AP World Free Response Help (DBQ and LEQ)

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia - The AP World essays may seem hard at first, but they are easy to conquer once you know how!

AP World FRQ Overview 🌏

DBQ Overview 📜

1. 👩‍⚖️THESIS: Respond with a claim about the prompt. Remember to take a stand on the prompt! An example of this might look like “Railroads supported empire-building by __________ and __________ , BUT they undermined it by __________ ." Remember the categories you sorted the documents into earlier? Turn those categories into a broader subtopic that you can insert into one of those blanks in your thesis, and then turn into a body paragraph down the road.
2. 🌎 CONTEXTUALIZATION: Describes the broader historical context relevant to the prompt. Think of what happened in the years/centuries leading up to the prompt (big events like global wars, trends, patterns, etc). You MUST connect this to the prompt.
3. 🔍 EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENTS: Use evidence from the docs to prove your point. Do not quote! Just use what the docs are saying to support your argument and cite them in parentheses, like this (2). Using evidence from 3 docs will score 1 point, while using evidence from 6 docs will score 2 points. So use more docs!
4. 🚴‍♀️ OUTSIDE EVIDENCE: Consider people, places, events, and concepts that are NOT discussed anywhere in the documents and connect them to your argument.
5. 🦛 SOURCING/HIPP: For at least 3 documents, you must explain how or why the broader historical context, intended audience, purpose, or point-of-view of a document is relevant to your argument. Use the acronym HIPP to remember this!
6. 🦄 COMPLEXITY: Demonstrates a deeper understanding of the prompt. You should weave a counter-argument throughout your essay. Don't stress too much about this one! It is pretty hard to get, and it's not something you need.

"When I write essays, I like to have a checklist with me so I can keep count of what points I am confident I have earned." —Anna

1. 👋 INTRO: 3-4 sentences of context to explain background information and relate it directly to the topic of the prompt. 1-2 sentence thesis statement that restates prompt + provides an argument.
2. 👕 BODY PARAGRAPHS (AS MANY AS YOU HAVE CATEGORIES): Add a topic sentence to introduce your argument. Explain a piece of evidence from a document to back you up and connect that evidence directly to your argument. Source the document (HIPP)—choose Historical Context, Intended Audience, Purpose, or POV. Then, include a piece of evidence not mentioned anywhere in the documents and explain this outside evidence to strengthen your essay.
3. 🧐CONCLUSION: Sum up your argument with a counterargument and rephrase your thesis. You can earn the thesis here if it wasn't strong enough in the intro.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia - By following the rubric, writing the essays becomes smooth sailing!

LEQ Overview 📝

1. 👩‍⚖️ THESIS: Respond to the prompt with a claim about the prompt. Remember to take a stand on the prompt! An example of this might look like “Railroads supported empire-building by __________ and___________, BUT they undermined it by ________________." Fill in the blanks with subtopics or examples of your thesis that you will develop into body paragraphs in your essay.
2. 🌎 CONTEXTUALIZATION: Describes the broader historical context relevant to the prompt. Think of what happened in the years/centuries leading up to the prompt (big events like global wars, trends, patterns, etc). You MUST connect this to the prompt.
3. 🔍 EVIDENCE (x2): Provide specific historical examples to support your argument. These are specific people, places, and events. Explain your reason for choosing those examples, and then connect it to your argument.
4. 📚 HISTORICAL REASONING: Use comparison, causation, or CCOT to answer the prompt. You can answer the prompt using any skill, but choose one and stick to it!
5. 🦄 COMPLEXITY: Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the prompt. You should weave a counter-argument throughout your essay. Don't stress too much about this one! It is pretty hard to get, and it's not something you need.

Helpful Links 🔗

A Word of Encouragement 📣