AP World History Long-Essay Question 2 from the 2017 Administration

2017

AP World History

Sample Student Responses

and Scoring Commentary

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Inside:

R Long Essay Question 2

R Scoring Guideline

R Student Samples

R Scoring Commentary

WORLD HISTORY

2017 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 2 — Long Essay Question

Maximum Possible Points: 6

“Describe and explain a significant continuity and a significant change in labor migration in the period

1450–1750

C.E.” (Historical thinking skill: Continuity and Change)

Please note:

• Each point of the rubric is earned independently, e.g., a student could earn the point for synthesis

without earning the point for thesis.

• Unique evidence from the student response is required to earn each point, e.g., evidence in the

student response that qualifies for either of the targeted skill points could not be used to earn the

point for thesis.

Points

Scoring Criteria

Notes

A: Thesis 0-1

Thesis:

Presents a thesis that

makes a historically defensible

claim and responds to all parts of

the question. The thesis must

consist of one or more sentences

located in one place, either in the

introduction or the conclusion.

(1 point)

•

Must address at least one continuity and at least

one change in labor migrations and have some

explanatory element for each.

• Does NOT have to mention specific migrations.

• Sample: A continuity during this period in labor

migration was the forced movement of artisans,

manual laborers, and prisoners by states to build

empires, while a major change was the

development of North American colonies where

free, forced, and indentured migrant laborers were

used to build new economies.

B: Argument Development: Using the

Historical Thinking Skill 0-2

Argument Development —

Describes: Describes a historical

continuity AND a change.

(1 point)

•

Must describe/identify at least one relevant example

of continuity and one example of change in labor

migration in the period 1450–1750 C.E.

• Samples: European colonization of the Americas,

regional migration within the Americas, trans-

Atlantic slave trade, importance of growing sea-

based trade networks shaping migrations.

Argument Development —

Explains: Explains the reasons

for a historical continuity AND a

change. (1 point)

•

Must explain a cause for at least one relevant

example of continuity and a cause for one relevant

example of change in labor migration in the period

1450–1750

C.E. and connect them back to the

argument.

WORLD HISTORY

2017 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 2 — Long Essay Question (continued)

C: Argument Development: Using Evidence 0-2

Using Evidence — Examples:

Addresses the topic of the

question with specific examples

of relevant evidence. (1 point)

•

Must address the topic of the question by referring

to at least TWO specific examples or pieces of

relevant evidence reflecting labor migrations. Essays

can earn this point without having a stated thesis or

a relevant argument.

• Samples: trans-Atlantic slave trade, trans-Saharan

slave trade, debt or indentured servitude in the

Atlantic world, slavery in the Indian Ocean; free

Europeans to the Americas, rural to urban

migrations in Europe, Ottoman Empire slave

soldiers, Chinese migrations throughout Southeast

Asia.

Using Evidence — Effective

Substantiation:

Utilizes specific examples of

evidence to fully and effectively

substantiate the stated thesis or a

relevant argument. (1 point)

•

Must both present a significant amount of relevant

evidence and clearly and consistently link that

evidence to an argument about continuity or

change in labor migration in the period 1450–1750

C.E.

Synthesis 0-1

Synthesis: Extends the

argument by explaining the

connection between the

argument and either a

development in a

• different historical

period

• geographical area

• a course theme and/or

approach that is not the

focus of the essay or

• a different discipline.

(1 point)

•

(Period) may offer a relevant connection between

the in-period continuity and/or change in labor

migration and developments in other periods, e.g.

during 1750−1900 C.E. or 1945−2000.

• (Geography) not allowable because prompt is global.

• (Theme) may connect the continuity and/or change

in labor migration in this period to a course theme

or approach that is NOT economic history.

Examples might include migrations driven by

religious or environmental factors.

• (Discipline) may connect the argument to a different

discipline, such as political science, sociology, or

demography, to extend a discussion of the

continuity and/or change in labor migration.

If response is completely blank, enter - - for all four score categories A, B, C, and D.

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WORLD HISTORY

2017 SCORING COMMENTARY

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Long Essay Question 2

Overview

The intent of this question was to assess students’ knowledge of continuties and changes in patterns of

labor migration in the period between 1450 and 1750

C.E. This content is part of Key Concepts 4.1, 4.2, and

4.3 of the AP World History Curriculum Framework (Globalizing Networks of Communication and

Exchange; New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production; and State Consolidation and

Imperial Expansion). The question’s geographic scope was global, and its choronological scope

encompassed the period of new large-scale mass migrations from Afro-Eurasia to the Americas that

followed the Age of Exploration, as well as the continuation of previous patterns of labor migrations, such

as intra-Africa slavery, slave trade networks in the Muslim World, and global rural-to-urban migration

movements. The question was designed to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of multiple

types of labor migrations, including involuntary migration (slavery, indentured servitude) and voluntary

migration (for economic, religious, or political reasons). Students were expected to present a historically

defensible thesis, describe both a historical continuity and a historical change in labor migrations during

this period, explain the reasons for the historical continuity and the reasons for the historical change,

address the topic with specific examples of relevant evidence, deploy the evidence to fully and effectively

substantiate the thesis or a relevant argument, and extend the argument by either connecting it to a

different course theme or another discipline or by comparing it to developments in other time periods.

