APUSH Exam Overview
Below you will find a tremendous amount of information pertaining to the
Advanced Placement exam for United States History. Please read through
this information carefully. It should give you insight into why this course is
designed the way that it is. The A.P. exam content and format will drive
almost everything that we do as the goal of this course is to successfully
prepare you to do well on the APUSH exam in May 2011.
Section
Format
Number
of Questions
Time
Allowed
% of Exam
Grade
I
Multiple Choice
80 Questions
55 Minutes
50%
The multiple choice section will follow the approximate breakdown in content:
Colonial Period – 1789
17%
1790 – 1914
50%
1915 – Present
33%
The content listed above can in turn be broken down into a variety of categories
and percentages:
Political History
35%
Social History
35%
Diplomatic History
15%
Economic History
10%
**Cultural/Intellectual History
5%
Obviously with the multiple choice section worth 50% of your APUSH exam
score we will spend a tremendous amount of time covering content and practicing
strategies necessary to do well on this section.
II
Free Response (Essay)
Part A
Document Based
Question (DBQ)
1 Question
60 Minutes
22.5%
The DBQ consists of an essay question and a series of approximately eight short
readings, maps, graphs, charts, and political cartoons. To receive a high score on
the DBQ a student must write a coherent essay that emphasizes both in depth
knowledge of the content area and integrates your interpretation of the documents.
Part B
and C
Standard Essays
2 Questions
70 Minutes 27.5%
(35 Min. Each) (13.75% Each)
Part B
Students must answer one of two essay questions pertaining to
U.S. History from the Colonial Period through the end of the Civil
War.
Part C
Students must answer one of two essay questions pertaining to
U.S. History from Reconstruction (post-Civil War America)
through the present.
Each student must answer two standard essay questions. These are historically
based essay questions that will not have documents to assist the test taker like on
the DBQ. Many students find comfort in the fact that for each of Parts B/C there
are two questions of which you only must answer one. This allows students the
luxury of deciding which question in each section they feel they can answer the
most coherently using only the knowledge they have learned over the course of
the year.
Obviously we will spend a considerable amount of time throughout the year
developing the writing skills necessary to do well on the second section of the
APUSH exam.
It is my hope that by reading through this you will better understand why APUSH is
put together as it is. We will spend more time on some time periods than others.
We will look at American politics, society, and diplomacy more than economics and
cultural and intellectual contributions to out past. We will practice and take many
multiple choice exams. We will practice writing clear and concise thesis statements
and introductory paragraphs for your essays. We will take exams that place
students under a time constraint. All of this will prepare APUSH students to be
successful when they sit down in May 2011 to take the national exam.
Please don’t ever forget: