1. AP EXAM: Short Answer Questions

2. 4 Questions – you must answer them all 45 Minutes to answer them
Short Answer Questions
4 Questions – you must answer them all
45 Minutes to answer them
20% of your AP U.S. History Exam grade
At least 2 questions will allow you to choose among options of what you want to answer
Most questions will require you to respond to a primary source, a historian’s argument, a chart or map or general historical hypothesis.

3. Short Answer Questions
Each question will be related to one of the nine historical thinking skills.
All questions will expect you to be able to provide specific evidence relevant to the question – either “key concepts” (such as the Pueblo Revolt or the encomienda system) or any other evidence of your own choosing
All questions must be answered within a provided answer box. Any writing outside the box will be ignored.

4. Those Nine Historical Skills Again…
Historical Causation
Patterns of Continuity and Change over Time
Periodization
Comparison
Contextualization
Historical Argumentation
Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Evidence
Interpretation
Synthesis

5. Short Answer Questions
Scoring Each question will ask you to complete three tasks, each worth one point. (Even if the question looks like it has more or fewer tasks, it’s really looking for three things.)
Each task is scored separately. You will either get the full point for that task, or nothing. No partial credit.
There is no credit for the quality of your writing, or the organization of your essay – only for providing the specific answer requested, as directly and clearly as possible.

6. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks Read the question carefully and identify the three tasks you’re being asked to complete. When writing your answers, make sure to separate the answers into three clear, obvious parts as well – so a grader can’t misunderstand where your answer to each task begins and ends.

7. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks
Step 2: Identify the Historical Thinking Skill The entire question will involve one historical thinking skill; try to figure out what it is, so that you can choose your evidence and your defense to highlight it.

8. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks
Step 2: Identify the Historical Thinking Skill
Step 3: Choose the Evidence You’re Going to Use Your most important choice in answering the question is picking strong, defensible pieces of evidence to back up your answers.

9. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks
Step 2: Identify the Historical Thinking Skill
Step 3: Choose the Evidence You’re Going to Use
Step 4: Defend Your Evidence Don’t let the evidence speak for itself. Graders will accept an enormous variety of good answers for a question, but it must be clear (especially if the evidence seems weak) that the student understands how it successfully answers the question.

10. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks
Step 2: Identify the Historical Thinking Skill
Step 3: Choose the Evidence You’re Going to Use
Step 4: Defend Your Evidence
Step 5: Don’t Do Things You Don’t Need To Do Don’t waste your time on things that won’t improve your score. The graders will not expect you to write a mini-essay; they will give you no credit for a thesis (even a good one); they are looking only for the correct piece of evidence, well-explained.

11. How to approach a Short Answer Q.
Step 1: Identify the Tasks
Step 2: Identify the Historical Thinking Skill
Step 3: Choose the Evidence You’re Going to Use
Step 4: Defend Your Evidence
Step 5: Don’t Do Things You Don’t Need To Do
Step 6: Keep Your Answer Within the Box Any markings outside the answer box will not be read.

12. A sample Short Answer Question
Answer a, b and c.
Briefly explain ONE example of how contact between Native Americans and Europeans brought changes to Native American societies in the period
Briefly explain a SECOND example of how contact between Native Americans and Europeans brought changes to Native American societies in the same period.
Briefly explain ONE example of how Native American societies resisted change brought by contact with Europeans in the same period.

13. Common tasks on Short Answer Q.
Evidence Give one EXAMPLE IDENTIFY Provide one piece of evidence that is NOT INCLUDED…
Explain Explain why one of the following BEST REPRESENTS… Explain why one of the following IS PERSUASIVE… Explain one major DIFFERENCE… Explain one important SIMILARITY… Explain the POINT OF VIEW… Explain one long-term RESULT… Explain the MAIN POINT of this passage…