APUSH Writing

History Essay Tips

Always state your position (claim) quickly and concisely, as early as possible in your paper (Introduction).
When you make an assertion essential to your case, provide some examples as evidence.
Always give the fairest possible treatment to those against whom you may be arguing.
Always acknowledge counterclaims (alternative perspectives) and those facts that opponents might raise against your position.
Stay on the subject throughout your essay so your argument is not submerged in meaningless detail.

Is this subject worth arguing about? Have I gathered enough evidence to make an argument?
Do I represent the views of my opponents in a way they would consider fair?
Have I developed my argument logically?
Is my use of evidence accurate?
Have I tried to prove too much?

AP = Answer the Prompt!

Adhere to the steps to writing a good essay and its basic structure.
Deal honestly with counter evidence and arguments in either the appropriate body paragraph, a complex sentence, or in separate sentences. Never create “straw man” arguments.
Start off essay with your strongest argument/evidence. Bury the weakest point(s) in the middle of the essay. Try to finish strong.
Remain objective. Do not inject your personal opinion, but take a position on the prompt.
Proper writing conventions: spelling, capitalization, consistent verb tense

Generalizations and unsupported statements. Be precise and support your assertions.
Equivocation. (Take a reasonable position, don’t try to argue both sides of a question)
NEVER use of the first or second person voice (e.g. “I,” “you,” “we,” “us,” “y’all,” etc.).
Absolutes (e.g. “never,” “always,” “completely,” “perfectly,” etc.)
Vague verbs (e.g. “felt,” “thought,” “said”, etc.) The use of "feeling words" WEAKENS your position and is low level writing
Emotional Language: History is about interpretation of evidence, not feelings
Lumping is vague and inaccurate (The Colonists felt… The Indians hated…)
Contractions (e.g. don’t, won’t, couldn’t, should’ve, etc.).
Slang, figures of speech, or colloquialisms (e.g. like, lost his shirt, spilt milk, things, stuff, a lot, etc.).
Inject yourself in history (“We” when you really mean a specific group such as “Americans”)
Repetition of words, word phrases, and sentence structures.
Happily Ever Afterisms: (…and if the pilgrims had never landed here, we could not have become the great, nation we are today…)
Humor is not appropriate for scholarship writing

Use the documents to remind you of other outside information to incorporate in the essay.
Identify the main point of each document and relate it to OUTSIDE INFORMATION and to your thesis/argument.
Do not explicitly refer to a document (e.g. “As it says in Document 1…”) Refer to the document by including a portion of the source line. Document # is an organizational tool only and should not replace the importance of the actual source. This style is referred to as LOW LEVEL WRITING. Focusing on the actual source will more effectively lead you to the expanded analysis [sourcing] requirement and HIGHER LEVEL WRITING.
Do not "teach" the document. Never allow the focus of a paragraph or an essay to shift from the prompt and your thesis to the documents. Do not focus on paraphrasing or rewriting the document, focus on using the significance of the document.
Quote rarely, and not the entire quote as it wastes precious time and most readers consider it a sign of a desperate student. LET THE HISTORY SPEAK… NOT THE DOCUMENTS! Use your words and analysis to explain history. To hopefully make it a bit easier to understand, think of it this way: historian writers prefer to use endnotes whereas English writers prefer quotes.
Use the main ideas and outside information suggested by all of the documents.
Cite the Document used at the end of the sentence [Doc 1]

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