AP Test Helpful Hints and Tips

General Helpful Hints:
• Your test will consist of two parts -- Multiple Choice (55 minutes) and 3 Essays (one DBQ and two Free Response essays). You will have a 15 minute reading period and then a block of 115 minutes to write your essays after your post-Multiple Choice break.
• Get to the room early (by 7:45am) so you can “mellow” before the test begins
• Bring a watch so you can keep track of your own time
• Bring extra pens, pencils, and a good eraser
• Eat breakfast and sleep well before the test
• Don’t beat yourself up over a question or over the test -- remember, the worst that can happen is that you lose a little $$$!
Multiple Choice Helpful Hints:
• The Multiple Choice section is worth 50% of your overall test score
• There will be 80 questions, and you will have 55 minutes to complete this section
• Circle key words, cross off incorrect answers, and write on the test to help you answer the question -- don’t answer your own questions or get confused by words such as “EXCEPT”!  Anticipate what the answer should be before you look at the answer options.  Slow down on the the "EXCEPT" questions and talk yourself through them ("I'm looking for the FALSE answer").
• DO NOT LEAVE ANY QUESTIONS BLANK . . . Skip questions you have no clue on and come back to them later . . . questions later may jog your memory . . . BUT . . . ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS!
• ERASE WELL!!!
• REMEMBER—60+% is a good score!

DBQ Helpful Hints:
• The DBQ is worth 22.5% of your overall test score
• Your will have a 15 minute reading period to look over the question and the documents -- you cannot begin your essay during this time, but you may write your thesis and ideas in the booklet
• You will have a block of 115 minutes to write this essay and the two free response essays, so spend approximately 45 minutes writing your DBQ -- keep track of your own time!
• Your plan of attack should be to:
1. read/understand the question,
2. think about the time period and jot down all relevant facts you can think of
3. analyze the documents
4. scratch outline your thesis (one that takes a stand and answers the question) and where you will include your facts and documents
5. write your answer to the question!
• You must use both outside information (not included in the documents), and the documents in order to score well -- don’t worry about which is which, just think about the time period and incorporate ideas into your argument
• Be analytical in your answer -- explain how and why things happened, and use your facts and documents to prove to the reader that your ideas are valid -- the reader should never have to ask questions like “so what?” or “for example?” while reading your essay, since you will have already answered those questions for him/her
• WRITE LEGIBLY!

Free Response Essays Helpful Hints:
• The Free Response essays are each worth 13.75% of your overall test score -- you will write two Free Response essays
• You will have approximately 70 minutes of your 115 minute writing period to write your two Free Response essays
• Try to choose your essays before writing your DBQ -- you will see them at the back of the green booklet that has your DBQ -- you will pick one of the two offered in section B and one of the two offered in section C
• Free Response essays are just like the DBQ, only without the documents -- think about (and jot down) facts from the time period of the question before you even try to tackle the question
• Take at least 5 minutes (preferably 10 minutes) to write a thesis and scratch outline before you begin to write
• If you don’t see one you like, at least write something organized!
• WRITE LEGIBLY!
• REMEMBER . . . IT’S BETTER TO DO EXTRA PLANNING AND RUN OUT OF TIME WHILE WRITING AN EXCELLENT ESSAY THAN IT IS TO PLAN POORLY AND FINISH A BAD ESSAY!

Good Luck, and Take Lots of Deep Breaths!
Mr. H

Don't Drop the Ball Now . . . It's Final Exam Time!

. . . Doh!

Your Final Exam Part 1 (multiple choice) will be on Tuesday, 5/8/12.  It will consist of ~85 questions from a variety of sources . . . look over your Q1 Test, S1 Final, Q3 Test, 37-39 Test, 40-41 Test, and online practice tests and quizzes . . . also, feel free to consult the deity of your choice for assistance!

Your Final Exam Part 2 (free response essay) will be on Wednesday, 5/9/12.  It will consist of one essay question from the following list of six . . . do some research for each one and a little planning ahead of time . . . once again, feel free to consult the deity of your choice for assistance!

Potential Essay Questions for Semester 2 Final Day 2

Look back over your materials; get some specific facts that you might use for each of these questions, and plan an answer and scratch outline for each. On test day, TWO of these SIX essay questions will be selected randomly; you will then pick ONE of the TWO for your essay.

1) In what ways did the ideas and values held by Puritans influence the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s?

2) Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military reasons for the United States victory in the Revolutionary War. Confine your answer to the period 1775-1783.

3) Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War. Confine your answer to the period 1845-1861.

4) Analyze the ways in which technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American agriculture in the period 1865-1900.

5) Analyze the roles that women played in Progressive Era reforms from the 1880s through 1920. Focus your essay on TWO of the following:
Politics
Social conditions
Labor and working conditions

6) Explain the causes and consequences of TWO of the following population movements in the United States during the period 1945-1985.
Suburbanization
The growth of the Sun Belt
Immigration to the United States

Your Last Blog Homework?

1) Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discuss the required post about the USA of now versus 1911 AND to choose ONE of the optional posts labeled A-D. For the USA post, comment there. For the posts labeled A-D, comment on the post that you choose.

2) This will be worth 20 points total (10 points each), and will be due by 11:59pm on May 4, 2012 (yes, that's Prom Day!) . . . if your posts are time-stamped anywhere near that time, I will know that: a) you (like me) are boycotting Prom (again), b) Prom is NOT going well, and/or c) you are a true history nerd . . . Good luck!

REQUIRED -- The USA of 2012 and the USA of 1912

a. How is the USA of now (2012) better than the USA of 1912? Explain.

b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a).

c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a).

d. How is the USA of now (2012) worse than the USA of 1912? Explain.

e. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (d).

f. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (d).

g. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTICS ARE UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STATS...FIRST IN WINS!

h. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!

Option A -- Bill Clinton

"Forget the Monica Lewinski debacle. She's irrelevant. Clinton was a disaster for liberals and Democrats because he was a closet Republican and was a major cause of the wealth and income gap that exists today between the rich and middle- and low-income Americans. Voters now identify his economic policies that benefitted investors and the wealthy at the expense of workers . . . ." (Source: http://www.kellysite.net/modrep.html)

a. Was Clinton a closet Republican? Explain.
b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a).
c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a).
d. Explain how your specific factual statistic supports your answer to (a).
e. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS!
f. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!

Option B -- Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan is considered by some to be one of the greatest USA presidents ever; he is considered by others to have caused great harm to the USA and the Republican Party. In 2010, there was a proposal in Congress to replace US Grant on the $50 bill with Reagan.
a. Where do you stand...did Ronald Reagan help the USA so much that he deserves to be on the $50 bill, or did he harm the country so irreparably that he does not deserve to be on the $50 bill? Explain.
b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a).
c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a).
d. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS!
e. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!

Option C -- The Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972 but never ratified by the required 38 states (only 35 states voted for it by the time the deadline for ratification passed in 1982). It was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on July 21, 2009 (but went nowhere). The amendment said, in its entirety, the following:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
a. Do we need an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution? Explain.
b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a).
c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a).
d. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS!
e. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!