Free Response Question (FRQ) Seminar

Assignment: Each student will be required to write and present one Free Response Question Seminar during each semester of AP European History. The seminar will require the student to turn in an outline and create an 8-10 minute PowerPoint presentation. The assignment is worth 100 points.

Outline: Your outline must contain:

  1. an introductory paragraph with a thesis
  2. an outline of 3-5 major points with a topic sentence for each point. You may bullet supporting points. Please cite your examples or quotes.
  3. a visual of some sort: map, illustration, photo, cartoon, graph
  4. a conclusion
  5. a Works Cited page with at least three sources, one of which should be from the Internet
  6. The total assignment should be no longer than 5 pages.
  1. You must schedule a time to meet with me during consultation at least one week prior to your scheduled presentation so that we may review your outline and make any necessary corrections. This meeting is not optional. On the day of your presentation, the seminar must be copied (you may copy on both sides) and stapledfor the entire class, including a copy for Mr. Heeren. If copying the material is burdensome, I will copy it for you but only if I am given two days notice. Plagiarism is not acceptable and will result in a zero for the assignment. Late seminars will drop one grade per day.

Presentation: Your presentation should be 8-10 minutes in length and cover your topic for the class. A PowerPoint presentation is required. Please don’t wait until the morning of your presentation to email your presentation to school. Try to anticipate all technical problems. I can set up the computer for you the day ahead if you want to rehearse. You are required to include some visuals in your presentation. Video clips, slides, music, art or any other visual are also encouraged. Textbooks will be particularly useful for this research and you may borrow from my collection.

You must rehearse your presentation. Presentations may not be merely read from the PowerPoint slides. I expect you to know your subject well enough to talk about it without reading verbatim. You may use note cards to assist you. Please do not reproduce your written seminar for the Power Point. The only items that should be copied directly from the seminar are the question and your thesis. Please use bullet points and explain the points to us as you make your presentation.

Schedule: We will assign the seminars throughout the year. Seminars will begin at the end of September. Because the seminar is crucial to our study of that topic, you will not be able to reschedule your presentation. Do not be absent on your assigned day.

** Students who volunteer to do the first seminars will be graded more leniently.

AP European History Fall Seminars

  1. Discuss how Renaissance ideas are expressed in the Italian art of the period, referring to specific works and artists. (September 23)
  2. Compare and contrast the motives and actions of Martin Luther in the German state and King Henry VIII in England in bringing about religious change during the Reformation. (October 7)
  3. Account for the growth and decline of European witch-hunts in the period 1500-1650. (October 8)
  4. Analyze the effects of the Columbian exchange (the interchange of plants, animals and diseases between the Old World and the New World) on the population and economy of Europe I the period 1550-1700. (October 13)
  5. Louis XIV declared his goal was “one king, one law, one faith.” Analyze the methods the king used to achieve this objective and discuss the extent to which he was successful. (October 21)
  6. Between 1450 and 1800, many women gained power as rulers, some as reigning queens, others as regents. Identify two such powerful women and discuss how issues of gender, such as marriage and reproduction influenced their ability to obtain power and exercise power. (October 26)
  7. Using the two Dutch painting above and your historical knowledge of the period, discuss how the paintings reflect the economy and culture of the Netherlands in the 17th century. (October 27)
  8. Describe and analyze the changes in the role of Parliament in English politics between the succession of James I and the Glorious Revolution. (October 28)
  9. Analyze the military, political, and crucial factors that account for the rise of Prussia between 1640 and 1786. (October 30)
  10. Analyze the major ways through which Tsar Peter the Great sought to reform his society and its institutions in order to strengthen Russia and its position in Europe. (November 3)
  11. Britain and France were engaged in a geopolitical and economic rivalry during the 18th century. Identify the factors that contributed to this rivalry, and assess the results for both countries over the period 1689-1789. (November 4)
  12. “By 1700 it had become evident that Western Europe and Eastern Europe were moving in opposite directions in terms of their basic social structure.” Discuss. (November 5)
  13. How did the developments in scientific thought from Copernicus to Newton create a new conception of the universe and humanity's place with it? (November 10)
  14. How did social and political conditions in the 18th Century Western Europe prior to 1788 influence the ideas of the Enlightenment? (November 12)
  15. To what extent did the Enlightenment express optimistic ideas in the 18th century Europe? Illustrate your answer with references to specific individuals and their work. (November 16)
  16. Analyze the way in which specific intellectual and scientific developments of the 17th and 18th centuries contributed to the emergence of the religious outlook know as “Deism.” (November 20).
  17. Discuss the economic policies and institution that characterized mercantilist systems from 1600 to 1800. (November 23).
  18. “The essential cause of the French Revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges.” Assess the validity of this statement as an explanation of the events leading up to the French Revolution of 1789. (November 23)
  19. “Political leaders committed to radical or extremist goals often exert authoritarian control in the name of higher values.” Support or refute this statement with reference to the political and cultural policies of Robespierre during the French revolution. (November 23)
  20. Describe and analyze the economic, cultural and social changes that led to and sustained Europe’s rapid population growth in the period from approximately 1650-1800. (December 10)
  21. Discuss the combination of social, cultural, political and economic factors that allowed Great Britain to be the first nation to industrialize. (December 16)

