DO

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DOS AND DONTS OF THE APUSH EXAM
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DO

• GET PLENTY OF SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE
• EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST
• HAVE A SNACK BETWEEN SECTIONS OF THE TEST
• USE A BLUE OR BLACK PENBRING SEVERAL
• BRING PLENTY OF SHARPENED PENCILS FOR THE MC
  PORTION OF THE TEST
• BRING A BOTTLE OF WATERKEEP HYDRATED FOR YOUR
  BRAIN!
• BRING A WATCHMAKE GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME
• STRATEGIZE 1STIT WILL SAVE YOU TIME IF YOU PLAN
  AND CREATE A SHORT OUTLINE FIRST

3
DONTIn General

• Make little doodles/pictures/scribbles on your
  paperlooks like you didnt even try
  (thereforewhy should the person grading your
  test give you ANY benefit of the doubt)
• Do not use abbrevations or text slang
• Do not use familiar terms i.e. Tommy J, Teddy or
  T.R., George etc

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What do the numbers mean?

• 5 extremely well qualified. Highest possible
  grade
• 4 well qualified.
• 3 qualified.
• 2 possibly qualified.
• 1 no qualified to receive college credit.
• Level of college credit awarded will vary from
  college to collegesome may exempt you from
  taking the class, while others may not only
  exempt you, but give you credit for the class as
  well.

5
Multiple Choice

• 80 questions-each with 5 possible answers
• 55 minutes to completethats about 68 seconds
  per question
• Read through the question AND answers before
  selecting an answermake certain you know what
  the question is asking before you answer

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Historical Eras covered

• 1/6 of the questions deal with events from
  1600-1789
• ½ of the questions deal with events from
  1790-1914
• 1/3 of the questions deal with events from 1914
  to present day
• YESthe AP exam can ask MC questions up to
  present day!

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MC Topics

• 37 of the questions deal with political
  institutions and public policy
• 36 of the questions deal with social change
• 13 of the questions deal with diplomacy and
  international relations
• 8 of the questions deal with economic changes
  and developments
• 4 of the questions deal with cultural and
  intellectual developments
• Dont stress out! Youve had ALLLLLLL of these
  style questions on all of your tests all year
  long!!!!

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How is it graded? (MC)

• 80 questions (answered all)
• 60 correct (raw score)
• 20 incorrect
• correct (raw score) - ¼ incorrect scaled
  score
• 60- ¼ 20 60-555 (scaled score)
• 57 and above 5
• 41-56 4
• 31-40 3

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Should I guess???? (On the APUSH examnot class
testsclass tests should be completed)

• If you dont have a clue---DONT GUESS!
• If you can narrow it down to 1 or 2
  answersYESGUESS
• Go with your first gut instinctits usually
  right and honestly you dont have the time to
  debate every single question
• Do not leave more than 8-10 questions blank
• MC is easiest in the beginning and harder as the
  test progresses
• You will probably see political cartoons on the
  test

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DBQ

• OKSO HERES THE DEALTHE AVERAGE SCORE ON THE
  DBQ FOR 2007 WAS 3.4YOU GUYS ARE NOT
  AVERAGE!!!!!!!!!

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DBQ

• You will have a mandatory 15 minutes to review
  the documents prior to writing the DBQmake an
  outline
• Then you will have 45 minutes to write the DBQ
• Think about itIve given you 25 minutes from
  start to finish the review and write the DBQ15
  minutes to review is a GIFT
• You can write on the DBQuse this opportunity to
  make notes and highlight () key pieces of
  information to help you with your essay

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DBQ

• Incorporate as many documents as possible into
  your essay
• Do not use long or frequent quotesbest not to
  quote at all
• ANSWER THE QUESTIONfocus on your essaythe
  documents are merely supporting your thoughts and
  ideasnot the other way around
• Cite the documents (Document A)
• Do NOT write your essay in order of the
  documentsno laundry lists of Documents

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DBQ

• Do NOT NOT NOT (did I say NOT already????) state
  the following in your essay
• Document B says----AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! We dont
  live at Hogwartsand there are no Howlers except
  for me if I get your paper back and you have
  written thisI WILL hunt you down like a dog in
  the Junior halls next year

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FRQs

• 2 FRQs
• 70 MINUTES FOR BOTHAPPROXIMATELY 35 MIN. EACH TO
  ANSWER
• CHOOSE 1 OF 2 OPTIONS ON A QUESTION PRIOR TO THE
  CIVIL WAR AND CHOOSE 1 OF 2 OPTIONS ON A QUESTION
  AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

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Possible topicson both DBQ FRQs

• Change over time
• Cause and effect
• Compare and contrast
• Define and Identifynot an essay itself, but may
  be necessary to answer the essay
• Statement and Reaction
• Evaluation
• Analyzing viewpoints (Do you agree with this
  statementis this a valid point of view)

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On both DBQs and FRQs

• You MUST have outside information
• Do not use weak words
• For example do not use Says Tells Speaks
  of Firstly Secondly
• Instead use action words the author contends,
  portrays, presents, argues, illustrates,
• Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES state the
  following in your papers---This topic is alike
  yet differentIt is the kiss of death!
• Do not ask a questionyou have the answerslet
  the reader know it
• Have a kick.thesis statementonce you grab them
  they will spend more time on your paper
• Dont ramble---be consistent use transitional
  sentences/ phrases
• For example On the otherhand, From a different
  perspective, Likewise,
• ALWAYS keep your paper in the 1st persondo not
  use you or we
• For example it can be implied or one can
  deduct from this line of reasoning that .