APUSH FRQ Essay OrganizerName ______

Introduction Paragraph / What do you know about the time & place addressed in the prompt?
PERSIA: Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Intellectual, Artistic / Identify the “action verb”______
  • Analyze: Explain howANDwhy something occurred
  • Assess the validity: How true is the statement? The statement can be true in one circumstance and false in another
  • To what extent: The statement is both true and false so show both sides, but take a stand support one part of the argument as your thesis
  • Evaluate: Judge the value or character of something; discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the topic;give an opinion regarding the value of the topic
  • Compare and contrast: Discuss similarities AND differences
/ Tips
  1. Read the whole prompt; Especially if the FRQ is in two sentences
  2. There is no right way to write a FRQ; The key is to make an argument & support it
  3. Before you write, organize:
a)Chronological arguments are effective for questions that imply change-over-time
b)Similarity/difference arguments are appropriate for comparison questions
c)Making direct comparisons within paragraphs is more analytical than separate descriptive paragraphs
  1. Establish “time & place” in the intro to show that you understand the importance of the era
  2. You do not have documents to work with, so all the information needs to come from you—Relax, create a brainstorm list of things you remember about the era
  3. The most important thing to remember is to ANSWER THE QUESTION with an original argument :
a)FRQs will never ask you to describe; You need to ANALYZE by adding an argument to the essay
b)You need to support your argument with facts; But your essay needs to be more than just a laundry list of facts
c)Always ANALYZE: In each body paragraph be sure to explain HOW and WHY
  1. Restate thesis in concluding paragraph; Give the era context: Was this era the end or beginning or transition of some trend/movement/idea?

Rewrite the FRQ prompt in your own words; Define any key terms that the prompt addresses
Thesis Statement (Be sure you address ALL PARTS of the question; Do not rephrase the FRQ prompt; Make an original argument)
Body Paragraphs / Sub-Topic #1 / Sub-Topic #2 / Sub-Topic #3 / Sub-Topic #4
Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge
Conclusion Paragraph

APUSH FRQ Essay OrganizerName ______

Introduction Paragraph / What do you know about the time & place addressed in the prompt?
PERSIA: Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Intellectual, Artistic / Identify the “action verb”______
  • Analyze: Explain howANDwhy something occurred
  • Assess the validity: How true is the statement? The statement can be true in one circumstance and false in another
  • To what extent: The statement is both true and false so show both sides, but take a stand & support one part of the argument as your thesis
  • Evaluate: Judge the value or character of something; discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the topic; give an opinion regarding the value of the topic
  • Compare and contrast: Discuss similarities AND differences
/ Tips
  1. Read the whole prompt; Especially if the FRQ is in two sentences
  2. There is no right way to write a FRQ; The key is to make an argument & support it
  3. Before you write, organize:
a)Chronological arguments are effective for questions that imply change-over-time
b)Similarity/difference arguments are appropriate for comparison questions
c)Making direct comparisons within paragraphs is more analytical than separate descriptive paragraphs
  1. Establish “time & place” in the intro to show that you understand the importance of the era
  2. You do not have documents to work with, so all the information needs to come from you—Relax, create a brainstorm list of things you remember about the era
  3. The most important thing to remember is to ANSWER THE QUESTION with an original argument :
a)FRQs will never ask you to describe; You need to ANALYZE by adding an argument to the essay
b)You need to support your argument with facts; But your essay needs to be more than just a laundry list of facts
c)Always ANALYZE: In each body paragraph be sure to explain HOW and WHY
  1. Restate thesis in concluding paragraph; Give the era context: Was this era the end or beginning or transition of some trend/movement/idea?

Rewrite the FRQ prompt in your own words; Define any key terms that the prompt addresses
Thesis Statement (Be sure you address ALL PARTS of the question; Do not rephrase the FRQ prompt; Make an original argument)
Body Paragraphs / Sub-Topic #1 / Sub-Topic #2 / Sub-Topic #3 / Sub-Topic #4
Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge / Outside Knowledge
Conclusion Paragraph