AP African American Studies

Exam questions assess the course content and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP African American Studies Course and Exam Description (.pdf) (CED).

The AP African American Studies Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day. 

Section I: Multiple Choice 

60 Questions | 70 Minutes | 60% of Exam Score 

• Questions usually appear in sets of 3–4 questions. 
• Each set of questions includes 1 or 2 sources that serve as stimulus material. 
• Approximately half of the source material in this section will be drawn from required sources in the course framework. The remaining sources will be related to required course content but will not be sources that students will have directly studied as required content in the course. 

Section IB: Individual Student Project—Exam Day Validation Question

1 Question I 10 Minutes I 1.5% of Exam Score 

This question will present students with the opportunity to respond in writing to one of the project oral defense questions. Students will be asked to provide analysis, reflection, comparison, or evaluation of at least one of the sources they used for their course project. 

Section II: Free Response 

Short-Answer Questions 

3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 18% of Exam Score 

This section includes: 

•  1 short-answer question based on a text source 
•  1 short-answer question based on a visual source 
•  1 short-answer question focused on a broad thematic course concept 

Each question will include either three or four question parts and will assess student mastery of course content and skills. 

Document-Based Question 

1 Question | 45 Minutes | 12% of Exam Score 

The document-based question presents students with five documents offering various perspectives on a historical development or process. The question requires students to do the following: 

• Respond to the prompt with a defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning. 
• Describe a broader historical or disciplinary context relevant to the topic of the prompt. 
• Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least 3 of the sources. 
• Use at least 1 additional piece of specific evidence (beyond the evidence found in the sources) relevant to their argument. 
• For at least 2 sources, explain how or why the perspective, purpose, context, and/or audience for each source is relevant to their argument. 
• Reference or cite the sources used in their argument. They can reference or cite the source letter, title, or author. 

The topic of the document-based question will be within the scope of the required content in the course framework. 

Individual Student Project | 8.5% of Exam Score  

• Students complete a 3-week project where they define a research topic and line of inquiry, conduct independent research to analyze authentic sources from multiple disciplines, and develop and deliver a presentation about their selected topic.  
• Students present the results of their project to their teacher and class, and respond to questions from their teacher as part of an oral defense to demonstrate their understanding of how their sources and the information provided in those sources contributed to their understanding of their project topic. 
• Teachers score the project using a rubric provided by AP.  

Scoring guidelines for the short-answer and document-based questions are available in the course and exam description (CED).