Part III

About the AP U.S. History Exam

The AP U.S. History Exam consists of two main sections: a multiple-choice and short-answer section and an essay questions section.

The multiple-choice and short-answer section comprises 55 multiple-choice questions covering the breadth of U.S. history and 4 short-answer questions. Students are provided with a total time of 105 minutes to complete this section. The multiple-choice questions are arranged in sets of two to five questions, which are tied to a primary- or secondary-source material. Students are allowed to spend 55 minutes completing the multiple-choice questions. The short-answer questions will explore one or more of the course thematic learning objectives. Students are expected to write a short response to four questions centered on a provided primary source, historian’s argument, or additional historical sources. Students are allowed to spend 50 minutes completing the short-answer questions.

The essay questions section of the exam consists of two essays to be completed in a total of 90 minutes. After a 15-minute reading period, students may divide up the remaining time as desired, spending more or less time on each essay. AP recommends 40 minutes for the DBQ and 35 minutes for the Long Essay. The document-based question (DBQ) is an essay for which you will have to answer a question based on 7 primary source documents provided. For the Long Essay, students will be asked to select an essay prompt from two different options. Unlike the DBQ, there will be no outside sources provided. This question requires the development of a thesis and/or historical argument supported by student-provided evidence.

HOW THE AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM IS SCORED

AP U.S. History Exam scoring is based on the performance of the student on each of the four exam parts. The raw scores from each section will be weighted and summed to generate an overall AP grade of 1–5. Scoring of the multiple-choice section is based solely on the raw score of the number of correct answers. There is no penalty for guessing. The multiple-choice question section constitutes 40 percent of the total exam score. The short-answer questions will be evaluated for accuracy and useful application of historical thinking skills to address each question. The short-answer questions represent 20 percent of the total exam score.

The essay questions are graded against very clear rubrics outlined by the College Board, which we’ll show you in Chapter 3. Both essays will be evaluated for historical accuracy, development of a central thesis, and synthesis of a view or argument on the nature of the question. The document-based question (DBQ) is scored with a maximum score of 7 possible points allocated across the following areas: thesis (1 point), analysis of historical evidence and support of argument (4 points), contextualization (1 point), and synthesis (1 point). The DBQ score represents 25 percent of the total exam score. The long essay is scored with a maximum score of 6 points allocated across the following areas: thesis (1 point), use of evidence in support of argument (2 points), application of historical thinking skills (2 points), and synthesis (1 point). The long essay constitutes 15 percent of the total exam score.

Incorp orating the depth and content necessary to get high scores on the AP Exam requires practice and good time management. We will discuss approaches to maximize your score in Chapter 4.

For your reference, here is the College Board’s score distribution data from the 2014 AP U.S. History Exam administration.

Score	Number of Test Takers	Percentage
5	50,832	11.0%
4	98,579	21.3%
3	93,170	20.1%
2	129,553	28.0%
1	90,632	19.6%
Total	242,581	100%

OVERVIEW OF CONTENT TOPICS

The College Board provides a breakdown of assessment weighting of material for the exam by historical periods. These periods and their relative weights are shown below. It is important to remember that many events in history span multiple periods and are connected by overarching themes. You will notice that in the table below, several of the periods recognized by the College Board overlap. As you begin to evaluate the material, strive to make adequate connections between the periods rather than treating them as separate isolated entities. We will begin to look at how the College Board views connections in the next section about Thematic Learning Objectives.

Excelling on the AP U.S. History Exam requires a thorough knowledge of the events of American history and their significance. We have provided a review of this material in Part V of this text. Listed below is an overview of the specific topics that will be covered on the AP U.S. History Exam and should be reviewed in a course.

1. Pre-Columbian Societies

2. Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings, 1492–1690

3. Colonial North America, 1690–1754

4. The American Revolutionary Era, 1754–1789

5. The Early Republic, 1789–1815

6. Transformation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America

7. The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America

8. Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America

9. Territorial Expansion and Manifest Destiny

10. The Crisis of the Union

11. Civil War

12. Reconstruction

13. The Origins of the New South

14. Development of the West in the Late Nineteenth Century

15. Industrial America in the Late Nineteenth Century

16. Urban Society in the late Nineteenth Century

17. Populism and Progressivism

18. The Emergence of America as a World Power

19. The New Era: 1920s

20. The Great Depression and the New Deal

21. The Second World War

22. The Home Front During the War

23. The United States and the Early Cold War

24. The 1950s

25. The Turbulent Sixties

26. Politics and Economics at the End of the Twentieth Century

27. Society and Culture at the End of the Twentieth Century

28. The United States in the Post–Cold War World

UNDERSTANDING CONTENT WITH THEMATIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The College Board has focused the breadth of historical developments and events covered in the AP U.S. History course and exam into 7 key themes, which they refer to as thematic learning objectives. All questions on the AP U.S. History Exam will evaluate student understanding of one or more of these learning objectives. As you begin to review the content covered in Part V, pay particular attention to these themes. The following are the thematic learning objectives:

1. Identity: This theme explores how the American identity has formed and been transformed by the development of group identities throughout U.S. history. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding developments in gender, racial, class, and ethnic identities and how different groups have interacted with each other to form the modern American identity.

