5 Steps to a 5: AP European History 2024 - Bartolini-Salimbeni B., Petersen W., Arata K. 2023
STEP 3 Develop Strategies for Success
6 The Short-Answer Questions
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: The AP European History Exam contains a section composed of short-answer questions. This chapter will help you learn what to expect and develop a strategy to successfully approach these questions.
Key Ideas:
A good answer to a short-answer question is concise and less than a paragraph.
For each paragraph, create a topic sentence that answers the question and two or three more sentences that illustrate and support your assertions.
Introduction
On the AP European History Exam, you will answer three short-answer questions and have 40 minutes to respond. Some of the questions may be accompanied by a visual stimulus. The first two questions will deal with the period between 1600 and 2001. For the third question, you will choose between one covering periods 1—2 and one covering periods 3— 4. The SAQ is scored on a nine-point scale. Each question has three parts that are worth one point each. The point of this writing skill is to provide a concise and articulate response to answer the prompt. See p. 5.
Putting Your Knowledge and Historical Thinking Skills to Use
The short-answer questions test two things: your knowledge of European history and your historical thinking skills. Recall that the three main categories of historical thinking skills are reasoning chronologically, putting information in context, and arguing from evidence.
Question 1: Using your knowledge of European history, answer Parts A, B, and C below.
A) Briefly explain ONE significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century.
B) Briefly explain ANOTHER significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century.
C) Briefly explain how the traditional population and productivity cycles of Western Europe were broken in the eighteenth century.
Begin by making sure you know what the question is asking. In the short-answer questions, that will be straightforward. In the example above, you are to briefly explain two related events: the development of market-based agriculture and the breaking of the population and productivity cycles. Organize your thoughts by locating the two events chronologically, thereby activating your knowledge of the appropriate era and events. These eighteenth-century developments are covered in Chapter 15 of this text: “Economic Change and the Expansion of the State.”
A good answer to the short-answer questions is typically 3—4 sentences. So what you need is a topic sentence that directly answers the prompt, then a sentence that gives an example to support your answer. Finally, the last sentence should explain the connection of your example to your argument. This can also be considered your analysis.
Part A of the Short-Answer Question
Here again is Part A of the question, followed by an example of a good response:
A) Briefly explain ONE significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century.
Topic Sentence (an assertion that answers the question): One significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century was the advent of the enclosure movement.
Body of Paragraph 1 (supports and illustrates the first assertion of the topic sentence): The “enclosure” movement was when hedges, fences, and walls were built to deny the peasantry access to the commons, which were now converted to fields for cash crops. Later, the landowners extended enclosure into other arable lands, breaking traditional feudal agreements and gradually transforming much of the peasantry into wage labor.
Part B of the Short-Answer Question
Here again is Part B of the question, followed by an example of a good response:
B) Briefly explain ANOTHER significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century.
Topic Sentence: Another significant consequence of the development of market-based agriculture in the eighteenth century was a wave of technical innovations that increased production.
Body of the Paragraph: The demand for larger amounts of high-profit crops also engendered a wave of technical innovation that produced higher yields. The old three-field system, which left roughly one-third of the land fallow, was replaced with new crops such as clover, turnips, and potatoes, which replenished the soil while producing foodstuffs that could be used to feed livestock in winter. As the century progressed, more highly technical innovations, such as the cotton gin (invented in 1793 by the American Eli Whitney), which efficiently removed seed from raw cotton, increased the speed with which agricultural products could be processed and sent to market.
Part C of the Short-Answer Question
Here again is Part C of the question, followed by an example of a good response:
C) Briefly explain how the traditional population and productivity cycles of Western Europe were broken in the eighteenth century.
Topic Sentence (an assertion that answers the question): A combination of market-based agriculture and rural manufacturing broke the traditional cycles of population and productivity by subverting the traditional limits to both.
Body of the Paragraph: The advent of market-based agriculture shifted the agricultural system from farming for local consumption to a reliance on imported food sold at markets. The introduction of rural manufacture, where people were paid in currency to work at textile production, put money in people’s pockets, allowing them to buy food and making them less dependent on land and agricultural cycles, thereby breaking the natural check on population growth.
Further Practice with Short-Answer Questions
In this book you’ll find a test-like short-answer question at the end of each content review chapter in Step 4. Use these to practice the skills necessary to do well on the short-answer section of the AP European History Exam. Compare your work to the answer and explanation provided. Additional practice for the short-answer questions can be found in the Practice Exams in Step 5. To gain more practice and become more proficient, access the sample short-answer questions provided online at the College Board website (www.collegeboard.org).