ap world history dbq essay outline

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

What is a dbq, how to read the documents:, written documents, how to answer the prompt:, compare & contrast, cause & effect, change & continuity over time, how to earn all 7 points:.

Contextualization

Analysis & Sourcing

How to start writing the dbq, how to write a dbq:.

Attached below is a worksheet with an outline organizer for your DBQ. When practicing for your DBQ, feel free to download & print this to use:

7 documents

You are given 7 documents, and you are given a prompt, similar to an LEQ prompt. You need to write an essay, responding to the prompt, using evidence from the documents. ​You have 60 minutes in total, but of those 15 minutes are recommended for reading. The sections below describe the types of documents, types of prompts, and the rubric and how to earn each point. 

You are given 7 documents. The different types are described below:

Excerpt / Written Document

Graphic, Diagram, Map, Cartoon

General Tips

Look at the sourcing before you read each doc to get an idea of what the doc might say

Write a quick summary (~3 bullet points) to summarize the content of each doc

Write a note of how each doc fits in with the prompt

Does it support or refute your thesis?

Which side of the prompt does it cover?

Which aspect (which body paragraph) of your prompt / thesis does it cover?

Any document with written paragraphs

Newspaper, letter, speech, historian's interpretation, constitution, religious text, etc.​

Special tips:

Before you read, read the sourcing & title and try to get an idea of what the doc might say

Take your time to understand the content of the doc; no need to rush​​

Write a few notes summarizing the doc

Figure out how the doc relates to the prompt

Does it argue one side or another?

Does it provide evidence for a specific geographical region?

Does it refute your thesis?

Which sub-category of the prompt does it answer?

Any document that is a photo

Any photo that a photographer might take, or an artist's depiction of a historical event

NOT a diagram, map, or something manmade or designed by historians

Read the sourcing & title to try to figure out what the photo might depict

Look at all aspects of the photo, get an idea of what it depicts

Does it represent a historical development?​

Does it represent an artistic movement?

Look for all signs of bias in the photo

Is it depicting a specific point of view?

Does it portray a certain culture as superior?

Does it portray a certain culture as inferior?​

Does it represent a military victory?​​​

This would mean one side is better than the other​

Does it portray something as bigger or exaggerated?

Means that the exaggerated thing is depicted as superior

Does it portray something as smaller?

Means that the thing that's depicted smaller is portrayed as inferior

Based on the point of view (bias) and the content, figure out how it relates to the prompt

Does it support / refute your thesis?

What aspect of the prompt does it answer?​

Any document that is a man-made photo

Graphic, diagram, political cartoon, map, etc.

Before you read, read the sourcing & title and try to get an idea of what the doc might depict

Look at the doc and try to figure out what it represents, or what topic it depicts

Think about the bias or point of view of the doc:

Does it represent the views of one side or another?

Is it depicting one side as exaggerated or superior to another?

Cartoons are generally biased

If it's a map, what is it representing?

Is it representing the map of industrial factories, trade routes, westward expansion, deciphered wind patterns, etc.?​

Once you figure this out, understand the historical context of the map

If it's a graphic or a diagram, what information does it detail?

If it's a population growth map, what allowed for population growth?​

Think of what the diagram depicts, and what allowed for that, and what's the historical context of that historical development?

Involves comparing & contrasting 2 different things

Most important thing is the argument: Not what the differences/similarities were, but HOW THEY WERE SIGNIFICANT

How to use the documents:

Some docs might explain the features of one of the comparand (the thing you compare), other docs may explain the other comparand

Some docs might cover both comparands

Figure out what the docs are saying for each comparand, and write your thesis based on that

What are they saying are similar & different about the 2?​

Involves examining what a certain historical development, and what were its causes & effects

What's more important is examining the significance of the causes, or how one cause/effect was more important than other causes/effects

Generally, 2 causes and 1 or 2 effects

Some docs might explain the event

Some docs might explain the causes, others might explain the effects

Draft a thesis based on the info about the causes & effects mentioned in the docs

Try to mention which causes were more significant than other causes

Involves examining what changed & what remained the same as a result of one event​

Some docs might explain the catalyst (the event that caused the changes/continuities) you write about

Some docs might describe the changes

Some docs might describe the continuities

Draft a thesis based on what the docs say about the changes & continuities

How to Earn all 7  Points:

Contextualization (1 point).

Examine the historical context of the story

Kind of like a "recap" or a "flashback"

Like at the beginning of a TV show, it shows a recap of the previous episode

How to write one

Always include the time period & possibly the location​

"In Europe in the period 1450 - 1750, ..."

