AP Intermediate English (BIEAP) cheat sheet

Main idea = the claim the whole passage supports; a supporting detail answers only one paragraph's question and cannot serve as the main idea.

Tone and attitude questions are answered by diction and connotation, not by topic: a passage about poverty may be indignant, sympathetic, or detached.

Inference must be forced by textual evidence; if two options both fit, the correct one needs fewer unstated assumptions.

Poetry: identify speaker, addressee, situation, and shift (turn) before interpreting theme; the volta often marks the argument's pivot.

Figures of speech: simile uses like/as, metaphor states identity, personification gives human traits to non-human things, metonymy substitutes an associated object for the thing meant.

Non-fiction: distinguish fact, opinion, and inference; hedged verbs (suggests, appears) signal the writer's caution, absolute verbs (proves, always) signal overstatement.

Pronoun and reference questions: trace the nearest preceding noun that agrees in number and makes logical sense in the sentence.

Sequence and cause-effect questions require locating signal words: because, therefore, hence, as a result, nevertheless, by contrast.

Present perfect (has/have + past participle) links a past action to the present; simple past is used with a finished time marker such as yesterday, in 2019, last week.

Past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past actions; the later action takes simple past.

Passive voice = form of be + past participle; the object of the active clause becomes the subject, and the agent appears after by only if relevant.

Only transitive verbs passivize; intransitive verbs (happen, arrive, sleep) have no passive form.

Reported speech: shift present to past, will to would, can to could; shift pronouns to the reporter's viewpoint; time words change (now to then, today to that day, tomorrow to the next day).

Reported questions use statement order and no question mark: He asked where I lived, not He asked where did I live.

Conditionals: first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

A sentence fragment lacks a subject or finite verb; a run-on joins independent clauses with no conjunction or punctuation; a comma splice joins them with a comma alone.

Synonyms share core meaning but differ in register and connotation: childlike (positive) versus childish (negative); inexpensive versus cheap.

Antonyms may be gradable (hot/cold), complementary (alive/dead), or relational (buy/sell, teacher/student).

Prefixes: un-, in-, im-, il-, ir- negate; mis- means wrongly; re- means again; pre- means before; post- means after; anti- means against.

Suffixes fix word class: -tion/-ment/-ness make nouns, -ful/-ous/-ive make adjectives, -ly makes adverbs, -ify/-ize make verbs.

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic and separable or inseparable: put off = postpone (separable: put it off); look after = take care of (inseparable).

Distinguish phrasal verbs from prepositional phrases by testing whether the particle can move: give up smoking, but not give smoking up in the same sense as give it up.

Idioms carry fixed meaning: once in a blue moon = very rarely; a blessing in disguise = an apparent misfortune that proves beneficial; to beat around the bush = to avoid the point.

Use context clues: definition (that is, namely), contrast (but, unlike, whereas), and example (such as, for instance) signals reveal an unfamiliar word's meaning.

A paragraph has one controlling idea, stated in a topic sentence, developed by supporting sentences, and closed by a concluding sentence.

Cohesion devices: pronoun reference, repetition of key nouns, and linking words (however, moreover, consequently, in contrast) that mark logical relations.

Formal letter layout: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, salutation (Dear Sir/Madam), subject line, body, complimentary close (Yours faithfully when unnamed, Yours sincerely when named), signature.

Essay structure: introduction with thesis, body paragraphs each arguing one point with evidence, conclusion restating the thesis without new arguments.

Argumentative essay must address the counter-argument (concession plus rebuttal); a one-sided essay weakens its claim.

Precis: reduce to about one-third of the original, retain the central idea and its essential support, use the writer's meaning in your own words, omit examples, repetition, and figurative ornament.

Precis is written in the third person and in reported (indirect) form, with no quotation and no personal comment; supply a short title.

Word-limit discipline: count words after drafting; cut adjectives, adverbs, and redundant pairs (each and every, basic fundamentals) first.

