Students in AP World History classes are getting ready to tackle one of the most challenging parts of the AP exam.

From the start of the school year, students in the class have been learning about the history of the world, but they are also learning how to excel at one of the key components of the AP exam: the document-based question. 

“The purpose of it is for the students to read those documents, understand them, summarize them and then utilize those summaries and connections to support an argument or arguments that are found in their thesis statements,” AP World teacher Kristen Mayfield said. “We are currently practicing how to write those, and they will be writing them shortly and hopefully do really really well.”

Taking the material learned in the unit covering the years 1452 to 1750, the DBQ unit focused on understanding the rubric, practicing document analysis, and writing practice essays. 

“I think the DBQ in AP World history is going to be difficult,” sophomore Mari Vanacour said. “But I think it is really beneficial for us because, on the AP exam, we’re going to have to be writing DBQ. So it’s just like really good practice and we do get five more minutes on this DBQ so it shouldn’t be that hard ”