Provide a brief 3-5 sentence recap of how the world arrived at the situation you are writing about in your essay

The contextualization should finish with how the world arrived at the historical development you write about in your thesis, so that there is a smooth transition from contextualization to the thesis

Sample Contextualizations

Topic: Related to the industrial revolution​

Before the 1750s, people were performing manual labor, making items by hand, which was very inefficient. From 1750-1900, Europe and the rest of the world underwent an economic transformation called the Industrial Revolution. Starting in Britain due to its abundance of raw materials & strong financial support, industrial capitalists built factories powered by waterwheels or coal that artificially produced goods such as textiles, eliminating the need to make them by hand. This brought a lot more people from the countryside to the cities, where they worked in factories for low wages. From Britain, the industrial revolution spread throughout Europe as well as to US, Egypt, Russia, and Japan. [Insert Thesis Here]

Topic: Related to imperialism​

In the period 1750-1900, Europe underwent an economic transformation known as the industrial revolution, where people would use artificial power to cheaply & efficiently manufacture goods in commercial factories in the cities, rather than making goods by hand at home. In order for these factories to produce goods, they needed raw materials, which is why they had to look to other nations like those in Africa and Asia to supply raw materials to them. Thi​s led to European imperialism, a development where Europeans started colonizing other nations throughout the world, especially in Africa and Asia, to establish export-oriented economies to get raw materials to supply to their factories. [Insert Thesis Here]

Thesis (1 point)

This is your argument

Must be something that can be opposed​

Someone else has to be able to write an essay whose thesis is the opposite of yours

Must contain an argument, and generally 2-3 examples (topics for body paragraphs)

Better to have a concession

Useful for complexity point

Format of Thesis & Examples

Color Key: 

Concession / Counterargument*

Similarities / Continuities / Causes

Difference for Comparand 1 / Changes / Effects

Differences for Comparand 2

*Concession is always optional. Described in the analysis section, it can be used to get the extra complexity point

Prompt: Compare & Contrast

Although some may believe [counterargument]* , w hile [comparand 1] and [comparand 2] both [insert similarities] , [comparand 1] was [insert difference for comparand 1], and [comparand 2] was [insert difference for comparand 2], which [is why / allowed for] [insert argument]. 

Although the Delhi Sultanate had very strict religious authority, while the Delhi Sultanate and the Chola Kingdom both used religion to maintain stability , the Delhi Sultanate was attempting to impose Islam on a Hindu-majority population , and the Chola Kingdom imposed Hindu on a Hindu population , which allowed for the Chola Kingdom to be more successful than the Delhi Sultanate. 

Prompt: Change & Continuity over Time

Although some may believe [counterargument]* , as a result of [catalyst],  while [continuity] stayed the same , [change] changed,   which [is why / allowed for] [insert argument]. 

Although some may believe the Catholic church actually became more powerful, as a result of the Protestant Reformation, while women still maintained strictly subordinate roles , there were more religious wars, and more monarchs were able to consolidate more power for themselves , which caused the Catholic church to decline in power.  

Prompt: Cause & Effect

Although some may believe [counterargument]* are the most important causes of [event] ,  [causes] were the main causes** , which caused [effects].  

Although some may believe that the desire to spread Christianity was the main cause of European imperialism , the desire to get raw materials and the need for more markets were the main causes , which led to a more integrated global economy and the development of technological infrastructure in the colonies. 

**Here, the argument is that the causes you described in the blue section are more important than the causes in the yellow section. There is no need for an extra argument at the end

Evidence (3 points)

This is where you put examples / pieces of evidence to support your thesis​

To get 1 point : Use evidence from 3 of the docs

To get 2 points : Use evidence from 6 of the docs, and put an extra analysis to connect it to the thesis

It's always better to use all 7 docs in case you use one incorrectly

To get 3 points : Use an extra piece of evidence (from your own knowledge, not from the docs), and put an extra analysis to connect it to the thesis

Examples of How to Write your Evidence

How to earn the first point:

To earn the 1st point, you need to describe / state evidence from 3 docs without connecting it to the thesis

According to document 3, the Chola Empire used Hinduism as the state religion. 

According to document 7, there were more factories in Britain than in France. 

How to earn the second point:

To earn the 2nd point, you need evidence from 6* docs, and you also need to connect it to the thesis

According to document 3, the Chola Empire used Hinduism as the state religion. Because the population was also mostly Hindu, the Chola Empire was able to maintain stability by using a common belief in Hinduism to stabilize its rule. 

According to document 7, there were more factories in Britain than in France. Thus, Britain had a larger industrial output than France, which is why it was able to manufacture more weapons during World War 1 and why France relied on Britain for support. 

*Always use all 7 docs to in case you use one doc incorrectly

How to earn the third point:

To earn the third point, you need to include one piece of evidence that is not in the documents and is from your own knowledge. 

Think of what evidence or what viewpoint is missing

If it's a compare & contrast: is there any other similarity or difference? Do you have any other evidence to support the topics of your thesis?

If it's a change & continuity over time: Is there any other evidence to support one of your changes or continuities?

If it's a cause & effect: Is there any other evidence or historical content that can support your causes or effects?