Answer literature questions with a claim, textual evidence (quoted or closely paraphrased), and explanation of how the evidence supports the claim.

Character is revealed through action, speech, description by the narrator, and others' reactions; direct characterization names a trait, indirect characterization implies it.

Setting carries thematic weight: place and period shape conflict and constrain characters' choices.

Drama analysis uses stage directions, soliloquy (alone on stage, true thoughts), aside (to the audience, unheard by others), and dramatic irony (audience knows what a character does not).

Tragic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe; hamartia is the protagonist's error, not simply bad luck.

Poetic form: sonnet 14 lines (Petrarchan octave-sestet; Shakespearean three quatrains-couplet), ode addresses an object, elegy mourns a death, ballad narrates in quatrains.

Sound devices: alliteration (initial consonants), assonance (vowel rhyme), consonance (final consonants), onomatopoeia (word imitates sound).

Theme is an idea about life the text explores, expressed as a full statement, not a single topic word such as love or death.

Dialogue must be cooperative: each turn responds to the previous one; use polite openers (Could you tell me...?), hedges (I'm afraid, perhaps), and appropriate closings.

Notice format: the word NOTICE at the top, issuing body's name, date, a short capitalized heading, body of 50 words or fewer, and the writer's name and designation.

Notices are impersonal and factual; no persuasive adjectives and no first-person appeals.

Advertisement copy uses imperative verbs, superlatives, and short slogans; distinguish commercial persuasion from factual description in comprehension items.

Report format: title, reporter's name and date, terms of reference (who asked and why), procedure, findings, conclusion, recommendations.

Reports use past tense for procedure and findings, present tense for standing facts, and the third person or passive voice to keep impersonality.

Message-taking: record the caller's name, number, and purpose; confirm by reading back; avoid committing the receiver to anything the caller did not state.

Email and memo conventions: subject line states purpose; CC copies, BCC hides recipients; a memo omits salutation and signature and ends with initials or name.

Main idea = the claim the whole passage supports; a supporting detail answers only one paragraph's question and cannot serve as the main idea.

Tone and attitude questions are answered by diction and connotation, not by topic: a passage about poverty may be indignant, sympathetic, or detached.

Inference must be forced by textual evidence; if two options both fit, the correct one needs fewer unstated assumptions.

Poetry: identify speaker, addressee, situation, and shift (turn) before interpreting theme; the volta often marks the argument's pivot.

Figures of speech: simile uses like/as, metaphor states identity, personification gives human traits to non-human things, metonymy substitutes an associated object for the thing meant.

Non-fiction: distinguish fact, opinion, and inference; hedged verbs (suggests, appears) signal the writer's caution, absolute verbs (proves, always) signal overstatement.

Pronoun and reference questions: trace the nearest preceding noun that agrees in number and makes logical sense in the sentence.

Sequence and cause-effect questions require locating signal words: because, therefore, hence, as a result, nevertheless, by contrast.

Present perfect (has/have + past participle) links a past action to the present; simple past is used with a finished time marker such as yesterday, in 2019, last week.

Past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past actions; the later action takes simple past.

Passive voice = form of be + past participle; the object of the active clause becomes the subject, and the agent appears after by only if relevant.

Only transitive verbs passivize; intransitive verbs (happen, arrive, sleep) have no passive form.

Reported speech: shift present to past, will to would, can to could; shift pronouns to the reporter's viewpoint; time words change (now to then, today to that day, tomorrow to the next day).

Reported questions use statement order and no question mark: He asked where I lived, not He asked where did I live.

Conditionals: first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

A sentence fragment lacks a subject or finite verb; a run-on joins independent clauses with no conjunction or punctuation; a comma splice joins them with a comma alone.

Synonyms share core meaning but differ in register and connotation: childlike (positive) versus childish (negative); inexpensive versus cheap.

