AP English Literature and Composition Quiz: Character Choices Actions Short Fiction

Read the excerpt:

At the coffee shop, the tip jar sat by the register with a handwritten sign: "College Fund." The barista misheard Lena's order twice. Each time, Lena repeated it without raising her voice, smiling with her lips but not her eyes. When the drink finally came out wrong again, Lena took it, thanked the barista, and walked to the condiment station. There, she poured the drink into the trash, rinsed the cup, and placed a five-dollar bill into the tip jar on her way out.

What does Lena's thanking the barista, discarding the wrong drink, and still leaving a generous tip most strongly reveal about her?

Read the excerpt:

In the antique shop, the owner unlocked the glass case with a key on a ribbon around her neck. Inside lay a silver compass, its lid engraved with initials worn soft. "Still works," the owner said, and set it in Owen's palm. Owen flipped it open, watched the needle swing, then snapped it shut with more force than necessary. "It's for my brother," he said, though his brother had been dead for six years. At the register, Owen paid in cash and refused the small velvet pouch, asking instead for plain tissue paper.

What does Owen's claiming the compass is for his brother and refusing the velvet pouch most strongly reveal about him?

Read the excerpt below:

Tariq arrived early for the interview and sat in the lobby where the air smelled like lemon polish. On the wall, a framed photo of the company's founder beamed over a ribbon-cutting. Tariq took out his phone, opened the notes app, and began writing down the names on the plaque beneath the photo: founder, co-founder, board chair. When the receptionist offered him water, he thanked her and asked how long she had worked there. As she answered, he wrote her name too—carefully, with a dash beside it—then slipped the phone away as the hiring manager stepped through the glass door.

What does Tariq's writing down the names from the plaque and the receptionist most strongly reveal about him?

In the following excerpt, Priya interviews for a job at a boutique law firm and is asked an illegal question about her plans to have children: The conference room table reflects the city like a dark mirror. The partner across from her smiles and says, "So—do you see yourself starting a family soon?" Priya's pen pauses above her notepad. She can feel the question settle in her lap, heavy and soft as a cat that expects to be stroked. She uncaps her pen anyway and writes, neatly, in the margin: Asked re: family. Then she looks up and says, "I'm excited to talk about my litigation experience," and begins describing a case without waiting for permission. What does Priya's writes, neatly, in the margin: Asked re: family most strongly suggest?

In the following excerpt, Anya is a graduate student whose advisor has just suggested she "tone down" her research topic to be more fundable: In the seminar room, the whiteboard still holds yesterday's half-erased equations, ghosting the air. Anya listens while her advisor lists safer angles, his voice smooth as if he's offering her a gift. When he finishes, she nods, opens her laptop, and drags her proposal folder into the trash. The icon bounces once, obedient. Then she right-clicks, selects "Restore," and places the folder back on the desktop, centered. She closes the laptop with a soft click and says, "I'll think about it," while meeting his eyes for the first time all hour. What does Anya's drags her proposal folder into the trash...then...selects "Restore," and places the folder back on the desktop most clearly reveal?

In the following excerpt, Caleb has been estranged from his best friend Noor since a fight, and he sees her at a bus stop during a sudden rain: The rain comes down in needles, turning the street into a sheet of tin. Noor stands under the shelter with her backpack hugged to her chest, hair already darkening at the edges. Caleb has an umbrella—cheap, the kind that flips inside out—but it's whole. He slows as he passes, then stops two steps beyond her. Without turning, he reaches back and sets the umbrella on the bench between them, handle toward her, and keeps walking. The umbrella wobbles once, then steadies. What does Caleb's sets the umbrella on the bench between them, handle toward her, and keeps walking most likely indicate?

In the following excerpt, Luis works the night shift at a grocery store and has just watched a coworker, Tasha, get reprimanded for being late: The manager's words trail behind Tasha as she walks away, shoulders tight, apron strings swinging like loose ends. Luis is at the register, counting down his till, when the manager pauses beside him and says, "See? Some people don't care." Luis looks at the coins in his palm, then at the schedule taped to the plexiglass. He reaches up and with his thumb smooths the corner where Tasha's name has been written in marker, pressing until the tape squeaks. Without looking at the manager, he says, "She was here yesterday early," and goes back to counting. What does Luis's smooths the corner where Tasha's name has been written...pressing until the tape squeaks suggest about him?

Read the excerpt:

At the book club, everyone praised the novel's ending, calling it "hopeful." Mira waited until the last person spoke, then said, "I don't think it's hopeful," and smiled as if she'd offered a compliment. When the room went still, Mira reached into her bag and passed around homemade cookies—still warm, wrapped individually in wax paper—insisting each person take two.

What does Mira's voicing a dissenting opinion last and then distributing warm cookies most strongly suggest about her?

Read the excerpt:

At the protest, signs bobbed above heads like bright sails. Camila held a blank piece of cardboard at her side, marker uncapped in her pocket. People chanted; someone offered her a slogan to write. Camila smiled and shook her head. When a counter-protester shoved through the crowd and knocked an older woman's sign to the ground, Camila stepped forward, placed her blank cardboard between the woman and the shove, and said, "Not her."

What does Camila's carrying a blank sign but stepping in to shield someone most strongly reveal about her?

In the following excerpt, Sora is at her father's retirement party in a rented hall strung with paper lanterns. Her father's coworkers clap as he raises a glass; her mother smiles too widely, as if holding something in place. Sora has rehearsed a toast in her head for weeks, but when her father gestures for her to come up, she feels the old heat behind her eyes. She steps to the microphone, unfolds her note card, and instead of reading, she turns the card over and uses its blank side to fan her face twice. Then she speaks without the card, voice steadying as she goes, and ends by thanking her mother by name, watching her mother's shoulders drop a fraction. What does Sora's choosing to speak without the prepared card and publicly thanking her mother most strongly reveal?