Analysis (2 points)

This is the hardest part

For 1 point, you need to explain how the source of 3 documents affects either your argument or what the document has to say

There are 4 parts of sourcing, and you ONLY NEED TO CHOOSE ONE

Explained in more detail below​

For the 2nd point, you need to use complex analysis in your argument

This is the most confusing

The easiest way is to weave a counterargument through your essay, which the concession already sets you up for

The best way is to not think about it too much and just put a bit more complex arguments into your essay rather than sticking to a strict format

Historical Context

Point of View

You need to choose ONE of the above and follow the instructions below. Each of the sections below has information about each aspect of sourcing. 

You need to do this for THREE different sources to earn full points (we recommend you do 4 in case one is wrong)

Historical Context:

Explain how the historical context of any document affects what the document argues

This document was written after WW1 when everyone was feeling depressed and economically poor, which explains why the priest is talking about a revival of religion and cheerful spirits. 

This document was written in a time after the Protestant Reformation when there were a lot of religious wars, which is why the document argues that Lutheranism is better than Calvinism. 

Explain how the intended audience of any document affects what the document argues

This document was written for the Armenians of the Ottoman empire, a Christian minority that was believed to conspire with the Allies, which is why the document is very aggressive toward them in asserting Ottoman dominance. 

This speech was written to the American people to gain support for the Treaty of Versailles, which is why it intends to boost nationalist sentiment and promote American power. 

Explain how the purpose of any document affects what the document argues

This speech was written by the Republic party with the purpose of convincing its audience to vote for them, which is why it argues that Free Silver, a democratic idea, is bad. 

This speech was written by John of Montecorvino, the Archbishop of Khanbaliq who sought to convert the Mongol boys to Christianity, which is why he emphasizes how Christianity allows one to achieve salvation. 

Point of View:

Explain how the point of view of any document affects what the document argues

This speech was written from the point of view of an Indian cotton farmer, which is why he writes that the British completely destroyed the Indian handmade textile industry. 

This document was written from the point of view of Grover Cleveland, an anti-imperialist president, which is why he writes about the harms of annexing Hawaii. 

The Complexity Point

The final point is the complexity point. This is given if you have a complex argument, and it is hard to achieve. The best way to think about this is do more than the prompt asks, and add a bit of extra analysis into the essay. 

The easiest way to do this is weave a counterargument through the essay. In our thesis samples above, we already set you up for this with our concession clause. 

How to Start Writing the DBQ:

First step is to outline your essay. Follow the steps below:

Read through each document, write a brief summary, and figure out how it relates to the prompt (which side/aspect does it argue?)​

Write your thesis. Write each aspect of the thesis (concession/counterargument, evidence 1, evidence 2, argument), and combine them

Write the outline for your body paragraphs. Write the topic for each body paragraph, and which docs you'll use in each. Also, denote where you'll use your outside evidence

Write an outline for your sourcing. Choose 4 different documents, and write the sourcing sentence following the guidelines in the sourcing section above

Start writing. Good luck!

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How to Write the Document Based Question (DBQ)

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What’s Covered:

What is the document based question, steps to writing an effective dbq, how do ap scores affect my college chances.

If you’re taking a history AP exam, you’ll likely encounter the Document Based Question (DBQ). This essay question constitutes a significant portion of your exam, so it’s important that you have a good grasp on how best to approach the DBQ. In this post, we’ll cover what exactly a document based question is, and how to answer it successfully.

A Document Based Question (DBQ) is a measure of the skills you learned in your AP classes in regard to recalling history and analyzing related documents. These documents can be primary or secondary sources, and your responses are expected to be in the form of an essay. Your ability to relate the context of documents to concepts beyond the given text and creating meaningful connections between all your sources will help demonstrate your skills as a knowledgeable writer.

The number of documents for a DBQ varies from exam to exam, but typically will fall between five to seven documents. The following AP exams will require you to write a DBQ:

AP U.S. History

AP European History

AP World History

We’ve listed the formats for each exam below, and keep in mind that the number of documents is prone to changing from year to year:

• Up to seven Documents
• One hour recommended time (includes 15-minute reading period)
• Up to seven Documents 
• 25% of total exam score

With that in mind, let’s jump right into how to craft a strong DBQ response!

We’ve summarized how to write an effective DBQ into the following five steps:

1. Read the prompt first

Though you may be tempted to jump into the documents right away, it’s very important that you first look at what exactly the prompt is asking for. This way, when you eventually look at the documents, your focus will be narrower. A DBQ tests your reading comprehension and analysis skills more than the content itself, making it very important to understand your prompt thoroughly.

2. Skim the document titles

Each document will contain vital information regarding the context, and it’s important to scout key words regarding dates, authors, and anything pertaining to the general sense of what the documents are about. Skimming through your documents like this could save time and allow you to form a more structurally sound thesis.

