ap spanish literature sample essays

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Advanced Placement (AP)

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is an excellent opportunity to show off your critical reading, writing, and analytical skills in another language while earning college credit in the process. 

But conquering the course material is only the beginning. You need to learn everything there is to know about the exam to boost your chances of earning a passing score (and college credit) to boot!

In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know to start prepping for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam , including: 

• The structure and format of the AP Spanish Lit exam
• The core themes and skills you’ll be tested on
• The types of questions that appear on the exam and how to answer them (with real AP student sample responses!)
• How the AP Spanish Lit exam is scored, with official scoring rubrics
• Four crucial tips for prepping for the AP Spanish Lit exam

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Exam Overview: How Is the AP Spanish Lit Exam Structured?

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam tests your understanding of Spanish language skills and literature written in Spanish , including short stories, novels, essays, plays, and poetry. 

Like most AP exams, the test lasts for a total of three hours . You’ll have to answer 65 multiple choice questions and four free-response questions to complete the test. 

The AP Spanish Lit exam is divided into two sections. Section I of the exam consists of 65 multiple-choice questions and lasts for one hour and 20 minutes (80 minutes total). The multiple-choice section is further divided into two parts: Part 1A, and Part 1B. Both Part A and Part B of Section I are totally multiple choice, but they test you on different skills. As a whole, Section I counts for 50% of your total exam score . 

Section II of the exam tests your critical reading and analytical writing skills through four free response questions . Section II lasts for 1 hour and 40 minutes (100 minutes) and counts for 50% of your total exam score . Each free response question asks you to write either a short answer or longer essay in response to a specific text or set of texts (called “stimulus” on the exam). 

To help you visualize the breakdown, here’s the AP Spanish Lit exam structure in table format: 

Source: The College Board

But is AP Spanish Literature hard? If you want to get an idea of how difficult the exam is and learn how to get a 5 on AP Spanish Literature, keep reading: we’ll break down the course content, skills, and themes (temas de AP Spanish Literature) that you need to understand for the AP Spanish Lit exam next!

Course Themes, Skills, and Units

AP Spanish Lit is focused around six core themes , or temas de AP Spanish Literature. These course themes are designed to help you develop the skills you need to fully understand Spanish literature and culture…and ace the AP Spanish Lit exam!

Exploring these themes and applying them to the texts on the AP Spanish Literature reading list will equip you with the critical thinking and analytical skills you need to succeed on the AP Spanish Literature exam. The six themes and skills that you’ll master during the course are: 

The AP Spanish Lit themes and skills are typically taught through eight units of study . Understanding these units of study will help you get a big picture view of what the course covers, and how different course topics are connected. Content from each course unit will appear on the exam, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with them as early as you can! 

The eight units of study in AP Spanish Literature are : 

Now that you have a good sense of what’s on the AP Spanish Literature exam, let’s take a closer look at each section of the exam and the types of questions that appear in each one. 

Spanish AP Literature Exam Section I: Multiple-Choice

The first section of the exam tests you in two main areas: your interpretive listening skills, and your reading analysis skills . 

To test you on these skills, Section I is broken down into two parts: Part A and Part B. Part A will test your interpretive listening skills, and Part B will test your reading analysis skills. Both parts of Section I use authentic Spanish language texts presented in different formats to assess your skills. 

While Parts A and B of Section I test you using texts in different formats (audio vs. print/written), both parts include question types that assess you on these three skills: 

• At least 75% of multiple-choice questions assess your ability to analyze and interpret literary and audio texts in Spanish.
• Around 10% of multiple-choice questions assess your ability to make connections between a literary text and a non-literary text or an aspect of Spanish culture.
• Around 10% of the multiple-choice questions assess your ability to compare literary texts in Spanish.

Since Part A and Part B are a bit different (though both are multiple-choice!), let’s break them down a bit further next. 

Section I Part A: Multiple-Choice Interpretive Listening

Part A of Section I asks you to demonstrate your ability to accurately interpret a variety of Spanish language audio texts . This part of Section I consists of 15 total questions that are presented in sets of either four or seven multiple-choice questions. Each set of questions comes with an audio text in either the format of an interview, a poem, and a discussion or lecture on literary topics. 

Here’s a clearer breakdown of the structure of Part A of Section I: 

Since Part A is a bit of an outlier when it comes to the testing format, it’s important to understand how this part of the exam will be administered ahead of time. Let’s look at a real interpretive listening question to get a better sense of how this part of the exam works next.

Sample Multiple-Choice Question: Interpretive Listening

To help you get a better sense of what Section I Part A will be like, let’s take a look at a real interpretive listening question from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam . 

In the picture below, you’ll see a set of written directions (which appear in Spanish on the real exam!), a written transcript of a poem entitled “La guitarra,” and one multiple choice question. However, on the real exam, you’ll only get to listen to the text provided –you won’t be given a printed copy of it! 

When this portion of the exam begins, you’ll listen to the provided text once, then have one minute to take notes and view the exam questions for this portion of the test. After that, you’ll listen to the provided text a second time, then have one minute to answer the provided set of questions (ranging from four to seven questions in total). You’ll be able to use the notes you took for reference as you answer the questions! 

You can read the directions, Spanish language poem, and set of four questions for our example interpretive listening task here: 

And here's the question set: 

The four questions in the set above ask about the events that occur in the poem, as well as the poem’s imagery, tone, and writing style . We’ll break down the correct answers for each question here: 

To ace interpretive listening questions like these, you’ll need to listen closely, jot down notes about important words, themes, or ideas, and use context clues to accurately analyze the texts that you’re given. 

Next, let’s look at the second part of Section I of the exam: Part B, multiple-choice reading analysis. 

Section I Part B: Multiple-Choice Reading Analysis

Section I Part B asks you to demonstrate your skills of reading analysis by engaging with print or written texts. On this part of Section I, you’ll be given 60 minutes to complete 50 multiple-choice questions. Part B accounts for 40% of your exam score . 

