ap world history released essays

AP World History With Mr. Baker

Past ap essays.

This site contains all of the (released) essay questions that have appeared on the exam in the past. There are only so many questions they can ask, so if you study these you are likely to help yourself significantly on the exam: https://fiveable.me/world/ap-world-essay-topics/

AP Test Taker HW Due April 29th: Write this DBQ. Give yourself 10 minutes for planning and 45 minutes for writing: https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/apc/ap04_frq_world_histor_36115.pdf

Quizlet Assignment

Use these lists to complete your Quizlet assignment. Your flashcards are due by midnight on 6 March.

https://quizlet.com/join/9CeVwAHwj

Please add yourself to the class Quizlet ASAP via these links:

8Li: https://quizlet.com/join/9CeVwAHwj

8P: https://quizlet.com/join/3vYKDJbsC

We are going to use this resource to study for the AP test.

Ensure your username contains at least your first name so that I can tell who everyone is.

Ignore the readings.

Ignore all of the readings on the calendar over Winter Break. There are no assigned readings over Winter Break.

Flashcard Goals!

Thursday, 13 DEC: 21 flashcards

Friday, 14 DEC: 21 flashcards

Saturday, 15 DEC: 21 Flashcards

Sunday, 16 DEC: 20 Flashcards

Monday, 17 DEC: 20 Flashcards

Tuesday, 18 DEC: 20 Flashcards

Wednesday, 19 DEC: 20 Flashcards

Thursday, 20 DEC: Test

Friday, 21 DEC: Make the special focus flashcards

Tang and Song

First Essay This Friday!

Here are the questions for Friday’s LEQ:

Question 1: Compare and contrast two religious or philosophical movements of the Classical Era. In the development of your argument explain what was similar and what was different concerning these religions or movements.

Question 2: Compare and contrast two empires of the Classical Era. In the development of your argument explain what was similar and what was different concerning these empires.

Ensure you are preparing for this essay all week. Watch the LEQ videos on the writing page of this blog if you need a refresher!

Homework Due 8/28

Watch the following and take notes that will help you write your essay on this topic:

Welcome WHAPers!

Dear Students,

Thank you for joining me this year for A.P. World History! Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this site, as it will be an invaluable resource for you this year. After checking things out, please head over to the  Summer Project  page to get started on your first assignment, which is due on the first day of class.

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AP World History: Modern Sample Long Essay Question

In the period 1850 to 2001, new technologies emerged that had significant social, political, and economic effects. Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which changes in the spread of ideas/information before and after World War I impacted societies.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

As you choose which question you will answer, begin thinking about what your thesis will entail and how your essay will demonstrate a complex understanding. The notes of a sample high- scoring writer are below. Note that the writer plans to develop a complex argument by addressing not only changes, as required by the prompt, but also continuities in societies before and after World War I.

Thesis : changes: faster spread of ideas made news, politics, and war more immersive and fast-paced; continuity: cross-cultural interactions transform all cultures (complex understanding, historical skill)

Step 2: Plan Your Response

• Context : Gutenberg → 2nd industrial revolution (steamship, train, telegraph) → digital revolution (radio, TV, Internet)
• Thesis : changes: faster spread of ideas made news, politics, and war more immersive and fast-paced; continuity: cross-cultural interactions transform all cultures ( complex understanding, historical skill )
• Evidence : War of 1812 versus WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War
• Evidence : American Revolution versus Cold War
• Evidence : language: Arab traders & Swahili, and modern business & English
• ¶ conclusion: impacts of tech on society have become more pervasive, though tendency towards cross-cultural influence has persisted

Step 3: Action! Write Your Response & Step 4: Proofread

Sample high-scoring response.

A key change between these eras of communication is how the speed of ideas’ dissemination impacts their force of impact and makes news more pervasive in civilians’ lives. In the distant past, the slow rate of communication caused reactions that were often months, or even years, after the initial communication. For instance, the final battle of the War of 1812 was fought after the signing of the war’s peace treaty because news had not yet traveled by ship across the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the peace treaties of WWII were celebrated in cities around the world mere minutes after news of their signing was shared by telegram and radio signals. The quick spread of images and video from the Vietnam conflict helped intensify Americans’ resistance to the war. In recent decades, 24-hour live coverage of conflicts, as in CNN’s being the first to provide constant coverage of a war during the Gulf War, allowed policy- makers and civilians to respond instantly to developments. As news became quicker, so its impact became more significant and more immediate.

Another change is that the quick and pervasive spread of ideas has made political conflicts more ideological and propaganda-based, further drawing societies into global disputes. Political rebellions of the eighteenth century, such as the American and French Revolutions, were based on Enlightenment ideals such as equality and representative government; they made use of propaganda in the form of printed political cartoons, tracts, and engravings to spread their ideals among the populace. However, the news communication made possible by radio and television after World War II helped propel the ideological conflict between the communist Soviet Union and the democratic United States into a worldwide phenomenon that intensely impacted both nations’ citizens. Technology was able to so effectively spread this war of ideas that the two major superpowers never engaged in direct battle themselves; still, citizens were drawn into a culture of propaganda that demonized the other side, made bomb shelters and bomb drills a part of daily life due to fear of nuclear warfare, and saw governments pour millions of dollars into the space race. Technology thus made it possible for conflicts to become all-immersive, even if they were based on ideas rather than physical confrontations.

Despite changes in communication, constants about its impacts remain. Cross- cultural communications still transform societies as they borrow and adapt ideas from others. For instance, from the eighth century onward, Arab traders who traveled throughout West Africa and along the eastern and northern coasts not only enriched communities economically but also spread Islam. Further, the necessity for communication among traders led to the rise of Swahili, a language that combined Arabic and African words and is still the lingua franca in much of East Africa today. Similarly, in modern times, as Britain and then the United States dominated world trade, English became a kind of worldwide lingua franca of modern business. Just as Arab traders spread their religion, American culture also diffused to other societies: almost every nation in modern times, for instance, built American-style fast food restaurants. Mirroring the trends related to the spread of news and politics, cultural diffusions in recent decades occurred at a faster rate and to a more pervasive extent than in the past. Whereas primarily traders would have adopted Swahili as it developed over generations, today English is taught in grade schools throughout the world.

Cultures that interact always influence each other. In the past century, how- ideas travel at a faster pace. As they have in ever, technology has made the impact of this spread of ideas more pervasive and significant as news and political the past, societies will continue to transform as they encounter ideas from other cultures, but with this increased intensity of communication, the impacts of ideas will continue to escalate.

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