatic detail that may be wrong.

How is Q3 different from Q1 and Q2?

There is no passage to quote. You rely on your memory of the work and are scored on the interpretation of the work as a whole.

Keep practicing

The AP English Literature course has five practice prompts for each of the three essay types, with a timed writing space that scores your response against the official 6-point analytic rubric. These free lessons also build the skills the free-response section tests:

See the AP English Literature and Composition course Free lessons and lesson list

Other free-response guides:

AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this site. This guide is our own explanation of the question types and scoring. For the official scoring guidelines, see the College Board.