Advanced Placement U.S. History Analyzing the Prompt

Objectives Understanding the various type of analytical questions asked on AP exams Systematic Methods of Breaking Down Questions Complete and Accurate Comprehension of Concepts Developing an ability to not merely summarize, but infer and draw conclusions

Analyzing the Prompt The objective of prompt analysis is to declare or write a statement of position. This statement is your thesis. The first step of this process is to breakdown and delineate the prompt. Whoa to you if you neglect to answer what is specifically asked.

Common Openings To what extent In what ways/How Analyze Evaluate How much, degree, quantity In what ways/How Give a number of reasons Analyze Separate, breakdown into parts, show relationships Evaluate Judge, value, rate, rank, show relationships Describe/Discuss Give detail, picture, relationships to other things not shown

The Parameters Identifying Time and Place Years, era, decade, location, region, sections, urban, rural, foreign, domestic Identifying Sides or Positions Are you asked to take a side?

Organizing Your Thoughts Cause and Effect What produces an event and what are the results or consequences Pro and Con List reasons aimed at a conclusion Positive and Negative Agreement, denying, refuse, support Compare and Contrast

Charts and Diagrams You are often asked to compare and contrast, explain, or evaluate events from various. It is a higher level task that requires a schematic bank of criteria. The following is a brief taxonomy of economic, political, and social characteristics.

Economic Characteristics Work Money Industry Consumerism Unions Barter Geography Commerce Transportation Agriculture Means of exchange Apprenticeship Raw materials Trade Labor Advertising Natural resources monopolies

Political Characteristics Laws Voting War Elections Rules Democracy Borders Balance of power Checks and Balances Government Regulations Diplomacy Foreign relations Institutions Leadership Court Cases Enforcement Constitutional

Social Characteristics Education Recreation Leisure Ethnic groups Relationships Family Religion Schools Games literature Child rearing Communication Class Structure Organizations Entertainment Humanitarianism Discrimination Racism Violence

Describing and Analyzing In writing essays, lower grades are given to essays that only describe, higher grades are given to essays that analyze. Here is a glossary to distinguish which of these you are doing.

Describing Define Record List Recall Relate How much Where When How What does it mean Select Which one Choose Omit Match Which is best

Analyzing Distinguish Identify Differentiate Appraise Calculate Experiment Test Compare Contrast Justify Criticize Diagram Inspect Debate Inventory Question Relate Solve Examine Categorize

The Analytic Method Dissect the Prompt Brainstorm for Facts Formulate the Thesis Outline the Essay Write out the Thesis Paragraph Get Down to Business

Rubric for Oral Prompts Superior (8-9) Expressed clearly, on topic/question, fully developed Substantial, relevant information Understands complexity of the question; deals with questions in depth, although treatment may not be balanced Effective analysis May contain minor errors

Rubric for Oral Prompts Competency (5-7) Clearly expressed with limited development Some relative information Limited understanding of complexity; may deal with only one aspect of the question in some depth, or with all in a more general way Limited analysis, mostly describes May contain errors that do not detract from overall discussion

Rubric for Oral Prompts Some Competency (2-4) Comment may be confused or underdeveloped Lacks supporting information, or information given is minimal or irrelevant Ignores complexity; may deal with only one aspect of the question in a general way, or all respects in a superficial way No analysis May contain major errors

Rubric for Oral Prompts Incompetence (0-1) Incompetent response Simple paraphrases or restatement of the question with no discussion Little or no understanding of the question

Grading Rubric to Essays www.collegeboard.org/ap