One the AP US History exam, one of the Short Answer Questions (SAQs) may have two documents instead of one. 😱 These questions can be challenging, but have no fear. Help is here.
I'm a licensed teacher and professional tutor with over ten years of experience in education. I've helped dozens of students improve their grades in AP US History. Read on so you can ace this style of question.
Note: AP World History never has double document SAQs. If you would like advice tailored to AP World History, click here.
Table of Contents
Basics​
What to Expect
First, quick review of the Short Answer Question (SAQ) section of the exam. There are three questions on this portion of the exam. Two of those questions have at least one document. We are concerned with one of those two questions for the purposes of this article. One of those two Short Answer Questions will feature secondary sources. Secondary sources are sources written by historians and based on primary sources. This is the only place where you may see two documents in one Short Answer Question.
It is also possible to have a version of the AP US History exam that does not have a double document question. The College Board's guidelines for the exam make it clear that you will see secondary sources. However, it is not a requirement that each exam has this type of question. Still, it is good to be prepared. The AP US History exam included double document questions in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2019. (The 2020 exam was modified significantly and is not representative of a typical exam. I have omitted it from this count). In other words, it likely that you will see this type of question.
In any case, this type of question always features documents from the same time period. These documents also address the same topic, but they provide two different perspectives on the issue.​
Parts
Double document SAQs featured similar prompts in every year they appear on the test. This pattern can help us be prepared for the tasks we will see on the exam in this section. Like all Short Answer Questions, there will be three parts to answer.
The first part (part a) will ask you to describe one difference between the two writer's perspectives. To successfully complete this task, you need to correctly interpret both documents. Second, you will need to include both author's perspectives in your response.
The second and third parts (parts b and c) will ask you to connect what you've learned in class to the provided documents. Specifically, you will be asked to identify information from the course that supports the writer's arguments. Part b will ask about one of the authors. Part c will ask about the other author. Typically, the exam will ask you to explain a historical event or development. You can discuss either specific moments in time OR long-term trends in history. In either case, you need to explain how the evidence you selected proves the author's interpretation of history is valid.​
Strategy​
Use Time Wisely
This is good advice for all parts of the exam, but it means something specific for this type of question.
When you have two documents, you should spend most of your time on part a. This part of the exam asks you to identify how the documents are different from each other.
There are two reasons why this is a helpful strategy. First, it takes twice as long to read and comprehend two documents as it does one. It's unrealistic to expect anything else, so we can anticipate that it will take more time to complete this section accurately. Second, it's absolutely critical that you accurately identify both author's main points. If you don't, you can miss all three points on a double document Short Answer Question. This is because it's difficult to prove evidence supports a point if you don't know what point its suppose to support. So you have to get the arguments right before you can get everything else right.
This feels weird to many students. That's understandable. After all, on other Short Answer Questions the time it takes to respond to each part is about the same. This can cause frustration if you feel like this should be true for this type of question. But this question is different, and it's not a sign of a problem if you approaching the question differently. Flexibility and strategy are important parts of the AP exam.​
Compare Documents
You can take advantage of having two documents. Read one document and identify the main idea. Then, read the second document and ask yourself, "What's different?" This can help you identify the specifics of both author's arguments. In turn, this helps you explain the arguments in more detail than you otherwise might. More detail = more likely to earn the point.
This strategy is particularly useful if you're struggling with identifying the argument in one of the documents. Asking a different, but related question, can help your brain think about the reading in a new way.​
Keep It Simple
Know Thy Content
Understanding the course content also helps with this section. As noted above, you'll likely spend more time than usual on part a. Knowing content well can help you make up that time on parts b and c. It is easier to identify examples that support the arguments if you can quickly generate a list of relevant events and developments.
Not sure how to improve your content knowledge? The blurting method is a great strategy for training your brain to recall information. ​
Mind The Details
Like all AP US History question, mind the details in the prompt. If a word is included in the directions or parts of the question, it is there on purpose. Pay particularly close attention to dates and which document this part refers to. If you include evidence that supports the wrong argument, you don't earn the point. If you include evidence from the wrong time period, you don't earn the point.
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.