Hello, So I have been trying practice essays for this years APUSH exam, frankly I am quite worried about how things will go on it for me. Usually I run out of time, but another big issue is not knowing how to cite a document and use HIPP (historical purpose, intended audience, ect.) without it being cheesy or long.
The weird thing is that I am in the top of my APUSH clash usually scoring 100% (curved) on multiple choice exam, I am also one of the few that watches tons of videos, and actually read the textbook (instead of using notes sites). Furthermore when I write essays I rarely run out of ideas or don’t know what I am doing, I rarely have to pause while writing to think.
Do you have any advice on how to tackle both of the questions, specially how to organize time, and write the minimal amount required, and properly cite documents?
Thanks much!
I find that outlining for 5-8 minutes for the long essays helps me a lot with how I’m going to structure everything else, otherwise I’m spewing content on paper with no objective. Always outline briefly about what you would like to talk about, and enrich the topic paragraph with your knowledge of US History and its various impacts on other aspects in a relationship rather than a causal event.
Is there a rule of thumb for how much outside information you should have in the DBQ?
Can someone give an example on a good way to use documents in an essay? Like a 3 sentence excerpt where you do all the stuff needed to analyse a document?
Ah, whoop. Somehow I blanked on this thread, but if anyone does check back in the future for APUSH advice, there really is no limit on how much information you put in the DBQ. I’m nearly convinced the point of a DBQ is not only to utilize the documents properly, but to also expand on the information and/or varying perspectives to develop a complete argument for your essay. Since I tested in the old format (2014 examination) before the revamp, I’m not sure how applicable my advice would be. But the rule of thumb is to never let the documents limit your evidence - the exam is there to test how much you know and how well you understand it.