AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes
0.1: Introduction
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP US History Guided Notes
AMSCO 0.1 - Introduction
I. Studying Advanced Placement® United States History
1. What are the main benefits students gain from taking AP® U.S. History?
2. How do AP® courses compare to regular high school courses in terms of difficulty and value?
II. How This Book Can Help
1. What are the main components and features included in this textbook?
2. How does this textbook prepare students for the different types of AP® exam questions?
III. How Historians Work
1. What are the key skills historians use when analyzing historical evidence?
2. How do historians use reasoning processes to find connections and patterns in evidence?
3. How do historians communicate their findings and support their arguments?
IV. Essential Thinking Skills
1. Why do historians differ in their interpretations of U.S. history?
2. What are the four components that shape the study of AP® history?
V. Historical Thinking Skills
1. What is the difference between identifying a historical development and explaining its significance?
2. How do historians use sourcing and contextualization to analyze primary and secondary sources?
3. What is the relationship between identifying an author's argument and evaluating the evidence used to support it?
4. How does contextualization help explain how a historical event fits into broader historical conditions?
5. What reasoning processes do historians use to make connections between historical developments?
6. Why is selecting relevant and accurate evidence essential to developing a strong historical argument?
VI. Historical Reasoning
1. How do historians use comparison to understand similarities and differences between historical developments?
2. Why is causation the primary tool historians use to explore connections between events?
3. How do historians distinguish between primary and secondary causes and between short-term and long-term effects?
4. What is the difference between continuity and change, and why is this distinction important in historical analysis?
VII. Essential Course Content
1. What are the nine chronological periods of AP® U.S. History and what major developments define each period?
2. How does the College Board weight the emphasis on different historical periods in the AP® exam?
VIII. Thematic Analysis
1. What is the purpose of using thematic analysis to study U.S. history?
2. How do the eight themes of AP® U.S. History help organize and understand historical developments?
3. What are examples of how each of the eight themes appears throughout different periods of U.S. history?
IX. Overview of the AP® U.S. History Exam
1. What are the four components of the AP® U.S. History exam and how much time and weight does each receive?
2. What do the five AP® grades represent and what score is typically considered evidence of mastery?
3. How has the shift to digital testing changed the format and structure of the AP® history exam?
X. Keeping Perspective
1. How do AP® exams differ from typical classroom tests in terms of difficulty and scoring?
2. What should students prioritize when taking an AP® course beyond achieving a specific exam score?
XI. Preparing for the AP® U.S. History Exam
1. What are the four types of questions on the AP® U.S. History exam?
A. Answering the Multiple-Choice Questions
1. How should students analyze stimulus-based multiple-choice questions to identify the best answer?
2. What historical thinking skills are most commonly assessed in multiple-choice questions?
3. What strategies should students use to manage time effectively when answering 55 multiple-choice questions in 55 minutes?
B. Answering the Short-Answer Questions
1. What is the format and structure of short-answer questions on the AP® exam?
2. How do the three required short-answer questions differ in terms of sources and time periods?
3. What are the key differences between short-answer questions and essay questions in terms of thesis requirements and answer length?
C. Answering the Long Essay Question
1. How do students choose which long essay question to answer and what determines the three options?
2. What are the five components of the long essay scoring rubric and how many points is each worth?
1. Practice Writing Long Essay Question Answers
1. Why is analyzing the question carefully before writing essential to avoiding writing an essay that doesn't address the prompt?
2. How should students identify and organize evidence before beginning to write a long essay?
3. What makes a thesis statement historically defensible and how should it establish a line of reasoning?
4. What types of historical context should students provide and how does it differ from simply restating the question?
5. How should students link evidence to their arguments to avoid writing a list of unrelated facts?
6. What is the difference between demonstrating one point for historical reasoning and two points for complexity?
7. What questions should students ask when evaluating their own long essay answers?
D. Other Suggestions for Writing Essay Questions
1. What writing style and conventions should students follow when writing AP® history essays?
2. How should students demonstrate awareness of historical complexity and avoid making absolute claims?
3. How can students strengthen their essays by anticipating counterarguments and using specific evidence?
E. Answering the Document-Based Question
1. What is the format of the document-based question and how much time should students spend reading and analyzing documents?
2. What are the seven components of the DBQ scoring rubric and how many points is each worth?
1. Practice Writing the Document-Based Question
1. How should students analyze both the question and the seven documents during the first 15 minutes of the DBQ?
2. Why is organizing documents into categories more effective than writing about them in numerical order?
3. What is the difference between describing documents and integrating them into a persuasive argument?
4. How should students use evidence beyond the documents without duplicating the contextualization point?
5. What does sourcing a document mean and how should students incorporate it into their essays?
6. How can students demonstrate complex understanding in a DBQ through analysis of multiple variables and perspectives?
F. Final Perspectives
1. What does it mean to 'take ownership of the question' when writing a DBQ or LEQ?
2. How should students approach mastering DBQ and LEQ writing skills through practice and step-by-step development?
Key Terms
Long Essay Question (LEQ)
Document-Based Question (DBQ)
Short-Answer Question (SAQ)
Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ)
defensible thesis/claim
primary sources
secondary sources
causation
comparison
continuity
change over time
argumentation
line of reasoning
contextualization
historical reasoning
evidence
complex understanding
blueprint (organizing ideas)
point of view
purpose
historical situation
audience
sourcing
nuanced argument
active voice
passive voice
third person
counterarguments
historical developments