In the following excerpt, Ellis is a junior accountant at a small firm. On his desk sits a printed spreadsheet with a column that doesn't reconcile; the numbers are off by just enough to be a problem, not enough to be obvious. His supervisor, Mara, stops by and says, "If you can't find it, just round it—we're already late." Ellis nods, but after Mara leaves, he reopens the file, cross-checks the receipts one by one, and finds a duplicate entry tied to a client who happens to be Mara's longtime friend. Ellis prints the corrected report, staples the evidence behind it, and walks to Mara's office, knocking once before entering. What does Ellis's bringing the corrected report (with evidence) directly to Mara most strongly reveal about him?

Read the excerpt:

The substitute teacher mispronounced Amina's name, turning three syllables into two. Amina corrected her once, quietly. The substitute tried again and got it wrong again, smiling as if effort were enough. Amina didn't correct her a second time. Instead, she wrote her name across the top of her notebook in thick ink, then underlined it twice, the second line so hard the paper nearly tore.

What does Amina's choosing not to correct the substitute again and underlining her name until the paper nearly tears most strongly reveal about her?

Read the excerpt:

At the lake, the dock boards were hot underfoot. Everyone dared each other to jump. Nadia stood at the edge, toes curled over the water-darkened wood. When her friend shouted, "Do it!" Nadia laughed, then sat down instead and began tying her hair into a tighter knot, twisting until her scalp pulled. After the others splashed in, Nadia slid into the water quietly from the ladder, holding the rail the whole time.

What does Nadia's choosing the ladder after hesitating at the edge most strongly suggest about her?

Read the excerpt:

The bakery's bell chimed as Anya stepped inside, cheeks stung pink by wind. She pointed at the last cinnamon roll, then hesitated when she saw the man behind her—thin jacket, hair damp, eyes fixed on the case. "Actually," Anya said, "make it two." When the cashier told her there was only one left, Anya nodded as if she'd expected it and paid anyway. Outside, she broke the roll in half with her bare hands and offered the larger piece to the man without speaking.

What does Anya's ordering two cinnamon rolls despite there being one and then giving away the larger half most strongly reveal about her?

Read the excerpt:

When the storm warning came, the radio crackled with phrases like "mandatory evacuation." In the apartment hallway, neighbors dragged suitcases toward the stairs. Mrs. Alvarez knocked on Kira's door and asked if Kira needed a ride. Kira said no, smiling too brightly, and closed the door. Then she went to the living room window and taped it in careful X-shapes, one strip after another, until the glass looked like it wore a net. Only when she finished did she pull her backpack from the closet and begin packing, starting with her grandmother's letters.

What does Kira's refusing help and taping the window before packing most strongly suggest about her?

In the following excerpt, Mei attends a neighborhood meeting about a proposed development that would replace a community garden: The folding chairs creak as people shift, the air thick with coffee and damp coats. When the developer begins speaking—bright slides, bright teeth—Mei keeps her hands in her lap. She has not spoken at any meeting before; she usually takes notes and leaves quietly. But when the developer says, "No one really uses the garden in winter," Mei stands. She doesn't raise her voice. She walks to the windowsill where a jar of pens sits, selects the shortest one, and returns to her chair. Then, still standing, she writes her name on the sign-up sheet in small, deliberate letters and says, "I do." What does Mei's selects the shortest pen...writes her name...and says, "I do." most strongly reveal?

In the following excerpt, Maribel has come to her late grandmother's apartment the week before the landlord clears it out. The rooms smell faintly of camphor and frying onions; a neighbor's radio leaks boleros through the wall. Maribel's mother has already taped boxes shut in the kitchen, labeling them in thick marker—KEEP, DONATE, TRASH. In the bedroom, Maribel finds a shoebox of letters tied with a ribbon and, beneath it, a small envelope addressed to her mother in her grandmother's careful slant. Maribel turns the envelope over once, then slides it back under the shoebox and closes the closet door. When her mother calls, "Did you find anything else?" Maribel answers, "Just old receipts," and carries out a lamp with a cracked shade. What does Maribel's sliding the envelope back under the shoebox and telling her mother 'Just old receipts' most strongly reveal about her character?

Read the excerpt:

In the rehearsal room, the director asked for volunteers to read the lead role. Everyone looked down at their scripts. Harper raised her hand, then immediately apologized for raising it, laughing too high. When she read, her voice was steady. At the end, before anyone could respond, Harper said, "I'm sure someone else would be better," and began stacking chairs that no one had asked her to move.

What does Harper's apologizing for volunteering and then stacking chairs unprompted most strongly reveal about her?

Read the excerpt:

At the family reunion, the cousins played cards on the porch, their laughter rising with the heat. Aunt Delia brought out a tray of lemonade, and everyone reached. Rowan took a glass, then set it down untouched. When Delia asked if something was wrong, Rowan said, "No, thank you," even though the glass was already sweating in his hand. Later, when the youngest cousin spilled lemonade on the deck, Rowan was the first to kneel with paper towels, blotting the wood until the stain faded.

What does Rowan's refusing to drink the lemonade but quickly cleaning the spill most strongly suggest about him?

Read the excerpt:

At the wedding reception, the DJ called for the couple's college friends to come to the dance floor. Kellan stayed at the table, tracing condensation rings with his finger. When the photographer approached and asked for a quick group shot, Kellan stood, stepped into the back row, and angled his body so his face was half hidden behind someone's shoulder. After the flash, he sat again and folded the paper napkin into a narrow strip, then into smaller and smaller squares until it was too tight to unfold.

What does Kellan's positioning himself to be half hidden in the photo and obsessively folding the napkin most strongly suggest about him?