Grade my APWH Comparative Essay?

Aspire4Ivy
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:19:05 +0000

1. We’re taught in class to include an analysis of global context in the thesis. It can only help your essay, though, if you consistently relate the developments in the region back to the global context. I always get expanded core points in class for this. The structure of each body paragraph should be an explanation of your comparison, a description and comparison of historical evidence from both regions, cause-effect analysis, and then relation back to global context.

2. The essay should be 4 paragraphs total - thesis and 3 body paragraphs. You should either have 2 similarities/1 difference or vice versa. However, sometimes the question will require more comparisons (e.g. if it asks you to compare and contrast the political and social aspects of two regions, you need a minimum of 4 comparisons.) In this case, you’ll have to be flexible. Hoping we don’t get one of those on the AP exam this year xD!

3. You have to sort of do both. I always think of the explanation as describing both regions in a direct comparison (historical evidence), and the analysis as the cause-effect and relation back to the global context. You need the cause-effect for the analysis point.

4. Kind of - I would contrast how feudalism led to political decentralization to maintain order in Europe while it led to the establishment of shogunate rule in Japan. Be careful how you use the word “unify” because both of these regions are characterized by political disunity during 600-1450. (I’m honestly not confident about this; my school has a 2-year WHAP class and we learned about 600-1450 last year, so I would double check my info.)

No problem; if there’s anything else I can help with, feel free to ask! :)

P.S. Here’s the link to the old free response questions from the AP exam - it has the specific rubrics for each question and sample responses - really helps a lot!
[AP Central - AP World History Exam](AP World History: Modern Exam – AP Central | College Board)