1. General tips and writing help
WE’RE ABOUT TO DO IT
General tips and writing help

2. THREE TIPS TO SUCCESS

3. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE AP TEST. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.
STEP ONE
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE AP TEST. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

4. It's gonna be early. For many of you (sadly), this will be the earliest you've been up all year. So, once you've completed the College Board's PRECIOUS paperwork, it will be you and the multiple choice section. Don’t just show up with a #2 pencil and expect everything to work out. It won’t. This is not some rando test you're taking. You’ll have to be on your toes pretty early in the morning. The first section will be a wake up call. Don’t expect to just breeze through the multiple choice section. There will be multiple images, cartoons, readings, and quotes. You've been working on this stuff all year. Now is your chance to prove it. Remember, they can ask you anything that's ever happened ever.

5. STEP TWO
PACE YOURSELF.

6. 70 Questions. 55 minutes. That's roughly 1
70 Questions minutes. That's roughly questions per minute. Time management will become your greatest asset. The multiple choice section is where you will run into time issues. (Very few people run out of time on the essay portion.) You want to have at least a shot at all 70 questions. So, DO NOT GET STUCK ON A SINGLE QUESTION. If you find yourself lingering for more than a minute or two… skip it. You want to at least have a shot at each question. You don’t want to get bogged down on a question on Zoroastrianism for 20 minutes and end up not answering the last 10 questions. What if the last 10 questions were ones you knew?

7. STEP THREE
RANK THE ESSAYS

8. After the break, you will be given the essay booklet
After the break, you will be given the essay booklet. Inside this booklet are all three essays (the DBQ, the Compare-Contrast, and the CCOT.) They’re gonna give you 10 minutes to read the DBQ documents and the other three questions. During this 10-minute span, you need to rank the three essays in order of your ability to answer them. Rule # 3: Rank the Essays. If the Compare/Contrast essay looks like its written in Klingon, save it for last. If the Continuity and Change Over Time is asking you about a place you’ve never heard of… save it for last. If the Worst Case scenario arises and you have never heard of anything these essays are talking about, then go with the DBQ. The DBQ is a measure of your historian abilities, not your historical knowledge. Once you’ve given the essays an order, get started. Most people finish the essay portion with plenty of time, so don’t worry.

9. WRITING HELP

10. THESIS STATEMENTS
Use the formula. It helps. BE SPECIFIC. YOU MUST say more than “there were some changes! But also there were some continuities!!!” TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE. Use PERSIAN chart categories. And make sure you answer the question the prompt asks.

11. Continuity and change over time

12. DISCUSS BOTH CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES
So many people will just talk about changes. Leaving out continuities means you can MAX out at a 5. Don't handcuff yourself. DISCUSS THEM BOTH!!!

13. “RELEVANT WORLD HISTORICAL CONTEXT”
This is where you have to show off your World History skills. "Zoom-out" your focus from the topic at hand and place it in the big picture. How does whatever you're talking about fit into the "grand scheme of things“? Generally, these questions will cover the AP's predetermined historical eras. So, look these back over. Periodization plays a big role here. Find a way to make your changes and continuities fit into the themes of the period you are being asked about.

14. COVER THE TIME PERIOD
A few years back they asked about changes in the Atlantic World from You should immediately think "Columbus." Things really started changing when that guy showed up in the New World. You could probably wax poetic about this huge change. You could talk about all kinds of other explorers and their effects. You're a genius on this topic. But, you need to cover the time period. What was going on in the New World in 1450? Once you've discussed what they were changing from, then mention the big change (1492). FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE STOP HERE. Let's not forget about 1750! What's going on at the end? How is 1750 affected by the big change? And then there is the other side of the issue: The Continuities. Don't say that the New World was consistently Christian. They weren't. Your continuity needs to be as true in 1450 as it is in 1750. 

15. COMPARE/CONTRAST

16. THIS WILL INVOLVE TWO SOCIETIES/REGIONS
The whole point of this essay is to prove that you can analyze two places and point out the similarities and differences.

17. HOW ARE THEY THE SAME? HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?
This is not the "Contrast Essay". A problem I always see is that people don't mention the similarities. You focus so much on the differences that you miss the similarities. Don’t do that.

18. YOU MUST EXPLAIN WHY!!! (ANALYZE)
Here's the kicker: YOU MUST EXPLAIN WHY (see above). You can't just say that apples are different than oranges and move on. Why do they have these differences? Why are they similar in this way? Use those sentence stems we’ve been working on all year long! Basically, use the word “because” as much as freaking possible.

19. THE DBQ

20. WAIT… BEFORE WE GO ON
THIS ESSAY DOES NOT MEASURE YOUR HISTORY KNOWLEDGE! This essay tests your HISTORIAN SKILLS. Can you take evidence that is presented to you, form an opinion, and report on the reliability of the evidence? They don't want you to be a historian, they want you to be INDIANA JONES.

21. GROUP THE DOCUMENTS
You're going to be staring down the barrel of 6-12 documents. These documents are meant to help you reach a conclusion based on the question asked. Read the question. Read through the documents in the 10 minute period provided. Butcher the test booklet. Start underlining key words, authors, dates: anything that might help you find other documents like this one. Your PRIME DIRECTIVE is to group. There will be multiple ways to group the documents. You are NOT expected to find them all. You only need to find two or three ways that the documents work together. Once you've found your groups, the rest of the essay writes itself. Your groups are your backbone. Mention them in the THESIS and then elaborate on why each document fits into the group (and therefore answers the question) in the body.

22. POINT OF VIEW
Do you believe everything you hear? People lie to your face every single day. The documents are no different. The sources of the documents may have hidden agendas as to why they are telling you what they are telling you. The AP wants you to be able to recognize that not everything you read is 100% true. So, analyze the sources of the documents. The introduction to each document will be your #1 source of the author's point of view. Look at their occupation, name, title, job, rank, or whatever is listed there. There will be at least two or three documents with blatant bias based on their point of views. As you bring up the documents in your essay (and you have to use all of them), immediately list after each document if it is trustworthy. For example, "The Emperor of Rome (Document 1) thinks that Rome is the greatest city on the planet. However, the Emperor may be biased due to the fact that he is the ruler of Rome and would therefore not be the most trustworthy source on Rome."

23. WHOSE VOICE IS NOT BEING HEARD?
THIS IS THE EASIEST POINT OF THE AP TEST... At the end of your essay, look back through the documents and determine who is not there. What would help you shape your opinion on this topic? You are only getting 6-12 documents. If you had the opportunity to get two or three or four more documents to help you out, what would they be? and how would they be helpful? Here are a few generic answers that may help you out (WARNING: DO NOT USE THESE IF THEY ALREADY EXIST WITHIN THE DBQ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!):

24. WHOSE VOICE IS NOT BEING HEARD?
TEMPLATE: IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM BLANK BC BLANK.
IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM A WOMAN BECAUSE A FEMININE PERSPECTIVE WOULD AID IN THE ANALYSIS OF THIS TOPIC. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM A MERCHANT BECAUSE A MERCHANT FROM A FOREIGN LAND WOULD BRING A DIFFERENT VIEW IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM A KING/EMPEROR BECAUSE THE LEADER OF ONE OF THESE LANDS WOULD ADD A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM A MAP/CHART/GRAPH ON THIS TOPIC BECAUSE A VISUALIZATION OF THE TOPIC AT HAND WOULD AID IN THE ANALYSIS. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM A RELIGIOUS TEXT BECAUSE (THE RELIGION OF THE AREA)'s PERSPECTIVE ON THIS ISSUE IS CRUCIAL.