AP Spanish Literature and Culture Unit 2: Renaissance and Baroque Practice Exam

Assessment for Unit 2: Renaissance and Baroque

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Exam Details

Questions: 22 total (20 multiple choice, 2 short answer)
Time: 60 minutes (recommended)
Topics Covered: Unit 2: Renaissance and Baroque
Format: Multiple Choice, Short Answer questions matching real exam difficulty
Scoring: Instant results with detailed explanations

A. Multiple-Choice Questions (20 Questions)

Select the one best answer for each question.

1. [Skill: 1.C.ii | Topic: 2.1] Read the excerpt below, adapted from the opening of *Lazarillo de Tormes* (anonymous). > “Yo por bien tengo que cosas tan señaladas… no se entierren en la sepultura del olvido, pues podría ser que alguno que las lea halle en ellas algo que le agrade… Y así suplico a Vuestra Merced reciba el pobre servicio de mano de quien lo hiciera más rico si su poder y deseo se conformaran.” Which of the following best identifies the point of view and its primary effect in the excerpt?

(A)First-person narration addressed to “Vuestra Merced,” which frames the text as a personal testimony and supports social critique from a marginal perspective.(B)Third-person omniscient narration, which creates distance from the protagonist and emphasizes objective moral instruction.(C)Second-person narration, which directly accuses the reader and creates a confrontational tone meant to shame the audience.(D)Dramatic dialogue among multiple speakers, which highlights communal values by presenting a collective voice.

2. [Skill: 1.C.iii | Topic: 2.1] Read the excerpt below, adapted from Garcilaso de la Vega’s Sonnet XXIII (“En tanto que de rosa y azucena…”). > “En tanto que de rosa y azucena > se muestra la color en vuestro gesto, > y que vuestro mirar ardiente, honesto, > enciende al corazón y lo refrena…” Which stylistic feature is most clearly present in the excerpt and best supports a Renaissance *carpe diem* theme?

(A)The blason-like catalog of the beloved’s physical traits through natural imagery, which idealizes beauty and underscores its transience.(B)A fragmented, non-linear structure with abrupt temporal shifts, which creates uncertainty about what is real.(C)An extended conceptista pun that compresses multiple meanings into a single ambiguous word, prioritizing intellectual difficulty over clarity.(D)A chivalric epic tone that elevates military conquest as the highest form of human achievement.

3. [Skill: 1.C.ii | Topic: 2.1] Read the excerpt below, adapted from *Don Quijote de la Mancha* by Miguel de Cervantes. > “No quiere el autor deste relato pasar en silencio… que halló escrito en caracteres arábigos… y fue menester buscar un morisco aljamiado que lo declarase. Y así se supo que el historiador desta historia era Cide Hamete Benengeli…” Which of the following best describes the point of view created by this narration and how it contributes to the text’s meaning?

(A)A layered, mediated narration (editor/translator/historian), which foregrounds the act of storytelling and creates a self-conscious, ironic distance from the events.(B)A single reliable eyewitness narrator, which guarantees that the account is factual and discourages readers from questioning it.(C)A purely internal monologue from Don Quijote, which eliminates any external commentary and presents his imagination as objective reality.(D)An impersonal dramatic point of view with no narrator, which forces meaning to emerge only from dialogue and stage directions.

4. [Skill: 1.A | Topic: 2.2] Read the excerpt below from the anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes (Prólogo). > “Yo por bien tengo que cosas tan señaladas… vengan a noticia de muchos… Y pues Vuestra Merced escribe se le escriba y relate el caso muy por extenso, parecióme no tomallo por el medio, sino del principio…” Which of the following best identifies the point of view and the narratario in this excerpt?

(A)First-person (limited) narration addressed directly to “Vuestra Merced,” who functions as the narratario(B)Third-person omniscient narration addressed to an unnamed reader, who functions as the narratario(C)Second-person narration in which “Vuestra Merced” is the protagonist and the narratario(D)First-person narration with no narratario because the narrator speaks only to himself

5. [Skill: 1.C | Topic: 2.2] Read the excerpt below from Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha (Primera parte), in which the narrator describes the origin of the story. > “Pero el autor desta historia… dice que… no halló más escrito… hasta que… encontró un cartapacio… escrito en caracteres arábigos… Y como yo no entendía la lengua, busqué quien me la leyese… y dijo que era historia de don Quijote… escrita por Cide Hamete Benengeli…” Which of the following best explains how distinguishing among narrative voices (the narrator, the “author,” and Cide Hamete Benengeli) contributes to meaning?

(A)It creates a self-conscious (metafictional) narrative that calls attention to storytelling and invites the reader to question reliability and “historical” authority(B)It eliminates ambiguity by confirming that the events are objectively true and documented by a single reliable historian(C)It shifts the work’s purpose away from satire and toward an uncritical celebration of chivalric heroes(D)It replaces prose narration with lyric voice, emphasizing romantic intimacy over narration

6. [Skill: 1.B | Topic: 2.2] Read the excerpt below from Lazarillo de Tormes (Tratado Segundo), in which Lázaro describes his hunger. > “Yo, que de hambre me moría… acordé de ayudarme… y tal era mi necesidad, que me parecía que se me salía el alma del cuerpo…; y así, con gran astucia, procuraba remedio…” Which option best identifies a stylistic feature in the excerpt and explains how it supports a central theme of the work?

(A)The use of hyperbole and first-person narration intensifies the experience of hunger and underscores socioeconomic divisions by showing how poverty forces the pícaro into moral compromise(B)Idealized imagery and elevated diction glorify aristocratic life, reinforcing the stability of the social hierarchy(C)A detached omniscient narrator presents poverty as insignificant, suggesting that social divisions are merely personal choices(D)Allegorical characters and purely symbolic setting remove social context to focus exclusively on abstract philosophical questions

7. [Skill: 3A | Topic: 2.3] Read the two poetic excerpts. Excerpt 1 (Renaissance): > "Coged de vuestra alegre primavera > el dulce fruto, antes que el tiempo airado > cubra de nieve la hermosa cumbre." Excerpt 2 (Baroque): > "Mientras por competir con tu cabello, > oro bruñido al sol relumbra en vano..." Which option best explains how a stylistic distinction between the excerpts produces a difference in meaning?

(A)Excerpt 1 relies on relatively direct syntax and transparent imagery to present carpe diem as balanced and harmonious, while Excerpt 2 heightens tension through more ornate, intensified imagery typical of Baroque aesthetics, emphasizing instability and excess.(B)Excerpt 1 is primarily informal and conversational, while Excerpt 2 is formal and bureaucratic, showing a shift from friendship to institutional authority.(C)Excerpt 1 is mainly narrative and plot-driven, while Excerpt 2 is dramatic dialogue, so the difference in meaning comes from genre rather than style.(D)Excerpt 1 avoids metaphor completely and states ideas literally, while Excerpt 2 uses only literal description; therefore, both passages convey meaning without figurative language.

8. [Skill: 2A | Topic: 2.3] Read the two lines of dialogue from a picaresque context. Line 1: > "Señor, suplico a Vuestra merced me haga este favor." Line 2: > "Oye, ven acá y no te hagas el bobo." Which option best identifies the language registers and explains what they suggest about the social relationship in the exchange?

(A)Line 1 is formal (honorific address), suggesting deference to someone of higher status; Line 2 is informal and directive, suggesting familiarity or an attempt to assert dominance over an equal or subordinate.(B)Both lines are formal because they use commands, suggesting the speakers belong to the same privileged social class.(C)Line 1 is informal because it uses a request, while Line 2 is formal because it uses a command, suggesting institutional hierarchy.(D)Both lines are informal because neither uses technical vocabulary, suggesting the exchange has no social implications.

9. [Skill: 4A | Topic: 2.3] Read the two prose excerpts. Excerpt A (Quevedo, Historia de la vida del Buscón): > "Díjome que, si quería medrar, guardase la honra y tratase con señores; y a todos llamase 'Vuestra merced', aunque no lo fuesen." Excerpt B (Fernández de Lizardi, El periquillo sarniento): > "Lector: no te espantes de mis niñerías; nací en esta ciudad, donde a cada paso se ven oficios, castas y modos distintos, y todos quieren parecer lo que no son." Which option best compares how textual language and register reflect different historical, social, and geopolitical contexts?

(A)Both excerpts use the same highly ceremonial honorific system to reinforce an unchanging social order across Spain and Spanish America.(B)Excerpt A foregrounds honorific address and “honra” as performative social currency in Baroque Spain, while Excerpt B adopts a more direct, didactic narrator-to-reader register that reflects a later, reform-oriented social critique shaped by a distinct colonial social structure.(C)Excerpt A is primarily scientific and objective, whereas Excerpt B is purely lyrical; therefore, their registers reflect differences in discipline rather than context.(D)Excerpt A avoids satire by praising social climbing, while Excerpt B avoids judgment by describing society neutrally; therefore, neither register is shaped by context.

