AP® World History: Modern 2021 Scoring Guidelines
Reporting
Category
Scoring Criteria
Row D
Analysis and
Reasoning
(0–2 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria
for one point.
1 point
Uses historical reasoning (e.g., comparison, causation,
continuity and change) to frame or structure an
argument that addresses the prompt.
2 points
Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development
that is the focus of the prompt, using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or
modify an argument that addresses the question.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
Responses that do not
earn points:
• May include evidence
but offer no reasoning
to connect the
evidence to an
argument.
• May assert the use of
historical reasoning but
do not use it to frame
or structure an
argument.
Responses that earn 1 point:
• Must demonstrate the use of historical reasoning to
explain how governments changed their economic
policies in response to the Great Depression.
Responses that earn 2 points:
May demonstrate a complex understanding in a variety of ways, such as:
• Explaining the nuance of an issue by analyzing multiple variables.
• Explaining both similarity and difference, or explaining both continuity
and change, or explaining multiple causes, or explaining both causes
and effects.
• Explaining relevant and insightful con en ctions within and across
pe ir ods.
• Confirming the validity of an argument by corroborating multiple
perspectives across themes.
• Qualifying or modifying an argument by considering diverse or
alternative views or evidence.
Examples that do not earn
points:
Provide
evidence but offer
no reasoning to connect
the evidence
to an
argument
• “Unemployment
increased significantly
during the Great
Depression.”
Using a historical thinking skill to frame or structure an
argument could include:
• Explaining why the Great Depression led many
governments to enact or expand their social welfare
programs.
• Explaining how
changes in government economic
policies in response to the Great
Depression
changed the global economy in the 1930s.
• Comparing how the Great Depression led to
different or similar policy responses by different
governments.
Example of acceptable use of historical reasoning:
• “Some countries responded to the Great Depression
by embracing nationalism, fascism, and militarism,
such as
in Germany and Japan.
Germany expanded
its military and pursued
economic self-sufficiency.”
(Compares responses to the Great Depression
enacted by several different
governments
and
connects the reaction to a change)
Demonstrating complex understanding might include any of the
following, if appropriate elaboration is provided:
• Explaining the nuance of an issue by arguing that many governments
adopted social welfare programs in response to the Great Depression
but tailored them to fit within an overall free-market economic
system.
For example, a response could discuss the welfare policies
pursued by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, which were aimed at
limiting or abolishing the strength of independent labor unions, while
pursuing key
goals of the Fascist and Nazi regimes such as
encouraging
pro-natalist social policies. (Explains nuance, considers both causes
and effects, and
qualifies an argument)
• Explaining relevant and insightful connections across time and space,
such as explaining how the experiences of the Great Depression
encouraged
governments to pursue new economic policies in the
aftermath of the Depression. For
example,
a response could argue
that the partial success of Keynesian economic policies to address
the
effects of the Great Depression led Western European governments
(for example,
the British Labor government) to be more open to
the
idea of directing economic growth through planning, nationalization
of some industries, and expanding the welfare
state in the aftermath
of the Second World War.
(Explains relevant and insightful
connections)
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