AP World History a Few Final Things Before the AP Exam

AP World History--A few final things before the AP exam…

When to be here:

 I will be here with breakfast at 7:00. MEET ME AT THE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM IN THE BACK PARKING LOT!! I will have muffins, other baked goods, some fruit, etc. as well as orange juice and apple juice. If you want coffee, milk, etc. with breakfast, bring your own

 If you are having breakfast at home (do NOT turn down a real breakfast for muffins!!)—BE HERE BY 7:15. You can swing by the outdoor classroom for a little something before you go to the gym.

 You all should be checking in at the gym at 7:30 (you are really supposed to be there at 7:15 but Mr. Speer OK’d 7:30 —NO LATER!!!!!

What to bring:

 A PICTURE ID

 #2 pencils—the old fashioned wooden kind. No mechanical pencils (the College Board forbids them!)

 Blue or Black pens—bring a few. You never know when your pen will run out of ink, and you are writing 4 SAQs and two full essays! Regular ball point pens are better than gel pens.

 Dress in layers! You want to be able to be as comfortable as possible as you test.

 Bring a snack for the break—perhaps something with a little nutritional value  I’ll have some small bottles of water for you to take down there.

 YOU MAY NOT HAVE YOUR CELL PHONE WITH YOU. LEAVE IT AT HOME, IN YOUR CAR, IN YOUR LOCKER, OR LEAVE IT WITH ME (I will lock them in my cabinet and you can pick them up after the exam).

 There is usually a lot of food left over after breakfast—you can stop by after the exam is over to pick up your phone or anything else you left in my room. First come, first served on the food!

Get a good night’s sleep!! This is NOT the night to stay up for hours cramming! Target a few areas for review and go to bed at a decent hour! You all have done quite well on the multiple choice, and just know that I am tough on the grading of the essays—tougher than the grading usually is at the reading! Here are a few key essay pointers: ON ALL ESSAYS—ATQ! ATQ!! ATQ!!! ATQ!!!! ATQ!!!! Plan more—higher score

 I know you have been double-spacing essays all year, but on the exam SINGLE-SPACE

 Make sure your thesis—no matter what essay you are writing—addresses and answers the question with a degree of specificity. The answers need to be clear—it needs to be CLEAR what the similarities are versus the differences, what the changes are versus the continuities, what is a turning point and what is not, what is cause and what is effect. For the DBQ it should be clear what your answers are to the question!

 On the SAQs:

 Answer all parts of all questions to the best of your ability

 Remember for each part: Answer, Cite, Explain….in that order!

 Answer the question

 Provide SPECIFIC evidence  Explain…Why? How? Or further elaborate based on the question

 On the LEQ:

 Indicate the question you chose in the appropriate space (2 or 3….the DBQ is actually question 1)

 Your thesis IS your introductory paragraph on the LEQ

 Each topic sentence should ID ONE answer to the question.

 PROVE your point with EVIDENCE—accurate, relevant, and specific (as specific as possible) evidence

 EXPLAIN why—why sim? Why diff? why a change? Why a continuity? Or how? how a turning point? How not? Etc. If your explanation brings in historical information, that counts as evidence too!

 Don’t forget the rule of three—shoot for a minimum of three answers in your essay. If you can only come up with two, just DO THE BEST JOB YOU CAN ON THOSE!! You will still score points!!

 Your concluding paragraph should first have a reworded thesis then a fully explained synthesis

 On the DBQ:

 Your introductory paragraph should start with contextualization and end with your thesis

 Again—your topic sentences should ID ONE answer to the question

 Introduce documents with attribution using the key aspect(s) of the source info (you do NOT need to restate the entire source line!!) then PARAPHRASE the part of the doc that helps prove your answer (JUST that part—don’t paraphrase the entire doc) and follow that with (doc. #). REMEMBER—you need evidence analysis explaining how that info from the doc proves your answer. In some cases you can introduce two documents as evidence and then follow that with evidence analysis for both (BUT ALWAYS INTRODUCE THE DOCS SEPARATELY—you should NEVER have (docs # and #). Each doc has to be used separately as evidence!

 Do not just give up on SOURCING and OUTSIDE EVIDENCE. Sourcing should come AFTER the evidence AND EA of a doc. Work in outside information where it makes sense (think of it like evidence from a document that’s not there)

 Your concluding paragraph should first have a reworded thesis then a fully explained synthesis

ON ALL ESSAYS—ATQ! ATQ!! ATQ!!! ATQ!!!! ATQ!!!! Plan more—higher score