Revolution Writing
How to Organize Your Essay
AP US History
Hamer
Organizing Your Paper
• On the AP exam you will be asked to write
one of three basic styles of essay:
– Expository
– Analysis
– Compare/Contrast
• Learning how to set up these essays will allow
you to best organize your essay for the
appropriate type in the limited time you will
have.
Expository Essay
• Expository essays are the basic form of
writing. They ask you to explain
something or answer a question.
• Most of the “answer a question” prompts
on the AP exam are for the Document
Based Questions.
Examples of AP Expository Questions
• To what extent did the role of the federal
government change under President
Theodore Roosevelt in regard to TWO of
the following: Labor, Trusts, Conservation,
World Affairs
• In what ways did the 2nd Great Awakening
in the North influence TWO of the
following? Abolition, Temperance, Cult of
Domesticity, Utopian Communities
The Expository Web
• The Expository Web allows you to state
your position, your main defensive
points, and the details that you will use to
support your argument.
• The expository prompt requires you to
answer a question. Making sure that you
answer the entire question is an
important part of writing
Expository Web
The Analytical Essay
• The analytical essay asks you to examine
a cause and effect relationship or, in
other words, to explain why something
happened.
• These are used frequently in all parts of
the AP free response questions.
Examples of AP Analysis Questions
• Settlers in the 18th century American
backcountry sometimes resorted to violent
protest to express their grievances.
Analyze the causes and significance of
TWO of the following: March of the
Paxton Boys, Regulator Movement, Shays’
Rebellion, Whiskey Rebellion
• Analyze the primary causes of the
population shift from a rural to an urban
environment in the United States between
The Fishbone Map
• The Fishbone Map allows you to identify
the effect and then lay out its causes.
• In a good analytical essay, you need to
explain your causes thoroughly.
• Some analytical questions ask you to use
specific information, while others leave
the “causes” up to you.
Fishbone Map
Fishbone Example
Compare / Contrast Essay
• The compare / contrast essay asks you to
look at two or more related items and tell
how they are similar and different.
• The compare / contrast essay is found
most frequently in the non-DBQ section
of the exam.
Examples of AP Compare / Contrast
Questions
• “Landslide presidential victories do not
ensure continued political effectiveness or
legislative success.” Assess the validity of
this statement by comparing TWO of the
following administrations: Franklin
Roosevelt (1936), Lyndon Johnson (1964),
Richard Nixon (1972), Ronald Regan (1984)
• Compare and contrast the ways in which
economic development affected politics in
Massachusetts and Virginia in the period
1607 to 1750.
The Venn Diagram
• The Venn diagram allows you to lay out
the similarities and differences between
two (or more) related issues.
• This simple tool allows you to easily lay
out your basic ideas and then fill in with
details.
Venn Diagram
Block Venn Diagram
Actual Writing!
Writing Goals
• Today we will work on developing the
writing skills that we just learned.
• These skills are important for you in the
long run and will improve your writing
for the AP exam.
• We will also work on becoming more
comfortable writers so that our writing
sounds more natural.
Easing Ourselves In…
• To transition us into a Zen writing mood,
please take 3 minutes for free writing. Write
down whatever is on your mind. Don’t stop,
don’t read back over it, just keep writing.
• If you can’t figure out what is on your mind,
I’ll give you a topic: lunch - what will you
have? Are you looking forward to it? Who do
you eat with and why? Discuss.
Expository Writing
• Using the Expository Web please outline what
you would write for the following question:
• How was France a necessary part for
American success in the Revolution?
How was France a necessary
part for American success in
the Revolution?
Share Expository Writing
• Exchange your Expository Web with your partner
• As a reader, you are examining your partner’s:
– Expository Web - is it set up correctly?
– Position - does it answer the question?
– Reasons - do they answer the question and support the
position?
– Details - do they appropriately support the Reasons?
• Once you have both finished reading each others’
expository webs, explain your findings to your
partner.
• Make any necessary changes.
Analysis Writing
• Using the Fishbone structure, please outline
what you would write for the following
question:
• (1987) “ Britain’s wars for empire, far
more than its mercantilist policies,
dictated the economic fortunes of
Britain’s North American colonies in the
eighteenth century.” Assess the validity
of this statement.
“ Britain’s wars for empire, far more than its
mercantilist policies, dictated the economic
fortunes of Britain’s North American colonies in
the eighteenth century.” Assess the validity of
this statement.
Share Analysis Writing
• Exchange your fishbone structure with your partner
• As a reader, you are examining your partner’s:
–
–
–
–
Fishbone structure - is it correct?
Result (Effect) - is it appropriate for the question?
Fishbones - do they answer the question?
Details - do they appropriately support the fishbones?
• Once you have both finished reading each others’
fishbone structures, explain your findings to your
partner.
• Make any necessary changes.
Compare / Contrast Writing
• Using the Venn diagram, please outline what
you would write for the following question:
• Compare and contrast the strengths and
weaknesses of the Continental Army and
the British both at the beginning of and
during the Revolutionary War.
Compare and contrast the strengths and
weaknesses of the Continental Army and the
British both at the beginning of and during the
Revolutionary War.
Share Compare / Contrast
Writing
• Exchange your Venn Diagram with your partner
• As a reader, you are examining your partner’s:
–
–
–
–
Venn Diagram - is it correct?
Differences - do they answer the question?
Similarities - do they answer the question?
Answering the Question - are all parts of the question answered?
• Once you have both finished reading each others’ Venn
Diagrams, explain your findings to your partner.
• Make any necessary changes.