free response essay questions

AP Free-Response Questions: What to Know

This portion of the Advanced Placement exam can significantly affect your overall score.

5 AP Free-Response Tips

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Instead of selecting an answer from among several choices, free-response questions require you to compose an answer using precise wording.

For many students, the most challenging section of an Advanced Placement exam is the free-response portion. After all, its few questions comprise a significant amount of each exam's overall score, and its form may range from a complicated word problem to a long essay or visual display of data.

If you are concerned about your performance on this portion of the AP exam, follow the five steps below. Master them and you will be well on your way to testing success and, hopefully, earning college credit .

• Read each free-response question carefully.
• Maximize points on multiple-part questions.
• Share your thought process.
• Be clear and concise.
• Use proper penmanship.

Read Each Free-Response Question Carefully

Free-response questions, which require you to compose an answer instead of selecting one from among several choices, employ very specific wording. As you read them, pay close attention to the language that each question uses.

For example, an AP Biology question that instructs you to "explain" a single concept will require a different response than one that asks you to "compare" two biological processes.

Luckily, the key words in prompts tend to be highlighted in some way, so you will know precisely what you must do. Consider, for instance, these 2018 AP Biology free-response questions , in which verbs like “draw,” “estimate,” "identify," "predict" and “describe” are expressed in boldface on the third page.

Despite these cues, it can be easy to wander astray in your response, especially when you are rushing or under stress. Therefore, always revisit the prompt once you are done writing and use the boldface words as a checklist to ensure you have addressed each prompt properly.

Maximize Points on Multiple-Part Questions

Free-response questions often involve multiple parts, and when they do it is important to note that the parts are graded separately. Ideally, you would be able to answer all parts of a problem, but this is not always the case.

If you find yourself struggling with a question, the best thing you can do is maximize your points. On math and science AP exams especially, you may be able to answer the latter parts of a prompt but not the initial ones, or vice versa.

A situation like this could happen, for instance, on question 1 of this AP Biology exam . You may forget what a cladogram is, which renders you unable to perform part B – constructing a cladogram on a template provided. However, for part C, you may quickly think of a justification for the referenced student’s reasoning.

In cases like this, be sure to write down your responses for the parts you can answer. The College Board, which administers and scores AP exams, will award you partial credit for what you get right. You can also earn points on math questions for knowledge of a process or formula, even if you do not arrive at the correct answer.

These situations are less likely to arise on AP English and history tests, but when they do, follow this same advice.

Share Your Thought Process

On math and science exams, this means showing your work because a correct answer without the corresponding thought process will not receive full credit. On essay-based free-response questions, as with English and history tests, provide supporting evidence that shows how you came to your conclusion.

The College Board wishes to see how you think and how you came to the answer or conclusion you provided, not just the answer or conclusion itself.

This grading mentality becomes clear when you consider part D of question 1 from the previous test example involving the cladogram. The prompt instructs you to not only “Predict the most likely difference in phenotype…” but also to “Justify your prediction.” In such cases, you must show both your reasoning and your conclusion to receive full credit.

Be Clear and Concise

AP graders have many tests to review, and they may not have the time to parse rambling answers, no matter how intelligent the thoughts contained within them may be. So, clearly organize your responses.

For instance, if you are instructed to “Provide ONE piece of reasoning to support the student’s claim,” it is better to follow the instructions and explain one point well rather than list two or three haphazardly.

Organize your evidence and articulate how it supports the points you're trying to make. In all subject areas, emphasize clarity and directness and aim for quality over quantity.

Use Proper Penmanship

Writing legibly may seem like an obvious point, but on an exam where you so often feel short on time, it can be easily forgotten. No matter how brilliant your thoughts or how cogent your analysis, the College Board cannot give you credit for an answer that they cannot read.

Clear penmanship is especially important when you are dealing with similarly spelled terms, like “genotype” and “phenotype.” While these biological terms are related, they refer to two distinct concepts.

It would be a shame to lose points because your grader misinterpreted a messily written word. Especially if your handwriting is naturally messy, make every effort – including writing slowly, if necessary – to help your grader and your exam score .

With AP testing season quickly approaching – exams are scheduled for May and June – start improving your free-response performance now using this exam prep plan :

• At the two-and-a-half-month mark. Gather roughly a dozen free-response questions from past AP exams. Read them all, notice their general traits and identify frequently tested topics to be reviewed.
• At the two-month mark. Continue reviewing the topics you have identified as high value or frequently tested. Read and take notes on high-scoring sample responses for the prompts you have gathered, and then try writing your own. Seek feedback from instructors and classmates.
• At the one-month mark. Answer two or three complete free-response question sets each week and continue requesting feedback.
• At the one-week mark. Limit your review sessions to just a handful of important topics and aim to answer one or two final free-response questions. Finally, turn your efforts to stress control and adequate sleep .

AP exams are a good way to demonstrate your readiness for college coursework, and the free-response section is the perfect place to show your ability and willingness to handle rigorous academic assignments. These tips will help equip you for success on any AP test, and with AP success comes the chance to strengthen your case for admission to your dream college.

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• Peterborough

How to Understand and Answer Free Response or Essay Exam Questions

Short answer and essay exams, the challenge of free response questions, exam basics.

• Identify Questions
• Explain Questions
• Compare and Contrast Questions
• Argue Questions
• Assess Questions
• Plan Your Answer
• Writing Your Response

Short answer and essay questions often comprise the most challenging and the most heavily weighted sections of an exam. They require you to analyze and respond to questions, develop coherent arguments, and draw on specific examples, all within a strict time limit. Consider the following techniques to help you to avoid common problems with free responses and improve your answers.

Read the Instructions Closely

Every examination requires you to do different things in different ways. It is essential that you read all of the instructions very carefully before you begin to respond to the questions. Where are you to record your answers? How many questions or sections are you required to answer? Also ensure that you have clearly labelled all exam papers with your full name, student number, and instructor’s name because papers can be lost, and you do not want to have to write an exam a second time.

Manage your Time

While you review the examination instructions and questions, it is important to consider how each section or question is graded. Short answers may be worth five or ten marks, and essays can be worth up to fifty marks. Establish priorities for response and set parameters for the amount of time you need to spend on each section and each question.

Understand the Question

Many students dive into short answer and essay questions and quickly begin writing their responses. While this may save a few minutes in the short term, it can lead to major problems. Before you can answer a question effectively, you need to make sure that you understand what it is asking you to do.

If, for example, the question asks you to compare the Harper administration to that of previous Prime Ministers, and instead you do a critical evaluation of it, you will write an incomplete answer and lose marks.

In order to understand short answer and essay questions, you need to pay particular attention to words like “identify,” “explain,” “compare,” “argue,” “assess”: these words dictate the nature of the task before you. Understanding what you need to include in order to fully answer a question requires you to interpret the degree of complexity and range of information that asks for.

