The multiple-choice questions of the new AP European History Exam are not the same as the multiple-choice questions you're used to. This chapter will show you how to approach the questions.

The process of elimination can be used to find the best answer.

Take a guess if you can't eliminate all but one answer choice. Don't leave any multiple-choice answers blank; there's always a chance you will guess correctly.

55 multiple-choice questions are included in the introduction section of the AP European History Exam. A historian's argument or a historical problem can be presented by the visual stimuli. We will look at an example in a minute, but first we need to remind ourselves of what we know about multiple-choice questions.

The process of elimination is tested in multiple-choice exams. The multiple-choice section of the AP European History Exam will test your knowledge of European history from 1450 to the present.

The three main categories of historical thinking skills are reasoning chronologically, putting information in context and arguing from evidence. You won't be able to create your own argument from evidence in the multiple-choice section, but you will be asked to identify which answer choice is supported by the evidence. The best answers to the questions will be found by using all three types of historical thinking skills. Let's look at another example.

Here is a set of multiple-choice questions similar to the ones you will encounter on the AP European History Exam, followed by an explanation of how you would arrive at the best answer.

I don't think I have to believe that the same God who endowed us with senses, reason and intellect is going to give us knowledge which we can get by using other means. Since the Holy Ghost did not intend to teach us whether heaven is spherical or extended in a plane, or whether the earth is located at its center or off to one side, it follows as a necessary consequence.

Scan the four possible answers after reading the passage. Imagine if you drew a blank on Galileo while taking the exam. You can answer the question fairly quickly by asking yourself a series of questions about the possible answers. The passage is dated 1615. The Industrial Revolution was a late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century phenomenon. Most of the Great Voyages happened earlier than 1615. Look at the contexts of the remaining answers. C can be eliminated. A can be eliminated. The context for this passage is the rise of natural philosophy and the Scientific Revolution, because of the conflict between the authority of the church and concern for how the heavens move.

Natural philosophers like Galileo came into conflict with the Catholic Church in Rome. The creation of barons of industry is a nineteenth-century phenomenon and can be eliminated through a combination of chronological reasoning and contextualization.

Incorrect answers and unanswered questions are not deducted for points. There is no guessing penalty. Take a guess if you're not sure of an answer.

There are test-like multiple-choice questions at the end of each content review chapter in this book. You can use these to practice for the AP European History Exam. You can use the explanations to stand up any questions you get wrong. It's a good idea to read the explanations, not only for the questions you missed, but also for any that you didn't understand one of the answer choices. There is more practice for the multiple-choice questions in the Practice Tests. The sample multiple-choice questions on the College Board website can be used to gain more practice and become more proficient.

There are short-answer questions in the AP European History Exam. This chapter will show you how to approach the questions.

In the case of a question that asks for two things, two short paragraphs, a good answer is only one paragraph.

For each paragraph, make a topic sentence that answers the question and four or five more sentences that support and illustrate your assertions.

You will have 40 minutes to answer the questions on the AP European History Exam. Some of the questions may have a visual effect. The first two questions are about the period between 1600 and 2001. You can choose between periods 1-2 and periods 3-4.

The three main categories of historical thinking skills are reasoning chronologically, putting information in context and arguing from evidence.

The short-answer questions don't require you to make an argument from evidence, so you can use your knowledge, reasoning and contextualizing to answer the question. Let's look at an example to see how that would work.

Answer parts A and B using your knowledge of European history.

There were two significant consequences of the development of market-based agriculture in the 18th century.

The population and productivity cycles of Western Europe were broken in the 18th century.

Make sure you know what the question is asking.

The development of market-based agriculture and the breaking of the population and productivity cycles are related. You can organize your thoughts by locating the two events chronologically.

You need a topic sentence that answers the question and four or five more sentences that support it.

There were two significant consequences of the development of market-based agriculture in the 18th century.

Traditional land-owning elites abandoned their feudal obligations to the peasantry in favor of the merchant class. They instituted a process known as "enclosure," in which hedges, fences, and walls were built to deny the peasantry access to the commons, which were now converted to fields for cash crops. The feudal agreements were broken and the peas antry was transformed into wage labor.

The old three-field system left roughly one-third of the land fallow and was replaced with new crops that could be used to feed livestock in the winter.

The cotton gin, invented in 1793 by the American Eli Whitney, increased the speed with which agricultural products could be processed and sent to market.

The population and productivity cycles of Western Europe were broken in the 18th century.

The maximum amount that could be produced was reached when the land available and methods in use were taken into account. As the number of people grew, food became scarce and expensive.

The population decline was caused by high prices. The cycle began again when the population was below productivity. Market-based agriculture shifted the agricultural system from farming for local consumption to relying 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 make them less dependent on land and agricultural cycles, broke the natural check on population growth.

There is a short answer question at the end of each content review chapter in this book. The skills needed to do well on the short-answer section of the AP European History Exam can be practiced with these. You can compare your work to the answer. There is more practice for the short-answer questions in the Practice Tests. The sample short answer questions on the College Board website can be used to gain more practice and become more proficient.

The AP European History Exam contains an essay question called the "document-based question", which involves using historical documents of various types. You'll find out what to expect in this chapter, as well as a strategy to do well on this task.

The key to doing well is being able to write a history essay that answers the question, makes an argument, and supports the argument with evidence.

Those who grade the AP essay exams are looking for a well-written essay that answers the question, makes an argument, and supports the argument with evidence. The key to cracking the AP essay questions is to know how to write a high quality short history essay. You will do well in your history classes in college if you learn that skill now.

The thesis is a sentence that makes a clear assertion in response to the question. If your essay is persuasive, it is a statement of what your reader will believe.

The beginning of clearly marked paragraphs should include topic sentences. The body of the para graph will be supported by each topic sentence. Your topic sentences should add up logically to your thesis. The reader would have no choice but to admit the plausibility of your thesis if you were to successfully persuade them of the truth.

This is what makes your essay historical. In a history essay, the evidence is made up of specific examples, explained to support and illustrate your claim.

An outline is a must before you begin writing a history essay.

There are too many essays that respond to the topic. In order to answer a question, you have to do what it asks. To determine what a question is asking you to do, you must pay attention to the words that give you a specific task. Go to Step 2 after looking at the following question.

In the unification of Italy and Germany in the 1860s and 1870s, different social classes played different roles.

There are many differences between the German and Italian unifications.

The unifications of Italy and Germany were engineered by the aristocracy.

There are many attempts at a thesis statement that resembles example A.

A merely makes a vague claim about the topic and gives the author nothing specific to do next. A specific assertion about the role of a social class in the unification of Italy and Germany is made by example B. If the essay is persuasive, example B is a thesis. The author needs to build and support an argument that explains why we should conclude that the unifications of Italy and Germany were engineered by the aristocracy.

The architects of Italian and German unification were conservatives.

In the south of Germany, the middle classes initially opposed the unification of Germany, despite the fact that the middle classes played no role in Italian unification.

The peasantry followed in the footsteps of the aristocracy in the unification of Italy and Germany.

The topic sentences add up logically to the thesis, and each gives you something specific to support in the body of the paragraph.

Specific examples should be presented in the sentences that follow the topic sentence. Each paragraph is made up of two things: factual information and your explanation of how that factual information supports the topic sentence. You can list the examples you want to use in your outline.

The unifications of Italy and Germany were engineered by the aristocracy.

The architects of Italian and German unification were conservatives.

Both took leadership roles.

In the south of Germany, the middle classes initially opposed the unification of Germany, despite the fact that the middle classes played no role in Italian unification.

The mid-century Risorgimento, a middle-class movement, failed and played no role in subsequent events. Middle-class liberals in the parliament were not effective. When the Franco-Prussian War began, middle-class liberals in southern Germany were initially wary of Prussian domination.