Antonyms may be gradable (hot/cold), complementary (alive/dead), or relational (buy/sell, teacher/student).

Prefixes: un-, in-, im-, il-, ir- negate; mis- means wrongly; re- means again; pre- means before; post- means after; anti- means against.

Suffixes fix word class: -tion/-ment/-ness make nouns, -ful/-ous/-ive make adjectives, -ly makes adverbs, -ify/-ize make verbs.

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic and separable or inseparable: put off = postpone (separable: put it off); look after = take care of (inseparable).

Distinguish phrasal verbs from prepositional phrases by testing whether the particle can move: give up smoking, but not give smoking up in the same sense as give it up.

Idioms carry fixed meaning: once in a blue moon = very rarely; a blessing in disguise = an apparent misfortune that proves beneficial; to beat around the bush = to avoid the point.

Use context clues: definition (that is, namely), contrast (but, unlike, whereas), and example (such as, for instance) signals reveal an unfamiliar word's meaning.

A paragraph has one controlling idea, stated in a topic sentence, developed by supporting sentences, and closed by a concluding sentence.

Cohesion devices: pronoun reference, repetition of key nouns, and linking words (however, moreover, consequently, in contrast) that mark logical relations.

Formal letter layout: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, salutation (Dear Sir/Madam), subject line, body, complimentary close (Yours faithfully when unnamed, Yours sincerely when named), signature.

Essay structure: introduction with thesis, body paragraphs each arguing one point with evidence, conclusion restating the thesis without new arguments.

Argumentative essay must address the counter-argument (concession plus rebuttal); a one-sided essay weakens its claim.

Precis: reduce to about one-third of the original, retain the central idea and its essential support, use the writer's meaning in your own words, omit examples, repetition, and figurative ornament.

Precis is written in the third person and in reported (indirect) form, with no quotation and no personal comment; supply a short title.

Word-limit discipline: count words after drafting; cut adjectives, adverbs, and redundant pairs (each and every, basic fundamentals) first.

Answer literature questions with a claim, textual evidence (quoted or closely paraphrased), and explanation of how the evidence supports the claim.

Character is revealed through action, speech, description by the narrator, and others' reactions; direct characterization names a trait, indirect characterization implies it.

Setting carries thematic weight: place and period shape conflict and constrain characters' choices.

Drama analysis uses stage directions, soliloquy (alone on stage, true thoughts), aside (to the audience, unheard by others), and dramatic irony (audience knows what a character does not).

Tragic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe; hamartia is the protagonist's error, not simply bad luck.

Poetic form: sonnet 14 lines (Petrarchan octave-sestet; Shakespearean three quatrains-couplet), ode addresses an object, elegy mourns a death, ballad narrates in quatrains.

Sound devices: alliteration (initial consonants), assonance (vowel rhyme), consonance (final consonants), onomatopoeia (word imitates sound).

Theme is an idea about life the text explores, expressed as a full statement, not a single topic word such as love or death.

Dialogue must be cooperative: each turn responds to the previous one; use polite openers (Could you tell me...?), hedges (I'm afraid, perhaps), and appropriate closings.

Notice format: the word NOTICE at the top, issuing body's name, date, a short capitalized heading, body of 50 words or fewer, and the writer's name and designation.

Notices are impersonal and factual; no persuasive adjectives and no first-person appeals.

Advertisement copy uses imperative verbs, superlatives, and short slogans; distinguish commercial persuasion from factual description in comprehension items.

Report format: title, reporter's name and date, terms of reference (who asked and why), procedure, findings, conclusion, recommendations.

Reports use past tense for procedure and findings, present tense for standing facts, and the third person or passive voice to keep impersonality.

Message-taking: record the caller's name, number, and purpose; confirm by reading back; avoid committing the receiver to anything the caller did not state.

Email and memo conventions: subject line states purpose; CC copies, BCC hides recipients; a memo omits salutation and signature and ends with initials or name.