Five Common Types of Questions

There are overlaps and crossovers, of course, but most short answer and essay questions belong primarily in one of these five categories:

Identify questions:

Provide a detailed description of an event, process, or idea. These questions often include words such as Identify, Enumerate, Define, Describe, List, or Summarize.

As a general rule, “Identify” questions demand detailed, information-packed answers. Rather than asking you for your opinion or evaluation, identify questions ask you to accurately recall what you have learned about a topic. These questions are often used on the short answer portion of exams as they elicit concise paragraphs, not fully developed arguments or assessments.

• “Enumerate the varieties of food-borne illnesses caused by the ingestion of improperly preserved foods”
• “List the seven deadly sins”
• “Summarize Kant’s argument for the Categorical Imperative.”

Explain questions:

Analyze why, how, or in what order a set of events or processes occur. These questions often include words such as Explain, Account for, Analyze, Discuss, Trace, or Outline.

“Explain” questions are somewhat more demanding than identify questions: they are the “why” to identify’s “what.” One is often expected to establish cause and effect relationships or to develop the steps of a process or series of events in explain questions.

•  “Discuss the processes by which improperly preserved foods cause food borne illnesses.”

Compare and contrast questions:

Analyze the similarities and differences; answer with an investigation of a relationship. These questions often include words such as Compare, Contrast, Distinguish, Relate.

These questions are popular because they encourage students to undertake more complex analyses; we see a thing more precisely and astutely when we have been asked to distinguish it from something else.

The task of a compare/contrast question is not simply to describe two events, characters, or ideas, but to analyse them in relation to one another. It is also important to note that comparisons generally involve pointing out BOTH similarities AND differences, though you can certainly argue that the two things you are comparing are more similar than they are different or vice versa.

• Compare the use of the epic form in classical and neoclassical verse.

Argue questions:

Answer with a defence of a position that considers potential detractors. These questions often include words such as Argue, Agree, Disagree, Debate, Defend, Justify, Prove.

All essays are forms of argument in the general sense of being developed from a premise towards a conclusion via a structure of support built on logic and evidence. Some, though, are argumentative in the more common sense of requiring that a position be defended against potential detractors.

• If the question were, “Prove that the nuclear industry provides a safe form of power,” you would need to provide evidence to show that nuclear power is safe, despite what its critics might argue.
• Or you may be asked to pick a side and defend it: Argue for or against the feasibility of world government as a solution to the hostilities between nation states

Assess Questions:

Answer with an evaluation. These questions often include words such as Assess, Criticize, Evaluate, Interpret, Propose, Review.

Just as all essay questions require an answer in the form of an argument, all require you to exercise your judgement or powers of discrimination in determining what is relevant or not, significant or not, authentic or not. “Assess” questions require that judgement to become the focus and purpose of the essay. In assess questions, one is frequently asked to measure degree, to answer, “How well?” To do this, sensible criteria must be established against which to judge the subject in question, and then one’s judgement must be defended.

• Assess the significance of the American civil rights movement in the struggle for social justice.
• Evaluate the efficacy of the endangered species tracking program in Northern Canada.

Plan your Answer

Once you have a clear sense of what the question is asking you to do, take a few minutes to plan your answer. This planning can take many forms. For short answer questions, you may just need to jot down a couple of key terms on your exam paper. For essay questions, you will likely need to do more planning. You might start by brainstorming ideas or different perspectives.

Sample Planning for a Compare/Contrast Essay

Midsummer’s Night Dream and Twelfth Night

Similarities Between the Plays:

1. Both have aspects of fantasy

2. Both have happy, romantic endings

3. Both involve characters who are rejected by their loves.

Differences Between Plays:

1. Bottom is not affected by his rejection

2. Malvolio is deeply depressed by it

3. Midsummer’s is always romantic comedy

4. Twelfth Night is more serious in tone

You then want to write out a thesis and some form of brief outline.

Remember, you are aiming for a very rough sketch of your answer: use whatever outlining method you are comfortable with — mind map or conventional hierarchical structure. You may also want to use a chart that lists your main points across from supporting examples rather than a formal outline. This outline provides your response with a focus and clear structure.

Write your Response

Answer the question as clearly as possible.

Remember that your professor is reading dozens and dozens of exam papers; your goal is to highlight for him or her that you have fully answered the question as clearly as possible. Begin an essay answer with a very clear thesis statement that directly responds to the question. Start all paragraphs with a clear topic sentence that explains the main point that you will develop. Use cue phrases such as “for example,” “another example,” or “in contrast” to highlight the fact that you are using specific evidence to support your ideas.

Balance Argument and Evidence

When writing responses to short answer and essay questions, it is important to recognize that arguments and evidence are less valuable when they are separated from one another. A response that lists a long string of facts but that fails to interpret or explain these facts is just as flawed as a response that contains many interesting ideas but that does not support these ideas with specific examples. To avoid these flaws, you need to find a balance between argument and evidence.

Be as Specific as You Can Be Without Being Wrong

Be as specific as possible. Most exam questions will address general course themes, issues that anyone who attended the lectures would be familiar with. To excel on an exam, therefore, you must establish that you are not merely acquainted with these themes, but that you have considered them carefully and are aware of their connections to and ramifications for the more particular material discussed in the course. In a literature course, this means numerous references to the texts studied; in a history course, it might mean using a specific historical event to illustrate a broader theory. In psychology, the student might make reference to relevant experiments, in geography to particular landmarks.

While specific is best, take care not to be wrong.

For example, writing “Hitler came to power in 1903,” on a history exam really weakens your credibility. The best response would cite the year correctly: “Hitler came to power in 1933.” If you are not sure, be as specific as you can be without being wrong. For example, “When Hitler came to power in the mid-1930s,” or simply “When Hitler came to power.”

Focus on Course Content

Try to establish for your professor that you have taken the course that was taught. All too often, the student answers a question very personally, making reference to details and issues that were never discussed in class. To a certain extent, this approach is acceptable; it shows an ability to apply knowledge to a broad spectrum. However, overdoing it can be dangerous, because you need to show that you can understand concepts within the framework in which they were discussed, not outside it.

Try not to get carried away in your literature course, then, making references to all of the books you have recently read; focus your answer on the authors you have been studying in class.

Don’t Worry Too Much About Style

Many students worry about proper essay style in exams: are they losing marks by not having a formal introduction and conclusion, or by having an answer that looks a bit messy? Some advice: worry about something else. Provide reasonable introductions and conclusions as guides to your response, but do not waste time on them. Professors at this point are marking for content, not style. Elegantly worded introductions are wonderful, but they will likely take up too much time and keep you from completing your essay.

Further, don’t waste time “rewriting in good.” Write so that your words can be read at normal speed the first time, and leave it at that. Don’t labour excessively over word choice, style and spelling (unless you are using specific vocabulary words that you should know the spelling of) as though you are writing the final draft of an essay. It is perfectly acceptable to cross things out and insert words. If you have any extra time at the end, reread your answers to improve the rough bits of wording, weak transitions, and so on.