The peasantry followed in the footsteps of the aristocracy in the unification of Italy and Germany.

The working classes did not play a role in the north. The peasantry of the south moved without resistance to support Cavour and the king. Kaiser William I of Prussia was supported by the working classes in Germany. The socialists supported the cause of war.

If you have time remaining, and you are happy with all the other aspects of your essay, you can write a one-paragraph conclusion that supports or places your thesis in a broader context.

There are things that should not be done in an essay.

Most of the time, the clearest sentence is a relatively short one.

Don't get caught up in unimportant things. If you find an idea or fact that doesn't support or illustrate your thesis, don't put it in.

Do not ask a lot of rhetorical questions. Give your thesis, argument, and evidence in a clear, straightforward manner to the readers.

An essay question about primary sources is the document-based question. Key Idea asks you to respond to a question by interpreting a set of excerpts from primary-source documents that were written in a particular historical period. The third section of the AP European History Exam is called the DBQ. The multiple-choice and short-answer sections of the exam follow after the short break. It begins with a 15-minute reading period because it involves reading and organizing short excerpts from documents. You have 45 minutes to write your essay after the reading period.

Don't worry, the directions are lengthy and complex in their present form.

The following question is based on the documents.

The purpose of this question is to find out how well you can apply several historical thinking skills at the same time. The skills include the ability to understand and use arguments based on historical interpretation, the ability to assess and use evidence from history, and the ability to understand historical context. In your response, base your ideas on your analysis of the documents and any knowledge you have of the topic.

It's important to show your knowledge and skill in a quality essay. The only instruction not taken care of by writing a quality essay is to make sure you use all of the documents.

Determine what the documents have in common as you read them.

You should write a thesis that explains how the documents are linked.

Make sure that your topic sentences add up logically to your thesis.

You can support and illustrate your thesis with specific examples.

Let's look at a question similar to the one on the AP European History Exam and see how you would approach it.

The basis for knowledge of the natural world is discussed in the following documents.

There are two types of Magick, the one that is notorious, and unhappy, because it has to do with foul spirits and consists of incantations and wicked curiosity. The other Magick is natural, which all excellent, wise men do admit and embrace, and worship with great applause; neither is there anything more highly esteemed, or better thought of, by men of learning. The practi cal part of natural philosophy produces her effects by the mutual and fit of one natural thing to another.

"Copernicus stands always upon physical conclusions pertaining to the celestial motions, and deals with them by astronomy and very exact observations." I believe that we should begin discussions of physical problems from experience and demonstrations, not from the authority of scriptures.

If the earth moves and the sun stands still, all appearances are saved better than with eccentrics and epicycles, and it is sufficient for mathematicians. To affirm that the sun is in the center of the heavens.

There are two ways to find truth. The one takes a flight to the most general axioms, and from these principles and their truth, settles 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 The other method collects axioms from sense and particulars, ascending continuously and by degrees so that it arrives at the most general axioms.

It is said that the heart is the fountain and workshop of the vital spirits, the center from which life is dispersed to several parts of the body. It is not believed that the right ventricle makes spirits to supply the lungs.

There is an example in corals. The virtue of corals is in their red color, not in the stone or the body. If the corals are to release their power, they must first be dissolved and then separated from the body.

Natural things can only be explained by true and sufficient causes.

To the same natural effects we must assign the same causes.

Determine what the documents have in common as you read them.

A good strategy would be to try to identify a central dividing issue because the documents display a wide array of positions. Some people think that all knowledge of nature should start with direct sense experience, while others think that starting with sense experience is a mistake. If you can form a few groups based on the similarities and differences between the approaches used in these pieces, then focus your essay on that central divide.

You should write a thesis that explains how the documents are linked.

Make sure that your topic sentences add up logically to your thesis.

You can support and illustrate your thesis with specific examples.

The documents show that the basis for knowledge of the natu ral world is often based on assumptions about the reliability of sense experience.

