AP Exam Review I: 2015
General Review Tips
• Prioritize - Focus on topics/areas of weakness first
• Avoid trying to memorize too much - Review “big picture” concepts first, specific
terms/name/events later
• Look at old materials - Review packets, in-class notes, past essays & tests and old
PowerPoints
• Try different approaches - There is no “best” way to review (alone/group, online/book/flash cards, practice tests/packets – it depends on your learning style –
try mixing it up).
• Find a “middle ground” - Some review better than no review. Too much review
is counterproductive.
• Be positive – You have learned a lot this year & the AP exam is graded on a major
curve.
AP Exam Multiple Choice Information
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55 minutes for 55 questions (all document based)
Each question has 4 possible answers
Multiple Choice counts for 40% of total score
No points lost for wrong or skipped questions.
Review the pattern of the questions on the PDF at my
website.
• Common Question Types:
• relate document to context
• Identify opposition or agreement with document perspective
• Compare element of document with that of another era
• Chronology of Questions:
– (20%) pre 1790; (45%) 1790-1914; (35%) 1915 – 1990
Short Answer
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You will have 4 short answer questions.
45 minutes to respond
20% of score
Questions will concern one or more of the thematic learning
objectives for the course:
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Identity
Work, Exchange and technology
Peopling
Politics and power
America in the world
Environment and Geography
Ideas, beliefs and culture
Sample Short Answer
• Theme: Work, Exchange & Technology
1. Using your knowledge of U.S. history, answer
parts a, b and c.
a) Briefly explain how ONE of the following
innovations affected American culture prior to
1860:
-railroads
-machine tools
-cotton gin-steamboat
-railroads
-machine tools
-cotton gin-steamboat
• b) Which of the innovations above had the
greatest positive economic impact? Explain
with ONE specific piece of evidence.
• c) Explain why ONE of the other innovations
was not as positively impactful on the
economy.
AP Exam Essay Information
• There is 1 DBQ essay you must write on and 1 Extended
Essay which is a choice of 2 prompts.
• The 3 total essay prompts will range in their topics
chronologically and thematically.
• DBQ is 1 question + set of documents in 60 minutes
• Extended Essay is a choice of 2 Questions in 35 minutes.
AP Essay Writing Tips
• READ prompts multiple times
• Brainstorm & make a quick “plan of attack”
• Introduction needs some brief background on “big picture”
followed by an on-topic thesis
• Body paragraphs need to BLEND details with analysis. (Facts
& explanations).
• Grading is “holistic” – no points “taken away”, just earned. If
in doubt, make a guess.
Analyze the extent to which
TWO of the following
transformed American society
during the 1960s & 1970s:
The Civil Rights Movement
The Antiwar Movement
The Women’s Movement
Analyze the successes and
failures of the United States Cold
War policy of containment as it
developed in TWO of the
following regions of the world
during the period 1945 to 1975:
East and Southeast Asia
Europe
Latin America
To what extent does the
decade of the 1950’s
deserve its reputation as
an age of political, social
and cultural conformity?
Analyze the responses of
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
administration to the problems
of the Great Depression. How
effective were these responses?
How did they change the role of
the federal government?
How did TWO of the
following help shape
the American national
culture in the 1920’s?
Advertising
Entertainment
Mass Production
Check it out…
SAT SUBJECT TEST