MASON LOGEROT: Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to AP Daily.
My name is Mason Logerot coming to you
from Pflugerville, Texas in the Austin area
where today, we're going to talk about the LEQ,
the long essay question.
We're not going to cover every part of the rubric today
because there's a lot to it.
Amy is going to cover the rest of it and other videos.
But I want to think today about our intro paragraph
with context and thesis and then evidence,
especially for that thesis.
But let's talk about essays on the AP test real quick.
On the AP test, you're going to have 100 minutes to write
both your DBQ and your LEQ.
If you want tips on the DBQ, watch the next video.
Now, the College Board says you probably
should break that up into 60 minutes for the DBQ, 40
for the LEQ.
And that seems about right to me.
I would do that as well.
Maybe you want to go to like 65 minutes
on the DBQ, 35 for the LEQ.
But whatever you do, save yourself time for the LEQ
because I've seen a lot of students before,
when I'm grading AP tests, that write these big long DBQs
and then didn't save themselves enough time for the LEQ.
Don't be that person.
Give yourself at least 35, 40 minutes for it.
And remember you have a choice of three questions.
So hopefully, one of them you're going to feel comfortable with
and you can write an intelligent essay about it.
But just like every part of the AP test ,
time is going to be an issue.
So make sure you're getting straight to the point.
Make sure you start off with context and thesis
as we're about to see.
And definitely make sure you answer the question.
All right, so this is one that I want to look at today.
And actually, if you look at the description part of this video,
there is a PDF with this question on it.
So if you want to stop and pause the video right now and maybe
sketch out an essay outline, feel free to do that.
If you just want me to give you the answers,
I'm about to do that.
But pause the video right now, at least
look over this so you know exactly what we're
going to be talking about here.
So pause now.
All right, welcome back.
So this question, we're going to talk
about the Columbian Exchange and how it affected peoples
in the Americas.
And that's a key part here.
So I was just thinking of some things
that we could talk about.
What about potatoes in Ireland?
No, no, no, no.
This is not talk asking about Europe.
This is not asking about Africa.
It's not asking about Asia.
It is just about the Americas.
Can we talk about disease?
We could definitely talk about diseases.
Can we talk about horses?
I love talking about horses.
We can definitely do that as well.
But actually you know what?
We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.
It's good that you're starting to brainstorm some topics.
But let's start at the beginning.
So I always tell my students start your essay off
with your contextualisation.
And remember, when you're thinking
about historical context, it can be from before, during,
or after the time period in question.
But I find that it's probably easiest to do before.
If you want to do during or after, that is totally fine.
But for me, I always find it's easier to talk about before.
Kind of think about what's the big picture of history that
got us to this spot.
And the way I think of it is when you sit down and watch
a TV show, you know the part where they say previously on
and they show you the scenes from past episodes.
And sometimes, it's the episode right before it.
Sometimes, it's from like a season or two ago.
But the key thing is every scene they
show you on previously on is directly related
to what you're going to see in that night's episode.
So same thing here.
Whatever you put in your context,
make sure it directly relates to the topic of the prompt.
So for this essay, it's the Columbian Exchange.
And we're talking about the Columbian Exchange and peoples
in the Americas.
So you're thinking to yourself, wait a minute.
Columbian Exchange, Columbus--
I know all about Christopher Columbus.
He came from Italy and he was trying
to get the ships-- the Nina, the Pinta,
and the Santa Maria and all that.
No, that's not what we're talking about here.
We're not talking about Columbus the person.
We're not talking about his voyages.
Let's think bigger picture.
So if I'm thinking about an essay intro
and I'm thinking about bigger picture,
let's think about the desire of European merchants
to find a Western route to Asia.
And that's when the Americas were encountered.
That directly leads the Columbian Exchange.
And it does kind of answer that question of how do we
get to this spot in history.
All right.
So now, we need our thesis statement.
And of course, you know that your thesis
has to be an argument.
It has to be historically defensible.
So it has to be correct, in other words.
And it has to establish some kind of line of reasoning.
Now, you really only have to have one line of reasoning.
But I'm going to tell you to have at least two or three
because one thing that you'll learn about the rubrics
when it comes to both of the essays,
you don't lose points for doing something wrong.
You only get points for doing something right.
So if you have two lines of reasoning,
and let's say one is incorrect or maybe it's
not very specific, that's fine because you've
got one good one.
And you'll get that thesis point on the rubric.
So try and have at least two or three if possible.
And the thesis, according to the rubric,
must be in your intro or your conclusion.
But I'm going to tell you to put it in both because, again, that
kind of gives you two shots of getting the thesis point.
So write it in your intro.
Then when you're done with your essay,
write it one more time in a different way.
And you'll find that's giving you
two shots to get that point.
And if you're having trouble trying to figure out
how to word it, you are more than
welcome to take the words of the prompt,
rearrange them, add your line of reasoning, and you're set.
All right.
So what do I want to focus on here?
Because I know a lot about the Columbia exchange.
And I know you spent a long time in class talking about it.
But let's see.
I guess we could talk about the spread of disease.
That's a big part of this.
We can talk about new animals and foods.
That would be important.
We can talk about migrations of people--
some voluntary, some involuntary like enslaved persons
from Africa.
So those are all different topics
that we could talk about as long as we
talk about how it affected peoples in the Americas.
All right.
So if I'm going to do this, I'm going
to talk about the introduction of new animals,
changing migration patterns, how people moved around,
also change the diets of what they were eating.
And I'm also going to mention the introduction of diseases
leading to a large decline in population.
Now notice I kind of did the X but also Y type of thesis.
And that's a type of thesis that a lot of teachers have taught.
And if you can do that and it works for you, great.
Do that on the AP test.
But if you find yourself struggling and trying
to come up with a couple of lines of reasoning,
don't feel like you have to do the X
but Y. Just give your answers.
And really, y'all, whatever you can put down on that paper,
put down on the paper.
All right.
So we have our intro, we have our context,
we have our thesis.
Now, we need to come up with specific evidence that's
going to prove what we said in our thesis.
And guys, I mean specific.
I always think of proper names, people, places, movements,
ideas.
But be specific about it.
And the question you should ask yourself
is the statement that I made--
could it describe like a large, other regions of the world
or other time periods?
If it does, then you're probably not specific enough.
Be as specific as you possibly can.
And on the rubric, you have to have at least two pieces
of evidence.
But really, I'm going to tell you, shoot for a lot more.
Shoot for as much as you can because, again,
if some of your evidence is incorrect
or if it's not specific enough, you sort of
have those backup pieces of evidence.
So can I say many people died from diseases?
No, that's not specific enough.
That's a statement that--
I mean, guys people have been dying
from diseases since the earliest humans all around the world.
That is not specific at all.
But if I mentioned smallpox, I mentioned measles,
now we're getting somewhere.
Now we're being specific.
Can I say horses just changed how people lived?
No.
Again, of course, horses are going to change how they live.
But specifically, how are they going to change?
Well, a lot of American Indian populations
changed how they hunted because they could now ride horses.
That's a good piece of evidence that supports
what you said in your thesis.
And it's nice and specific.
All right.
So my big takeaways from here, nail your intro.
Get that context and thesis.
That's two points on the rubric.
You get the two points for evidence.
You've already got 4 out of 6.
And that's a really good score on the LEQ.
Now, there are two other points of the rubric.
But Amy is going to cover those in session 7 and 8 so pay
attention to those and watch for her description of that.
If you can do that, you will be set.
All right, thank you all so much for watching.