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📜 WAYPOINT LESSON

Anatomy of an FRQ

⭐⭐⭐ advanced⏳ 10 min read📍 Lesson 205 of 256

A story, a data table, four tasks: read once for setting, twice for data, write signatures first.

A real FRQ is a story, a data table, and four tasks. The reading protocol that earns points:

  1. Read the intro ONCE for the setting; read the data table twice.
  2. For each part: write the signature first (types from the table), then ONE sentence: "given ..., return/build ...".
  3. Parts are independent: part (b) never needs your part (a) to be correct, and graders score each part separately. A botched (a) must not cascade — that discipline is trainable, and module 16 drills it.
  4. Preconditions are gifts: "the array is non-empty," "values are sorted" — each one deletes code you were about to write.

Time discipline: the four FRQs get 90 minutes — about 20 minutes each with buffer. Writing the signature and one-line plan before coding is what makes 20 minutes enough.