Let’s take a look at the following graph and figure out how to skim the figure:

This document was in a real exam from the AP World History free response questions in 2019. It’s important to pay attention to data provided and what context can be drawn from it. In this case, we’re provided with a graph that displays the life expectancy of a country in relation to the GDP per capita of said country. Being able to skim this graph and notice the common trends in the data points could provide convenient information into the context of the document, without any further intensive reading. 

For example, seeing how countries with a GDP below 4,000 to 5,000 have lower life expectancies already gives us a potential correlation between the two factors. We can use this information to start formulating a thesis, depending on what the prompt is specifically asking for.

Remember, just skim! Don’t worry about reading the entire document yet; this strategy can keep you calm and level-headed before tackling the rest of the document. Methods like this can make acing the AP World History DBQ less intimidating! 

3. Formulate a tentative thesis

A thesis is a statement that should be proved and discussed upon. It’s important to have a strong thesis as the foundation of your DBQ, as it guides the rest of your response in relation to the context. Understanding the difference between weak and strong theses will be imperative to your success, so here is an example of a weak thesis:

“The Cold War originated from some scenarios of conflict between Soviets and some groups of oppressors.” 

Such a thesis can be considered weak for its lack of specificity, focal point, and usability as a constructive tool to write further detail on the subject. This thesis does not take a clear stance or communicate to the reader what the essay will specifically focus on. Here’s how the same thesis can be restructured to be stronger and more useful:

“The Cold War originated from tense diplomatic conflicts relating to propaganda and conspiratorial warfare between the United States and the Soviet Union.”

The information that’s been included into the second thesis about the two groups involved with the Cold War gives you more room to build a structured essay response. In relation to the rubric/grading schema for this DBQ, forming a structurally sound thesis or claim is one of the seven attainable points. Being able to contextualize, analyze, and reason off of this thesis alone could provide for two to four points – this means that five out of seven of your points revolve around your thesis, so make sure that it’s strong! Doing all of this in your fifteen minute reading period is crucial as once this is set, writing your actual response will be much easier!

4. Actively read the documents

Simply reading a document doesn’t normally suffice for creating a well-written and comprehensive response. You should focus on implementing your active reading skills, as this will make a huge difference as to how efficient you are during your work process. 

Active reading refers to reading with an intention to grab key words and fragments of important information, usually gone about by highlighting and separating important phrases. Annotations, underlining, and circling are all great ways to filter out important information from irrelevant text in the documents. 

An example of where you might find important information via active reading is the description. Circle important names or dates to contextualize the document. If you still can’t find contextual value from the title, that’s totally fine! Just scope out the rest of the document in relevance to your thesis – that is, pinpoint the specific information or text that best supports your argument. Finding one or two solid points of interest from one document is usually enough to write about and expand upon within your essay. 

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5. Make an Outline 

If you like outlines, making one before writing your essay might prove helpful, just be aware of the time limit and act accordingly. 

Start with your introduction, then work on the rest of your essay. This way, you can make sure your thesis is clear and strong, and it will help the graders form a clear view on what the general consensus of your paper is. Make sure to include evidence with your thesis within each paragraph and cite only relevant information, otherwise your citations could come across as filler as opposed to useful content. Every commentary or point you make should be tied in some way to the documents.

Format each body paragraph and organize your essay in a way that makes sense to you! The graders aren’t really looking at the structure of your essay; rather, they want to see that you analyzed the documents in a way that is supportive of your essay. As long as you have content from the documents which prove your thesis, the order or manner in which you present them doesn’t matter too much. What’s more important is that your essay is clear and comprehensive. As you write practice DBQs, try having someone else read your essays to make sure that the format is easy to follow.

Keep all these key details in mind as you construct your own DBQ response, and you’re well on your way to writing an effective essay!

Your chances of admission are actually not really impacted by your AP scores; however, the AP classes you take are more important than the exam scores themselves, meaning the impact of your AP scores isn’t as big as you think . 

Instead, focusing on the AP classes on your transcript and the relevance of those classes to your future major is more impactful. For a further detailed understanding of the role AP classes play in regards to your college admissions, use CollegeVine’s free Admissions Calculator , which takes into account your GPA, standardized test scores, and more. 

Additional Information

To dive deeper into DBQs, AP classes, and learning how to tackle each exam check out other resources at CollegeVine:

• Acing the Document Based Question on the AP US History Exam
• Acing the AP World History Document Based Question
• Ultimate Guide to the AP U.S. History Exam
• Ultimate Guide to the AP European History Exam
• Ultimate Guide to the AP World History Exam

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AP World Free Response Help (DBQ and LEQ)

5 min read • november 18, 2021

Sander Owens

👋 Worried about the FRQs on an upcoming WHAP exam or the actual AP exam? Don't worry! We're here to help you with a quick overview of what to expect on the Document-Based Question (DBQ) and the Long Essay Question (LEQ), as well as provide some advice from students who have done well on the WHAP exam! 🏆

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia - The AP World essays may seem hard at first, but they are easy to conquer once you know how!

