One of the things that I spent most of my time thinking about, when the redesigned AP U.S. History course went into effect, was how to deal with the new Short Answer Questions. These were new, we had never seen these before, so how would we approach them and how would I teach them to my students.

Let’s start with a strategy that I use with my students in approaching these questions: it is called RIDE and that stands for: Restate the question/prompt, Identify a proper noun, Describe/Define that proper noun, Explain the connection of the proper noun back to the question/prompt. There other strategies out there, there is no single best approach, but I have found that this works best with my students and what I want them to accomplish with these particular questions.

Now let’s take a look at the first SAQ question type we will encounter on the exam, which for many students, is the most difficult and challenging.

What we say about the AP U.S. History exam is also true about the other two AP History exams: Modern World and European (for the most part, I will explain the slight differences between the three exams as we look at each question type). There are four short answer questions on each exam, you will answer three of them. Each question will have three score points that you are trying to achieve. So your total score from the SAQs on your AP exam will be from 0-9 points.

Question #1 will be a question assessing the historical thinking skill of historical interpretation and argumentation. For the U.S. History exam, this will be in the form of two paired secondary passages (not primary sources) from historians who offer competing arguments on some similar aspect within U.S. History. You might have one historian who argues that the American Revolution was primarily about political issues, but then that passage will be paired with a different historian who is arguing that the American Revolution was more about economic issues. Then your job is to make sense of these two competing arguments. Your first task will be to come up with a quick summary of the differences between the two historians arguments. I always tell my students to do a few things with the passages, to help them get to the answer to Question #1. First, try and identify the main point or the thesis of each of the passages (this can be a sentence, or two, or even a phrase), underline that for each passage. Second, turn to a partner (obviously we don’t do this on the exam, but this is in class when we are practicing them) and see if you can explain the gist of the thesis or argument without looking at the passage. Third, try and rewrite the thesis or argument by putting it in your own words. Once you have done that and feel confident that you have them down, just write what you have from your own words. This question tends to be the lower bar from the question set.

The second and third tasks from Question #1 will be the exact same thing: identify ONE piece of evidence, not explicitly mentioned in the passages (and during the time frame provided) which can be used to support the argument of the historian. This is a challenging task to accomplish, because it not only requires you to understand the argument of the historians (which can be difficult in itself), but to apply that knowledge and argument to something else that you know from your U.S. History course.

Let’s practice this and see what it might look like.

Here TWO paired passages on Columbus:

The Columbian discovery was of greater magnitude than any other discovery or invention in human history. Europeans realized that in the sixteenth century. In the centuries since then, the importance of Columbus’s discovery has continued to swell, both because of the prodigious development of the New World and because of the numerous other discoveries that have stemmed from it. It was after Columbus’s voyages that the task of integrating the American continents into Greco-Roman-Christian-European-culture was carried out. Notwithstanding errors, egoism, and unheard-of violence, the discovery was an essential, in many ways, determining, factor in ushering in the modern age. It was brought about first and above all by the Spanish and then by the Portuguese, French, English, Italians, Irish—to some extent by all the peoples of Europe. But this recognition cannot diminish the value of the inception of that task, which was Columbus’s discovery.

—Paolo Emilio Taviani, Columbus, The Great Adventure, 1991

Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian settlements of the Americas . . . When we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all starts with heroic adventure—there is no bloodshed—and Columbus Day is a celebration. To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to deemphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves—unwittingly—to justify what was done. . . . The treatment of heroes (Colum- bus) and their victims (the Arawaks)—the quiet acceptance of conquest and murder in the name of progress—is only one aspect of a certain approach to history, in which the past is told from the point of view of government, conquerors, diplomats, leaders . . . Was all this bloodshed and deceit—from Columbus to Cortes, Pizarro, the Puritans—a necessity for the human race to progress from savagery to civilization?

—Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, 1980

Here are the three tasks which go along with this SAQ.

