After completing your DBQ, you will yearn for a break to rest your tired writing hand. Unfortunately, there is no break. Instead, you must be resolute and focus on the next and final APUSH challenge— the free-response essays.
You will have 70 minutes to complete two free-response essays. The free-response essays are grouped into two sets. Part B of your exam contains two essay questions that cover pre-Civil War topics. Part C of your exam contains two essay questions that cover post-Civil War topics. The directions ask you to choose one question from Part B and one question from Part C.
Each free-response question will be scored on a 1-to-9 scale. Here are the scoring guidelines used by College Board readers:
8-9: Essay contains a clear, well-developed thesis supported with considerable relevant historical information.
5-7: Essay contains a partially developed thesis supported with some relevant historical information.
2-4: Essay contains a confused and unfocused thesis supported with few relevant facts.
0-1: Essay lacks a thesis and demonstrates little or no understanding of the question.
Each point on the 1-to-9 scale is worth 2.75 points. So a perfect score of 9 is worth 24.75 points, a 6 is worth 16.50 points, and a 4 is worth 11 points. The two free-response essays are worth a combined total of 49.50 points.
Practice is key to performing well on the free-response essays. Although practice will not guarantee a perfect score, it will help you earn a high score. The 2006 AP United States History Released Exam and the 2001 AP United States History Released Exam both include actual free-response questions and scored sample essays. Both booklets can be purchased from the College Board's online store. In addition, you should visit the AP United States History Course Homepage at AP Central (www.apcentral.collegeboard.com). You will find a full set of free-response questions and sample essays from 1999 to the present.
Using authentic practice materials is important. Following good strategies is essential. This section will discuss six strategies that will help you achieve high scores on your free-response essays:
1. Make pragmatic choices.
Your first task is to select which of the two questions in Part B and Part C you want to write on. Above all, make a pragmatic or practical choice. Use the five-minute planning period before each part to carefully evaluate the two questions. Always choose the question that you know the most about.
2. Anticipate questions without categories and questions with categories.
Your pragmatic choice may be influenced by the presence of two types of questions. One type is direct and lacks subcategories. For example, one recent question asked students to evaluate the groups of people who benefited from the opportunities in the Old West. The second question in the set asked students to discuss how two of the following three factors helped shape American culture in the 1920s: advertising, entertainment, and mass production. Which question would you choose to answer? If you have a weak understanding of the American West question but have a good knowledge of at least one of the three listed factors shaping American culture in the
1920s, you should choose the second question. Remember, when you are asked to choose from two of three categories, each one is worth 12.375 points. So don't despair if you can only write about one category. Do your best, pick up as many points as you can, and move on to the next set of questions. It is interesting to note that about 60 percent of all free-response questions have sub-categories.
3. Make African American and women's history a priority.
A comprehensive knowledge of African American and women's history is essential to achieving a high score on the APUSH exam. Chapter 33 stressed that at least one- fourth of the multiple-choice questions are devoted to these two topics. A similar pattern also appears on the free-response essays, in which two out of every five questions are devoted, in whole or in part, to African American and women's history. For a complete review of these topics, see Chapters 22-24.
4. Study Native American history.
A knowledge of Native American history is also very valuable on the free-response essays. About one of every eight free-response questions is, in whole or in part, devoted to this topic. Be sure to review Chapter 25, "Milestones in Native American History." There is a 50-50 chance your exam will have a free-response question that includes an aspect of Native American history.
5. Write a clear, well-developed thesis.
Remember, a thesis statement is your position on the question. Writing a clear, well-developed thesis statement is essential to earning a high score. Make sure that your thesis fully addresses the question. For example, the 2006 APUSH exam included a free-response question asking students to analyze the critiques of United States society in the 1950s by two of the following: youth, civil rights activists, and intellectuals. Here is a clear, fully developed thesis statement for this question:
Consensus and conformity dominated American society during the 1950s. Americans lived in mass-produced suburbs where women returned to traditional gender roles and children watched homogenized television shows in which everyone looked alike. But not everyone in America liked Ike or loved Lucy. Led by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Thurgood Marshall, civil rights activists began to challenge Jim Crow segregation. At the same time, Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac questioned the value of middle-class conformity, and singers such as Little Richard and Elvis Presley pioneered a new and rebellious style of music called rock and roll.
6. Carefully write the rest of your essay.
Now that you have written a strong thesis, your final step is to finish your essay. As you write your essay, be sure to include as much relevant supporting historical evidence as you can.