AP World FRQ Overview

The WHAP FRQ section consists of two essays: the DBQ and the LEQ. The DBQ is an essay in which you have to answer a given prompt using seven documents that interpret the historical event. The LEQ is an essay with a variety of prompts where you have to create an argument without any stimuli.

It may seem like a waste of time to plan out your essay when you have less than an hour to write, but it makes a difference! You can plan however you plan best: a mental outline, a bulleted list, a more fancy outline, or what works for you.

DBQ Overview

The DBQ is the longer of the two essays for WHAP. You are given 60 minutes to write it, of which the first 15 are a planning/reading period. ⏲️

You don't have a choice on the DBQ prompt, but it will only cover a topic from 1450-2001 (periods 3-8). The DBQ also includes seven documents that will interpret the events described in the prompt. The first step is to categorize those documents into 2-4 groups based on their common elements/views on the prompt.

You can increase your score just by knowing what to do. Simply writing a strong essay may not score as well if you don't know how to get all the points. Here's a quick, easy-to-read summary of the DBQ rubric:

👩‍⚖️ THESIS: Respond with a claim about the prompt. Remember to take a stand on the prompt! An example of this might look like “Railroads supported empire-building by __________ and __________ , BUT they undermined it by __________ ." Remember the categories you sorted the documents into earlier? Turn those categories into a broader subtopic that you can insert into one of those blanks in your thesis, and then turn into a body paragraph down the road.

🌎 CONTEXTUALIZATION: Describes the broader historical context relevant to the prompt. Think of what happened in the years/centuries leading up to the prompt (big events like global wars, trends, patterns, etc). You MUST connect this to the prompt.

🔍 EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENTS: Use evidence from the docs to prove your point. Do not quote! Just use what the docs are saying to support your argument and cite them in parentheses, like this (2). Using evidence from 3 docs will score 1 point, while using evidence from 6 docs will score 2 points. So use more docs!

🚴‍♀️ OUTSIDE EVIDENCE: Consider people, places, events, and concepts that are NOT discussed anywhere in the documents and connect them to your argument.

🦛 SOURCING/HIPP: For at least 3 documents, you must explain how or why the broader h istorical context, i ntended audience, p urpose, or p oint-of-view of a document is relevant to your argument. Use the acronym HIPP to remember this!

🦄 COMPLEXITY : Demonstrates a deeper understanding of the prompt. You should weave a counter-argument throughout your essay. Don't stress too much about this one! It is pretty hard to get, and it's not something you need.

One of the easiest ways to get all of these points is to write it all down in a checklist next to your planning and tick them off as you go through.

"When I write essays, I like to have a checklist with me so I can keep count of what points I am confident I have earned." —Anna

Here's an outline that will help you write a concise, great essay!

👋 INTRO: 3-4 sentences of context to explain background information and relate it directly to the topic of the prompt. 1-2 sentence thesis statement that restates prompt + provides an argument.

👕 BODY PARAGRAPHS (AS MANY AS YOU HAVE CATEGORIES): Add a topic sentence to introduce your argument. Explain a piece of evidence from a document to back you up and connect that evidence directly to your argument. Source the document (HIPP)—choose Historical Context, Intended Audience, Purpose, or POV. Then, include a piece of evidence not mentioned anywhere in the documents and explain this outside evidence to strengthen your essay.

🧐 CONCLUSION: Sum up your argument with a counterargument and rephrase your thesis. You can earn the thesis here if it wasn't strong enough in the intro.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia - By following the rubric, writing the essays becomes smooth sailing!

LEQ Overview

The LEQ is the shorter of the two essays — you only have 45 minutes to write it. However, you have a choice between three prompts based on the periods: 1200-1750, 1450-1900, and 1750-2001. All three prompts have similar themes, so pick the one you can write about the most!

Like the DBQ, knowing the rubric is crucial! Each piece will score one point unless stated otherwise.

👩‍⚖️ THESIS: Respond to the prompt with a claim about the prompt. Remember to take a stand on the prompt! An example of this might look like “Railroads supported empire-building by __________ and___________, BUT they undermined it by ________________." Fill in the blanks with subtopics or examples of your thesis that you will develop into body paragraphs in your essay.

🔍 EVIDENCE (x2): Provide specific historical examples to support your argument. These are specific people, places, and events. Explain your reason for choosing those examples, and then connect it to your argument.

📚 HISTORICAL REASONING: Use comparison, causation, or CCOT to answer the prompt. You can answer the prompt using any skill, but choose one and stick to it!

🦄 COMPLEXITY: Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the prompt. You should weave a counter-argument throughout your essay. Don't stress too much about this one! It is pretty hard to get, and it's not something you need.

Helpful Links

📰 Our Ultimate Guide to the DBQ!

😤 Mastering the DBQ Replay!

