THE AP U.S. HISTORY EXAMINATION
The AP U.S. History exam consists of both multiple-choice and essay questions, Each is worth 50 percent of the total exam grade.
Multiple-Choice Questions
This section consists of 80 questions. Each question had five possible answers. You will have 55 minutes to complete this section.
The College Board annually publishes material on the breakdown of questions on the multiple-choice test. According to their most recently published information, the multiple-choice is broken down as follows:
"Students should be reminded when they prepare for the test that a relatively small number of questions are about the United States before 1789." —AP Teacher
HISTORICAL ERAS:
• 1/6 of the questions deal with events from 1600 to 1789.
• 1/2 of the questions deal with events from 1790 to 1914.
• 1/3 of the questions deal with events from 1914 to the present.
TOPICS:
• 37 percent of the questions deal with political institutions and public policy.
• 36 percent of the questions deal with social change.
• 13 percent of the questions deal with diplomacy and international relations.
• 8 percent of the questions deal with economic changes and developments.
• 4 percent of the questions deal with cultural and intellectual developments.
The information provided above is extremely valuable as you prepare for the multiple-choice section of the test. As you study, you should obviously concentrate your efforts on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition, there are fewer questions on events of the twentieth century than on the nineteenth: The makers of the AP realize how difficult it is to “make it to the present” in the AP U.S. History course. Few questions will be asked on events that occurred after 1970.
It is obviously essential to spend most of your time preparing for questions on political and social changes that have taken place in the United States (again, mostly since 1789). Even though most instructors spend time on cultural and intellectual developments, there will be only a few questions on the AP test on those topics.
Question Format
As stated above, all multiple-choice questions will have five possible answers. In all probability, your teacher will give you plenty of practice on these as the year progresses. A question that might appear on the exam might be as follows:
America during the Great Depression experienced
A. severe drought across the vast majority of the country
B. a vast increase in the number of Americans opposed to the policies of Franklin Roosevelt
C. widespread unemployment in both urban and rural sectors
D. increased employment possibilities for women and blacks
E. an increased sense of militarism
You may also have questions on your exam asking you to interpret a political cartoon or a graph. To answer these, rely on the social studies skills you have developed from all of your social studies courses.
The hardest type of questions that many students encounter on their exam are the "which of the following is not correct" kind. Here is an example:
All of the following are true about America during the Great Depression except:
A. Americans were put to work by programs such as the W.P.A.
B. Americans saw an increase in the power of labor unions through acts such as the Wagner Act.
C. By the end of the decade many Americans favored the policies of Father Coughlin and Charles Townshend.
D. The majority of Americans rejected socialist solutions to the problems of the Great Depression.
E. The majority of Americans favored the programs of the New Deal. Some Useful Hints on the Multiple-Choice Section
The most commonly asked question about this section is whether or not to guess if you are not completely sure of a question. If you can eliminate at least one of the answers as definitely wrong, the answer is this: Do it! As the College Board notes in its most recent publication on the AP U.S. History exam:
Many candidates wonder whether or not to guess the answers to questions about which they are not certain. In this section of the examination, as a correction for haphazard guessing, one-fourth of the number of questions you answer incorrectly will be subtracted from the number of questions you answer correctly. It is improbable, therefore, that mere guessing will improve your score significantly; it may even lower your score, and it does take time. If, however, you are not sure of the best answer but have some knowledge of the question and are able to eliminate one or more answer choices as wrong, your chance of getting the right answer is improved, and it may be to your advantage to answer such a question.
”Go with your gut on multiple-choice questions: you don’t have a real lot of time to do much thinking on individual questions. “ —A P Student
Another suggestion is to make sure you read the question and all of the answers completely before you answer it. Sometimes the question asks you something other than what you think it will be asking. Always use the process of elimination when answering these questions. On the other hand, you have 80 questions to do in 55 minutes, giving you about 40 seconds per question. If you are sure you have the right answer, don’t dwell on the question; you can certainly use the time for other questions that you are less certain on.