Sample: 2A

Score: 6

The thesis presented in the first paragraph is sufficient to have earned the thesis point. The change is

identified in the first sentence, where the response identifies that “European hegemony” evolves as a result

of labor migrations following the discovery of the New World in 1492. The continuity of African slave trade is

correctly identified as having continued since the ancient period.

The essay earned the first argument development point for describing a continuity and a change. The

continuity of slave trade is identified in the beginning of the second paragraph. The first sentence of this

paragraph identifies the continuation of the slave trade and not simply the labor system of slavery. The essay

identifies earlier examples of this slave trade, and then connects them to the forced labor migration of African

slaves in this time period. A change is described in the fourth paragraph, by identifying the evolving

European hegemony due to the African slave trade previously introduced.

The essay earned the second argument development point for explaining a historical continuity and a

change. The assertion of change is discussed quite thoroughly in the third paragraph, where the developing

Atlantic slave trade is explained through the implementation of mercantilism and the need for cheap labor

sources. The continuity of the brutality of slave trade is discussed in the second body paragraph, where the

continued selling of enemies into slavery is explained as a result of needed goods. The continued need for

these goods and weapons leads to the practice continuing throughout the time period.

The essay provides several examples that earned the first using evidence point, including naming of specific

tribes (Ashanti), the goods traded for (guns), and evolving ethnic divides (Creole, peninsulares, etc.).

WORLD HISTORY

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Long Essay Question 2 (continued)

The essay earned the second using evidence point for effective substantiation by using evidence in several

instances to substantiate the argument being made. In the second body paragraph, for example, the

evidence of earlier time period slave trade complements the evidence provided of slave trade within this

period (Ashanti, guns, etc.) to substantiate a solid argument about the continuity of slave trade as a forced

migration.

The essay provides an especially high-level synthesis response, which earned the synthesis point. The essay

does an exceptional job of connecting developments in art history with the forced slave migrations. While the

essay develops an argument about continued poor treatment on the slave trade routes, the final paragraph

connects this clearly to the Impressionist movement and a specific image by Joseph Turner. The essay also

explains the cause of the connection, which lies in the inhumanity of the social hierarchy that developed

around the justification of slavery.

Sample: 2B

Score: 4

The essay attempts a thesis but failed to earn the point for several reasons. Most significantly the argument

being presented, “laborers working under harsh conditions,” is an argument about labor, but not migration.

In addition, the identification of change and continuity lack the necessary explanatory element necessary.

The essay earned the first argument development point. The essay identifies a change in labor migration in

the first sentence of the second paragraph. This identification includes the phrase “continued to migrate”

and the clarification “under very harsh conditions” so that it meets expectations for describing a change in

the migration itself. The paragraph goes on to describe the specific “horrible conditions” of the Middle

Passage. The description of change in the first five lines of the third paragraph identifies the use of slave

trade to the Americas as a change in the time period through reference to the increase in the “frequency”

and referencing “more” slaves being taken to plantations in the New World.

The essay did not earn the second argument development point. Though a continuity in labor migration

“under very harsh conditions” is identified, the essay fails to explain why this practice continued. Similarly

the change identified (increased slavery to the New World) is never explained.

The essay earned the first using evidence point by providing multiple examples with connections to labor

migrations, including identification of “African slaves,” “plantations” as the end point of the harsh treatment

of slave migration, and specific details of the harsh treatment (disease, overcrowding, etc.).

The essay earned the second using evidence point by using evidence to substantiate the continued harsh

treatment seen in slave migrations in the first body paragraph. The details of the harsh treatment reinforce

the argument that this treatment was a continuous element of the forced migration of slaves.

The essay earned the synthesis point in the third paragraph by exploring the development of new social

classes influenced by the continued importation (forced migration) of slaves. The essay develops this

assertion with a detailed explanation of the demographic changes in plantation society.

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Long Essay Question 2 (continued)

Sample: 2C

Score: 1

The essay did not earn the thesis point. While the attempt at identifying a continuity argument in the first

paragraph (“use of slaves and agriculture”) opens the door to an acceptable continuity, it does not connect

the “use” of slaves to their forced migration. Similarly, the attempted change focuses on trade routes and

methods of travel, rather than identifying an element of labor migration that changed.

The essay did not earn the first argument development point. The attempt to develop a slavery argument

never advances beyond connecting the use of slavery to the migration of slaves. The same holds true of the

agricultural element, which is a labor argument but not tied to migration. The essay does identify the use of

ships to transport African slaves, but this is not a historically accurate change (as ships had been used for

transport for years.)

The essay did not earn the second argument development point. No acceptable arguments are introduced

and so explanation is not possible.

The essay fulfills the minimum expectation of two evidence points, so it earned the first using evidence

point. It identifies slaves dying of disease from their transport and then identifies the “Middle Passage.”

The essay did not earn the second using evidence point because minimal evidence is presented, and it is not

effectively used to substantiate an argument about labor migration.

The last paragraph could be interpreted as a failed attempt at synthesis. It demonstrates no connection to an

argument or clear feature of labor migration, and so it did not earn the synthesis point.