The first section of the AP African American Studies Exam includes 60 multiple-choice questions (MCQ) appearing in sets of typically three or four questions per set. Each MCQ set includes one or two sources which serve as stimulus material for the questions in the set. Up to half of the source material included in the multiple-choice section will be drawn from required sources in the course framework. The remaining sources will be related to required course content, but will not be sources that students will have directly studied as required content in the course cross each multiple-choice set as a whole, multiple learning objectives and essential knowledge statements will be assessed. Each set includes question(s) that focus on the source material explicitly, as well as question(s) that move beyond the source, making connections to related course content.

The multiple-choice section includes 13–14 sets with a single source as stimulus, including the following source types:

• Text: historical primary

• Text: literary

• Text: secondary

• Data: map, chart, table, or graph

• Image: art or architecture

• Image: historical or map

Four to five multiple-choice sets in the multiple-choice section include two paired sources as stimulus. These pairings may include two sources of the same type (e.g., two texts), or two sources of varied types (e.g., one text and one image).