The questions on Part B are divided into four sets. Each set applies to a specific text or set of texts. To give you a clearer picture of how Part B is structured, we’ll break it down further below: 

Sample Multiple-Choice Question: Reading Analysis

To help you get a better sense of what Section I Part B will be like, let’s take a look at a real set of reading analysis questions from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam . 

In the picture below, you’ll see a set of written directions (Spanish-only provided on the real exam!), a written passage, and a set of five multiple-choice questions :

Each of the questions above asks you to analyze the provided text and select the answer choice that best characterizes your understanding of the text’s meaning . Now, let’s look at the correct answers for each question and the skills you’ll need to successfully choose them: 

To succeed on reading analysis questions like the ones above, you’ll need to have a solid grasp of Spanish language conventions, strong analytical skills, and the ability to interpret ideas in different contexts.  

Next, let’s look more closely at Section II of the AP Spanish Lit exam: the free-response section. 

Or more accurately, escribe algo.

Spanish AP Literature Section II: Free-Response

Section II of the AP Spanish Lit exam lasts for one hour and 40 minutes, includes four free-response questions, and counts for 50% of your exam score. 

There are two distinct types of questions on the AP Spanish Lit free-response section : short answer questions, and essay questions. Both types of free-response questions test your ability to clearly and thoughtfully explain the events of a text, analyze texts, and compare and contrast multiple texts that share common themes. You’ll demonstrate these skills by writing short and longer free-responses on the exam!

To help you understand what free-response questions will be like on the exam, we’ll walk you through a real exam question, scoring rubric, and student response for both short-answer and essay questions below. 

Free-Response Short Answer Question: Scoring Rubric and Example Response

On the AP Spanish Lit exam, you’ll respond to two short-answer questions . The sample question below is an example of a short answer free-response question from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam. This short-answer question asks students to provide a Spanish-language explanation of the provided text, which comes from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s poem “ Hombres necios que acusáis ,” written in 1689: 

The free-response short answer question above asks students to read the provided text, identify the author and period of the text, and explain the development of a given theme in the text. 

We’ll provide a sample student response to this question in just a minute, but first, let’s see how you could earn full credit for this question. Take a look at the official scoring rubric used to evaluate this question on the 2021 Spanish AP Lit exam to see how your response will be scored: 

The example student response below comes straight from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam. The student is responding to the short-answer question we’ve included above. 

This short-answer response received a 3 for Content and a 3 for Language based on the criteria in the scoring rubric above. That means that this student response received six out of six possible points for this free-response question!

Free-Response Essay Question: Scoring Rubric and Example Response 

There are two free-response essay questions on the AP Spanish Lit exam . To help you get an idea of what these questions are like, let’s go over a sample essay question, scoring rubric, and student response from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam. 

The free-response essay question below asks students to analyze how a single text represents both the specified period, movement, literary genre, and technique and the given cultural context. The selected text in the question below comes from Gabriel García Márquez’s short story, “ La siesta del martes” :

Before we look at a real student’s response to this essay question, let’s look at the scoring rubric used to evaluate responses to this essay question . The rubric below was used to score this type of essay question on the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam: 

Now that you know how this type of essay question is scored, let’s look at a real student’s response to this essay question. This student’s response comes straight from the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam and scored a 5/5 for Content and a 5/5 for Language, which means this response received full points !

How the AP Spanish Literature Exam Is Scored

Understanding how your AP Spanish Lit exam will be scored can help you feel more prepared for the exam. Here, we’ll overview how each section of the AP Spanish lit exam is scored, scaled, and combined to produce your final score on the AP 1-5 scale . 

As a refresher, here’s how the score percentages break down on the AP Spanish Literature exam: 

• Section I: Multiple-choice: 50% of overall score
• Section IA: 10% of score
• Section IB: 40% of score
• Section II: Free-response: 50% of overall score
• Question 1: 7.5%
• Question 2: 7.5%
• Question 3: 17.5%
• Question 4: 17.5%

On the multiple choice section, you earn one raw point for every question you answer correctly. This means that the maximum raw score you can earn on the multiple choice section is 65 points. No points are deducted for wrong answers . 

The free-response section is a bit different. The two short answer free-response questions are each worth six raw points, and the two essay free-response questions are worth 10 points each. This means that there are a total of 32 possible points in the free-response section.  

Keep in mind that you’ll lose points on free-response questions only for major errors , like failing to analyze or compare the provided texts, for instance. You aren’t going to lose points for a stray comma splice here and there as long as grammatical errors don’t interfere with the AP grader’s ability to understand your response. 

You can earn 97 raw points on the AP Spanish Lit exam. Here’s how those are divided by section:  

• 65 points for multiple-choice
• 32 points for free-response

From there, your raw scores will be converted into a scaled score of 1-5 by the College Board. That’s the score you’ll see when you receive your official score report! Unfortunately, the 5 rate for the AP Spanish Literature exam is pretty low compared to other AP exams . You can see what percentage of test takers earned each possible score on the 2021 AP Spanish Lit exam below: 

4 Tips for Prepping for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam

You know what’s on the exam and how it’s scored. Now you’re ready to get down to business! If you’re wondering how to study for AP Spanish Literature, keep reading–we’ll give you four top tips for kickstarting your Spanish AP Literature prep below!

Tip 1: Take a Practice Exam

The best way to assess your preparedness for the AP Spanish Lit exam is to test your skills out on a practice exam. Taking a practice exam will help you identify skills and texts that you struggle with. From there, you can design a study plan that targets your weaker areas to improve your chances of earning a passing score !

You can find a full set of official multiple-choice practice questions here , and the College Board provides a large repository of past free-response exam questions on their website . Be sure to use official practice questions like the ones linked here as much as possible. Using official practice materials ensures you’re getting quality practice that’s very similar to the real exam!  

Tip 2: Consult AP Spanish Literature Reading Lists

The AP Spanish Literature course includes a total of 38 required texts –and you’ll be expected to read and know all of them for the exam. That’s a lot of texts to master, especially if Spanish isn’t your first language! 

Your AP teacher will dedicate lots of class time to teaching you the texts on the AP Spanish Literature reading list, but if you want to really learn them, you’ll need to spend time studying them outside of class too. Remember: all of the required course readings will be unabridged, full-text, and in Spanish. The more effort you dedicate to studying the texts on the AP Spanish Literature reading list on your own time, the more successful you’re likely to be on the AP exam. 