✏️ Sharpening the LEQ Replay!

A Word of Encouragement

Throughout your review, remember these simple words: you will do fantastic! If you're reading this guide, it means you are taking steps to prepare for your exam. By following some of the advice we have given, you will become a much better writer and you'll nail those essays!

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AP® World History

How to answer ap® world history saqs, dbqs, and leqs.

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

If you’re taking AP® World History, you probably already know just how important the free response section can be for making or breaking your AP® score. This post will help give you the best tips and tricks for answering AP® World History free response questions including but not limited to short-answer questions, document-based questions, and long essays. 

We’ll go over things like must-know tips for how to write perfect score SAQs, DBQs, and LEQs, mistakes students often make on the AP® World exam, and how to use past AP® free response questions to start practicing for your upcoming exam. 

Read on to get the scoop on everything you need to make the most of your AP® World History: Modern exam review. 

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® World History: Modern Free Responses

Regardless of whether you’re answering a SAQ, DBQ, or LEQ, there are a few key steps when it comes to putting your best foot forward in your AP® World free response section.

1. Knowing what you’re being asked and answering that specific question.

All too often, students enter the AP® World History: Modern exam suffering from two key weaknesses in their exam prep: not understanding the rubric or not answering the question asked. 

You need to know exactly how you earn your points. This way, you can write your response to directly address what you’re being asked. 

Here is a link for AP® World History past released exams

These past exams include scoring guidelines PDFs which outline how points were distributed for each respective question. 

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

Source: College Board

You can gather a lot from these scoring guidelines. In the example above, you can see that points are distributed based on the student’s ability to answer the prompt. One point was given for identification from data in a chart, another from identifying a similarity, and a final point for explaining how longer life expectations impacted society on a political, economic, or social level. 

There are commonly used directive words to be wary of when reviewing past AP® World History free response questions. We’ll cover what some of those are later. 

When it comes to the AP® World History DBQ, know where each of your points will come from. Most importantly, keep in mind how to use the documents to advance your argument and don’t just rehash what is already known from the documents provided. This means knowing for example that you’ll receive one point for successfully connecting documents to the prompt, knowing you have to argue with the documents to earn more points, or using at least six (if not seven) documents to support your thesis.

For now, just make sure you go over at least two years worth of released exam scoring guidelines so you understand how everything is weighted and distributed.

2. Flag every directive word or key phrase in the question prompt. 

Now that you know how points are earned, you need to start to develop a habit for mentally confirming you’re getting all of the points possible in each question. 

Let’s take a look at the first SAQ from the 2019 AP® World History exam:

What you can tell here is that oftentimes for SAQs, you will be asked to identify in part A (and sometimes B, as is the case here), followed by explain in part B and/or C. 

To properly identify , you must provide 1-2 sentences where you directly answer the question, within the proper time period.

When asked to explain , these responses often will be three sentences. One sentence to answer the question, and then two sentences to provide specific facts that support your answer. Teachers often refer to these questions as ones where you want to “show the why”. 

Take note of what we highlighted above. We not only flag for ourselves what the key directive word is, but we also mark how many things we need to identify or explain and the time period being asked of us. 

Students often make the mistake of bringing in historical examples that are outside the scope of the time period asked. If you do this, you will miss out on valuable AP® World History SAQ points. 

Here’s how we might flag the DBQ from that same 2019 AP® World History free response section:

When you’re flagging the key directives or phrases, the things to keep in mind are: 

• Typically when it comes to the DBQs or LEQs, you’ll be asked to compare, explore causes, discuss change or continuity over time.
• What’s the time period? 

To answer the first question, you must understand that AP® World History: Modern develops students to have these six historical thinking skills: 

The four core historical reasoning skills from the College Board are:

3. Plan out your response BEFORE you start writing.

Taking just a few minutes to map out your response to each AP® World History free response question can make a big difference in the cohesion of your responses. 

Too often, students jump right into answering questions and as a result either simply regurgitate what was already given to them, or fail to answer the question they’re being asked directly. 

To serve as a “compass”, always remember:

• What’s the historical reasoning skill being asked of me?
• What’s the time period? What do I know about this time period?

Then, when it comes to specifics to the DBQ, ask yourself questions such as:

• What type of DBQ is this? Is it asking me a social, political, or economic question? 
• How can the documents I’ve been provided be grouped together? 
• What is the sourcing of the document? 
• What’s my thesis? Can it be agreed with or disagreed with and have I put everything into historical context? 
• Have I planned to use at least six documents? 
• Is my intended outside evidence specific and relevant to the question and time period?
• Have I planned how I’ll introduce complexity? (We’ll give you tips on this final point later)

For the AP® World LEQ, be sure to ask:

• Do I have a defensible thesis? Is there a clear line of reasoning? 
• Is it clear how I’ll place things into historical context?
• Do I have specific evidence that is relevant to the question and time period?
• Have I planned how I’ll introduce complexity?