AP English Literature Free Response

All the resources you need to succeed on your AP English Literature & Composition free response questions. Be sure to review the prior year questions along with the FRQ tips and strategies.

Prior Year Questions

Exam reader’s writing advice, essay tips from ap readers, essay writing tips.

AP English Literature | Practice Exams | Free Response | Vocab |  Study Guides

AP® US History

How to answer ap® us history free response questions.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Knowing how to answer AP® US History Free Response Questions is an art. If you’re looking for the best tips and tricks for writing APUSH FRQs, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we’ll review a five-step strategy to writing top-mark AP® US History free response answers, mistakes students often make on the APUSH FRQs, as well as go over a compiled set of tips and test taking tricks for you to incorporate into your responses. 

Keep reading to get the scoop on what you need to know when it comes to maximizing your limited AP® US History exam review time.

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® US History Free Responses

Here, we’ll review a five-step strategy for you to start writing AP® US History free response answers that will score you maximum possible points. 

1. Master the three different rubrics for the AP® US History SAQ, DBQ, and LEQ. 

The biggest mistake a student can make when it comes to preparing for AP® US History is never truly understanding how they’re going to be graded. This leads to scattered responses that do not provide the specificity that translates to points on the exam. 

To solve this, you’ll want to go to the College Board’s AP® Central website and navigate to the previously released exams for APUSH:

Here is the link for AP® US History past released exams

Open up the scoring guidelines PDF. These guidelines outline how points were distributed on that particular year’s exams. 

Here’s a screenshot from the first question of the 2019 released exam:

Source: College Board

From the above, you’d see that the first SAQ was worth three points, and each point was awarded for successfully completing the task asked within the question. After reviewing a few of these questions, you’d start to notice the level of specificity the graders require in order to earn points.  For example here you can see that in order to adequately describe the differences between the two sources’ historical interpretations, students had to explicitly state the positions of both authors.

As you familiarize yourself with each type of question, you’ll start to notice the College Board always uses a predictable set of directive words in their questions. We’ll cover that later in this post.

For now, be sure to review the last two years worth of released exam scoring guidelines so you can begin to understand how SAQs, DBQs, and LEQs are scored.

2. Underline or circle every bolded and capitalized word in the question prompt.

Now that we know how points are broadly distributed, we need to have a test taking system when reading and preparing for our responses.

As you can see in the above, the first SAQ of the 2019 AP® US History exam was assessing students’ abilities to describe and explain. In the majority of SAQs, you’ll be asked to describe or explain a response to stimuli. 

For DBQs and LEQs, you’ll be asked one of three essay types: compare, change and continuity over time, or causation. This is commonly phrased using the directive words, “evaluate the extent of…”.

It’s easy to circle or underline the key phrases that you’re being asked to respond to. 

There are two “key phrases” to commit to memory when it comes to AP® US History short answer questions:

That’s it. If you review the last several years worth of released exams, these are the most commonly used directive words for the short answer question section of APUSH. 

If you aren’t sure what these words are asking you for, keep reading.

When the exam asks you to describe something, you need to tell them about what they’re asking. This doesn’t mean you need to explain the “why” — it just means you need to talk about what the topic is and the characteristics of the topic being asked.

When you’re asked to explain something, this is where you need to show the “why”. You need to be able to give 3-5 sentences with an example in most cases to earn credit for these questions.

After you’ve identified the key directive words, make sure you take note on how many examples you need to provide in your response. Sometimes students go above and beyond in their response, but what they don’t realize is that if they give more than what was asked, the reader will move on after the student reaches what the question has asked (i.e. the question asks you to describe one thing and you state three; in this case, only the first is considered for your score). 

One of our favorite test taking tips is to make a tick mark or star next to the words you’ve circled or underlined after you’ve answered it in your free response. This gives you a visual way to ensure you’ve answered all parts of the question.

It can be so easy to not answer the question that’s being asked of you. 

Aside from describe and explain, here are other potential directive words the College Board may give you for AP® US History:

• Compare : Talk about similarities and/or differences.
• Evaluate : Determine how important information or the quality/accuracy of a claim is.
• Identify : Give information about a specific topic, without elaboration or explanation.
• Support an argument : Give specific examples and explain how they support a thesis. 

3. Plan your response BEFORE beginning to write your response.

When the College Board shared their favorite AP® US History exam tips , they put this at the very top of their considerations. They describe that it’s common for students begin writing responses immediately and as a result, students create poorly planned responses that are disconnected. 

Remember, the FRQ is intended to test your ability to connect the dots of what you’ve learned in class to historical thinking skills. The crucial skill is being able to identify evidence, and connect it to a historically defensible thesis as part of your historical analysis. 

To do so elegantly, you must plan out your response before you begin writing. 

Here’s what we suggest: read the question once to circle the directive words. Then read it a second time to ensure your understanding of what’s being asked. If needed, read the question a third time and think about how you’d word the question in your own words. 

Craft a clear thesis statement. An easy way to do so is with the “although A, XYZ, therefore” model. We go over this in our tips section below. Ask yourself, is my thesis defensible? Can I agree or disagree with it? 

Then, think about what evidence you can bring in to respond to the question — how does this evidence connect back to your thesis? Do not leave it to your reader to infer what you mean when you include certain supporting evidence. 

This process will help you start to think through what you’re actually answering and how you’ll answer the “why” based questions. It’ll also help you avoid simply restating the question without adding any direct response to the question (what is known as a historically defensible thesis or a thesis with a clear line of reasoning). 

4. Remember that AP® US History DBQs and LEQs require you to demonstrate four key skills: formation of a thesis, contextualization, sourcing, and complexity. SAQs should directly respond to what’s being asked. 

For short answer questions in AP® US History, you do not need to write an essay to score all the possible points. There is no need for an introduction, thesis, or conclusion on these questions.

For the DBQ and LEQs, scoring is clearly outlined on a respective seven and six point scale. 

For the DBQ, you need to be able to: 

• State a defensible claim or thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a clear line of reasoning. 
• Contextualize your response in the broader historical context (for APUSH, it’s typically demonstrating knowledge of the last 50-100 years prior to the time period asked in the prompt). 
• You earn one point for using content from at least three documents to address the prompt and two points for using six documents as well as supporting an argument in response to the prompt. 
• You earn an additional point for bringing in at least one piece of outside specific historical evidence beyond what has been provided. 
• For analysis, students must source at least three documents discussing the author’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience in relation to the thesis as well as illustrate a complex understanding of historical development to incorporate nuance into their response.

What this means is that as long as you cover all the points outlined above clearly, you can score a perfect score on the AP® US History DBQ. 

For the LEQ, much is the same in the core rubric in terms of needing a thesis, providing contextualization, and analysis. For evidence, there is not a requirement for additional evidence beyond what is provided since that’s the entire point of the evidence section in crafting a long answer question response. 

When you’re going through your mental checklist of whether you’ve demonstrated these skills, ask yourself if you’ve “closed the loop”. This is a test taking strategy the College Board promotes across multiple disciplines and with good reason — it challenges a student to demonstrate they can form a coherent argument. Closing the loop in AP® US History can mean using words like “because” or “therefore” to help bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters.

5. Practice, practice, and then practice some more. 

The nice thing about AP® free response sections is that they’re generally pretty predictable to prepare for. Ultimately they come down to knowing how you’re going to be assessed, and learning how to craft responses that match those criteria. 

When you start preparing, try a set of released questions and then have your friend grade your responses with the scoring guidelines. See how you might have done without any intentional practice. 

Then, review your mistakes, log them in your study journal and begin to tackle the areas where you’re weakest. Typically students struggle most with the evidence and analysis sections of the APUSH exam. 

After a few times of doing this, you’ll have a stronger intuition towards the test and feel more confident heading into test day.

Return to the Table of Contents

37 AP® US History FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Now that we’ve gone over the 5-step process to writing good APUSH free responses, we can shift gears to tackle some test taking tips and tricks to maximizing your FRQ scores. 

We recommend you review these several weeks, and then days before your exam to keep them top of mind. 

15 AP® US History Short Answer Question Tips

• Answer the question.
• Cite your supporting evidence.
• Explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Focus much of your prep time on the E in ACE . Students often are not effective at earning the point for explaining because they simply restate a fact and fail to show how that fact supports comparison, causation, or continuity and change over time. 
• Practice demonstrating comprehension of historical excerpts by working on sharing ideas from different sources in your own words. Review both primary and secondary sources.
• Practice supporting your main points of your thesis, and then practice supporting your minor points and details. 
• Be specific in your responses to questions. It is not enough to say for example that “something changed”. What changed, how did it change and what might have prompted that change?
• One of the easiest ways to bridge two concepts is to use words like “because” or “therefore” and then proceed to answer the “why this matters”. Always double check that your answer addresses the how and the why — this is a good gut check for whether or not you’ve been specific enough. 
• To help you score points in demonstrating your historical reasoning skills, use words like whereas, in contrast to, or likewise when drawing comparisons.
• Think of short answer questions as pop quiz drills, rather than full essays. There is no need for having a thesis in each SAQ response. 
• Stick to the right time period and review your chronology. Sometimes students bring in irrelevant information from outside the time period being asked in the SAQ. More recently this happened in 2019 where students brought in information about women’s history that was not relevant to the time period asked. 
• When presented with a stimulus such as an image to interpret, be sure that your reference to key concepts from class ties back to that stimulus. For example, “this image demonstrates the historical concept of CONCEPT, which was DEFINITION. This can be seen by the DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE IMAGE RELATES to the CONCEPT.”.
• Pennsylvania and Maryland are not part of the New England colonies!
• Know your key definitions with specificity. For example, it’s not enough to only state that the New Deal and Great Society programs helped the economy. To earn points, you must distinguish how the New Deal focused on America’s economy after the Great Depression to combat unemployment while the Great Society focused on social supports via Medicare and Medicaid to support Americans. 
• Review your wars and presidents before, during and after key wars. Students have often confused things between WWI and WWII or between the Korean and Vietnam wars. 
• Do not use the outcomes of a government program to describe a difference. Just because one program for example was successful while another was not does not demonstrate that you’ve mastered the content knowledge. 
• For example, just because a primary source demonstrates something about a particular group of people doesn’t mean it necessarily applies to that entire geographic region. There is often nuance, which is why we study history!

17 AP® US History Document Based Questions (DBQ) Tips

• X is your counterargument or counterpoint
• ABC are your strongest supporting points for your argument.
• And Y is your argument.
• If you don’t like the above formula, another common way to form a thesis is to use the word “because” — the claims you make after you state “because” will be your argument. 
• Cover your contextualization point in the introduction of your essay. The easiest way to do this is to discuss what was happening 50-100 years before your prompt and its relation to your thesis. 
• In document 1, XYZ
• In document 2, XYZ
• Be sure to have clear topic sentences that relate back to your thesis. This helps you avoid document listing without direction in your essay. 
• It’s not enough to just describe the content of the documents.You need to relate what’s going on in the documents to your thesis. Students lose points here for failing to include clear arguments or claims in relation back to their thesis. 
• XYZ, therefore ABC
• XYZ is the description of the document
• ABC is the implication and support of how what you described relates to your thesis. 
• Many students struggle with author purpose and point of view. Practice articulating what you believe to be the intention of the authors of documents and connecting it back to your argument. Don’t just say “the author has this point of view”.
• Continuity and Change Over Time : You should include at least one “however” statement at the end of every body paragraph. Example: XYZ changed…; however, one continuity was ABC…”
• Compare/Contrast : You should include a similarity and difference at the end of every body paragraph: “XYZ similarities…however, one difference was ABC…”
• Cause/Effect: Have at least one therefore statement at the end of each body paragraph. “XYZ happened….therefore, ABC consequence of XYZ happening”
• Sourcing is earned when specificity and significance is included in discussing historical context, audience, purpose, or point of view. You don’t earn it by making general statements. 
• When sourcing, you only need to use one of the skills for each document you source. Don’t feel the need to go over historical context, audience, purpose, and point of view for every single document you are trying to earn sourcing for. 
• Source at least four or five documents to be safe, in case you’re wrong in one of your interpretations. 
• Be sure to incorporate a few examples of historical evidence from each decade from beyond the documents you’re given — this is worth a full point on your DBQ. 
• When you incorporate outside evidence, make sure it’s from the same period  you’re writing about. Chronology and time periods are important! 
• It’s more than just including the word “however” to qualify an argument. It’s considering the broader picture and implications.
• It can also be demonstrated in the form of illustrating contradictions between documents or historical events in relation to the thesis.
• The College Board rubric describes this as “explaining relevant and insightful connections within and across periods”
• The College Board describes this as “explaining both similarity and difference”
• If you’re writing about causation, discuss the effects.
• If you want another way to earn this point, you can earn it by applying your argument to another time period and drawing a connection. If you do this, keep in mind you must apply your entire argument to another time period.
• A few possible stems to signal to your grader you are attempting complexity is to say use one of the following phrases: another time, another view, or another way.

5 AP® US History Long Essay Questions (LEQ) Tips

• Your thesis does not need to just be limited to the model of addressing economic, social and political issues. Students have often overused this format when they could be better off understanding core AP® US History themes and how they relate to the question being asked. 
• Make sure you know your time periods. Students often lose points when it comes to evidence because they bring in concepts that are outside the scope of the time period or region. Chronology is important across the entire AP® US History exam. 
• Review the causes of key events and how the occurrence of key events impacted society over time. For example, what was fought for in women’s rights before Roe v. Wade, what led to it happening, and what were the outcomes from the case happening going forward in relation to women’s rights?
• Show the “why” of the evidence you’re providing. It’s not enough just to mention a concept. Explain to the reader why you are including that concept or evidence and relate it back to your thesis. Evidence should further your argument. 
• If you’re answering a continuity and change over time question, make sure you also discuss continuity. Students often only talk about change over time.

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® US History FRQs

Whoa! We’ve reviewed a ton of information in this AP® US History FRQ review guide. At this time, you should have an actionable 5-step plan for your FRQ prep as well a 37 test taking tips to prepare with.

Putting everything together, here are a few key things to remember: 

• Students who excel on the AP® US History free response section do so because they understand how they’re being graded. Master the rubrics. Understand how and when points are awarded and not rewarded. There are tons of previously released exams to help you here.
• Follow a regular system for responding to each question. Whether it’s our approach of identifying the directive word, planning and then writing while checking off after you’ve answered each part of the prompt, have a methodology in the way you craft responses. 
• Remember the ACE acronym for SAQs: answer the question, cite your evidence, and explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Focus your time on chronology, time periods and course themes. This will help you write within the scope of the time period given in each question and not lose points by mistakenly incorporating something outside of the time period being asked. 
• Review commonly tested AP® US History topics. Review the curriculum and exam description to see the percentage breakdown of different units. Units 3 through 8 are always more important for the exam than Units 1-2, and 9. 
• Make sure your thesis includes a clear line of reasoning. Remember the model: Although X, ABC, therefore Y.
• Always “close the loop”. Use words such as “because” or “therefore” to bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters. 

We hope you’ve found this FRQ guide helpful for your AP® US History exam review. 

If you’re looking for more free response questions or multiple choice questions, check out our website for more valuable exam prep! Albert has hundreds of original standards-aligned practice questions for you with detailed explanations to help you learn by doing.

If you found this post helpful, you may also like our AP® US History tips here or our AP® US History score calculator here .

We also have an AP® US History review guide here .

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Biology Long Essay Free Response Questions

9 min read • january 6, 2021

Jessica Nadzam

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Overview of the Long Essay (FRQ) Questions

The AP Biology exam used to consist of eight long-form free response questions, but in 2019 it was redesigned to consist of only six free response questions. Two of those questions are in the “long” form, and these consist of 50% of the free response score, or 25% of your total score.

Long story short, those two questions make a biiiiiiiiig impact on your score! 

The long essay questions will always be the first two on your exam, so you’ll see them as soon as you open the test booklet. You have to write in blue or black ink (for all things that are good, please do not use a pencil), so have a few of your favorite pens ready. You’ll have lots of pages to write on (if you use all of them, you may have written too much), and you’ll be given a copy of the Formulas and Equations sheet for any calculations you need to do. 

Questions are between 8-10 points apiece, and they typically contain content and problems concerning multiple content areas. You could initially respond about protein structure in the first part and then end up describing the evidence of evolution by the end of the question. There’s a lot of points on the table, and CollegeBoard will make you work for them. 

There is one guarantee on the long essay portion, and that is that one of these questions will ask you to graph something, but IMHO, this is the easiest part. Graphs are usually just that - graphs! And they’re worth three whole points just for plotting some information from a table - woohoo! I always tell my students to go straight to the graph and complete it, if possible. Just remember that when you complete that graph, you must:

Scale your graph appropriately

Label the axes and use proper units (if you don’t list your units, this point won’t count)

Plot the actual data 

Pretty simple, right? 

Response Grading (from a former AP Reader)

There are almost twenty points in this section, and they make up 25% of your AP Biology score. So, how are those points calculated and scored? CollegeBoard is fantastic at writing rigorous questions, but they’re also very good at training their graders (called AP Readers) how to objectively score the questions. Readers spend a whole day training to grade just ten points worth of questions, and then spend a whole week grading only those questions, eight hours a day . 

A well-oiled machine may be an understatement. The bottom of the line is, AP Readers know exactly what they’re looking for when they’re grading. They read a hundred tests a day (minimum), and if you don’t have the answer they’ve been told is the right answer, they tend to move on pretty quickly. 

While this seems intimidating, it’s actually good news for you - but only if you pay very close attention to the next section on verbage. You see, the bolded verbs in AP free response questions are just hints as to what AP Readers are looking for in an answer. If you know those verbs backwards and forwards, you will know what type of response AP Readers want. And if you know that, you don’t have to worry about writing something that may be right content-wise, but still missing a point on a technicality. 

Essential Verbiage

There are a lot of verbs used in AP exams to pose questions for students to ponder and rip their hair out over. 

To keep all that hair on your head, we’ve made you a table. It’s pretty easy - if you know exactly what to do when you encounter each bolded verb , you know exactly what to do to answer the question the way the Reader wants to see it. You know how many points it's worth, and therefore can figure out how much time to spend on it. 

Side note - keep in mind that if a question asks you do something more than once - maybe to describe two factors or explain three phenomenon, you should multiple that # Points by however many things it expects you to do. 

Strategies for 5able Responses

Do you want a 5 on this test? Then here’s what you need to know and be able to do: 

Read. The. Question. Care. Fully. Seriously. You don’t know how many students miss points because they were skimming and missed a critical word. It’s a heartbreaker for Readers, who want to give you that point, but can’t. Also, read the directions carefully. Your papers always say something about how responses on the actual question page will not be scored. Do not write on the question page . You can for brainstorming or outlining as scratch paper, but if your words aren’t written on lined paper or a graph or table, they won’t be scored. So make sure you put your answers in the right place! 

Complete. Sentences. Unless it’s an identify or construct or calculate question, you need a capital letter and a period, or the Reader will not grade that response. Period. Outlines, bulleted lists, and drawings won’t be graded unless specified in the question’s directions. 

Circle your bolded verbs . Find them. Figure out which are worth the most points, the least points, will take the longest, will be the quickest, etc. Then, figure out which ones to answer first. 

When you start the test, you don’t have to go in order. If your mind goes blank on question one, skip it . It’s not going anywhere, you can come back to it. But don’t waste time on it when there are others you can definitely answer later in the booklet. 

Skip around to answer these types of questions first, as they are worth the most points and/or are the quickest to answer: Construct a graph, Design an experiment, Identify, Graph/draw. Most other question types take longer just to read the question and write out the full answer, so these are the quickest and most bang-for-your-buck question types. 

Time yourself. You get 90 minutes, but it goes by fast. Keep a digital watch that does not beep , and refer to it regularly. Plot how long you want to spend on each question so you don’t waste time in one area and lose points on another question you could have easily answered. 

This is not AP English. The graders are not English teachers. They don’t care how pretty your introduction is or how thought-provoking your thesis statement is, so don’t write these. Skip the fluff and go straight to the point. Don’t restate the question or introduce the topic or regurgitate random knowledge - it won’t get you extra points, it’s a waste of time for you, and the Readers get bored sorting through all your thoughts and writing. 

Label your responses . While you still have to write in complete sentences, please label each response with a, b, c, etc. if the essay question has multiple parts. You don’t even have to go in order, but this helps Readers find your answer so they don’t have to sift and guess what you meant. 

COMMIT TO YOUR ANSWER . Readers don’t like wishy-washy papers. Erase the words “might” and “possible” and “I think” from your vocabulary. You could be completely wrong, but if you’re writing about a purple hippopotamus, COMMIT to that purple hippopotamus. Don’t say “I think the purple hippopotamus might possibly maybe do photosynthesis if it feels like it.” That’s wishy washy, and Readers don’t accept that as an actual answer, so they won’t give points for it. Be committed , and loudly proclaim “This purple hippopotamus does photosynthesis!” Ta-da! 

If possible, always give an example. We said earlier not to mind dump and regurgitate, but examples are usually a good way to sweep up an extra point or two if you have budgeted your time wisely and can accurately apply it to the scenario. Examples should be a demonstration of the phenomenon you’re describing. ~For example~ if you’re asked to describe the differences between natural and artificial selection, a good example of artificial selection would be to discuss the development of different dog breeds for different traits and features. 

Now that’s we’ve passed on the knowledge, let’s take it out for a test drive. Below you will find a sample question with tips to apply to maximize your time and points for that Fiveable 5 score! 

Sample Question

Soybeans, or Glycine max , are grown and harvested in the American delta. They are a popular crop and are used in a variety of foodstuffs including soy milks, tofu, and other added ingredients. As a high protein bean, they are very popular and fast to grow, with only sixty days from planting to harvest. However, they are very sensitive to their environments, and farmers frequently worry about frost destroying their crops. Also, they do not work alone. Soybeans rely on fungi in their roots (mycorhizzae) to exchange nutrients and fix nitrogen. 

a) Construct a graph of soybean grown between days 1 and 60. 

b) Draw and label a line for your prediction if the mycorhizzae were not present in soybean roots. Explain why this would occur. 

c) The mycorhizzae in plant roots are responsible for fixing nitrogen that plants need. Identify the type of relationship that occurs between the plants and the mycorhizzae, and make a claim as to why it is beneficial or harmful.

d) Botanists recommend rotating soybean fields every three years or so. Typically, farmers will alternate soybeans and corn in different fields. Describe why this is done and how it benefits the plants and their environments. 

Sample Question Answer Key

Phew. That’s a lot of words, a lot of scientific terminology, and a lot to answer in approximately twenty minutes - the maximum amount of time you should spend on one FRQ. Remember, you don’t have to answer questions in order and you can pick and choose parts to answer each time, but for the sake of this example, I’ll be moving from a-d. 

Before we answer, let’s do some quick recon. It’s question one, so we know it’s a long FRQ. It’s got four parts, and six parts are bolded. We tally it up, and we find this question is worth 10 points . But we don’t panic, because we know how to tackle these AP verbs! 

Part A is pretty simple, and I recommend doing it first. Draw and label the graph. I’ve linked my example below. Notice that I labeled my axes and made sure to include my units ( 1) , and the scales on my graph are equidistant and accurate ( 1 ), and I plotted my points correctly ( 1) . Ding ding ding, that’s three points right there!

Moving on to Part B, we’re asked to draw a line. Okay, cool, we can do that. But where do we draw the line? Remember, this is only 1 point, so it’s okay to skip it for now if you aren’t sure. Definitely don’t waste your time wracking your brain if it baffles you. But, if you were to draw it, you’d have a flat line on the bottom of the X-axis. Why? Because mycorrhizae are essential for plant growth. Without them, the plant wouldn’t survive.

We’ve got 4 points total and two more parts to go, so there’s going to be a lot expected from these questions. Part C wants you to identify a relationship between a plant and a fungus - that’s Ecology 101 again, and the answer is “mutualism.” Remember, since this is an identify question, we don’t need complete sentences, just the one word answer to get our 1 point. Yay, time saved! For the make a claim portion, explain this relationship. Why is it good or bad? Well, it’s mutualism, which means both parties benefit. For this one, you do need complete sentences, but since it’s just 1 point, one complete sentence defining mutualism should suffice.  Finally, we get to the finale - Part D. The Describe question. Students typically love or hate these, because they leave a bit of wiggle room in the answer, but they also take a lot of time. Since this one is worth 2 points, we want to take the time to answer it correctly. Why do farmers rotate their crops? The key part to a describe question is identifying the phenomenon or concept, and then explaining it or illustrating it with an example. So in this case, we want to identify that crops are rotated to keep nutrients from being overused, and then provide substance to that answer by saying what nutrients are needed for, how they rebuild over time, etc.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the complete guide to ap us government frqs.

Advanced Placement (AP)

Free-response questions, or FRQs, on the AP US Government exam are more straightforward than those on some other AP tests, but they can still be tough if you're not ready for them. In this guide, we will lay out a simple step-by-step method for answering AP Government FRQs , go through a real example, and tell you where you can find additional practice resources.

AP Government Free-Response Section Format

The free-response section lasts one hour and 40 minutes and consists of four questions , each of which is worth 12.5% of your total score. So as a whole, the free-response section accounts for half your total AP Gov score (the other 50% comes from the multiple-choice section). Each FRQ is worth 3-6 raw points.

Here are the four types of FRQs you'll get on the AP Government exam:

• Concept Application (3 raw points)
• Quantitative Analysis (4 raw points)
• SCOTUS Comparison (4 raw points)
• Argument Essay (6 raw points)

The free-response questions will ask you to integrate your knowledge of the various content areas covered by the course. This includes analyzing political events in the US, discussing examples, and demonstrating your understanding of general principles of US government and politics. You'll also be asked to examine data from charts, define key terms, and explain the roles that different parts of our government play in the political system.

The following chart shows specifically what you must do for each FRQ on the AP Government test. All info below comes from the 2020 AP US Government and Politics Course and Exam Description .

AP Government FRQs: 5-Step Solution Process

This section provides a step-by-step process for answering any question on the AP US Government exam. Here's a sample question from the 2020 AP Gov Course and Exam Description that I'll reference throughout so you can see how these steps might work in practice:

Step 1: Read the Introductory and Concluding Sentences

Free-response questions #1 and #3 will include passages, while question #2 will have an image or a chart with data. Skim the first and final sentences of the passage (or title of the graphic for #2) before you get to the tasks (labeled A-C or A-D). This will help you get a rough sense of what to expect in the rest of the question.

It's a good idea to read the intros and conclusions to all the FRQs before choosing which one to begin with. Doing this might help build up your confidence and improve your efficiency to start with a question that's easier for you.

In the sample question above, you would read the title of the graphic ("Public Education Spending: Amount Spent per Pupil by State in 2014") and then skim the image itself to get a sense of what it's asking you to analyze.

Step 2: Identify (and Underline, If You Want) the Command Verb

For each task in each FRQ, you're given specific instructions on the type of answer that is expected; these instructions include command verbs that tell you what to do. It's important to be aware of exactly what the question is asking so you can earn full points.

These command verbs are the first words you should zero in on as you approach a question. If you think it'll help keep you focused, you can underline these verbs .

Here are the most commonly used task verbs, as described in the AP Gov Exam Description :

Compare: Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.

Define: Provide a specific meaning for a word or concept.

Describe: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic.

Develop an argument: Articulate a claim and support it with evidence.

Draw a conclusion: Use available information to formulate an accurate statement that demonstrates understanding based on evidence.

Explain: Provide information about how or why a relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome occurs, using evidence and/or reasoning. Explain "how" typically requires analyzing the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome, whereas explain "why" typically requires analysis of motivations or reasons for the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome.

Identify: Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.

In part A of the sample question, the command verb is "identify," indicating that you need to correctly interpret the data in the image. In part B, the command verb changes to "describe," which means you'll need to go one step further and interpret and analyze data in the graphic that you have found.

Part C starts with "draw a conclusion," meaning that you will need to tie together the evidence you found in part B to come up with a final (accurate) statement on what this means. Finally, part D begins with the task verb "explain," showing that you must make a clear connection between the data in this graphic as a whole and the principle of federalism.

Step 3: Know Where You'll Earn Your Raw Points

In general, each part in a question (A, B, C, and D) will correspond to 1 raw point , but not all questions are like this.

After finding the task verb in the part of the question you're answering, take note of how many examples or descriptions you need to provide , as each will likely correspond to a point in your raw score for the question. There might also be more than one task verb in a question, in which case you'll likely get at least 2 raw points for it.

As a reminder, here is the maximum number of raw points you can earn for each question (don't forget that each question is still worth the same percentage of your score: 12.5%):

Take care to answer the question thoroughly but directly , addressing all points in a way that will make it easy for graders to assess your response. Remember that you don't need to write an essay for the first three FRQs, so just go straight for the answer to avoid any ambiguity.

In the sample question, we know there will be 4 raw points you can earn. And since the tasks are divided into four parts (labeled A-D), we can assume that each part will be worth 1 raw point .

You can see more sample FRQs and how they're graded with the official scoring guidelines here .

Step 4: Reread Your Answer

Once you've come up with an answer, reread what you wrote to ensure it makes sense and addresses the question completely . Did you give the correct number of descriptions or examples asked of you? Does your answer directly respond to what the question is asking?

If you're satisfied, move on to the next part of the question and return to step 2!

Step 5: Pace Yourself

The final step is to keep track of time so you can be sure you're pacing yourself effectively and are not spending too much time on any one question. As a reminder, you'll have one hour and 40 minutes for the entire free-response section of the AP Government exam.

It's suggested that you spend the following amounts of time on each FRQ:

As you can see, you should spend about an equal amount of time on the first three FRQs and save most of your time for your essay , which will likely require the most effort of the four.

A Real AP Government FRQ Example + Analysis

Now, let's go through the answers to a real AP Government free-response question from the 2019 released questions to show you what your responses should look like. This question is an example of a Concept Application question on the exam, meaning it's worth 3 raw points (1 point each for parts A, B, and C).

This question is all about the Johnson Amendment, which does not allow religious organizations to engage in political activities and contribute money to political campaigns. As this passage explains, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious group, encourages pastors to challenge this law by participating in an annual event called Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

Below, we go through how to answer each of the three parts correctly using the scoring guidelines .

Part A—1 Point

Part A asks you to come up with an example of a specific action Congress could take to address the concerns of the Alliance Defending Freedom. In other words, what could Congress do to allow groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom to speak freely about political campaigns?

Note that the command verb used here is "describe," meaning you must "provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic," or elaborate on what you're proposing and why it would work.

There are two possible answers you could put down here, according to the scoring guidelines:

• Congress could pass a law that would reverse the Johnson Amendment.
• Congress could pass a law to allow religious organizations to participate more directly in politics.

Part B—1 Point

Part B asks you to go into more detail about what you proposed in part A . You must talk about how partisan divisions (i.e., differences in political parties among politicians) could stop whatever you proposed in part A from going into effect (whether that's a new law altogether or a reversal of the original Johnson Amendment).

The task verb used here is "explain," so you must use evidence to show how the action you wrote down in part A could be blocked or reversed.

Here are two possible answers , according to the scoring guidelines:

• Partisan divisions make it more difficult to pass a law because parties adhere to different ideological points of view.
• If Congress and the president are from different political parties, the president might threaten to veto the legislation.

Part C—1 Point

The final part of this free-response question asks you to examine the scenario again, this time from the perspective of the Alliance Defending Freedom , or the religious group in question.

How might the Alliance argue that the Johnson Amendment, which prevents them from speaking on political issues and contributing money to political campaigns, is taking away their rights?

The key here is to first think about what rights these could be . Perhaps freedom of speech or freedom of religion? As you probably noticed, the task verb is "explain," so once again you must use plenty of evidence to show why this contentious relationship exists between the Alliance and the Johnson Amendment/the US government as a whole.

Here are examples of answers you could write, according to the official scoring guidelines:

• The Alliance Defending Freedom and other religious groups might argue that their First Amendment rights are being violated.
• The Alliance Defending Freedom and other religious groups might argue that their freedom of speech/religion is being violated.

Essential Resources for Practicing AP US Government FRQs

There are several resources you can use to hone your skills for answering AP Government FRQs.

Official College Board Resources

The College Board website hosts free-response questions from previous tests that you can use for practice. I recommend starting with the 2019 FRQs (unfortunately, they don't come with sample student responses), as these will look the most like the questions you'll get on test day.

Once you've used those, you can look at FRQs from the 2018 test and earlier; most of these come with sample student responses so you can see what a good response looks like.

If you're hoping to practice FRQs in the context of a full-length test, here are some links to past AP Government exams you can download (as always, prioritize the most recent tests):

• 2018 Practice Test
• 2013 Practice Test
• 2012 Practice Test
• 2009 Practice Test
• 2005 Practice Test
• 1999 Practice Test

These are by far the best sample AP US Government free-response questions you can get because they most accurately represent what you'll see on the real test.

AP Government Review Books

AP Government review books are also solid resources for free-response practice, though they vary a lot in quality.

The Princeton Review's prep book for AP Gov includes five full-length practice tests , so there should be tons of free-response questions you can use to hone your skills. Barron's AP US Gov review book also has some useful practice tests and free-response questions.

If you use these unofficial free-response questions for practice, just be sure to intersperse them with official questions from the College Board so that you maintain an accurate sense of what to expect on the real test.

Recap: Everything to Know About AP US Government FRQs

The four free-response questions on the AP US Government and Politics exam can be approached methodically to earn the maximum number of points.

