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📚AP English Literature
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📚AP English Literature

FRQ 1 – Poetry Analysis
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Each FRQ type tests specific skills taught in particular units. Here's why certain units appear for each question type:

This mapping reflects College Board's exam structure - each FRQ type tests specific skills that are taught in particular units.

Practice FRQ 1 of 491/49

1. In W. B. Yeats's poem "The Double Vision of Michael Robartes," published in 1919, the speaker describes a profound vision experienced at the Rock of Cashel. Read the poem carefully. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Yeats uses literary elements and techniques to convey the speaker's complex response to the visionary figures and the paradox of their timeless existence.

In your response you should do the following:

  • Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation.

  • Select and use evidence to support your line of reasoning.

  • Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.

  • Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

The Double Vision of Michael Robartes

On the grey rock of Cashel1 I suddenly saw

A Sphinx with woman breast and lion paw,

A Buddha, hand at rest,

Hand lifted up that blest;

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And right between these two a girl at play

That it may be had danced her life away,

For now being dead it seemed

That she of dancing dreamed.

Although I saw it all in the mind's eye

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There can be nothing solider till I die;

I saw by the moon's light

Now at its fifteenth night2.

One lashed her tail; her eyes lit by the moon

Gazed upon all things known, all things unknown,

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In triumph of intellect

With motionless head erect.

That other's moonlit eyeballs never moved,

Being fixed on all things loved, all things unloved,

Yet little peace he had

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For those that love are sad.

Oh, little did they care who danced between,

And little she by whom her dance was seen

So that she danced. No thought,

Body perfection brought,

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For what but eye and ear silence the mind

With the minute particulars of mankind?

Mind moved yet seemed to stop

As 'twere a spinning-top.

In contemplation had those three so wrought

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Upon a moment, and so stretched it out

That they, time overthrown,

Were dead yet flesh and bone.

Source: W. B. Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole, 1919

1 Rock of Cashel: A historic site in Ireland featuring medieval ruins on a limestone outcrop
2 fifteenth night: The night of the full moon

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FRQ Directions
Free Response Question Practice

This practice environment simulates the AP AP English Literature Free Response Questions section. Here are some guidelines:

  • Read each question carefullybefore responding. Pay attention to command verbs like "identify," "explain," "analyze," or "evaluate."
  • Use the timer to practice time management. You can pause, restart, or hide the timer as needed.
  • Mark for Review if you want to come back to a question later.
  • Your responses are saved automatically as you type. You can also use the drawing tool for questions that require diagrams or graphs.
  • Use the toolbar for formatting options like bold, italic, subscript, and superscript.
  • Navigate between questions using the Previous and Next buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Tip: Answer all parts of each question. Partial credit is often available, so even if you are unsure, provide what you know.