1. Briefly describe ONE specific difference between Taviani’s and Zinn’s interpretations of Columbus.
2. Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development from 1492-1600 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Taviani’s interpretation of Columbus.
3. Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development from 1492-1600 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Zinn’s interpretation of Columbus.

Let’s take these one at a time. First A. Remember what I said, you want to try and do three things (e.g., find the thesis of the passage, restate it to a friend, and put it in your own words). Here is what I think are the main thesis points of each of these passages: Taviani—“The Columbian discovery was of greater magnitude than any other discovery or invention in human history. . . . because of the numerous other discoveries that have stemmed from it.” Zinn—“To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to deemphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. . . . Was all this bloodshed and deceit . . . a necessity for the human race to progress from savagery to civilization?”

The first task asks us to describe a difference between the two, here is just put the gist of their argument in my own words. Which might look something like this (notice I code each part to fit with the RIDE strategy):

One specific difference between Taviani and Zinn’s interpretations (R) is how they view the impact of Columbus’s discovery (I). Taviani sees it as a positive turning point that helped bring progress and connect the world (D). Zinn, on the other hand, focuses on the violence and suffering Columbus caused, especially to Indigenous people (D).

Also, note that there is no (E), that is because the task did not call for an explanation, it simply asked us to describe a difference, so that’s what we have done.

The next two tasks are the same, but switch the historians. Basically, our job is to come up with a specific example, not mentioned in either of the passages, which can be used to support the argument of each of the historians. So for Taviani, we need to come up with an example which supports the idea of Columbus and progress and connecting the world; for Zinn, we need to come up with an example which supports the idea of Columbus and violence and suffering around the world.

For Taviani we might come up with the following examples:

• The Columbian Exchange (1492 and onward) – The transfer of crops like maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and cacao to Europe improved European diets and helped population growth.
• Establishment of Spanish colonies (late 1490s–1500s) – The creation of settlements like Santo Domingo (1496) and Mexico City (1521) laid the foundations for future nation-building and development.
• Introduction of European technologies and animals – Horses, steel tools, and firearms transformed transportation, agriculture, and warfare in the Americas.
• Christian missionary work (1490s–1600) – Missions and conversions were seen by many Europeans as a way to bring salvation and civilization to Indigenous peoples.
• Magellan’s voyage (1519–1522) – The first circumnavigation of the globe, made possible by Columbus’s initial journey, expanded global knowledge and connected distant parts of the world.

Let’s take a look at what this might look like using the RIDE strategy:

One specific event that supports Taviani’s interpretation of Columbus (R) was the emergence of the Columbian Exchange (I), which was the transfer of crops like maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and cacao (D). These new foods improved European diets and helped increase population growth (E).

You could do the same thing for the Zinn passage.

As you can see following the RIDE strategy is quick and simple, providing you with a clear cut way to approach these types of questions, which have challenged students on the AP Exam.

The World and European History exams are a little different in what they ask you to do, but the RIDE strategy still works the same. Generally here are some of the major differences between the U.S. exam and the Modern World/European History exams: first, they usually have just one historian (they may have multiple passages, but it will normally be from just one historian); second, here are some of the things you are asked to do with the three tasks: identify the thesis/claim (argument) of the author, explain how ONE specific piece of evidence can be used to support the author’s thesis/claim, explain how ONE specific piece of evidence can be used to refute the author’s thesis/claim, use one of the HTS (i.e., causation, comparison, or ccot) to clarify and/or explain something with regard to the information in the passage (e.g., it might ask students to describe an effect of the event described in the passage), explain one strength or weakness of the author’s argument, explain how evidence from the paragraph supports the author’s thesis/claim (arguments).

The great thing about RIDE is that it works with the other types of SAQs that you will face on the AP History exam. Question #2, will ask you to work with a primary source. Then Questions #3/4 (which you have choice on, you select one of these two options), has no sources.

Hopefully you will find this strategy easy to work with and clear, best of luck as you tackle the AP History exams!