It may seem obvious why question types are important, but there are some subtleties.
The obvious answer is that the ultimate goal for most people in AP is to succeed on the exam. 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.
The Four Types of Questions
Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)
Multiple Choice Questions are different in AP World 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. You need to understand the content to do well. This is where the similarities end.
In AP World 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 you to use your 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. You may need to consider changes that occurred in specific periods of time. You must use your existing knowledge and logical thinking to succeed.
The AP World History exam has 55 Multiple Choice Questions. You have 55 minutes to answer the questions. You 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 World History exam. Free response questions do not provide any options. You 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. You 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.
You must understand and analyze these stimuli to do well in this section. These questions ask you to identify the source's claims and evidence. They may ask you to provide facts that support or contradict the source's claims. You 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 you to identify facts that relate to historical trends. You may also be asked to use your historical thinking skills. For example, some questions ask about cause and effect. They may also ask about similarities and differences.
On the AP World History exam, there are four Short Answer Questions. You must complete three Short Answer Questions in 40 minutes. The first two questions have stimuli and are required. You 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 you either earn the point or do not earn the point. You can earn up to nine points in this section. It is worth 20% of the final exam score.
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. You 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.
You have 1 hour and 40 minutes for both of the essays on the AP World History exam. The College Board recommends spending 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. It's common to write one introductory paragraph and two or three body paragraphs. You can earn up to seven points for completing each of the following tasks. Each point is binary. This means you either earn or do not earn the point. The graders assess each skill independently of the other skills.
Skill 1: Thesis Point / Thesis Statement
Skill 2: Contextualization
You must explain events or developments that are relevant to the prompt. The most common way to earn this point is by describing events that lead up to the topic of the essay. This point is identical on the Document-Based Question and the Long-Essay Question.
Skill 3: Evidence
You can earn two points for evidence. The first point is for describing content from three of the documents. You earn the second point if you use four documents to support an argument. You will NOT earn either point if you only quote from the documents.
Skill 4: Outside Evidence
You 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
You can earn one point for sourcing two documents. Sourcing a document has two parts. You must describe the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience. Second, the you must explain how this information is relevant to your response. It is common to address potential bias in this section. Some teachers use the HIPP-O or HAPP-E acronyms to help you remember the different aspects of a source.
Skill 6: Complexity
You can earn a point for showing complex understanding of the prompt. There are many, many ways to earn this point. I encourage explaining many factors, perspectives, or themes to earn this point. You can also explore many sides of a prompt. For example, you can write about causes AND effects.
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. You get to choose one of the three questions to answer.
You 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 Long-Essay Question makes up 15% of the final score.
Long-Essay Questions are usually three to four paragraphs long. It is most common to write one introductory paragraph. After this, you can write two to three body paragraphs. You can earn up to six points for completing each of the following tasks. Each point is binary. This means you either earn the point or you do not earn the point. The graders grade each skill independently of the other skills.
Skill 1: Thesis Point / Thesis Statement
You must write a thesis 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 the 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
You must explain events or developments that are relevant to the prompt. It is most common 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
You can earn two points for this skill. One point is for citing two relevant, specific examples. The second point is for using the evidence to support an argument.
Skill 4: Analysis and Reasoning
You must use historical reasoning in your argument to earn this point. Historical reasoning includes comparison, cause and effect, and changes over a specific period.
Skill 5: Complexity
You can earn a point for showing complex understanding of the topic. There are many ways to earn this point. You can read more about my best tips and tricks here.
I help ambitious students improve their skills and master the AP World History exam. Learn more here!
You may also like:
All blog posts are licensed using a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license. You are free to copy or share this information in any form. You may also adapt and build upon this material for commercial and noncommercial. If you chose to share, adapt, or use this information, you must give credit to Spring Learning Services, LLC and indicate if changes were made. All material must be shared using the same terms
This material is based on my interpretation of the AP World 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.