So I take about 4 hours writing an essay…and the quality isn’t that great either…</p>
So I’m afraid when I take the AP World exam I’ll fail really badly…</p>
Any advice?</p>
Thanks in advance!</p>
Practice makes perfect. Write often so you can get your speed up and your sloppiness down. There’s no way around it.</p>
Okay, so get a list of old essay topics. Start with the DBQ, because you don’t have to spend time thinking of things you know about the topic, it’s all there. Practice reading through the documents and coming up with at least two sets of sides (only one set is needed, but multiple sets and cross sets will help you get those extra 2 points). This should take you 10 minutes or so on the exam (took me like 30 my first try, don’t worry). Then, you have to write the essay examining the topic. Ideally, the DBQ will take a little less than the other two, but it doesn’t matter as long as you can fit all three. The others will require you to brainstorm for maybe 5 minutes (up to 10 is okay, if you have to). Don’t worry, they’ll be pretty broad, but again, practice with past topics. For these, you may want to do one or two without timing and with the book open, to build confidence in how to write them (CC and COT - Compare/Contrast and Change over Time are pretty simple topics, but this is still good). Just practice as much as you can (don’t neglect multiple choice, though).</p>
Ok I had the same problem with AP US at the beginning of the year. Are you physically writing the essays? I found out that even though I’m a relatively fast typer hand writing the essays made me cut a lot of time. I spend extra time making outlines than what was recommended. Instead of 5 minutes for planning I would take 10 or even 15 and REALLY think about the essays, even more if the essay was out of class, thats how my quality improved. So I would just say keep writing, just keep writing speed and quality will come. Just stick to it. :)</p>
Don’t seat it too much. </p>
Just meet the set requirements, flaunt your history knowledge, and just make it decent essay. Time was a problem for me too- simply make a quick outline consisting a few important notes and form your essay as you’re writing the essay. I did this and got a decent 4.</p>
Make sure that you’re aware of the grading system for each type of essay. I forget the particulars because I took the class two years ago, but I know that, especially on the DBQ, you can figure out ways to get your basic points without knowing much to anything about the subjects. Only the last 2 points are awarded for writing “style” so don’t worry too much about word choice and things like that - instead focus on getting out your POV’s, Global Contexts, thesis, etc. to get you the bulk of possible points.</p>
<li>Thesis Thesis Thesis
<li>If you have a strong thesis your essay will flow better and you know what to talk about
*Topics</li>
<li>No matter what for the Essays try and divide the sections based on Economic, Political, and Social, unless the prompt instructs you otherwise. </li>
</ul></li>
<li>Conclusion
<li>Don’t restate your thesis word for word but answer the prompt</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
I used to take about two hours to write a good essay but once i started realizing that if i knew the political, economic, and social aspects of the subject then it was a lot easier. I ended up getting a 5 on the test and i had about 20 min extra time to proof read everything. Practice makes perfect.
- Before you start writing, look at the prompt and notice the time frame/ topic and scribble whatever facts you know about that particular topic, this covers your outside facts and what’s going into your essay.</p>
For Example:
If you’re given a prompt about trade and by some chance you have no freakin clue what civilization or area they’re talking about (This happened to me on the test) you know that no matter what trade leads to the spread of ideas, culture, technology, religion, etc.
You don’t have to be really specific if you honestly don’t know but if you know at least general knowledge you should improve.</p>
@lee324</p>
can you please give some advice on how to structure a ccot? i reaaally need help on it :(</p>
i’m trying out a variety of strategies: </p>
- intro/beginning of period/middle of period/end of period
but this doesn’t work for prompts that only discuss one period! (i.e. EMA only) - intro/beginning of period/ one cont/ one change
- intro/one change/one cont/one cont</p>
which one of these should I use? 
please help!</p>
Do the DBQ first. You don’t need to know anything about the topic in order to get 6-7, as long as you know the rubric then it should be easy. </p>
Does anyone have suggestions of what to do if we don’t know anything about the topic? (besides doing it last) I’m so scared that I’ll get a prompt that I know nothing about.</p>
Same here! I also need help on essay structure, so could someone just give an outline of the essay structure?
And I really need help on writing a conclusion in both DBQ and other essays, when I write it, it seem to be too wordy and basically identical to the thesis.
Thanks :)</p>
Say, are there rules against doodling on the pages in the back that say “No test material on this page”? I had some time left and, having the poor judgement and impulse control I do, I doodled a bit on the back of both the MC and the free response. Think this will negatively affect my score?</p>
Nope. I think those pages are just there so no one can peek inside through the covers.</p>