How to Write a Free Response Essay in AP History
Advanced Placement History courses, also know as AP History, are high school courses that students can take to earn college credit before starting college. In order to receive college credit from an AP course, students will need to take a standard exam, complete free response essays and pass the class. Free response essays are an exciting part of an AP History class, because it allows students to showcase their talents and intelligence while writing about things that they find interesting and exciting.
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Instructions
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Review the topics that your AP History class focused on throughout the semester or year. Look through your notes and go over past exams and quizzes to make sure that you recall everything that you studied. Pay close attention to central themes that your teacher focused on.
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Choose a topic for your free response paper. The topic that you choose should not only be something that was focused on in great detail during the AP class, but it should also be meaningful and important to you. Consider answering a question that interests you using what you have learned in your class or by exploring something you find important in greater detail.
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Research the topic that you choose. Ask your AP History teacher about any databases that you might find useful. Use the Internet as a resource, but make sure that the websites you choose are reliable and relevant by checking the date the article was created, and whether or not the piece is scholarly. Use library books from your high school or public library. Consider getting firsthand interviews from those who may have lived through the history that you are writing about, if your topic allows.
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Create a unique, interesting and focused introduction with a strong thesis statement that reflects what your paper will be about. Make sure that your reader knows what they can expect from the rest of your paper.
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Develop the body and conclusion of your free response essay. Provide specific examples from your research to back up your thesis or answer the question that you are interested in.
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Revise your work. Check for correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. AP History free response essays should be very well written, since AP courses are similar to college courses. By editing and revising your work you can be sure that your essay does not get penalized for silly mistakes that could have been avoided.
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Provide a Works Cited section, highlighting all of the sources that you used in your free response essay. It is important to give credit to the people whose ideas you used.
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References
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