The College Board provides an official AP Spanish Literature reading list on their website . You can use this list to start working through the course readings and searching for supplemental study materials for individual texts online. 

Tip 3: Master the Temas de AP Spanish Literature

Understanding the six core themes of the AP Spanish Lit course (temas de AP Spanish Literature) is crucial to success on the AP exam. These course themes are designed to promote critical thinking about the course readings and encourage making connections and comparisons between different texts and cultures. 

As you take the AP Spanish Literature course, you’ll notice that the course themes are paired with various learning goals. Pay close attention when these themes pop up in course materials and consider what you should be learning from them! Doing this will help you develop the skills you need to interpret, analyze, and compare texts on the exam . 

Tip 4: Practice Tough Questions 

As you progress through the AP Spanish Lit course, you’ll begin to notice question types that seem to trip you up. As you get graded quizzes and tests back during class, keep running notes about the questions you miss. Jot down what type of question it was (multiple choice or free response), the skills it assessed, and where you lost points or went wrong. 

From there, you can find and work with practice questions (like the ones linked earlier!) that are the same type as the ones you’ve struggled with. The more you practice with questions that trip you up, the more likely you’ll be to get them right on the real exam!

What’s Next? 

Need a little help with your Spanish vocabulary? This list of how to talk about body parts in Spanish can give you a fun way to brush up! 

Thinking about taking another foreign language in high school? This guide will help you pick the best languages for you. 

While the SAT Spanish subject test is no longer offered, you can use the free study materials to help you practice your reading and comprehension skills. We’ve compiled a list of resources that you can use as extra prep. 

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Ultimate Guide to the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam

Of the eight languages offered through the AP World Languages and Cultures program, Spanish is the most popular choice among students. It is so popular, in fact, that there are two different Spanish language offerings. AP Spanish Language and Culture is generally the most common choice, but AP Spanish Literature and Culture is another popular option, sometimes taken after AP Spanish Language and Culture, and other times taken independently of it. 

In 2019, more than 216,000 AP Spanish exams were taken. AP Spanish Literature and Culture exams accounted for about 30,000 of these. If you’re interested in learning more about the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course and exam, read on. 

When is the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam?

On Thursday, May 7, at 8 am, the College Board will hold the 2020 AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam. For a comprehensive listing of all the AP exam times, check out our post 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know .    

About the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture course takes a thematic approach to the introduction of representative texts (short stories, novels, poetry, and essays) from Peninsular Spanish, Latin American, and United States Hispanic literature. In this course, you will consider and critique a set of required readings (38 titles from contemporary works to those dating back to the 14th century) in the context of their time and place, reflecting on the many voices and cultures presented.

While you can expect to develop proficiencies across the full range of the same modes of communication as the other AP language courses (interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive), you will hone your critical reading and analytical writing skills as well. You will also focus on cultural connections and comparisons, including the exploration of various media (e.g., art, film, articles, and literary criticism). The College Board provides these guidelines in support of its belief that the study of foreign languages and literature “provides students with access to cultural perspectives and knowledge, encourages them to make connections and comparisons between cultures and literary works, and helps them develop the ability to think critically.”

About the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Course

There are no formal prerequisites for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course, but make no mistake—this is not an introductory course offering. You will need to have taken the equivalent of three years of high school-level Spanish, or have significant exposure and experience with the language outside the classroom. You also might choose to take the AP Spanish Language and Culture before the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course, as all texts are presented in Spanish.

The aim of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course is to build core skills (the tools necessary to think like a literary critic and speak Spanish proficiently) and develop 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. 

The seven core skills, along with the weight they’re given on the multiple-choice section of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course, are: 

The content of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course is divided into six themes, each of which contains between four and six organizing concepts. Throughout the course, you will make connections between the themes and their underlying concepts. Below is a list of the six themes and their companion concepts:

The core skills and content of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture course are commonly taught in eight units. Below is a suggested structure of those units by the College Board: 

• La época medieval
• El siglo XVI
• El siglo XVII
• La literatura romántica, realista y naturalista
• La Generación del 98 y el Modernismo
• Teatro y poesía del siglo XX
• El Boom latinoamericano
• Escritores contemporáneos de Estados Unidos, y España

AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam Content

The entire AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is presented in Spanish, including all directions, prompts, questions, and texts. The exam lasts for three hours and contains two main sections. The first section is the multiple-choice section, which consists of 65 questions, lasts for 80 minutes, and accounts for 50% of your score. The second part of the exam is the free-response section, which contains four tasks, lasts for 100 minutes, and accounts for the remaining 50% of your exam score.   

The multiple-choice section of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is broken down into two parts: part one using radio as a stimulus, part two using text as a stimulus. 

Section 1(a): Multiple-Choice Audio

20 minutes | 15 questions | 10% of score

Section 1(a) of the Spanish Literature and Culture exam uses audio as a stimulus. You’ll receive three sets of questions based on three audio recordings—one expert from an interview with an author, one recited poem, and one presentation on a literary topic. 

Example of an audio-based multiple-choice question set (click on the question to hear the audio):

Answers – 1: B | 2: A | 3: C | 4: C

Section 1(b): Multiple-Choice Text

1 hour | 50 questions | 40% of score

For section 1(b) of the exam, you’ll receive six sets of 7-10 questions based on readings (from both on and off the required reading list, including one passage of literary criticism about an author from the required reading list) covering a variety of genres, periods, and places. One set of questions will contain two passages that are related by theme—one passage is sourced from the required reading list, the other is from a non-required text. 

A sample set of text-based multiple-choice questions: 

Answers – 10: C | 11: B | 12: B | 13: D | 14: B | 15: B

Section 2, the free-response section of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam, is also broken into two parts. The first part contains two short-answer questions, while the second part features two essay questions. 

Section 2(a): Free-Response Short Answer

30 minutes | 2 questions | 15% of score

Text explanation is the subject of the first of the short-answer questions. For the text explanation question, you are provided an excerpt of text from the required reading list and tasked with identifying the author of the text and the period when it was written. You’ll also need to explain the theme of the excerpt and describe how it relates to the whole work from which it was taken.

