THE AP WORLD

HISTORY EXAM
Mr. Sakole
 The AP Exam
May 17th, 2018 at 8:00 am
■ The APWH Exam is a two-part exam:
– Section I
■ Part A is made up of 55 multiple choice questions that you must answer
within 55 minutes.
■ Part B is made up of 3 Short Answer Questions that you must answer
within 40 minutes.
– Section II
■ Part A is made up of a Document-Based Question that you should answer
within 60 minutes (this includes a 15 minute reading period).
■ Part B is made up of a Long-Essay Question that you should answer within
40 minutes.
The APWH Exam is an assessment
of your…
■ Historical knowledge.
■ Ability to develop and support an argument.
■ Use of historical evidence.
■ Ability to analyze historical sources.
■ Ability to put historical information within the context of
the larger historical developments or processes.
■ Ability to recognize/explain similarities and differences.
■ Ability to recognize/explain patterns and change in
history.
■ Ability to recognize/explain historical causes and effects.
 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)
Section 1, Part A – 55 minutes
■ 55 Questions
■ 4 answer choices for each
■ Each MCQ is based on a stimulus
– The stimulus can be:
■ From an historical document.
■ From a secondary source.
■ A painting/picture/photograph/drawing/cartoon.
■ A poem or excerpt from a piece of literature.
■ A graph/map/chart
■ 2 to 3 MCQs per stimulus
 Short Answer Question (SAQ)
Section 1, Part B – 40 minutes
■ 4 questions total
■ You answer only 3 of the 4 SAQ’s
– Question 1 (required) – from Periods 3, 4, 5, or 6
■ Assesses your ability to analyze a secondary source.
■ Respond in writing to a historian’s argument.
– Question 2 (required) – from Periods 3, 4, 5, or 6
■ Assesses your ability to analyze a primary source.
■ Assesses your ability to identify and/or explain similarities/differences (COMPARISON) or
continuities/changes over time (CCOT)
– Question 3 and 4 – you choose one of these to answer
■ Question 3 – from Periods 1, 2, or 3
■ Question 4 – from Periods 4, 5, or 6
■ Will assess the skill that you did not demonstrate in Question 2
 DBQ and LEQ
Section II, Parts A and B
■ We will learn more about these parts of the
exam later in the year.
HOW TO SAQ
AP World History
Mr. Sakole
What is an SAQ?
■“SAQ” stands for Short Answer Question
■ Will require you to write a short response that:
1. Directly answers the prompt.
2. Is 3-5 sentences long.
3. Fits within the “answer box” (See next slide!).
4. Provides supporting historical evidence.
5. Connects the evidence to the prompt AND/OR
primary/secondary source.
 SAQ Structure
■ The SAQ will always be a 3 part question:
– Labeled “a), b), c)”
■ Each part will always start with the “action verb” or type of
response required:
– “Provide”
– “Describe”
– “Explain”
– “Identify”
■ Question 1 and 2 will always have a stimulus attached to the
question.
■ Question 3 and 4 will NOT always have a stimulus attached to
the question (but they might!).
 SAQ Response
■ Your response MUST:
1. Directly ADDRESS the PROMPT
■ The “AP” in APWH = Address the Prompt
2. Provide accurate historical evidence (or examples)
to support your initial assertion.
3. Explain how the evidence relates to the prompt.
4. If there is a stimulus, refer to that stimulus in a
specific way.
SAQ Reponse
■ Build an ARGUMENT
TOWER
– Assertion/Statement
– For example…
– The reason for this
is…
■ Or This shows that…
■ Or This supports the
source because….
SAQ Response Activity

■ Let’s practice building an argument tower based

on some specific examples of SAQ prompts.
■ Use the handout I will give you to complete this
activity.
■ You may work alone or in your partner groups.
 SAQ Response Activity
Parts of the SAQ
Essential Question for each SAQ
Response:
part:
ASSERTION – What is the statement you want
to prove?
EVIDENCE – What information do you need to
provide to support your
assertion?
CONNECTION – How does your information
relate or connect to the prompt
and the stimulus (if there is
one)?
How you should start the
sentence for each part:
A change in…is:
A continuity in…is:
A similarity between…is:
A difference between…is:
A cause of…is:
An effect of…is:
For example…
An example of this is….
One example of this is…
For instance….
This evidence shows that…
This evidence is related to the prompt
because…
This evidence is related to the (stimulus
type) because…
The reason for this…is: