The Free-Response Question

What Is the Free-Response Question?

• Two part essay section– Pre – 1870 (one prior to 1740)– After – 1870 (one after 1950)

• Two questions in each group – select one from each group

• 70 minutes to plan and write both essays

What Is the Free-Response Question?Continued

• Yes and No – Multiple arguments

• All outside information

• Not as long or in-depth as DBQ

• Defensible thesis

• Information to support thesis

• Evidence, Evidence, Evidence

Question Types1. Most FR Essays ask you to analyze, assess or evaluate

cause and effects2. Assess the impact of any THREE of the following on the

United States’ decision to declare war on England in 1812:

– impressment– the Embargo Act of 1807– America’s desire for Western land– America’s military preparedness

3. How were the lives of the Plains Indians in the second half of the nineteenth century affected by technological developments and government actions

Question Types

4.In what ways did economic conditions and developments in the arts and entertainment help create the reputation of the 1920’s as the Roaring Twenties?

5. How do you account for the appeal of McCarthyism in the United States in the era following the Second World War?

Which Questions to Choose

• The one you know most about

• Not the easiest at first glance

• The more you know about the subject, the better the final grade

How to Write the Essays

• Read the question thoroughly

• Analyze and breakdown the question

• Circle and/or underline important words and phrases

• Create a grid, cluster, chart or take notes

How to Write the Essays• Assess information and devise a thesis

– Quick outline (if you have time)– Opening paragraph which includes an opening

statement, restating the question, your opinion on the question and your arguments

• Split time between both essays (35 minutes)

• Write clearly and neatly

• Evidence, Evidence, Evidence