Sample of a text explanation short-answer question:

Text and art comparison is the theme of the second short-answer question. For this question, you are also provided with an excerpt of text from the required reading list; however, this one is also accompanied by an image of a related piece of art—for example a painting, photo, sculpture, or drawing. You’re tasked with comparing how a particular theme is represented both in the text and the image, and will then need to connect that theme to a genre, period, or movement. 

Sample of a text and art comparison short-answer question:

Section 2(b): Free-Response Essay

1 hour 10 minutes | 2 questions | 35% of score

The second part of the free-response section of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam features two essay questions. You’ll have 35 minutes per question to formulate your answer. The topic of the first essay question is an analysis of a single text. To compose your essay, you’re given an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and are required to analyze how the text is representative of a particular genre, and to place it in a historical, cultural, or social context.  

Example of an analysis of a single text free-response question:

Text comparison is the subject of the second free-response essay question. You’re provided with two theme-related excerpts—one from the required reading, the other except comes outside of the required reading. You’re asked to analyze the effect literary devices have on developing a theme that is provided in the question prompt. 

Example of a text comparison free-response question:

AP Spanish Literature and Culture Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate

In 2019, the score split for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam formed a fairly even bell curve. Over 70% of students who took the exam received a score of 3 or higher (a passing score). While over 37% of test-takers achieved a score of 3, only 9.5% achieved the top score of 5. Similarly, only 6.3% of students who took the test received the lowest score of 1. 

To guide your studying, read the full AP Spanish Lit course description from the College Board website. For a comprehensive listing of the score distribution on all of the AP exams, check out our post Easiest and Hardest AP Exams .

Best Ways to Study for the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam

Step 1: assess your knowledge.

Before you can make a solid study plan, you’ll need to get a good idea of your starting point. A full set of multiple-choice questions from the 2008 exam are found here , and the College Board has the free-response questions dating back to 1999 , along with commentary from the scorers on their website. You can find additional practice questions in the course description .

Step 2: 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.”

• 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.
• 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 required reading list . Keep in mind that the course requirements specify that only unabridged, full text, Spanish language versions of the required readings be used. You can use a sample syllabus and pacing guide to help guide your studying of the texts. 

Commercial study guides are a good choice for preparing for any standardized test, and the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is no different. Be certain, however, that whatever study guide you purchase is made for the AP Spanish Literature exam rather than the more common AP Spanish Language exam. A solid option is the Azulejo Anthology & Guide to the AP Spanish Literature Course, 2nd Edition , which contains materials for each of the required readings along with historical and cultural context insights.   

There are also many AP Spanish Literature and Culture study materials available online. Most have been developed by AP teachers or former AP students themselves. Check Quizlet to find numerous sets of ready-made vocabulary flashcards. You can also find study materials on a class website here and a blog with study materials here .

Step 3: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Section 1(a): The multiple-choice section of the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam is similar to those of the other AP World Language and Culture exams in that it contains both a reading portion and an audio portion. 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.

Section 1(b): 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 , the course description , or on a website with AP Spanish Literature study resources . 

As you practice, keep a running list of any vocabulary or concepts that are still difficult for you. This list will be important for your final review.

Step 4: 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. Because you are less likely to be rushed or tired at the beginning of this section, we recommend that you complete your essay questions first, as they are more heavily weighted in scoring. The essay questions appear at the end of the free-response section, but you can feel free to skip ahead to them.

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: For the text explanation, you’ll read an excerpt from a text on the required reading list and be asked to identify the author and period of the text. You’ll also 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: The text and art comparison question also tests 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. Luckily, there are many available. Be sure to review not only the free-response questions themselves but also the scoring explanations.

Step 5: 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.

Step 6: Exam Day Specifics

If you’re taking the AP course associated with this exam, your teacher will walk you through how to register. If you’re self-studying, check out our blog post How to Self-Register for AP Exams .

For information about what to bring to the exam, see our post What Should I Bring to My AP Exam (And What Should I Definitely Leave at Home)?

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💃🏽 AP Spanish Literature

📌 exam date: may 10, 2024.

Cram Finales

Study Guides

Practice Questions

AP Cheatsheets

Study Plans

AP Spanish Lit Study Guides by Unit

Unit 1 – la época medieval.

Unit 1 Overview: The Middle Ages

written by Alejandra Ramos

Conde Lucanor, Exemplo XXXV – Don Juan Manuel

10 min read

“Romance de la pérdida de Alhama” – Anónimo

written by Sitara H

Unit 2 – El siglo XVI

Unit 2 Overview: El Siglo XVI

written by Sylvia Rodriguez

Lazarillo de Tormes – Anónimo

Visión de los vencidos: “Los presagios, según los informantes de Sahagún” – Miguel León-Portilla

"Segunda carta de relación" – Hernán Cortes

11 min read

Visión de los vencidos: "Se ha perdido el pueblo mexica" – Miguel León-Portilla

Soneto XXIII, “En tanto que de rosa y azucena” – Garcilaso de la Vega

Unit 3 – El siglo XVII

Unit 3 Overview: El Siglo XVII

Soneto CLXVI, “Mientras por competir con tu cabello” – Luis de Góngora

Salmo XVII, “Miré los muros de la patria mía" – Francisco de Quevedo

“Hombres necios que acusáis” – Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes

El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra – Tirso de Molina

Unit 4 – La literatura romántica, realista y naturalista

Unit 4 Overview: La literatura romántica, realista y naturalista

“En una tempestad” – José María Heredia

Rima LIII, "Volverán las oscuras golondrinas” – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

written by Riya Patel

“Las medias rojas” – Emilia Pardo Bazán

Unit 5 – La Generación del 98 y el Modernismo

Unit 5 Overview: La Generación del 98 y el Modernismo

San Manuel Bueno, mártir – Miguel de Unamuno

“He andado muchos caminos” – Antonio Machado

“Nuestra América” – José Martí

“A Roosevelt” – Rubén Darío

"El hijo” – Horacio Quiroga

Unit 6 – Teatro y poesía del siglo XX

Unit 6 Overview: Teatro y poesía del siglo XX

La casa de Bernarda Alba – Federico García Lorca

El hombre que se convirtió en perro – Osvaldo Dragún

"Prendimiento de Antoñito el Camborio en el camino de Sevilla” – Federico García Lorca