The College Board uses the free response section to test your ability to connect the dots between historical time periods and to be able to fluidly navigate historical time periods with accuracy. 

This means planning is essential. Really think hard on what the question is asking you and if you’re giving a direct answer to that question. 

AP® Readers often express frustration with not being able to give students points because students simply got distracted by a catch phrase from the text, or wrote about something not relevant to the question of the prompt.

4. Double check you’ve made explicit references to connections in your writing.

One of the common pitfalls of student responses for AP® World History: Modern FRQs is not using documents or evidence to advance an argument. 

It isn’t enough in your response to simply demonstrate you understand what the document is. You have to also show how that document serves as evidence to support your thesis. 

In the past, Chief Readers of the exam have expressed that students often understand historical content, but aren’t able to present the evidence in a way that will earn points for the response. 

The easiest way to check yourself here is to remember the word “therefore”. Make your argument, describe your evidence from what’s provided (or what you know), and then say “therefore” followed by the argument you are trying to make. 

In other AP® subjects, teachers tell their students that this is the equivalent of “showing the why” or “closing the loop”. 

Closing the loop in AP® World History can be made into more of a habit 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

When you really think about what are the keys to AP® free response success, it boils down to mastering the rubrics and crafting responses to fit those rubrics. 

It’s not uncommon for students to walk into the exam and to have never seen an AP® World History: Modern SAQ, DBQ, or LEQ rubric. Don’t be that student. 

The College Board provides a plethora of past released exams to help you navigate the preparation process, so use them! 

Try one of the past released exams and then have a friend grade your responses with the scoring guidelines. See how you might have done without any deliberate practice. Then, review your mistakes, log them in a study journal, and keep working through the other prior years. 

After a while, you’ll develop your own internal checklist of questions for yourself such as:

• Do I have a thesis? Does it include evidence and a clear line of reasoning?
• Have I explained what happened before this time period to earn the contextualization point?
• Is the evidence I’ve used supporting my thesis? Have I included bridge words like “therefore” or “because” to demonstrate this alignment? Have I used at least six of the documents?
• Have I discussed sourcing? Is it clear who the documents were written for and how that might impact the author’s point of view? 
• Is there an attempt at earning the complexity point and evidence to support my complexity?

Return to the Table of Contents

37 AP® World History and Politics FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Alright! Now that we’ve reviewed a 5-step process for writing grade ‘A’ worthy AP® World History: Modern free responses, we can review some test taking tips and strategies to keep in mind. 

We recommend you read through a few of these every time you start and end your AP® World FRQ practice. Then, in the days leading up to your exam, read the entire list so they stay fresh in your mind. 

11 AP® World History SAQ Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Be smart about how you review your textbook for your FRQs. There is so much content that it can often be more practical to look over your outlines and notes from when you were in class, or to find online teacher notes that are free to build notes on top of. 
• Prioritize chronology and periodization over dates. You should have a strong sense of the overall timelines but not have to rely on specific dates to position your responses. Students often force specific dates to memory without more broadly understanding what happened during that time period. 
• Focus on understanding how the AP® World History themes intersect with one another. This directly relates to the ability to discuss and explain continuity and change over time. 
• Answer the question.
• Cite your supporting evidence.
• Explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Familiarize yourself with the common categories of analysis: economic, demographic, political, cultural, and social developments are commonly assessed not just in the SAQ, but in all the AP® World FRQs. 
• Readers have often mentioned that students struggle with periodization. As a result, they make mistakes mentioning things that are outside the scope of the time period given. 
• Student struggles with periodization are often exacerbated when the test asks you about two different time periods. Be prepared for this scenario — it happened as recently as 2019 and led to many students writing outside the specified time period. 
• Be wary of what the College Board calls “catch phrases” in the text. These are popular terms like “checks and balances” or “serial murderers”. These phrases have led students to write about topics not relevant to the question in the past such as the death penalty, school shootings, or the criminal justice system. 
• Practice your ability to link secondary sources to course content. This is a skill that students often struggle with and the premise of doing well on a number of the SAQs.
• 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. 
• To help you score points in demonstrating your historical reasoning skills, use words like whereas, in contrast to, or likewise when drawing comparisons. 