The faith in direct, trial-and-error experience was developed in the "alchemy" and "natural magic" traditions.

There is an emphasis on observation as the correct starting place for knowledge of the natural world in documents 4 and 5.

Harvey illustrates how the method should work, while bacon outlines two approaches and argues for the superiority of the one that begins with observed particulars.

The goal of finding Gen eral laws is included in documents 2 and 7.

Nature abides by the laws imposed upon her.

Document 3 disagrees with the view that sense experience is valid for knowledge of the natural world.

You are ready to write your essay. You can go on to step 5 if you have time, but remember a conclusion isn't necessary.

The amount of faith one puts in the reliability of sense experience is what determines the variety of attitudes and positions regarding knowledge about the natural world.

Instead of awarding a single score for the overall quality of the essay, the high school and college instructors will be awarding points for specific aspects of a response.

In their most basic forms, the historical thinking skills are reasoning chronologically, contextualizing, and arguing from evidence.

You can ask yourself if you have done all three of those things if you look at the essay you have constructed. If you have constructed a good thesis, created a good argu ment, and supported the argument with evidence, you'll be in trouble.

The Practice Tests provided in Step 5 of the book can be used to practice creating an outline and writing a response to a question. 60 minutes is all you need to create your essay. Then compare your work to the answer. Go to the College Board website to get more practice.

The AP European History Exam asks you to use your European history knowledge to create a historical argument.

What to expect and how to develop a strategy will be covered in this chapter.

The key to doing well on the long-essay question is being able to write a history essay of high quality, one that answers the question, makes an argument, and supports the argument with evidence.

You have to use your knowledge of European history to create a historical argument. You have 40 minutes to respond to one of the three long-essay questions on the AP European History Exam. The three questions all have the same theme and skill, but give you a choice of three periods for considera tion. The five steps to writing a history essay of high quality are the keys to success.

You can choose which topic you want to write about.

The key is to be prepared for the question. The five-step process for writing a history essay is high quality. You can choose based on this analysis.

Determine what the question wants you to do by finding the action words in the question.

A thesis that responds to the question will give you something specific to support and illustrate.

Make sure your topic sentences add up logically to support your thesis.

Illustrate your topic sentences with examples.

Don't get caught up in unimportant things. If you find an idea or fact that doesn't support or illustrate your thesis, don't put it in.

Do not ask a lot of rhetorical questions. Give your thesis, argument, and evidence in a clear, straightforward manner to the readers.

Let's look at a question similar to the one you'll encounter on the AP European History Exam and see how you approach it.

Discuss the relative successes and failures of seventeenth-century monarchs' attempts to consolidate political power.

The ability to form an alliance with a rising commercial class was the key to the success or failure of seventeenth-century monarchs.

A logical case for your thesis can be built by outlining between three and five topic sentences. The French monarchy built a powerful centralized bureaucracy by using the administrative expertise of both the clergy and middle class, and by cementing an alliance with both the clergy and middle class.

The nobility landed in the high church and the merchant class fought for Parliament in the English Civil War.

There was a political standoff between monarch and nobility in areas where the commercial class was less developed.

All of the independent German states, Austria, and Poland lacked a well-developed commercial class and were characterized by a politi cal compromise between monarchy and traditional elites.

You should start your essay with the thesis and write a new paragraph for each topic sentence. As you write the body of each paragraph, make sure to identify the example you are using and explain why it supports and illustrates your topic sentence. If you have time, you can write a concluding paragraph.

The best way to get the highest score is to simply write a history essay of high quality because there are no tricks to the scoring. If your essay answers the question with a clear thesis, and develops and supports your thesis with paragraphs made up of clear topic sentences and specific examples, you will get the maximum number of points.

You can use the practice exam provided in Step 5 of the book to practice creating an outline and writing a response. Give yourself some time. Then compare your work to the answer. Go to the College Board website to learn how to respond to this type of question.