10. [Skill: 1.B | Topic: 2.4] Read the excerpt below from the anonymous ballad “Romance de la pérdida de Alhama”: > «Paseábase el rey moro > por la ciudad de Granada, > desde la puerta de Elvira > hasta la de Bibarrambla; > y miraba las almenas, > y miraba las torres altas… > … > “¡Ay de mi Alhama!”» Which literary device is most clearly emphasized in the excerpt, and how does it shape the tone of the passage within its historical context?

(A)Polisíndeton; the repeated “y” slows the rhythm and heightens a mournful, elegiac tone appropriate to the lament over territorial loss.(B)Asíndeton; the deliberate omission of conjunctions accelerates the rhythm to create a triumphant tone celebrating conquest.(C)Narrador testigo; the first-person eyewitness perspective guarantees objective historical accuracy and eliminates emotional response.(D)Símbolo; the city gates function only as private, personal symbols unrelated to broader sociopolitical events.

11. [Skill: 2.B | Topic: 2.4] Consider the following two stimuli about La Malinche: Stimulus 1 (literary excerpt inspired by Laura Esquivel’s *Malinche*): > «Me llaman Malinalli. Para ellos soy la lengua: la que entiende y la que traduce. Mi voz abre puertas y también hiere, porque cada palabra que entrego cambia el destino de los dos mundos.» Stimulus 2 (visual-art description inspired by Diego Rivera’s mural “Tenochtitlán”): > The mural shows an Indigenous city with canals and markets. In the foreground, a woman stands between a Spanish figure and an Indigenous figure, visually linking the two groups while also separating them. Which option best explains how the two works use a shared device to communicate a sociocultural interpretation of conquest?

(A)Both works rely on símbolo/imagen: Malinche functions as a symbolic bridge and boundary between cultures, highlighting the ambivalent attitudes toward mediation, betrayal, and mestizaje.(B)Both works rely on crónica: each presents a neutral chronological record that avoids interpreting the ethical implications of conquest.(C)Both works rely on elegía: each treats Malinche primarily as a figure of private romantic loss rather than a historical agent.(D)Both works rely on narrador testigo: each is told by an anonymous eyewitness who minimizes individual agency in historical change.

12. [Skill: 1.A | Topic: 2.4] Read the following brief prose passage written in the style of a *crónica* about the fall of Tenochtitlán: > «Entramos por las calzadas, y vimos humo, gritos, sangre, piedras, agua oscura. Casas caídas, templos heridos, cuerpos sin nombre. No digo “victoria”: digo cansancio. Lo vi con mis ojos, y lo cuento para que se sepa.» Which choice best identifies a literary feature present in the passage and explains its effect in relation to historical context?

(A)Enumeración (with limited conjunctions); it compresses many sensory details into a rapid sequence, creating immediacy and reinforcing the crónica’s aim to document traumatic historical events.(B)Polisíndeton; it creates a slow, ceremonial rhythm that distances the narrator emotionally from violence and suffering.(C)Elegía; it transforms the passage into a strictly personal lament with no connection to collective history or geopolitics.(D)Símbolo; it reduces the conquest to an abstract metaphor unrelated to real behaviors and attitudes during warfare.

13. [Skill: 2A | Topic: 2.5] Read the excerpt below (lines 1–8) from a poem that continues for a total of 14 lines: 1 Mientras la rosa muestra su hermosura, 2 y el oro al sol en hebras se desata, 3 la nieve en tu mejilla se recata 4 y en tus dos ojos nace la luz pura; 5 antes que el tiempo, en rápida carrera, 6 deshoje en sombra tu color y encanto, 7 goza la flor, que hoy ríe, breve tanto, 8 que mañana será viento y ceniza entera. Which option best explains how the poem’s structure (two quatrains followed by two tercets) reinforces its central idea?

(A)The quatrains develop idealized images of youth and beauty, and the tercets typically pivot to an urgent exhortation, intensifying a carpe diem message.(B)The quatrains present a humorous anecdote, and the tercets resolve it with a punchline, creating a satirical tone typical of romances.(C)The poem’s lines are primarily octosyllabic with assonant rhyme, so the structure emphasizes oral storytelling rather than persuasion.(D)The structure eliminates the speaker’s point of view, making the poem purely objective and descriptive rather than argumentative.

