Understanding the question types is a key part of success. Think about a skilled basketball player. To prepare for a big game, she practices doing each of the tasks that the game requires. She drills running, dribbling, shooting free-throws, and so on. She gets advice from coaches and more experienced players. Then she works on putting each of those pieces together with her team.
She gets two benefits on game day. First, nothing that happens in the game is going to rattle her. She's done it all before! Second, she will preform better. She practiced the specific skills needed to score points.
The same thing happens with the AP exams. If you know what to expect, then you can practice answering those kinds of questions. You can also get help to strengthen your weaker areas. I'm a professional tutor who has helped dozens of students improve their scores on AP-style questions. Read on to learn how you can do the same.
Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)
Multiple Choice Questions are different in AP US History than other classes. Some things will be familiar. There will be a question and four options. Each option is labeled a, b, c, or d. Students need to understand the content to do well. This is where the similarities end.
In AP US History, each Multiple Choice Question has a stimulus. A stimulus is a graph, painting, photograph, text, or other source of information. These sources can be primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are sources that people who lived through historic period created. Historians and other researchers create secondary sources. Understanding the stimuli is critical to doing well on this section of the exam.
Each stimulus has a group of questions. There are three or four questions associated which each stimulus.
The questions ask students to use historical thinking skills. Historical thinking includes analyzing the source and context of documents. It can also involve thinking about cause and effect and making comparisons. Students may need to consider changes that occurred in specific periods of time. Students have to use their existing knowledge and logical thinking to succeed.
The AP US History exam has 55 Multiple Choice Questions. Students have 55 minutes to answer the questions. Students can earn one point per question. There is no penalty for guessing. This section of the test counts for 40% of the score on the exam.
Short Answer Question (SAQ)
There are three types of free response questions on the AP US History exam. Free response questions do not provide any options. Students must write out a response to these questions.
The first type of free response question is a Short Answer Question. Each Short Answer Question has three parts. These parts are labeled a, b, and c. Students should aim to answer each part in one to three sentences. In total, a response is often between five and nine sentences.
Some Short Answer Questions have a stimulus and some do not. A stimulus is a graph, painting, photograph, text, or other source of information. One question will have at least one primary source. A different question will have at least one secondary source. Primary sources are sources that people who lived through historic period created. Historians and other researchers create secondary sources.
Students must understand and analyze these stimuli to do well in this section. These questions ask students to identify the source's claims and evidence. They may ask students to provide facts that support or contradict the source's claims. Students may also have to connect ideas from the stimuli to broader patterns in history.
Not all Short Answer Questions have a stimulus. These questions often ask students to identify facts that relate to historical trends. They may also ask students to use their historical thinking skills. For example, some questions ask students to explain cause and effect. Other questions may ask students to describe changes from specific periods.
On the AP US History exam, there are four Short Answer Questions. Students must complete three Short Answer Questions in 40 minutes. Students must answer two of the questions. They both have stimuli. Students then choose between the final two Short Answer Questions. These two options do not have stimuli.
Each part of the Short Answer Question is worth one point. This point is binary, meaning that students earn the point or do not earn the point. Students can earn up to nine points in this section. It is worth 20% of the final exam score.
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Document-Based Question (DBQ)
Next up is the infamous Document Based Question! This part of the exam has one question and seven stimuli. A stimulus is a graph, painting, photograph, text, or other source of information. Students must use these documents These sources can be primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are sources that people who lived through historic period created. Historians and other researchers create secondary sources. All the stimuli on the Document Based Question relate to a specific topic.
Students have 1 hour and 40 minutes for both of the essays on the AP exam. The College Board encourages students to spend 15 minutes reading the documents. They also recommend 45 minutes for writing a response. The Document-Based Question makes up 25% of the final score.
A good response is three to four paragraphs long. Students often write one introductory paragraph and two or three body paragraphs. Students can earn up to seven points for completing each of the following tasks. Each point is binary. This means students either earn or do not earn the point. The graders assess each skill independently of the other skills.
Skill 1: Thesis Point / Thesis Statement
Students must write a thesis statement that is "historically defensible." This means that you must be able to defend your thesis using historical evidence. A thesis statement that is incorrect or unproveable won't earn this point. The statement must also give a reason for the claim or provide categories that make up the argument. This point is identical on the Document-Based Question and the Long-Essay Question.
Skill 2: Contextualization
Students must explain events or developments that are relevant to the prompt. It is most common for students to describe the things that led up to the situation outlined in the prompt. This point is identical on the Document-Based Question and the Long-Essay Question.
Skill 3: Evidence
Students can earn two points for evidence. The first point is for describing content from three of the documents. Students earn the second point if they use four documents to support an argument. Students do NOT earn either point if they quote from the documents.
Skill 4: Outside Evidence
Students can earn one point for using a fact relevant to the prompt to support the argument. This fact must be something that is NOT found in the documents.
Skill 5: Sourcing
Students can earn one point for sourcing two documents. Sourcing a document has two parts. The student must describe the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience. Second, the student must explain how this information is relevant to their response. It is common for students to address potential bias in this section. Some teachers use the HIPP-O or HAPP-E acronyms to help students remember the different aspects of a source.
Skill 6: Complexity
Long Essay Question (LEQ)
Last, but not least, is the Long-Essay Question. This part of the exam has three questions and no stimuli. Each of the questions will relate to a different period and topic. Students get to choose one of the three questions to answer.
Students have 1 hour and 40 minutes for both of the essays on the AP exam. The College Board encourages taking 40 minutes to write the Long Essay Question. The Document-Based Question makes up 25% of the final score.
Long-Essay Questions are usually three to four paragraphs long. It is most common for students to write one introductory paragraph. After this, most students write two to three body paragraphs. Students can earn up to six points for completing each of the following tasks. Each point is binary. This means that it is either earned or not earned. The graders award each point independently of the other points.
Skill 1: Thesis Point / Thesis Statement
Students must write a thesis statement that is "historically defensible." This means that you must be able to defend your thesis using historical evidence. A thesis statement that is incorrect or unproveable won't earn this point. The statement must also give a reason for the claim or provide categories that make up the argument. This point is identical on the Document-Based Question and the Long-Essay Question.
Skill 2: Contextualization
Skill 3: Evidence
Skill 4: Analysis and Reasoning
Skill 5: Complexity Point
Students can earn a point for showing complex understanding of the topic. This can be done by creating an argument that is more detailed, nuanced, or comprehensive than a basic response. I explain the best methods to earn the complexity point here.
I help ambitious students improve their skills and master the AP US History exam. Learn more here!
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This material is based on my interpretation of the AP US History Course and Exam Description and my experience working in education for the past decade. The views expressed on this page are my own. AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks registered and owned by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this site.