The Essay Questions
There are two types of essays you will be asked to write in your AP U.S. History exam: the document-based question (DBQ) and the “free- response” question. In the DBQ you will be asked to analyze 7 to 10 documents about a certain period in U.S. history to answer a question; the free-response questions are more traditional essay questions (you will he expected to write two of these on the exam). For the DBQ question you will have 15 minutes to read the documents and 45 minutes to construct your essay; for the free-response section you will have 70 minutes to write two essays. The essay section of the exam is also worth 50 percent of your final score.
DBQ Questions
In this section you are asked to analyze a number of documents and to utilize previously acquired knowledge on an era to answer a question. All of the information needed to earn a 5 is not included in the documents: You need to bring what you know to the table as well. In a typical question, you might be presented with a several political speeches, the results of public opinion polls, and several political cartoons from the 1960s and be asked to discuss the reasons for political unrest in the decade.
There has been a critical change in the DBQ format beginning with the May 2003 test. Unfortunately, this will not be to your advantage. In prior years, the 50-year period for the DBQ for that year was announced beforehand. This obviously assisted both teachers and students in preparing for the exam. However, the College Board has decided that beginning with the May 2003 exam, the DBQ period will not be released beforehand. It was felt that many historical trends have lasted longer than 50 years and that the 50-year limit was restricting the types of questions that could be asked.
“My students hated me during the year for giving them so many DBQs, After the test, they agreed it had been worth it.” —AP Teacher
Here are some hints for answering the DRQ questions. Use the standard essay format you have used for all historical essays. Of course, write out an outline before you actually start writing the essay. Students report that it is not always necessary to use every single document to construct your answer; use as many as possible, but make sure that their inclusion in your essay is relevant. In addition, students that have done well on this section note that the order of the documents presented to you is crucial. If the documents are presented in chronological order, your answer should also be chronological in nature.
It is not necessary to spend every second of the 45 minutes writing the essay. Answer the question, including what the documents say and what you can say about them, and be done with it. To repeat: Some of what you already know has to be included in your answer. As with all historical essays, there must be a logic to your answer. Organization as well as knowledge is important. Please remember that there is no “right answer” to the DBQ question.
Many students ask whether spelling counts. The answer is, generally, no. Scorers know that you are rushed on these essays; in all probability, if you think your writing is bad, they have probably seen worse. Nevertheless, do what you can to make your presentation as readable as possible. I know from personal experience as an instructor that it is hard to give a good grade to a student if you can hardly read what the student is saying.
Free-Response Questions
"Don’t relax after the DBQ; you still have a big chunk of the test to go!" —AP Student
Immediately after taking the DBQ, you will answer two free-response questions. You will receive two questions about the United States before the Civil War, and you will have to answer one of these. You will receive two questions about the United States after the Civil War, and you will have to answer one of these. Most free-response questions ask you to utilize higher- order thinking skills; you will be asked to analyze events and trends of the past. As stated above, you will have 70 minutes to answer these questions. A typical question might be (again, picking one of the two) this:
I. What were the most important reasons for increased tensions between the American colonics and Great Britain between 1760 and 1776.
II. Analyze the major reasons for the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Here are some hints for taking the free-response questions. You probably have had many of these questions in your AP class all year, so use the organizational approaches you have utilized during the year. Always make an outline before you begin to write. Make sure to answer the question. Don’t just go around in circles with information you know about the topic in question.
Also, this may be obvious, but be sure to pick the questions that you know the most about to answer. I have had students say they chose a question because it “looked easier.” Avoid that approach. In addition, watch your time! I have had students so intent on constructing the perfect essay for the first free-response question that they didn’t realize until it was too late they only had 15 minutes to answer the second question.
One final note: Many teachers spend a great deal of time preparing their students for the DBQ question and stressing the importance of this part of the test to their students. Several students have reported to me that once the DBQ is over, they relaxed a bit. You should keep in mind that immediately after the DBQ is over, you will be beginning the free- response essays. Be ready for them.