AP European History Spring Seminars

  1. Discuss some of the ways in which Romantic artists, musicians, and writers responded to political and socioeconomic conditions of the period from 1800 to 1850. Document your response with specific examples from discussions of at least two of the three disciplines: visual arts, music and literature. (January 27/28)
  1. “In the second half of the 19th century, most European governments were conservative.” To what extent is the quotation above an accurate statement? Use specific examples from at least two countries. (February 4)
  1. Analyze how economic and social developments affected women in England in the period from 1700 to 1850. (February 10)
  1. To what extent did the emancipation of serfs and other reforms in the 19th century contribute to the modernization of Russia before the First World War? (February 12)
  1. Evaluate how the ideas of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud challenged Enlightenment assumptions about human behavior and the role of reason. (February 17)
  1. Compare and contrast the foreign policy goals and achievements of Metternich (1815-1848) and Bismarck (1862-1890). (February 19)
  1. Assess the nature and importance of economic factors that helped determine the race for empire among the major European powers in the late 19th and 20th centuries. (February 25)
  1. “The tsarist regime fell in 1917 because it had permitted tremendous change and progress in some areas while trying to maintain a political order that had outlived its time.” Assess the validity of this statement as an explanation of the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917. (March 1)
  1. How did the new theories in physics and psychology in the period from 1900-1939 challenge existing ideas about the individual and society? (March 4)
  1. Compare and contrast the degree of success of the treaties negotiated in Vienna and Versailles in achieving European stability. (March 10)
  1. Assess the extent to which the economic and political ideals of Karl Marx were realized in post-revolutionary Russia in the period from 1917 to 1939. (March 11)
  1. Compare the rise of Fascism in Italy and in Germany. (March 12)
  1. Analyze the ways in which technology and mass culture contributed to the success of dictators in the 1920's and 1930's. (March 16)
  1. Analyze the impact of the First World War on European culture and society in the interim period (1919-1939). (March 17)
  1. Considering the period 1933-1945, analyze the economic, diplomatic, and military reasons for Germany’s defeat in the Second World War. (March 19)
  1. Compare and contrast the women’s suffrage movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. (March 22)
  1. Compare and contrast the political and economic effects of the Cold War (1945-1991) on Western Europe with the effects on Eastern Europe. (March 23)
  1. Compare and contrast the political and economic policies of Joseph Stalin in the period before the Second World War and those of Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991). (March 29)
  1. Analyze the factors working for and against European unity from 1945-2001. (April 1)
  1. Considering the period 1953-1991, analyze the problems within the Soviet Union that contributed to the eventual collapse of the Soviet system. (April 2)