APUSH
• Student: “How long
should the essay
be?”
• Susan Firestone: (my
10 grade English Teacher),
“Like a mini-skirt,
long enough to cover
the subject, but
short enough to be
interesting!”
th
Step One:
Analyzing The Prompt …..
• All AP essays are written in
response to an essay “prompt.”
This is what you commonly call the
“question.”
• Understanding what this prompt
asked you to do is the first
important skill you need to acquire.
Step One…Analyzing the Info.
• What is the question/prompt asking
for?
• Are there any terms or words that you
do not understand?
• DBQ’s often provide a historical
background and that information
SHOULD be used
Examples of Prompts
• Sample FRE prompt:
– Compare and contrast President Madison’s
foreign policy before the War of 1812 with
President Wilson’s foreign policy before World
War I. Consider the periods 1809-1812 and
1912-1917.
• Sample DBQ prompt:
– How successful was organized labor in
improving the position of workers in the period
from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the factors that
contributed to the level of success achieved.
Tip #1
• The first thing you need to do is to read
the WHOLE prompt, every word of it.
This is especially true if the prompt is in
two sentences like this one….
How successful was organized labor in
improving the position of workers in the
period from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the
factors that contributed to the level of
success achieved
• The first mistake students make is in
reading and answering only one part of
the prompt.
Tip #2
• Having read the whole prompt, circle or
underline the VERBS. These words will give
you your task.
How successful was organized labor in
improving the position of workers in the
period from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the
factors that contributed to the level of
success achieved.
• The most important verb, and thus your
task, is in the second sentence: ANALYZE.
Tip #3
• After finding the verbs, look carefully and
mark any CONJUNCTIONS and circle or
underline them. For instance
Compare and contrast President Madison’s
foreign policy before the War of 1812 with
President Wilson’s foreign policy before World
War I. Consider the periods 1809-1812 and
1912-1917.
• You must compare AND contrast these
periods to successfully complete the task.
Doing only one or the other will lower your
score.
Tip #4
• Go back and look carefully at the verb in
the prompt.
• This word will tell you what you are
expected to do.
Tip #5
• Define any terms in the prompt that you
need to explain and make sure you
address them in the essay. Failure to do
so will lower your score considerably.
For example, a recent AP essay prompt
asked for students to assess the validity
of this statement:
“Early 19th century reform movements
in the United States sought to
expand democratic ideals.”
Tip #6
• Clearly understand the time period in the
prompt.
• If the prompt asks you to discuss reform in
the early 19th century then you must include
information from that time period.
• If the prompt asks you to discuss the
period between 1865 and 1900, then you
must include information from the WHOLE
time period.
• You can help yourself by listing facts from
the last 10 years of the time period FIRST,
then working backwards with the details.
Tip #7
• After you are clear as to your task
(analyze, evaluate, assess the validity,
etc.), sketch out a quick, informal,
OUTLINE of how you are going to
proceed. This is very important in
guaranteeing that you address all parts
of the prompt.
• Your outline should also include the major
facts you are going to address in the
essay paragraph by paragraph.
• Your outline will serve as a check-off list
so you don’t forget anything in your
discussion.
Sample Jot Outline
• Thesis statement
• Topic of Body Paragraph
1
– SFE
• Topic of Body Paragraph
2
– SFE
You will only have 5
minutes to write your
thesis and your outline
for an FRE.
You will only 15
minutes to read the
documents, write your
thesis and your outline
for a DBQ so……
• Topic of Body Paragraph
Knowing the FACTS
3
– SFE
• Concluding sentences
and understanding
what the question is
asking you to do is
vital to your success!!
The Thesis sentence is
the most important
sentence in any essay.
It must be clear,
properly structured,
and in the correct
place.
A Thesis sentence is…….
A single
Declaratory sentence
That “answers” the prompt
With a clearly and simply stated
argument
• A good thesis NEVER restates
the prompt
•
•
•
•
Tip #1
• After reading the whole prompt, marking
the verbs and conjunctions, and thinking
about how you are going to proceed………
• Answer the prompt in a single sentence
• For example, consider this prompt:
How successful were the English colonists in
establishing complete religious freedom in
colonial American during the period 1620 to
1700? Analyze the factors that contributed to
the level of freedom achieved.
Tip #1 (continued)
• What do you think about this prompt?
– Was the period 1620-1700 a period of
religious freedom?
– Or was it a period of religious restraint,
intoleration, and struggle?
• Your opinion/argument is essential!!
• Your argument must be clear.
• Think about the historical “grey area!”
• Although early British Colonists enjoyed
a degree of religious freedom,
intolerance was often seen due to
____________, _____________, and
___________.
Tip #1 (continued)
• It is extremely important to get your
thinking clearly into a simple “answer” to
the prompt.
• DO NOT restate the wording of the
prompt.
– Rather than saying “ the time period of 16201700,”
say “ the early decades of the 17th century” or
“the early decades of colonial settlement…”
– Rather than saying “English colonists,” refer to
American colonists, British colonists or
settlers.
Tip #2
• Now that you know your answer/argument,
you need to write a sentence that is both
complex and specific.
• One way of doing this is to begin your
thesis sentence with the word “Although”
• This may seem odd, but recent AP grading
rubrics award high scores only to essays
that “address the complexity of the
question”– that is recognizing that there is
a “grey area” in history.
The Grey Area
How successful were the English colonists in establishing
complete religious freedom in colonial American during the
period 1620 to 1700? Analyze the factors that
contributed to the level of freedom achieved.
• Having studied properly and knowing the facts, you
know that complete religious freedom may have
existed for some but not for others.
• Consider the various religious groups and religions
that existed in the colonies during the time period
1620-1700. Consider the experiences of the people
living in different colonies and areas. An argument
should be forming in your head as you consider the
facts of the question…….
• If you know your FACTS, then it will come to you….
Tip #2
• One of the easiest ways of doing this is to
write a sentence that looks like this:
Although during the early 17th century America was
settled by people seeking religious freedom, these
colonists were often intolerant to those whose
beliefs conflicted with their own resulting in a lack
of complete religious freedom in America.
• Or…
Although the British colonies were founded by
groups seeking religious freedom, complete religious
freedom was not successfully achieved for all groups
due to the variety of religious groups and their
intolerance for religious dissenters.
Tip #2 (continued)
• Writing this kind of thesis sentence sets you up
from the very beginning to acknowledge the
“complexity” in the essay prompt- that is the
“grey” area.
• Your opinion/answer to the prompt will form your
argument- it goes in the SECOND HALF of your
thesis statement. This is the point where you are
going to make; the destination at which you want
the reader to arrive.
• Using the world “Although..” to start your thesis
forces you to have a CONTRAST in the sentence,
with your argument in the second half.
Tip #3
• Having written your thesis sentence, you
are ready to put it into your essay. For
most AP U.S. History essays, the thesis
sentence is the last sentence of the
introductory paragraph
Analyzing the Documents (DBQ)
• PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE write on the
documents—circle, underline, etc. Do a
SOAPS chart!
• S: SPEAKER—voice which writes the piece
• O: OCCASION—What? How? What was going on for
someone to write this piece? In other words, the context
• A: AUDIENCE—readers to whom this piece is
directed. Can be a group of people
• P: PURPOSE--what was so important that this
article/piece/document had to be written?
• S: SUBJECT—what is the document about?
Always keep the prompt in mind!!!