Read the intro and conclusion to the question first so you can get your bearings. Then, for each of the separate parts, identify the task verb, figure out where you'll earn your raw points, and double-check your answer for any missing pieces or careless errors.

You should also pace yourself so that you're spending no more than 20 minutes each on the first three questions and 40 minutes on the essay.

I suggest practicing at least a few free-response questions before heading into the AP exam. The best resource to use is the College Board website, which contains an archive of past questions accompanied by scoring guidelines and sample student responses. These questions are pretty simple compared to the free-response questions on other AP tests once you get the hang of them!

What's Next?

Not sure where to begin in your AP prep? Our five-step plan will prepare you to take on any AP test .

If you're missing some of your notes that you need to study for AP Gov, check out this article with links to all the content you need to know for the test . You can also learn about the test as a whole with our comprehensive AP Government and Politics review guide .

Do you have a target score in mind for this exam? Learn more about what it takes to earn a 5 on an AP test and whether you should aim for one yourself.

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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APUSH Free Response Questions and Responses: A Study Guide

The Free Response Question (FRQ) is a tried-and-true component of the APUSH exam. The FRQ is basically a fancy way of saying an essay. But, as I’m sure you have uncovered, there’s a lot of different types of essays on the APUSH exam. Refer to the table below about the differences between the essay types.

For this blog post, I will take you through the steps of answering a Long Essay Question (LEQ) for the APUSH exam, including given you student responses to analyze. At the end of this blog post, I will give you a new question for you to try on your own (and you should – doing well on the APUSH exam will require lots of practice!). All of the material in this blog post will come from the College Board website, and I strongly suggest you create your own student account to get more material.

Alright, let’s go!

Free Response Questions: LEQ #1

This LEQ comes from the 2016 APUSH exam that you can find on the College Board website. Please read the question below:

Evaluate the extent to which United States participation in the First World War (1917–1918) marked a turning point in the nation’s role in world affairs. In the development of your argument, explain what changed and what stayed the same from the period immediately before the war to the period immediately following it. (Historical thinking skill: Periodization).

Maximum Possible Points: 6

Please note:

• Each point of the rubric is earned independently, e.g., a student could earn the point for synthesis without earning the point for thesis.
• Unique evidence from the student response is required to earn each point, e.g., evidence in the student response that qualifies for either of the targeted skill points could not be used to earn the point for thesis.

Before you start writing, it will be INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT for you to organize your thoughts. Follow these three steps to organize your thoughts for the LEQ.

1. Understand what the question is asking you to do. 2. Make a table about what information is and is not relevant. 3. Develop your outline. Start with your thesis.

Below, I will take you through each step.

Understand what the question is asking you to do

Not every question is going to ask you to do the same thing. Some questions will ask you to compare and contrast events, and others will have you identify change and continuities over time. For this question, you are asked to evaluate the role of the U.S. in World War I and the extent to which this represented a turning point in the post-WWI world. Three words should stick out to you here:

1. Evaluate; 2. Extent; and 3. Turning point.

(Yes, that’s technically four words. I know.)

If I were to translate this into plain speech, I would come up with the following:

How much (if at all) did the U.S. involvement in WWI represent a turning point in how the nation operated in global affairs? Explain with evidence.

It’s only when you can put the question in your own words that you can go about answering it at a high level.

Make a table about what information is and is not relevant

A table is a useful way for you to brainstorm information quickly and efficiently. I suggest creating two categories in your table because not everything you think up will be relevant to answering the question. Take a look at the table I have created below and see if you can identify which information is relevant and which information is not.

Can you identify what ideas would be useful to answer this question and which would not?

If you thought “women’s suffrage”, “Weimar Republic”, and “the Great Migration” wouldn’t be helpful, you were right. The question is asking about the United States involvement in global affairs after WWI. Women’s suffrage involves the US, and the 19th amendment passed after WWI, but it doesn’t deal with global affairs; the Weimar Republic is the post-WWI world, but doesn’t really affect the US in the way the question is asking; finally, the Great Migration hits the U.S. criteria, but isn’t really about global affairs.

Develop your outline. Start with your thesis.

After you have developed a list of ideas that are relevant to helping you answer the question, come up with your outline but always start with your thesis . Remember that your thesis is a direct answer to the question. In this instance, you need to answer how much the US involvement in WWI represented a turning point for the nation in global affairs.

What does the evidence you generated tell you?

However you decide to answer the question, make sure that your evidence matches the conclusion you reach.

Another useful way to organize your outline is based on the scoring rubric. You will be assessed on the following:

A. Thesis (1 point) B. Argument Development: Using the Targeted Historical Thinking Skill (2 points) C. Argument Development: Using Evidence (2 points) D. Synthesis (1 point)

In the next section, I will explain what the APUSH exam is looking for in a thesis statement. I strongly suggest that you look at all of the content that the College Board provides in their expanded version of scoring notes. You will need to create an account to access this, but trust me: it’s worth it.

Free Response Question (LEQ #1): Breaking Down the Scoring Rubric

In this section, I will explain what the APUSH scorers are looking at for each section. Remember, all of this information is available via the College Board website.

According to the College Board, the APUSH exam scoring notes state, “the thesis does not need to be a single sentence, it does need to be discrete, meaning it cannot be pieced together from across multiple places within the essay. It can be located in either the introduction or the conclusion, but not split between the two.”

Reference the table below for two examples of acceptable thesis statements.

If you noticed, the two thesis statements above opposite perspectives and yet, they both received full credit. It does not matter what side you come down on in answering the question, as long as you are clear and have evidence.

Notice the difference between the above thesis statements and the below thesis statement:

The United States has always been a powerhouse country. The American economy has been strong (despite a couple of bumps) and the people even stronger. The First World War showed the true power of the United States due to the willingness of its citizens and the brightness of their minds.

This thesis statement does not answer the question clearly, and, as such, it did not receive a point.

Free Response Question #2: Putting it all together

Now it’s your turn! This sample question is also from the 2016 APUSH exam. Once you have followed the steps I provided above (Understand what the question is asking you to do, 2. Make a table about what information is and is not relevant, and 3. Develop your outline. Start with your thesis!! ), you should check your response against the scoring notes provided for the question and read other student work. Good luck!

———————————————————————————————————–

Evaluate the extent to which the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution marked a turning point in the history of United States politics and society. In the development of your argument, explain what changed and what stayed the same from the period immediately before the amendments to the period immediately following them. (Historical thinking skill: Periodization)

Allena Berry loves history; that should be known upfront. She loves it so much that she not only taught high school history and psychology after receiving her Master’s degree at Stanford University, she is now studying how students learn history at Northwestern. That being said, she does not have a favorite historical time period (so don’t bother asking). In addition to history, she enjoys writing, practicing yoga, and scouring Craigslist for her next DIY project or midcentury modern piece of furniture.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

Author Interviews

Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.