Name & Period #___________________________
AP Human Geography
Unit 3 FRQ Re-Take
DUE Friday Dec. 19th
By 1:20 p.m
There’s no reason to cheat; this is to help you. The only way for you not to get credit is to not follow the
directions.
Read the following AND do the activities. No really, READ IT.
1) Most people failed because they didn’t talk about anything pertaining to the unit in their response.
NOTHING. In fact, your test has two questions. Each question is worth 50%. The 50% is then divided
between a set numbers of points, these point numbers vary, but typically are between 5 and 13 points. The 50%
always stays the same, so sometimes the value of a point changes. Mr. Swenson and I have it set-up that if you
get 1 (ONE) point, ONE POINT, you automatically get 25% for that question. So, if you get ONE point for
both questions you automatically get a 50%. That’s why you should ALWAYS write something. If this still
doesn’t make sense, look at the rubric you were given with your Free Response Test.
2) Did you know that you can actually “answer” the question before you even see it? Before you even open the
test, or read the questions, WRITE down everything you remember from the chapter. Don’t write sentences,
but write down vocabulary, pictures, or concepts. The question is ALWAYS going to pertain to the unit we just
studied, ALWAYS. In fact, when you take the AP exam, it’s always going to be drawn from 7 things; Unit 1 –
Unit 7.
Here, let me show you for Unit 5:
It’s not pretty, but I took 5 minutes, without opening my book, and just drew on all the random things I could
remember from the chapter. This includes pictures, videos, vocabulary words, and activities we did in class.
It’s called “BRAINSTORMING” there is no structure to it, you just write down what you remember, it does not
have to be precise. Do this before you even see the questions; think of it as a little “bank” to draw from. Don’t
try to be structured; just close your eyes, what comes to you? Often, a thought will lead to other things from the
chapter. This is a moment where you basically want to “vomit” everything you can onto a piece of paper. Not
in the essay, but here.
3) Everything we do in class is intentional, this includes videos, web searches, and even conversations. Think
about that. Even if you can’t remember videos and what they exactly said; try to think of concepts, or pictures
from your book. These are important because they give you SPECIFIC examples, which are really important
for the FRQs.
4) A lot of people gave me responses that included things we NEVER talked about in class, nor were in the
reading. If you’re doing your reading, which you all will tell me you are, would I really ask you to talk about
football players, supermodels, or (insert random thing here). No. It’s not as hard as you think it is relax and
brainstorm first, then look at the question.
5) After you have your little “bank” THEN look at the question. A question people had trouble with is the
following:
Okay, so now that I’ve seen the question, let’s go back to my little “bank”. Okay, I’ve got a lot going on with
religion, so maybe that’s an identity? There is also blacks, race, Ferguson, gender, gays. I bet I can use that, as
well as poverty, ethnic neighborhoods, and dowry deaths, and even that guy in Amsterdam who wants Islam for
the country. I bet I should use these somehow. Before I even looked at the question there are things that I can
draw from…
6) Sometimes you may look at the question and think right away you understand what it is answering; that’s
great. However, you want to make sure you are include SPECIFIC terminology and EXAMPLES. Having a
little “bank” to draw from can help you fit in something. SPECIFIC means NAMING something, using a
proper noun, or breaking down an example to its smallest measure. Ethnic neighborhoods are a start, but give
me an example, like 8 mile in Detroit, or St. Louis. Sometimes that level of specificity maybe a bit harder, but
you can at least earn some points by giving me the ballpark.
7) Hopefully this helps, if not, we can still talk about this, but let’s try this a few times with chapters you
haven’t read in a while. DO NOT go through and copy stuff out of the book, that’s not going to help you. The
most I’d say is just taking no more than five minutes and literally flipping through the pages of that chapter
glancing at pictures. But you don’t even have to do that. If it seems to me that you’ve gone through and just
copied stuff; I’m not going to give you credit. If you don’t remember anything and draw a blank; okay, but
even look at the NAME of the unit; that might help you too.
THINK: Pictures, Vocab, PowerPoints, Movies, Activities, Projects
DO NOT ANSWER THE FRQ: Tell me what examples, words or phrases might fit for that question.
Brainstorm:
Unit 1: Its Nature and Perspectives
What might fit or what might you be able to use (write below the question)
Unit 2: Population and Migration
What might fit or what might you be able to use (write below the question)