Please note that the years below are hyperlinked to the relevant document/webpage.
Remember that the three free-response questions appear on the AP Language and Composition exam in the following order: Question 1 (synthesis), Question 2 (rhetorical analysis), and Question 3 (argument). So, when you click on the links below, the synthesis question will be the first one.
2023
2023 (Set 1): the extent to which rewilding initiatives are worthwhile for urban communities to pursue. (student sample responses not yet available)
2023 (Set 2): the value—if any—of vertical farms to the future of agriculture. (student sample responses not yet available)
2022: the value—if any—of initiatives to improve STEM education and increase the number of students interested in STEM disciplines. (student sample responses)
2021: the place—if any—of handwriting instruction in today’s schools. (student sample responses)
2019: the most important factors that an individual or agency should consider when deciding whether to establish a wind farm. (student sample responses)
2018: whether eminent domain—the power governments have to acquire property from private owners for public use—is productive and beneficial. (student sample responses)
2017: the role, if any, that public libraries should serve in the future. (student sample responses)
2016: whether monolingual English speakers are at a disadvantage today. (student sample responses)
2015: whether your school should establish, maintain, revise, or eliminate an honor code or honor system. (student sample responses)
2014: whether college is worth its cost. (student sample responses)
2013: the factors a group or agency should consider in memorializing an event or person and in creating a monument. (student sample responses)
2012: whether the USPS should be restructured to meet the needs of a changing world, and if so, how. (student sample responses)
2011: the key issues associated with the locavore movement and their implications for the community. (student sample responses)
2011 (Form B): the extent to which government should be responsible for fostering green practices. (student sample responses)
2010: the most important factors that a school should consider before using particular technologies in curriculum and instruction. (student sample responses)
2010 (Form B): whether daylight-saving time should continue to be used. (student sample responses)
2009: what issues should be considered most important in making decisions about space exploration. (student sample responses)
2009 (Form B): the extent to which schools should support individuality or conformity. (student sample responses)
2008: whether the penny coin should be eliminated (student sample responses)
2008 (Form B): whether there should be specific texts that all students of high school English must read. (student sample responses)
2007: the effects of advertising. (student sample responses)
2007 (Form B): the most important considerations facing the person responsible for securing a new work of art or an artifact for a museum. (student sample responses)
NB: Before 2007, the AP Language and Composition exam did not include a synthesis task; instead, it presented a third free-response question that required a narrower, more-focused argument or rhetorical analysis—depending on the year.
2006: an excerpt from Jennifer Price’s essay “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” which examines the popularity of the plastic pink flamingo in the 1950s > analyze how Price crafts the text to reveal her view of United States culture. (student sample responses)
2006 (Form B): a passage by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) > write a carefully reasoned essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies one of Schopenhauer’s claims. (student sample responses)
2005: a passage from “Training for Statesmanship” (1953), an article written by George F. Kennan, one of the principal architects of United States foreign policy during the period following the end of the Second World War > select what you believe is Kennan’s most compelling observation and write an essay in which you consider the extent to which that observation holds true for the United States or for any other country. (student sample responses, for all three questions)
2005 (Form B): a passage from Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, contemporary writer John M. Barry describes the complex mechanics of the Mississippi River > how Barry communicates his fascination with the river to his readers. (student sample responses, for all three questions)
2004: a passage from the introduction to Days of Obligation by Richard Rodriguez > analyze how Rodriguez uses contrasts between Mexico and California to explore and convey his conflicting feelings. (student sample responses)
2004 (Form B): an essay from The Atlantic Monthly in 1901 > analyze the nature of the writer’s arguments and evaluate their validity for our own time. (student sample responses)
2003: two passages, one by John James Audubon (1830s) and the other by Annie Dillard (1974) > compare and contrast how each writer describes large flocks of birds in flight and conveys their effect on the writer as observer. (student sample responses)
2003 (Form B): an excerpt from a news story about plagiarism > develop a position on the issues raised in this news story. (student sample responses)
2002: an excerpt from the memoirs of Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) > analyze how Woolf uses language to convey the lasting significance of her childhood summers spent in a seaside village in Cornwall, England. (student sample responses)
2002 (Form B): the concluding passage of an essay by Edward Abbey about Aravaipa Canyon in New Mexico > characterize Abbey’s attitudes toward nature and analyze how Abbey conveys these views. (student sample responses)
2001: a passage from “Owls” by Mary Oliver (1995) > analyze how Oliver’s style conveys the complexity of her response to nature. (student sample responses)
2000: a passage from a text by George Orwell (1949) > analyze how Orwell criticizes Gandhi’s argument for choosing human imperfection over “sainthood” and assess how effectively Orwell develops his own position. (student sample responses)
1999: two passages about Florida’s Okefenokee Swamp > analyze how the distinctive style of each passage reveals the purpose of its writer. (student sample responses)