2. Work, Exchange, and Technology: This theme evaluates the development of American economies based on advances and developments in the fields of agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing. The exam will evaluate your understanding of how different economic and labor platforms and technological developments have revolutionized and shaped American society.

3. Peopling: This theme targets the movement and transformation of peoples over time. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the motivating factors for migration and the impact of movement on American society today.

4. Politics and Power: This theme explores the relationship between political views and process and society. You should have a firm understanding of the powers of different levels of government and how those powers are important in providing rights and freedoms to the American public.

5. America in the World: This theme investigates the influence of other cultures on American development, society, and culture and alternatively, the impact of America on the rest of the world.

6. Environment and Geography: Physical and Human: This theme explores how the environment, weather, and geography have transformed decisions that have shaped the country.

7. Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture: This theme explores how ideas, beliefs, and society have formed American society and the decisions and actions made the various communities and groups of which it is comprised.

HOW AP EXAMS ARE USED

Different colleges use AP exams in different ways, so it is important that you go to a particular college’s website to determine how it uses AP exams. The three items below represent the main ways in which AP exam scores can be used:

• College Credit. Some colleges will give you college credit if you score well on an AP Exam. These credits count toward your graduation requirements, meaning that you can take fewer courses while in college. Given the cost of college, this could be quite a benefit, indeed.

• Satisfy Requirements. Some colleges will allow you to “place out” of certain requirements if you do well on an AP Exam, even if they do not give you actual college credits. For example, you might not need to take an introductory-level course, or perhaps you might not need to take a class in a certain discipline at all.

• Admissions Plus. Even if your AP Exam will not result in college credit or even allow you to place out of certain courses, most colleges will respect your decision to push yourself by taking an AP Course or even an AP Exam outside of a course. A high score on an AP Exam shows mastery of content more difficult than that taught in many high school courses, and colleges may take that into account during the admissions process.

OTHER RESOURCES

There are many resources available to help you improve your score on the AP U.S. History Exam, not the least of which are your teachers. If you are taking an AP class, you may be able to get extra attention from your teacher, such as obtaining feedback on your essays. If you are not in an AP course, reach out to a teacher who teaches U.S. History (or another AP history teacher) and ask if the teacher will review your essays or otherwise help you with content.

Another wonderful resource is AP Students, the official site of the AP Exams. The scope of the information at this site is quite broad and includes the following materials:

• a comprehensive course description, which includes details on what content is covered and sample questions

• course syllabi, including teacher and student classroom resources

• essay prompts, answers, and grading suggestions from previous years

• several helpful links to websites containing era-specific information

• the official 2015 AP U.S. History Practice Exam

• past AP U.S. History Exams for purchase through the College Board. Although these will not be aligned with the updates to the 2015 exam, they are still good practice.

• updates on future changes to the AP U.S. History Exam

The AP Students home page address is
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/home

The AP U.S. History Exam Course home page address is
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-united-states-history

Finally, The Princeton Review offers tutoring and small group instruction for the AP U.S. History Exam. Our expert instructors can help you refine your strategic approach and add to your content knowledge. For more information, call 1-800-2REVIEW.

DESIGNING YOUR STUDY PLAN

In Part I you identified some areas of potential improvement. Let’s now delve further into your performance on Practice Test 1, with the goal of developing a study plan appropriate to your needs and time commitment.

Read the answers and explanations associated with the multiple-choice questions (starting at this page). After you have done so, respond to the following questions:

• Review the content topics on this page and, next to each one, indicate your rank of the topic as follows: “1” means “I need a lot of work on this,” “2” means “I need to beef up my knowledge,” and “3” means “I know this topic well.”

• How many days/weeks/months away is your AP U.S. History Exam?

• What time of day is your best, most focused study time?

• How much time per day/week/month will you devote to preparing for your AP U.S. History Exam?

• When will you do this preparation? (Be as specific as possible: Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:00 P.M., for example)

• Based on the answers above, will you focus on strategy (Part IV) or content (Part V) or both?

• What are your overall goals in using this book?