Refer to the figure below.

14. [Skill: 4A | Topic: 2.5] Consider the artistic representation and the literary excerpt below. Artistic representation (described): A Baroque vanitas still life shows a skull beside an hourglass. A candle burns low; wilted flowers and a book lie open on the table. The palette emphasizes stark contrasts of light and shadow. Literary excerpt: "Miré los muros de la patria mía, si un tiempo fuertes, ya desmoronados, de la carrera de la edad cansados, por quien caduca ya su valentía..." Which option best describes the most significant connection between the painting and the excerpt?

(A)Both center on memento mori: symbols of decay and time underscore the inevitability of aging and death, reinforced by Baroque contrast and a reflective first-person perspective.(B)Both celebrate carpe diem by urging immediate pleasure and rejecting any concern for the future.(C)Both treat unrequited love and contempt, using dialogue and stage directions to dramatize a romantic conflict.(D)Both present an epic hero’s transformation over a long journey, emphasizing action over reflection.

15. 1. [Skill: 2A | Topic: 2.6] Read the two excerpts below. **Text A (Luis de Góngora, Soneto CLXVI)** > "Goza cuello, cabello, labio y frente, > antes que lo que fue en tu edad dorada > oro, lirio, clavel, cristal luciente, > no solo en plata o viola truncada > se vuelva, mas tú y ello juntamente > en tierra, en humo, en polvo, en sombra, en nada." **Text B (Francisco de Quevedo, Salmo XVII)** > "¡Ah de la vida!... ¿Nadie me responde? > Aquí de los antaños que he vivido > la Fortuna mis tiempos ha mordido;" Which option best explains a key difference in **point of view** between Text A and Text B and how it supports each poem’s central tension?

(A)Text A uses a second-person address to urge immediate enjoyment (carpe diem), while Text B foregrounds a first-person speaker’s anxious reflection on time’s loss (desengaño).(B)Text A is narrated by an omniscient third-person speaker describing nature objectively, while Text B is narrated by a detached third-person observer describing the nation’s decline.(C)Text A presents a collective “we” that celebrates communal values, while Text B addresses a beloved “you” to persuade her to reject beauty.(D)Text A and Text B both rely on an entirely impersonal perspective in order to avoid emotional engagement with time and mortality.

Refer to the figure below.

16. 2. [Skill: 2B | Topic: 2.6] Consider the two works of visual art listed in the course’s comparative set: - Sandro Botticelli, **The Birth of Venus** - Sandro Botticelli, **Idealized Portrait of a Lady** Which choice best explains how features typical of the **Renaissance** are conveyed in these works and how that emphasis helps clarify a recurring tension that later becomes more skeptical in Baroque texts (e.g., Quevedo’s Salmo XVII)?

(A)They emphasize classical mythology, idealized beauty, and harmonious proportion, highlighting human perfection; Baroque works often reframe that ideal through disillusionment about time and decay.(B)They focus on harsh contrasts of light and shadow and dramatic movement to produce emotional instability; Baroque works reject these techniques in favor of calm symmetry.(C)They present everyday domestic scenes in an unembellished, realistic style to critique social inequality; Baroque works abandon social critique to celebrate pastoral simplicity.(D)They use fragmented perspective and abstract forms to show the impossibility of representing reality; Baroque works resolve this problem by eliminating metaphor and ambiguity.

17. [Skill: 3A | Topic: 2.7] Read the excerpt below from the anonymous ballad (romance) “Romance de la pérdida de Alhama.” > “Paseábase el rey moro > por la ciudad de Granada, > desde la puerta de Elvira > hasta la de Vivarrambla. > > Cartas le fueron venidas > que Alhama era ganada. > > —¡Ay de mi Alhama!” Which of the following best explains the FUNCTION of the repeated exclamation “¡Ay de mi Alhama!” as a structural feature of the romance?

(A)It operates like a refrain that reinforces collective mourning and heightens the sense of irreversible loss each time the news is recalled.(B)It provides comic relief to soften the political tension by interrupting the narrative with a playful aside.(C)It signals a shift to an objective, chronicle-like tone by distancing the speaker from emotional reactions.(D)It serves primarily to create suspense about whether Alhama will be defended successfully in the next scene.

Refer to the figure below.