22 AP® World History DBQ Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Before you start planning out your DBQ, double check the time period. 20th century means anything that happened between 1901 and 2000, 18th century means anything between 1701 and 1800, etc. You’d be surprised that students sometimes write about the wrong time period just due to test day stress. 
• For the AP® World History DBQ, understand that you’ll only earn a point for your thesis if there is a historically defensible thesis that establishes a line of reasoning. In other words, you cannot just restate or reword the prompt.
• 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 remember to include the word “because” — the claims you make after you state “because” will be your argument. 
• Gut check your thesis by asking yourself, “Is this something someone can or cannot agree to? If so, then it’s a good enough thesis because it needs to be defended.
• Some AP® World History teachers recommend placing context in your opening paragraph. This way you don’t forget about it later. 
• Historical Context
• Point of View
• Remember that you only get one point to describe how at least three documents from the documents provided relate to the prompt. Don’t spend your entire DBQ simply describing documents. 
• The other points when it comes to the evidence section of the DBQ come from arguing with the documents. In other words, remember to use the documents as evidence to support your thesis. 
• If you use six documents to support the argument of your thesis, you can earn the second point for the evidence section. If you’re unsure about how you interpreted one document, try to use all seven to give yourself a backup. Past Chief Readers of the exams have even given this tip as a good tip for responding to DBQs. 
• 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. 
• To earn the final point for evidence, the contextualization point, you need to bring in at least one piece of specific historical evidence from what you know that is relevant to the prompt and your thesis . The last part is very important. 
• An easy way to earn your contextualization point is to explain what happened immediately before the time period being tested. 
• In document 1, XYZ
• In document 2, XYZ
• Refer to the authors of the documents and not just the document numbers — this can serve as a helpful reminder to remember the HAPP acronym. 
• Make sure your DBQ supporting paragraphs have topic sentences. Doing so helps build a cohesive argument instead of just jumping your reader from one document or one group of documents to the next.
• To earn the sourcing point in analysis and reasoning, ask yourself, “Who was this document written for? What’s their intent or what might this document have accomplished? Why did the writer say what he said in the way he said it?” Then, link what you’ve considered to your thesis. 
• You must demonstrate sourcing for at least three documents to earn the point. Try to do more than the minimum of three.
• Do not ask for additional documents. This is an outdated tip that AP® World History teachers have continued sharing with students over the years that no longer is applicable. As recently as 2018, 15-20% of essays requested more documents when this hasn’t been part of the rubric. 
• 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. 
• When aiming to score your complexity point, remember it needs to be integrated into your argument and not just a brief phrase or reference. Always explain why you’re including something in your response. 
• A series of 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.

4 AP® World History LEQ Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Understand and be comfortable with all forms of the LEQ: causation, comparison, or change and continuity over time questions.
• One point comes from having a historically defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning (see above tips for how to make sure this is covered).
• One point is awarded for contextualization. The easiest way to do this is to start with specificity on what was happening two to five decades before the time period you’re writing about. Be specific as you do not earn points for just citing a phrase or reference.
• Two points are given for evidence. One is earned for just naming two pieces of evidence that are relevant to the prompt. The second is given when you use those pieces of evidence to support your argument in response to the prompt. 
• Finally, two points are given for analysis and reasoning. One point is given for doing what is asked in the prompt (i.e. comparing, evaluating causation, exploring change and continuity over time). The second point is earned by having complexity in your response. See the above tip #31 from the DBQ section for the easiest ways to earn this point. 
• When practicing your LEQs, try writing your response. Then, give yourself a dedicated time to reference your class notes and resources and add in specific facts that could have helped support your LEQ. This will help you gain confidence in being specific in your supporting evidence. 
• If you’re often forgetting to bring in contextualization, try going through the last five years of LEQs and just answering how you would have tried to earn the contextualization point. 

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® World History and Politics FRQs

We’ve reviewed so much in this AP® World History study guide. At this point, you should feel pretty confident when it comes to answering either your short answer questions, document-based questions, or long-essay questions. 

As we wrap up, here are a few things to remember:

• Good AP® World History free response scores are only achieved when you know how you’re being assessed. Understand the point breakdowns for the SAQ, DBQ, and LEQs.
• Form a mental checklist for yourself for each type of AP® World FRQ — for example, for SAQs, remember ACE: answer the question, cite your evidence, and explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Always take note of what time period is being asked of you. Students miss so many points by simply writing about something outside of the time period asked. 
• Be specific in your responses. It is not enough to simply describe what’s going on in documents for example. You need to use the documents to support your thesis. Close the loop or “show the why” to your reader. 
• Focus the bulk of your time on commonly tested AP® World History time periods. See the curriculum and exam description for the period breakdowns. Units 3-6 are typically weighted more than other time periods (12-15% respectively).  
• Make sure your thesis includes a clear line of reasoning. Remember the model: Although X, ABC, therefore Y.
• Put an attempt at contextualization in your introduction and then another when wrapping up your evidence to support your thesis. Explain what happened immediately before the time period being tested. 
• Make sure to source at least three documents in your DBQ. Address HAPP (historical context, audience, purpose and point of view).
• The easiest way to earn complexity is to do the opposite historical reasoning skill of what’s being asked of you. See tip #31 for how to do this. 

We hope you’ve taken away a lot from this AP® World review guide.

If you’re looking for more free response questions or multiple choice questions, check out our website! Albert has tons of original standards-aligned practice questions for you with detailed explanations to help you learn by doing and score that 4 or 5.

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

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

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