"Walking around" – Pablo Neruda

“Balada de los dos abuelos” – Nicolás Guillén

written by ethan_bilderbeek

Unit 7 – El Boom latinoamericano

Unit 7 Overview: El Boom Latinoamericano

"Borges y yo” – Jorge Luis Borges

“El Sur” – Jorge Luis Borges

written by Kashvi Panjolia

“No oyes ladrar los perros” – Juan Rulfo

"Chac Mool” – Carlos Fuentes

"La noche boca arriba" – Julio Cortázar

Unit 8 – Escritores contemporáneos de Estados Unidos, y España

Unit 8 Overview: Escritores contemporáneos de Estados Unidos y España

“Mi caballo mago” – Sabine Ulibarrí

...y no se lo tragó la tierra: “...y no se lo tragó la tierra” – Tomás Rivera

...y no se lo tragó la tierra: “La noche buena” – Tomás Rivera

“Como la vida misma” – Rosa Montero

Additional Resources

Study tools.

2024 AP Spanish Literature & Culture Exam Guide

written by A Q

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Be Prepared for the AP Spanish Literature Multiple Choice?

written by Akhilesh Shivaramakrishnan

What Are the Best Quizlet Decks for AP Spanish Literature?

What Are the Best AP Spanish Literature Textbooks and Prep Books?

How Can I Be Prepared for the AP Spanish Literature FRQ?

How Do I Self-Study AP Spanish Literature?

What Memes Are Perfect for AP Spanish Literature?

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, preparing for the ap spanish literature exam.

Hola, I'm taking AP Spanish Literature this year and I'm getting nervous about the exam. What are some effective study strategies and resources that you would recommend? Gracias!

Hola! Don't worry, with some diligent preparation, you'll do great on the AP Spanish Literature exam. Here are some study strategies and resources to consider:

1. Familiarize yourself with the exam format: Before diving into studying, understand the structure of the exam, which consists of two main sections: multiple choice and free-response. Multiple choice questions are based on reading passages or poems, while the free-response section asks you to analyze a piece of literature and respond to it.

2. Review the required reading list: The College Board provides a list of required readings for this exam, which includes diverse works from Spanish and Latin American literature. Make sure to read and analyze each work, focusing on the plot, themes, characters, symbols, and cultural context.

3. Practice analyzing literature: Develop your abilities to identify and analyze literary devices, such as metaphor, simile, and imagery. Hone your skills in interpreting author's tone and purpose, as well as how historical and cultural context shape literary themes.

4. Utilize resources such as Barron's or Princeton Review: Study guides, like Barron's AP Spanish Literature and Culture or Princeton Review's Cracking the AP Spanish Language & Culture Exam, often provide extensive content review, test-taking strategies, and practice exams. Review these books to develop a deeper understanding of the material and gain confidence in tackling different types of questions.

5. Brush up on your grammar and vocabulary: While this exam primarily focuses on literature analysis, having strong grammar and an advanced vocabulary will enhance your reading comprehension and essay writing abilities. Consider using resources like Quizlet to practice vocabulary and SpanishDict for grammar explanations.

6. Collaborate with classmates: Form a study group with your classmates to discuss the readings, share ideas, and gain different perspectives. This will help deepen your understanding and allow you to learn from your peers' insights.

7. Take practice exams: Regularly taking timed practice exams will help you gauge your progress, identify areas you need to improve, and familiarize yourself with the exam format. The College Board provides past exams on their website; you can also find practice tests in study guides like those mentioned earlier.

8. Review feedback: After taking practice exams, review your answers thoroughly, particularly for free-response questions. Understand why you answered a question incorrectly and focus on improving your weaknesses.

9. Ask for guidance from your teacher: Don't hesitate to ask your teacher for help when you're struggling to understand a concept or need clarification. Your teacher will likely have valuable insights and resources to help you succeed.

10. Stay consistent and don't cram: Spreading out your studying over several weeks or months, rather than cramming right before the exam, will better enable you to absorb and retain information. Make a study plan and stick to it.

Buena suerte with your preparation, and I'm sure you'll be well-prepared for the AP Spanish Literature exam!

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AP® Spanish Literature

The ultimate list of ap® spanish literature and culture tips.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Unlike its Language & Culture counterpart, the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture course is not widely pursued by students. Only the top Spanish students reach this level of Spanish prior to study at the college level and many of those who do take the course and exam speak Spanish as a first language. Not to fret – you, too, can be successful at the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. With a lot of hard work and insider tips like those listed here, you’ll find this exam just as conquerable as any other!

Here’s the breakdown: every year almost 20,000 students take the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. A little over three-quarters pass with a score of 3 or above while just 28% receive a 4 and 10% achieve a 5. What does this mean for you? Well, it means that with a lot of commitment and hard work – in addition to these essential tips on how to beat the exam – you, too, can nail this exam!

How to Study for AP® Spanish Literature & Culture Tips

1. Crack open a book . You probably shouldn’t be surprised that the first tip we’re giving you for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam is… to read! The better you know the extensive reading list for the exam, the better off you’ll be on exam day. And there’s no better way to get familiar with the poems, stories, and novels that form the bulk of the content on the exam than to start reading them now. Read below for some tips on how to begin to master that beast of a reading list right now.

2. Mark it up . Research shows you can recall more details when you interact with a written text by touching it, making comments in the margins, and marking it up with a pencil. Really get to know each work. How does the author transition between scenes? How does he/she introduce new characters? How are the themes intertwined in the text? You will find that the more you mark up the text, the better you will understand these components of each work.

3. Know the basics . For each work on the list, you should not only know the author and time period (think: Siglo de Oro, Romanticism, etc.) but also the central characters, the plot, and major themes. How will you ever remember all of these elements for each work on the list? There are so many! Well for starters, start writing them down and stay organized. Keep a large, standardized note card for every short story or novel chapter, for example. You should mark all of the important parts of the work on there. Then, when it comes time to review, you won’t have to reread each piece of literature on the test. Instead, you can run through the note cards and quiz yourself on the major components of each work.

4. Become a quote master . Unfortunately quotes are a part of every AP® Spanish Literature and Culture student’s life. Don’t let yourself get bogged down by trying to memorize whole passages of short stories or every Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz poem. Rather, get to know the characters themselves. Maybe make a separate note card for each major character for the big works on the list (think: Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and Dulcinea del Toboso for Don Quixote ) to better remember them. And always remember to associate the character with its work. Knowing your characters inside and out won’t do you much good if you don’t know what work they’re from!

5. Vocabulary . Just as for the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam, you will need an excellent command of Spanish vocabulary if you hope to get a high score on the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. This is a reading-heavy test. Remember, this is a higher level so the demands on your knowledge are greater. Here are some great tips for incorporating Spanish vocabulary learning into your daily routine from the beginning of the semester until the day of the test:

6. Jot it down . Even the most successful of foreign language learners continue to learn new vocabulary words long after they are fluent in the language. How do they accomplish this? How can you remember words that are perhaps obscure or utilized solely in a literary context? Keep a small notebook with you at all times so that you have a place to keep track of the new words. When you’re reading for class, keep track of words that you don’t know – particularly if they repeat! Then, look up definitions of each word once you’re done reading the passage or chapter. That way your reading isn’t interrupted by constant runs to a dictionary.

7. Online dictionaries. Dictionaries are going to become your new best friend when you’re studying for AP® Spanish Literature and Culture. We are so lucky that we live in a day and age where online dictionaries exist – so take advantage of it! Sources such as wordreference and Reverso contain not simply the translation, but a sample sentence to see the word in context, the pronunciation, and even some idioms that utilize the word. Note them all and really learn the new word.  

8. Dealing with idioms. Often when reading in a foreign language we can get lost in figurative or idiomatic language. Tener ganas ? Ponerse enojada ? What do those even mean? When learning new vocabulary, it’s important to not isolate words; rather, note them down in context. Idioms in particular can be tricky because certain collocations of words take on different meanings than they do in isolation. Online dictionaries are another great resource for this.

9. Don’t forget the forum! Again with the online dictionaries (we did say they would become your best friend, didn’t we?). Most big online dictionaries not only have word entries, but also online forum where native speakers and non-native speakers alike can discuss difficult translations or dialect-specific words. Most word entries have these discussion boards – scroll to the bottom of the page and you should see a list.

10. How to do vocab cards. Just like for the AP® Spanish Language & Culture exam, we recommend using vocabulary cards to quiz yourself on new words for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam. Using different colors for different word types such as yellow for verbs and pink for nouns or even green for masculine nouns and brown for feminine can really help seal in new terms. And remember: no English translations! Instead, write a description of the word in Spanish. Research shows that you will remember words faster (and access them faster come test day) if they have their own representation in your mind.

Insider tip : There are a couple of “musts” when learning vocabulary in a foreign language – especially one like Spanish with tough masculine/feminine rules like Spanish. Firstly, always note the gender of a new noun. A noun in Spanish is nothing without its article! This includes those tough-to-remember exception words such as agua .  Second, you’re at an advanced enough level that graders of the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam will expect you to know your accent markings. Pérdida and perdida are two very different words! Finally,

11. A little bit louder now . Although the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam does not demand the same level of oral proficiency as other AP® foreign language exams, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be learning the pronunciation of these new vocabulary words. In fact, many students are oral learners and acquire information best by speaking and repeating it. Recording yourself on your phone and playing it on repeat can be an excellent new way to study vocabulary.

12. Don’t hold back . A key thing to remember for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam is that questions come from works on the (extensive) reading list but also works that are not on the reading list. Yikes, right? Not quite. With enough preparation, you will even be able to master questions concerning works that you don’t know. After all, on test day, even the most prepared student won’t know every single work referenced on the test inside and out. A great deal of the questions that reference works that were not on the list will be common sense or will follow the six themes taught in class.

AP® Spanish Literature and Culture Free Response Tips

1. Ease up . It may seem silly, but at four essays totaling 100 minutes, or 55% of the total exam time, the free-response writing section of the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam is tough . With that much writing, your hands are bound to cramp up. So although it may seem silly to mention, take it easy when writing for that long. Give your hands plenty of breaks when writing, even when you’re in a hurry. Writing several practice essays in a row can also help ready you for the demands of that much academic writing in Spanish on test day.

2. One at a time . You can’t work ahead on the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. Still, with that many essays, it is important to take them one at a time. Focus on the thesis or comparison at hand. If you are thinking back to how you responded to the text and art comparison while you’re writing the text comparison, you could get lost in your ideas and your thesis could lose focus. These essays go by quick so you don’t have a lot of time to correct mistakes – particularly if you mistakenly write entire paragraphs on the wrong topic! One essay at a time. Breathe. Next essay. Breathe. Next essay.

3. College Board online . For starters, get on the College Board website and look up the grading guidelines . And the practice tests. And the exam structure outline. Believe it or not, College Board does want you to succeed on the test. So they stock their website full of great resources for you to download and peruse as you prepare for the exam. Get familiar with them!

4. And your teacher! There may be no better resource than the person who stands in front of you each day in Spanish class – your teacher we mean! Your teacher knows the ins and outs of the exam and has seen many students succeed and master the concepts necessary to pass the test. What’s more, as we’ll discuss below, many AP® teachers spend a week each summer grading the tests. They know everything that is expected of students and what is emphasized in order to score the most points (hint: it’s not excellent use of subjunctive!). And no one wants to see you do well on the exam more than your own teacher – take advantage of this.

