AP Euro
Long Essay
Reteach
11/18/15
Part 1:
The Prompt
How do I analyze a prompt?
1)READ IT! No, seriously – read the entire thing.
2)Underline, circle, highlight, etc., the important
parts of the prompt you MUST answer.
3)Number each part of the prompt you have to
answer.
4)Then list them.
5)You now have a checklist when you’re outlining
the rest of the essay and writing your thesis and
paragraphs.
Here is an example:
Prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which
European social and political
developments during the
Enlightenment were a result
of the Scientific Revolution.
Evaluate the extent to which
European social and political
developments during the
Enlightenment were a result
of the Scientific Revolution.
Evaluate the extent to which European social and
political developments during the Enlightenment
were a result of the Scientific Revolution.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Evaluate
EXTENT
Social and political developments
Enlightenment
Were a RESULT of…
The Scientific Revolution
So now that you have all of that, what exactly are
you supposed to argue?
Take your list again:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Evaluate
EXTENT
Social and political developments
Enlightenment
Were a RESULT of…
The Scientific Revolution
And reword it into something easier to answer:
Explain how much impact the Scientific Revolution
had on social and political developments during
the Enlightenment.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Evaluate
EXTENT
Social and political developments
Enlightenment
Were a RESULT of…
The Scientific Revolution
Same prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which European social and
political developments during the Enlightenment
were a result of the Scientific Revolution.
Different wording:
Explain how much impact the Scientific Revolution
had on social and political developments during
the Enlightenment.
Now it’s your turn – write down the prompt,
highlight, underline, whatever, then list the
important parts of the prompt. Then reword into
something more manageable but will still cover
everything in the original prompt.
Practice prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining continuity as
well as fostering change in European society from
1603 to 1740.
Evaluate the extent to which
the role of the monarchy
contributed to maintaining
continuity as well as fostering
change in European society
from 1603 to 1740.
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining
continuity as well as fostering change in
European society from 1603 to 1740.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Evaluate
EXTENT
ROLE of the monarchy
Contributed
Maintaining continuity
Fostering change
European society
1603-1740
Explain how much the actions/functions of
kings and queens during 1603-1740
contributed to European society staying the
same BUT ALSO changing.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Evaluate
EXTENT
ROLE of the monarchy
Contributed
Maintaining continuity
Fostering change
European society
1603-1740
Same prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining continuity as
well as fostering change in European society from
1603 to 1740.
Different wording:
Explain how much the actions/functions of kings
and queens during 1603-1740 contributed to
European society staying the same BUT ALSO
changing.
Some things to remember with the prompt:
1) All prompts are different! You must read each
one and not assume you know what it’s asking.
2) Annotating the prompt and rewording it should
only take 1-2 minutes. Don’t spend longer than
that.
3) Practice with old prompts so you can get faster
at it.
4) Misreading ONE word can change the entire
meaning of the prompt. READ CAREFULLY!
Part 2:
Brainstorming
Why brainstorm?
1)Brainstorming will help you organize the ideas for
your essay.
2)Jotting down ideas will hopefully trigger your
memory for more information.
3)Many students don’t do this step and suffer
because of it – their essays are not organized and
lack specifics.
4)This step is critical if you want to perform well on
essays (DBQs too).
How do I do it?
1)Once you’re done annotating the prompt, jot
down ANYTHING that comes to mind about the
prompt.
2)List people, places, things, events, ANYTHING that
happened in the time period.
3)Do this for about 1 minute.
4)Now, go back and cross out anything that
wouldn’t fit in your essay. For example, you write
down an artist but the prompt is about politics –
cross out the artist.
5)Spend about 1 minute doing this.
Example: Evaluate the extent to which European social and
political developments during the Enlightenment were a
result of the Scientific Revolution.
Literacy
Reason & logic
Galileo
Science academies
Newton
Locke
Baroque
Neoclassicism
Rococco
Enlightened Absolutism
Mechanism
Deism
Science vs. religion
Hobbes
Old vs. new Copernicus Peter the Great
Glorious Revolution
Now – get rid of anything that probably won’t fit in your
essay:
Literacy
Reason & logic
Galileo
Science academies
Newton
Locke
Baroque
Neoclassicism
Rococco
Enlightened Absolutism
Mechanism
Deism
Science vs. religion
Hobbes
Old vs. new Copernicus Peter the Great
Glorious Revolution
Your turn again – brainstorm for 1 minute for the
prompt you annotated earlier, and then get rid of
anything that you don’t need for another minute.
