AP US HISTORY

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FRQ 101

• AP US HISTORY

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What is an FRQ?

• FRQ stands for Free Response Question
• You will be asked to write 2 separate FRQs on the
  AP exam in May

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The AP Exam Free Response Section

• Time Limit 130 minutes
• Percent of Total Exam Score 50
• PART A 1 DBQ (Document Based Question)
• Suggested Time 15 minutes reading 45 minutes
  writing
• Counts for 22.5 of total score
• Well talk more about this essay at a later date
• PART B 2 FRQs (Free Response Question)
• Suggested Time 5 minutes reading 30 minutes
  writing each
• Each essay counts as 13.75 of total score
• Standard essays chosen from two groups of
  questions each containing two choices (four
  questions)

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Format of FRQs

• The FRQ is your standard essay
• Typically, many students use the 5 paragraph
  essay template
• However, do not feel confined to that! You may
  write as many or as few paragraphs as you need to
  fully answer the prompt
• You will need to write a strong thesis statement
  in your intro paragraph
• Though a conclusion is the cherry-on-top, it is
  not necessary as long as you have proven your
  thesis throughout your essay
• I only say this because some students spend so
  much time writing the bulk of their essay dont
  get to the conclusion.
• If you run out of time, do not worry about not
  finishing worry more about fully answering the
  question throughout the body of your essay

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History Essay Writing Tips

• Always think of your reader
• Use black ink only
• Do not use contractions
• Write in the 3rd person
• First person I, we, our, us, me, mine, my
• Second person you, your
• Write in the past tense
• You may mark out mistakes. BUT
• Do not try to be cute
• Use STANDARD ENGLISH!
• Use correct historical terms
• i.e. normalcy is not a standard English word,
  but it is a historical term
• Facts are names, dates, people, events, places,
  things

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Terms Often Used in AP Essay Questions

• Assess the validity of
• To estimate, to appraise the value of
• Analyze the
• Separate into parts or principles and examine
  each part
• Compare and/or
• How much alike
• Contrast the
• How much different
• Criticize the
• Make judgments as to merit and faults
• Degree to which
• One step or stage in a progression
• Define the
• Say what something is give its meaning

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Terms Often Used in AP Essay Questions

• Discuss the
• Talk about write about consider or examine
• Describe the
• What does it look like create a mental picture
• Extent To what extent
• The range over which something goes how far
• Evaluate the
• Ascertain or fix the worth of
• Explain the
• To make plain, comprehensible, make clear by
  detail
• Illustrate
• Explain or make clear by using examples

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Terms Often Used in AP Essay Questions

• Justify
• Use evidence to prove something is right, wrong,
  or just
• Prove
• Establish the truth of something by providing
  factual evidence
• Reasons for
• The motives for actions or inaction
• Relative importance of
• Having pertinence connected to
• Valid or validity
• How sound, how well-grounded, how good is the
  stated premise

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General Scoring Guideline for APUSH

• The 8-9 Essay
• Contains a clear, well-developed thesis that
  addresses all parts of the questions
• Provide substantial relevant information in
  support of the thesis
• Provides effective analysis addressing all parts
  of the question
• May contain minor errors
• Is well organized and well written
• The 5-7 Essay
• Contains a thesis that may be partially developed
  and addresses most parts of the question
• Supports the thesis with some relevant
  information
• Provides some analysis of most parts of the
  question
• May contain errors that do not seriously detract
  from the essay
• Has acceptable organization and writing

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General Scoring Guideline for APUSH

• The 2-4 Essay
• Contains a thesis that may be underdeveloped or
  poorly developed
• Includes minimal information relevant to the
  question
• Provides little or no analysis, or contains on
  generalizations
• May contain major errors
• May be poorly organized and/or poorly written
• The 0-1 Essay
• Lacks a thesis or restates the question
• Has little or no relevant information regarding
  the question
• Has little or no understanding of the question
• May contain numerous errors
• Is poorly organized and/or poorly written
• The Essay
• Is blank or completely off task

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Before You Begin to Write

• Carefully read the question to make sure you
  understand what it is asking you to do.
• Pay careful attention to the TASK WORDS in the
  question
• Look closely at the CHRONOLOGY (time periods) of
  the question
• Many students write great essays that
  unfortunately dont answer the question that was
  asked! You must discuss those time periods,
  locations, and topics that apply to the question
  and only those!
• Take a few minutes to review what you already
  know about the question and develop a thesis
  statement
• Write a brief outline of your essay before you
  begin to write

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The Introduction

• This is where you make your first impression on
  the reader. Therefore, it is important that you
  have a strong introduction that defines your
  thesis and your argument.
• Your essay should be clearly organized around a
  thesis statement.
• The thesis should clearly respond to the
  question, without directly repeating it
• Should represent your own original interpretation
  or analysis of the information
• Should make a clear argument
• Does not need to be the first sentence of your
  introduction and, in fact, provides better essay
  organization if it is the last sentence in your
  introduction.

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The Introduction

• Define important terms (i.e. humanism, secular,
  absolutism) to demonstrate that you understand
  the question and the essay topics.
• Provide a concise statement (no more than 1
  sentence) that places the essay topic in its
  historical context
• Clearly identify the supporting arguments that
  you will use in your essay. Again, make sure you
  are responding to all parts of the question
• After reading your introduction, your reader
  should know exactly what your argument is (your
  thesis) and how you are going to prove it (your
  supporting arguments) sometimes called a
  preview

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Other Tips

• Be sure to write with voice in your essay.
• In other words, pretend that you have some
  authority on the subject. Make sure to take a
  stand in your answer and not be wishy-washy.
• Be sure that your essay includes historical facts
  to prove your thesis.
• However, data dumping will not gain you any
  extra points and can result in a lowering of your
  score. It also runs the risk of you including
  incorrect data which would hurt your overall
  score.
• Avoid broad survey questions.
• They appear easy because you know a lot of
  information about them. However, they are often
  the most challenging because of the breadth
  required to answer them effectively. Writing a
  provable thesis can pose real problems for these
  types of questions
• Content is critical, but so is your presentation
• Be attentive to grammar, syntax, spelling,
  penmanship, etc. A well-written essay is much
  easier to understand than a poorly written essay

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FRQ

• Write down the prompt on a clean sheet of paper.
• 2005 FRQ
• Compare and contrast the ways in which economic
  development affected politics in Massachusetts
  and Virginia in the period from 1607 to 1750.
• Your essay will be due FRIDAY SEPT. 21st