18. [Skill: 3A | Topic: 2.7] Consider the following two visual works about the conquest of Tenochtitlán: Work 1: Diego Rivera, “Tenochtitlán” (mural). The composition is densely populated; Indigenous people, architecture, and daily activity dominate the scene, presenting the city as vibrant and complex. Work 2: Spanish School (17th century), “The Conquest of Tenochtitlán” (painting). The composition centers military action and Spanish figures; hierarchy and triumph are emphasized through placement and scale. Which option best explains how these RHETORICAL (visual) features influence meaning across the two works?

(A)Rivera’s crowded, activity-centered composition reclaims Indigenous presence and agency, while the Spanish School’s hierarchical focus frames conquest as orderly domination and legitimizes Spanish power.(B)Both works use minimal detail and empty space to suggest that the conquest is unknowable and should not be interpreted through any moral lens.(C)Rivera and the Spanish School both center Spanish leadership to argue that the conquest primarily benefited Indigenous communities through modernization.(D)The Spanish School’s emphasis on Spanish figures is designed to condemn conquest by portraying Spain as weak and disorganized, while Rivera’s mural celebrates Spanish victory through heroic scale.

19. [Skill: 5A | Topic: 2.8] A student is preparing a comparative essay on the Renaissance/Baroque treatment of beauty and the passage of time in these works: - Luis de Góngora, “Soneto CLXVI” (selected lines): > “...goza cuello, cabello, labio y frente, > antes que lo que fue en tu edad dorada > oro, lirio, clavel, cristal luciente, > ... > en tierra, en humo, en polvo, en sombra, en nada.” - Francisco de Quevedo, “Salmo XVII” (selected lines): > “Miré los muros de la patria mía, > ... > Vencida de la edad sentí mi espada, > ... > y no hallé cosa en que poner los ojos > que no fuese recuerdo de la muerte.” Which of the following is the strongest, most defensible thesis statement for a comparative essay on how both authors create meaning about time and human life?

(A)Both poems talk about time passing, so they show that life is short and people should think about it.(B)Góngora and Quevedo both describe aging, but Góngora uses lush, sensual imagery to persuade a young woman to seize beauty before it vanishes, while Quevedo uses stark, ruin-filled observation and a reflective voice to emphasize inevitable decay and the inescapability of death.(C)Góngora’s poem is optimistic because it focuses on beauty, and Quevedo’s poem is pessimistic because it focuses on death.(D)These poems are similar because they both use metaphors and imagery, which are common literary devices in the Baroque period.

Refer to the figure below.

20. [Skill: 4A | Topic: 2.8] A student plans to support the following claim in a comparative response that connects visual art and poetry: Claim: “Botticelli’s idealized figures present beauty as harmonious and enduring, while Quevedo’s speaker insists that even what seems stable is already marked by deterioration, creating a ‘desengaño’ effect.” Below are brief descriptions of the artworks and a reminder of the poetic voice in Quevedo: - Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus: Venus stands in contrapposto on a shell; the scene emphasizes idealized proportions, smooth skin, and serene composure; surrounding figures and wind suggest a mythic, ordered world. - Sandro Botticelli, Idealized Portrait of a Lady: A carefully composed profile portrait; emphasis on refined features, elaborate hair and dress, and controlled, balanced presentation of the subject. - Quevedo, “Salmo XVII” (idea from the excerpt): the speaker scans walls, fields, house, and objects and finds “recuerdo de la muerte,” linking external scenery to inner recognition of decline. Which piece of evidence would best support the student’s claim as written?

(A)Pointing out that both Botticelli paintings include human figures and that Quevedo’s poem uses first-person narration, showing that different genres can portray people.(B)Arguing that Venus stands on a shell, which proves the Renaissance valued nature, and then noting that Quevedo mentions a sword, which proves the Baroque valued war.(C)Noting Botticelli’s smooth, idealized surfaces and balanced composition (mythic serenity in Venus; controlled profile in the portrait) and pairing this with Quevedo’s repeated movement through ruined or diminished spaces (“miré los muros…,” “no hallé cosa… que no fuese recuerdo de la muerte”) to show a contrast between idealized permanence and unavoidable decay.(D)Explaining that Botticelli was an Italian painter and Quevedo was a Spanish poet, so their different nationalities caused them to view beauty and time differently.

B. Short Answer Questions (2 Questions)

Answer all parts of each question. Answers must be in essay form. Outlines or lists alone are not acceptable.

Question 21:

Question 22:

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