Document-Based Question, step by step.
Targeted prompt below. Type your response, then submit to the AP Tutor for rubric-aligned feedback. ~60 minutes on the real exam.
The prompt
[On the real exam, you receive 7 documents at this point. For practice, draw on what you know.]
Your response
Real-exam time: ~60 minutes
What an annotated approach looks like
15-minute reading period: read all 7 documents twice. First pass: get the gist. Second pass: group them. What argument do they support together? What argument do they refute?
Thesis (1 point): A defensible position that addresses the entire prompt. Don’t hedge — take a side. “The Columbian Exchange transformed both economies and societies in the Americas more profoundly than in Europe, by destroying indigenous demographic stability while only modestly reshaping European diet.”
Contextualization (1 point): Tell the story of what came before. Pre-1492 Atlantic isolation. The Iberian Reconquista. Indigenous American population concentrations.
Documents (3 points possible): Use 6 of 7 documents to support your argument. For 3 of them, do “sourcing” — explain HISTORICAL SITUATION, INTENDED AUDIENCE, POINT OF VIEW, or PURPOSE.
Outside evidence (1 point): Bring in something NOT in the documents. Smallpox specifically. Encomienda system. Casta hierarchy.
Analysis (1 point): Demonstrate complexity. The transformation was GREAT but uneven — Spanish colonies vs. North America, elite vs. peasant Europe. Show you can hold both sides.
Total: 7 points. The longest, hardest essay on the exam. Treat it like a marathon: pace yourself.