5. Two is better than one . Your classmates are a great resource! Get together with a group of friends and share study tips or new vocabulary words. In our article on the Ultimate Tips for the AP® Spanish Language & Culture exam , we discuss the importance of group study for exam prep. The same idea applies for the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. By sharing notes and ideas, not to mention exchanging practice essays and reading each other’s practice exams, you will get to know the test better and learn new information. This is especially important given the beast of a reading list for this exam. No one has time to read each work on the list to the depth that it deserves. So instead, divvy up the list and share the plot summaries, major themes, and character descriptions with classmates to lighten the load.

6. And all the practice . Like any AP® test, the more you review old exams and previous questions, the better prepared you’ll be for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam when you actually take it. Why? Well because the test doesn’t change that much year to year! For statistical purposes, test creators hesitate to change too much too fast. Great. Use this to your advantage. The content of the question may change, but the structure will not. And of course you can anticipate the overall structure of the exam – that won’t change any time soon.

Insider tip: What is that structure again? The AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam is three hours long. It consists of two primary sections: multiple choice (first) and then free-response (last). Within multiple choice, you will have interpretive listening of audio texts (15 minutes) followed by reading analyses (60 minutes. Within the free-response section, you will have two shorter essays followed by two longer essays. Firstly you complete the text explanation, then the text and art comparison. Finally, for the two long essays you have the text analysis followed by text comparison. Whew!

7. The whole shebang . Speaking of practice, it’s not enough to simply practice one section of the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam in isolation. Although helpful, that won’t prepare you for the intensity of the three-hour exam on test day (see above for description). You need to devote 1-2 afternoons prior to taking the test to do a couple of full run-throughs – that means both sections. This will help you to build up the endurance necessary to complete the exam and will make it much easier on you come test day!

8. Front of the class . One thing that AP® Spanish Literature & Culture teachers consistently advise to new students is active participation in class – from the beginning of the semester. You can’t acquire all the knowledge tested on the exam the week or two prior to taking it. So instead, be an active participant in class from day one by asking inquisitive questions about content and the major themes that you will be tested on in class. By beginning this type of analysis early on in the course, you will be more prepared for the type of hard-reaching questions that the AP® Spanish exams are famous for.

AP® Spanish Literature and Culture Multiple Choice Tips

1. Skip ‘em . Instructions, we mean! Don’t lose valuable test-taking time reading instructions that you most likely have memorized. Know exactly what’s expected of you for each section and while other students around you are listening for those instructions, you will already have a couple of questions answered!

2. But don’t skip those ! On some standardized tests such as the SAT® or ACT® you can be punished with point reductions if you answer incorrectly. Lucky for you, this is not the case for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam. So use this to your advantage and answer every question. Every. Single. One. Even if you’re not finished at the end, go through and mark the answers. It could get you a couple of extra points – maybe the difference between a 3 and a 4!

3. Know the literary devices. They are everywhere on the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam. How will you respond to a question asking you to identify the alliteration in a passage if you don’t know what alliteration is? These are not difficult concepts but do take some time to recognize in a literary context. Be an active reader and search for them as you’re reading. See a hyperbole? Mark it. And when you make those note cards to define the literary terms, include an example from a text you’ve read – it may just show up on the test.

AP® Spanish Literature and Culture Essay Tips & Advice

1. Teeny tiny writing details . It even comes down to those. We asked graders for the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam what set exam that received a 4 or 5 apart for them and several mentioned the usage of language-appropriate quotations. Yup, did you know that written Spanish employs different quotation marks than the standard “” that we use in English? So on your practice exams this year, start using quotation marks as they’re used in Spanish: << >>. Your essay will stand out from the pack!

2. Outlines and theses . Circle this tip with bright yellow highlighter – or at least jot it down on a piece of paper: organize your essays with a thesis and clear outline! There are simply too many essays on the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam for you to “wing it” and start writing without a plan. Your essays will start to converge and will read the same to the AP® graders. This is especially bad since one of the essays is a piece of poetry analysis but another is text comparison – couldn’t be more different! By writing down your thesis and the supporting arguments, you’ll avoid the pitfall of repeating yourself or forgetting what you’re defending in your essay.

3. Don’t forget your transitions . You’re a seasoned AP® Spanish student so you probably know this already – but don’t forget your transition words! Of course these are super important between paragraphs, but don’t forget to also incorporate them within paragraphs to flow between ideas. You don’t want a series of disconnected sentences that supposedly reference the point you’re making. Nope, use your transition words:  sin embargo,  como resultado,  de esta manera,  además de eso,  entonces,  al otro lado,  por el otro lado,  a pesar de

Tips by AP® Spanish Literature students:

Who knows better how and what to prepare for the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam than students who have already taken the exam? From Allende quotes to García Lorca text analyses, they’ve already seen it all. So follow their tips to master this tough exam and perform to your best on test day.

1. Less is more . We’ve mentioned briefly the importance of knowing all of the major works. Well, there’s such a thing as knowing too much and overthinking the reading list: “If there’s one piece of advice that I would give to you guys taking the test next year it’s to not try to memorize every piece on the list! I was so worried about obscure quotations from smaller works. I spent just hours and hours reading and rereading. You forget that the test makers do want to see you succeed so they write the questions in a way so that even if you can’t remember the exact work, you can at least narrow it down to two answers.”

2. Particular poetics . When preparing for the essays, it’s easy to forget that one big portion of the written section is a text analysis of a poem. This is not at all the same as the text comparison of two short stories, for example, or even an essay remarking on a provided text. Poems are another beast. As one student astutely remarked: “One thing that surprised me in class and when I took the exam was how different the poetry analysis section was. Don’t treat this section like another text analysis – it’s not. Poetry is analyzed much differently. If your teacher doesn’t explicitly address poetry analysis in class, (luckily mine did!) look some tips up online for how to write a good analysis and essay.”

Surviving the text analysis of the poem:

As we mentioned above, the text analysis of the poem really is completely different from any other essay that you’ll write on test day. Below are some tips for, firstly, analyzing poetry, and secondly, writing a killer, memorable essay when you actually take the test.

1. Form a thesis – and stick with it . Well, this one is pretty similar to most other essays you’ll write on the test and even those that you’ve undoubtedly been working on in your English writing classes. Still, theses for essays that analyze poetry are different because their content is different. You won’t have huge passages to draw ideas from. Indeed, some poems are small sonnets of just fourteen lines. So instead, go into the poem with some ideas on potential things you could write about: theme, genre, historical context (see below for the importance of knowing the time periods of major works) – all poems on the list will have these things so they are excellent elements from which you can form a thesis.

