AP European History Unit Exams

1. AP European HistoryUnit Exams

2. Multiple Choice Grading: • Each question is worth 3 points. • You lose 2 points for each incorrect answer. • Impact: 25 right out of 50 questions (50% correct) becomes a 100 out of 150 grade (67%). 35 right out of 50 questions (70% correct) becomes a 120 out of 150 grade (80%). 44 out of 50 correct is the lowest A (138/150—92%). • This grading format was create to simulate the old College Board grading (0.25 point deduction for an incorrect answer and 0 point deduction for an unanswered question). This is NOT the way the College Board AP test is graded any more. Now the grading format is used because these are hard tests.

3. Goals:

4. Correct Answers Chapter 10 Chapter 9

5. Correct Answers Chapter 11 Chapter 12

6. Free Response Exam: • The rubric is based directly on the College Board AP European Free Response Scoring Guidelines. • First semester—you will be given three possible essay questions a week before the test. • Goal: to have each student prepare a detailed outline for each of nine previously used AP European History free response essay questions. • Second semester—you will be given a choice of three essay questions when you enter the class on test day. • Goal: to give students practice with the format of the free response section of the AP European History exam.

7. Possible Key Points for Unit Test 1 Essay Option ‘A’ • End of Religious Wars • Beginning of an Era of Religious Toleration • Shifting of the European “Balance of Power” • Creation of New Independent Nations • Destruction of the Holy Roman Empire • Major Points of the Treaty of Westphalia • First Modern “World” War • Caused a “Military Revolution”

8. Not Enough Specific SupportMain Point #3—Shifting of European Balance of Power: • Simply giving a chronological list of events does not constitute “analysis.” For example: • Spain was powerful before the Thirty Years War. It decreased in power afterwards. France gained power. The Treaty of Westphalia was written in French. Also, the Holy Roman Empire was left fragmented after the Thirty Years War.

9. Strong Specific SupportMain Point #3 Shifting of European Balance of Power • As a direct result of Spain’s attempt to defend Catholicism in Europe during the Thirty Years War, it was left weak in its aftermath. France, on the other hand, benefited from its involvement and the weakening of the Habsburg Empire. An example of French dominance over Europe in the second half of the 17th century is that the Treaty of Westphalia was written in French, recognized as the diplomatic language of that time. But possibly the greatest shift of power was within the Holy Roman Empire itself. The empire, divided before the war, was left more fragmented afterwards as both Lutheranism and Calvinism gained support within. Over 300 independent states existed within the empire, with only Austria and Prussia being powerful on the European stage. The Holy Roman Empire was left after 1648, as Voltaire describe it, “Neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.” Central Europe remained absent of a major international power.

10. Not Enough Specific SupportMain Points #2 and #4 • You need to provide specific examples whenever possible: • Point #2: The end of the Thirty Years War began an era of toleration towards Protestants in Europe. • Point #4: New independent nations were created as a result of the Thirty Years War.

11. Strong Specific EvidencePoints #2 and #4 • Where the Peace of Augsburg came up short after the Hundred Years War, the Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years War in 1648 recognized Calvinism specific as an official religion. • The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 recognized the independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Switzerland.

12. Average Grades: • Exam #1-Multiple Choice: 105.5/150 (70.3%) • 27.75 right out of 50 • Exam #1-Essay: 130/150 (86.8) • First Nine Weeks (through the Unit 1 Test—850 points): 89%