AP European History Exam Tips

Keep an eye on your time.

Monitor your time carefully. Make sure not to spend too much time on any one question so that you have enough time to answer all of them. If you reach the end of the test with time to spare, go back and review your essays. And don’t waste time restating the question in your answers: that won’t earn points.

Plan your responses before you start writing.

Don’t start to write immediately: that can lead to a string of disconnected, poorly planned thoughts. Carefully analyze the question, thinking through what is being asked and evaluating the points of view of the sources and authors. Identify the elements that must be addressed in the response. For example, some questions may require you to consider the similarities between people or events, and then to think of the ways they are different. Others may ask you to develop an argument with examples to support it. Be sure to answer exactly what is being asked in the question prompt!

Integrate evidence into your response.

After you have determined how to answer the question, consider what evidence you can incorporate into your response. Consider the evidence you studied during the year that relates to the question and then decide how it fits into the analysis. Does it demonstrate a similarity or a difference? Does it argue for or against a point that is being addressed?

Decide on your thesis statement.

Begin writing only after you have thought through your evidence and have determined what your thesis statement will be. That way you will be in a position to answer the question analytically instead of in a rambling narrative.

Support your thesis statement.

Make your overarching statement or argument, then position your supporting evidence so that it is obviously directed to answering the question. State your points clearly and explicitly connect them to the larger thesis, rather than making generalizations.

Elaborate on the evidence.

Don’t just paraphrase or summarize your evidence. Clearly state your intent, then use additional information or analysis to elaborate on how these pieces of evidence are similar or different. If there is evidence that refutes a statement, explain why. Your answer should show that you understand the subtlety of the question.

Practice!

Answering free-response questions from previous AP Exams is a great way to practice: it allows you to compare your own responses with those that have already been evaluated and scored. Review free-response questions and scoring guidelines from past exams on the AP European History Exam Questions page at AP Central.

Task Verbs

Pay close attention to the task verbs used in the free-response questions. Each one directs you to complete a specific type of response. Here are the task verbs you’ll see on the exam:

• Compare: Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.
• Describe: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic.
• Evaluate: Judge or determine the significance or importance of information or the quality or accuracy of a claim.
• Explain: Provide information about how or why a relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome occurs, using evidence and/or reasoning. Explaining “how” typically requires analyzing the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome; whereas, explaining “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.
• Support an argument: Provide specific examples and explain how they support a claim.