Practice prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining continuity as
well as fostering change in European society from
1603 to 1740.
Example:
Elizabeth I
James I
Peter the Great
Louis XIV
Charles I
William & Mary
30 Years’ War
Scientific Rev
Glorious Rev
Enlightenment English Civil War
French Wars of Religion
Absolutism
Mary I
Baroque
Example:
Elizabeth I
James I
Peter the Great
Louis XIV
Charles I
William & Mary
30 Years’ War
Scientific Rev
Glorious Rev
Enlightenment English Civil War
French Wars of Religion
Absolutism
Mary I
Baroque
Some things to remember:
1)You don’t have to use everything you’ve
brainstormed. It’s just a starting point – add and
cross out as needed.
2)Make sure to check the clock – spending too
much time brainstorming will take away from
actually writing the essay.
3)You need to KNOW the content to do this well. If
you’re clueless about the topic, you could spend
an hour brainstorming and still have nothing.
STUDY!
Part 3:
Outlining Your
Body Paragraphs
So you’ve annotated the prompt and brainstormed
. . . what now? Here’s what I’ve noticed:
1) Students tend to get stuck here (earlier too of course)
because they’re not sure WHAT to argue in the body
paragraphs.
2) Students are unsure of WHERE to put their information
once they’ve brainstormed.
3) Students don’t know how to separate their essays into
topics or themes, so information gets all jumbled up.
4) Students end up being vague in their essays because
they don’t know what point they’re arguing so they
ramble.
Did any or all of that sound like you? Here’s how to
avoid those problems:
1) The prompt is your friend. Look at it to figure out how to
separate your body paragraphs.
2) Right now, simpler is better. Learn how to organize your essay
and then slowly, start to up the level of sophistication.
3) Think of paragraphs like categories – you’re sorting your
information according to a category or theme. Don’t scramble
your information together.
4) You must take a stance in your paragraphs but it’s easy to do so –
if you are arguing that the Scientific Revolution had a huge
impact on the social developments of the Enlightenment, then
that IS your stance!
Here’s how to use the prompt to help outline:
1) Look back at the prompt and what it’s asking you to do:
Evaluate the extent to which European social and political
developments during the Enlightenment were a result of the
Scientific Revolution.
2) Look for the topics of the prompt. Here it’s SOCIAL and
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS during the Enlightenment.
3) Now, I know I’ve said you need three body paragraphs in class
before, but you can have two. This prompt can easily be two.
4) You take the topics and those are your body paragraphs:
a) Social developments
b) Political developments
5) Now you have the basic outline. But wait, where’s your
argument??
Turning paragraphs topics into arguments:
1) You have your topics, but just stating them doesn’t make them
arguments.
2) You have to take a stance. So look at the topics again:
a) Social developments
b) Political developments
And take a stance….
a) Social developments – Scientific Revolution had an impact on
these to a big extent
b) Political developments – Scientific Revolution had an impact
on these to a big extent
3) Great! Now you’ve taken a stance! But wait… aren’t those a little
vague?? Now you have to make them SPECIFIC and say HOW the
Scientific Revolution had an impact on those topics.
How to make your argument specific:
1) Your brainstorm is now your friend. You’ve listed a ton of stuff so
look at it and start to label if it’s political or social.
Literacy - SOCIAL Reason & logic - BOTH
Science academies - POLITICAL
Locke - POLITICAL
Enlightened Absolutism – POLITICAL
Mechanism - BOTH
Deism - SOCIAL Science vs. religion - SOCIAL
Hobbes - POLITICAL
Old vs. new - BOTH
Not categorized – Newton, Galileo, Copernicus
2) Stuff you didn’t categorize can be used somewhere else in your
essay. Once you’ve sorted, you can start to come up with a
general idea of how those terms fit together to show the impact
the Scientific Revolution had on the topic…
3) So for SOCIAL – what do literacy, reason & logic, mechanism,
Deism, science vs. religion, and old vs. new all have in common?
How about new discoveries and wider access to information
caused people to become more individualistic and to question
tradition?
4) As for POLITICAL – what do reason & logic, Locke, science
academies, enlightened absolutism, mechanism, Hobbes, and old
vs. new all have in common? How about new scientific
discoveries caused monarchs to try to strengthen their power
against challenges, resulting in calls for more liberty?
5) These are now your arguments in your paragraphs:
a)
Social developments – Scientific Revolution impacted these to a great
extent because new discoveries and wider access to information caused
people to become more individualistic and to question tradition.
b) Political developments – Scientific Revolution impacted these to a great
extent because scientific discoveries caused monarchs to try to
strengthen their power against challenges, resulting in calls for more
liberty.
Some things to remember:
1)Start small when organizing – look at the overall
topics in the prompt, then sort them.
2)Once you have your two or three body
paragraphs and the topics, develop your general
argument. Take a stance!
3)Once you the topics and your stance, look back at
your brainstorm and figure our your SPECIFIC
ideas that will go with your argument.
4)This should all take about 2-3 minutes.
Your turn again – figure out the argument for your
body paragraphs for your prompt.
Practice prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining continuity as
well as fostering change in European society from
1603 to 1740.
1) Maintaining continuity – to a great extent things stayed
the same in European society because of the roles of
the monarchs
a) Monarchs were still able to keep their power in the
form of absolutism and were able to influence
events such as the Scientific Revolution and the
Enlightenment because of their power.
2) Fostering change – to a great extent things changed in
European society because of the roles of the monarchs
a) Monarchs, however, were becoming more aware of
the power of the people at this time and had to
respond to their demands, as shown by the creation
of a constitutional monarchy in England and the
policies of Louis XIV.
Part 4:
The Thesis
Statement
What is the thesis statement and why is it
important?
1)The thesis statement is basically a summary of
your entire essay.
2)It go overs EXACTLY what you’ll be arguing in your
essay but in a summarized form.
3)Without a good thesis statement, you have no
organization and your essay starts poorly.
4)It is somewhat easy to tell if the essay is going to
be good or bad just from the thesis statement so
this is important.
How do I setup a thesis statement?
1)If you’ve been following the first 3 steps, it’s
actually fairly easy.
2)Take your topics from your body paragraphs and
your expanded arguments from each.
3)Put them together, making sure to touch upon all
of the parts of the prompt you have to answer.
4)The thesis statement can be 1-2 sentences, but
keep it to that length. A short one sentence isn’t
good, but five sentences is bad too.
Here’s an example:
These are your arguments in your paragraphs:
a)
Social developments – Scientific Revolution impacted these to a great
extent because new discoveries and wider access to information caused
people to become more individualistic and to question tradition.
b) Political developments – Scientific Revolution impacted these to a great
extent because scientific discoveries caused monarchs to try to
strengthen their power against challenges, resulting in calls for more
liberty.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Evaluate
EXTENT
Social and political developments
Enlightenment
Were a RESULT of…
The Scientific Revolution
Put them together:
To a great extent, social developments during the Enlightenment
were a result of the Scientific Revolution because the new scientific
discoveries and access to information caused people to become
more individualistic and to question tradition. Also to a great extent,
political developments during the Enlightenment were a result of the
Scientific Revolution because scientific discoveries caused
monarchies to try to strengthen their power against challenges,
resulting in calls for more liberty later on.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Evaluate
EXTENT
Social and political developments
Enlightenment
Were a RESULT of…
The Scientific Revolution
Some things to remember:
1)When writing your thesis statement, you don’t
have to be eloquent! Answer the prompt
specifically and don’t worry about wording right
now.
2)Make sure to answer ALL parts of the prompt.
3)Give a measurable extent.
4)Keep your thesis to 1-2 sentences. It needs to be
SPECIFIC.
5)This should take about 2 minutes.
Your turn – write your thesis statement.
Practice prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which the role of the
monarchy contributed to maintaining continuity as
well as fostering change in European society from
1603 to 1740.
a) Monarchs were still able to keep their power in the form of
absolutism and were able to influence events such as the
Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment because of their
power.
b) Monarchs, however, were becoming more aware of the
power of the people at this time and had to respond to their
demands, as shown by the creation of a constitutional
monarchy in England and the policies of Louis XIV.
