Practice AP Exam Free Response Questions

Below, you will find real free response questions from previous AP exams. Be sure to consider how you can create an argument / point of debate for the question you answer. If you have trouble crafting a thesis that poses a striking debate, try a different question.

Basic style points: Five paragraph academic essay. Thesis in the last sentence of first paragraph. Strong, relevant, and specific support that deals with ALL aspects of the original question (if comparing countries, be sure to compare equally with specific examples/support for each). No wimpy paragraphs, BTW; rule of thumb says a good academic paragraph will be at least five sentences long.

You must complete one of the following in 35 minutes (I will give you 40 minutes). When finished, please try to write a thesis statement for each of the remaining questions. Post everything on your blog. You will be doing another free response essay this week and will choose the better of the two to turn in for a grade.


2010 AP
®
 EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
© 2010 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.com.

EUROPEAN HISTORY
SECTION II
Part B
(Suggested planning and writing time—35 minutes)

Percent of Section II score—27 1/2

Directions:  You are to answer ONE question from the three questions below. Make your selection carefully,
choosing the question that you are best prepared to answer thoroughly in the time permitted.

You should spend  5 minutes organizing or outlining your answer. Write your answer to the question on the lined pages of the Section II free-response booklet, making sure to indicate the question you are answering by writing the appropriate question number at the top of each page.

Write an essay that:
•  Has a relevant thesis.
•  Addresses all parts of the question.
•  Supports thesis with specific evidence.
•  Is well organized.

 1. Analyze the ways in which European monarchs used both the arts and the sciences to
enhance state power in the period circa 1500–1800.

 2. Analyze the various Protestant views of the relationship between church and state in
the period circa 1500–1700.

 3. Analyze the various effects of the expansion of the Atlantic trade on the economy of
Western Europe in the period circa 1450–1700.


 4. Compare and contrast the economic factors responsible for the decline of Spain with
the economic factors responsible for the decline of the Dutch Republic by the end of
the seventeenth century.

 5. Analyze various ways in which the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) represented a
turning point in European history.