2. Which tense to use ? Again, perhaps not too different from other essays, but still very important to mention especially given the age of some of the poems on the exam (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz wrote in the 17 th century!). Even though an author may have written close to four hundred years ago, you still need to write in present tense. No “el autor escribió estas líneas pensando…” – rather, you should stick to the here and now, even though the author is clearly passed, writing “la autora describe muy bien la diferencia…” etc. This is simple style mechanics of writing about poetry and the AP® graders will expect to see it.

3. Know poem-specific terminology . And know it in Spanish. Maybe you’ve discussed elements of poetry such as stress, syllable, rhyme, caesura, and enjambment in your AP® English courses. So, you should be able to recognize them when reading a poem in Spanish – but do you know how to describe them in Spanish? No, you don’t get a free pass on test day to write about poetry in English just because you don’t know the Spanish word for a piece of terminology. Graders will not be impressed if you have to resort to English to discuss Spanish poetry on a Spanish exam. So know how to talk about poetry in Spanish well before getting to the test.

4. You must know your time periods . Great works of canonized literature are traditionally sorted into time periods that often coincide with major historical events and philosophical schools of thought of the day. It is vital that you know these time periods for the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam – you won’t be able to comment freely on the differences between two works on the text comparison, for example, if you can’t discuss the time periods in which they were written.

“Know the épocas – the time periods. Wow those came up a lot on the test. My teacher said they would and so I prepared well, but I was still surprised! What I did actually was to create a large poster board that mapped out the different literary periods chronologically – Siglo de oro , surrealismo , modernismo , etc.. This way I could also correlate it with historical events that propelled one period into another. Whew it was a lot to cover!”

5. Who wrote it? We’ve already talked about the importance of knowing the authors of the works on that big reading list for the exam. But even for students like the one below, this can be a challenge. Follow our tips and start reading now. Make note cards for the major works and the major characters. Again, this simply can’t be learned a week before the text – start doing it now as you read the works in class and save yourself a lot of stress later.

“I did well on the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam (got a 4) but I feel as though I could have done better had I known the authors better. It’s not so much a matter of memorizing passages and books and being able to recognize them on the test as it is associating certain ways of writing and even character names. Still, knowing those things about the stories and poems won’t do any good if you don’t know the author too! And you will be out right asked to name the author of a work on the test.”

6. Even use English translations online. Yes, that’s right, we’re even encouraging you to read in English for this Spanish exam! It is true that if Spanish is not your first language, there are some stylistic elements and idiomatic phrasing that you just might not pick up on when reading the works. (This can be especially true with poetry although unfortunately that is one form of literature that we actually don’t recommend reading translations of since poetry can be very complex to translate). So do your best, ask questions in class, and yes, go ahead and read a story or two in English in addition to the Spanish version. Were there elements that you didn’t capture when reading in Spanish? Great! Add them to your note cards.

 “Maybe I shouldn’t advise this, but I’m going to because it helped me pass the exam. Don’t be afraid to read some chapters of works in English! The translations are super easy to find online – especially for major works like “La noche boca arriba” (Julio Cortázar), “Dos palabras” (Isabel Allende), or La casa de Bernarda Alba (Federico García Lorca). If you’re a native English speaker like me, it can really help with comprehension of tough passages. I don’t recommend reading everything in English though – it can be a waste of time because after all, you don’t read in English on the test!”

7. Be organized. “The writing is tough on the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam – four essays! I suggest being really organized with your thoughts well before starting an essay. It always helps me to physically write out my thesis – don’t just think it – write it so that you can reference it later. Then, make an outline with the two or three points that you are going to address in the essay. This will help you so much. You have no idea how lost you can get in your writing by essay number three.”

8. Careful, native speakers! We’ve already mentioned that 80% of those who take the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam are self-declared native speakers. Don’t worry if you’re not, hundreds of non-native speakers pass this exam every year and you’re not necessarily at a n=disadvantage if you didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. Case and point – the following:

“If you’re a native speaker of Spanish, even if you speak it at home with your parents or grandparents and family, do not be fooled by this test! I am also a native speaker, but keep in mind that around 80% of those who take the AP® Spanish Lit exam are too! And even though your Spanish is really good, you still have to know the literary devices. You still have to know how to analyze a poem. And you still have to write really good, well-organized essays. Your native abilities might make you a faster writer, but they could even make your writing sloppy if you’re not careful.”

9. Forget time . Finally, relax! Go so far as to ignore the clock. This isn’t completely possible, but the worst thing you can do on test day for the AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam is to obsessively watch over the clock, stressed about finishing an exam on time. You’ll spend so much time glancing back and forth that it will take away from the flow and content of your essay. Don’t believe us? Here it from those who have been there pretty recently!

“I know this sounds like strange advice, but it’s what someone gave me last year and I think it really helped: forget time. Okay, so you can’t do this completely when you’re writing because you have strict time limits. But I heard some students say that they were so worried about not finishing the essays in time that they kept watching the clock and then didn’t actually finish! I focused more on my essays, knowing that I could complete them because I had timed myself a lot when I took my practice exams. I was confident in my abilities to organize and finish a good essay even in the limited time and so I didn’t obsess over time – worked for me!”

Are you a teacher or student? Do you have an awesome tip? Let us know!

The AP® Spanish Literature & Culture exam is notorious amongst the AP® foreign language exams for its tough content and extensive reading list. Still, every year thousands of students take this course and pass the exam, earning valuable experience with the Spanish language in addition to college credit. If Spanish is your passion and you hope to study it at the college level, or even if you just really love literature and are looking for another outlet, this course and exam is for you. Don’t get bogged down in the details of the exam and enjoy the texts that you read in class. Think about them in their historical and cultural contexts – what was the author saying? Who were they speaking to? Get lost in the amazing power of Spanish literature and you will undoubtedly find success on the AP® Spanish Literature and Culture exam.

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