Put them together:
To a great extent the role of the monarchs led to maintaining continuity in
European society during 1603-1740 because monarchs were still able to keep their
power in the form of absolutism and were able to influence events such as the
Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment because of their power. Also to a
great extent, the role of monarchs fostered change in European society during
1603-1740 because monarchs were becoming more aware of the power of the
people at this time and had to respond to their demands, as shown by the creation
of a constitutional monarchy in England and by Louis XIV’s policies.
Put them together:
To a great extent the role of the monarchs led to maintaining continuity in
European society during 1603-1740 because monarchs were still able to keep their
power in the form of absolutism and were able to influence events such as the
Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment because of their power. Also to a
great extent, the role of monarchs fostered change in European society during
1603-1740 because monarchs were becoming more aware of the power of the
people at this time and had to respond to their demands, as shown by the creation
of a constitutional monarchy in England and by Louis XIV’s policies.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Evaluate
EXTENT
ROLE of the monarchy
Contributed
Maintaining continuity
Fostering change
European society
1603-1740
Part 5:
Putting It All
Together
So I have everything – now how do I put it
together:
1)Many students don’t understand this but when
you’ve taken the time to outline, you already
have the essay practically done!
2)Look at your thesis statement:
a)
To a great extent the role of the monarchs led to maintaining continuity
in European society during 1603-1740 because monarchs were still able
to keep their power in the form of absolutism and were able to influence
events such as the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment because
of their power. Also to a great extent, the role of monarchs fostered
change in European society during 1603-1740 because monarchs were
becoming more aware of the power of the people at this time and had to
respond to their demands, as shown by the creation of a constitutional
monarchy in England and by Louis XIV’s policies.
3) You have the essay planned out! Your first
paragraph is about the things staying the same,
and the second one is about changes. You even
have some specifics!
4) Write your opening paragraph first. We don’t
have time to go over HOT but try to introduce
your topic, give a brief overview, and then put
the thesis statement down.
5) Now start in on your first body paragraph, the
one about continuity.
6) You have some ideas down already in your
thesis, such as the continuing role of monarchs
being absolutists and being influential in science
and other movements. Start with that and try it
now…
7) Stuck? Start with a transitional statement:
a) European society, in general, stayed fairly
constant because of the monarchs in the
1600 and early 1700s.
b) Now bring in some evidence argument:
Throughout the time period, monarchs continued to have a
strong presence in the lives of the people, as evidenced by
political absolutism many monarchs, such as Louis XIV and
Peter the Great, practiced.
8) Keep adding until you’ve exhausted your
information or you’ve run out of time. Each
paragraph should take about 5-6 minutes to
write, that’s it! So watch the clock. Here’s a
sample paragraph:
a)
European society, in general, stayed constant because of the monarchs in
the 1600 and early 1700s. Throughout the time period, monarchs
continued to have a strong presence in the lives of the people, as
evidenced by political absolutism many monarchs, such as Louis XIV and
Peter the Great, practiced. These monarchs used their power to control
society, like when Peter forced nobles to conform to his ideas on Western
civilization or when Louis created Versailles to house his nobles and
control them. Such influences on society were seen all over Europe as
monarchs attempted to stop the growing power of the average people by
centralizing their own power, thus continuing trends that had been
started back in the 16th century with the emergence of the new
monarchs.
Some things to remember:
1)Watch the clock! Remember – only take 5-6
minutes. Any longer, and you’ll get stuck and
won’t finish the essay.
2)Speaking of getting stuck, if you find yourself kind
of sitting there – JUST WRITE. Even if you don’t
think it makes sense, write down what comes to
your head. This helps sometimes and you can
always go back and fix it if you have time.
3)Always CONNECT your information back to the
prompt. Sound repetitive if you have to – but
CONNECT.
Part 6:
Some Final
Points and
Observations
Some final thoughts:
1)We only covered three points of the essay in
detail. But, a 3 out of a 6 on the AP test is
PASSING!
2)Master these three things first – the rest can
come later.
3)If you want to attempt synthesis, go for it. But,
you should really focus on the basics first and the
thesis, evidence, and argument should be
mastered first.
4) All of the points we went over today are also
helpful for the DBQ.
5) If you noticed, all the time put together is about
10 minutes. 10 minutes of outlining and then 25
minutes of essay writing should create a decent
long essay.
6) As you get better at outlining, it may take you
less time and that’s OK! Just make sure you do
everything but don’t take up too much time.
7) Baby steps! Don’t try to get a 6 immediately –
try for one more point than you’ve received
before – and go from there.