Advanced Placement European History is a year survey of modern European history from approximately 1450 to the present. The course will be offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors for the first time in the fall of 2000 upon the recommendation of a teacher. It is designed to prepare students to successfully complete the Advanced Placement Examination in European History, which is offered each May. In addition to providing a basic narrative of political and cultural events in modern Europe, AP European History will also focus on the development of skills used to analyze historical evidence. Students will also practice writing a persuasive essay. Students will be introduced to several principal themes present in modern European history. Although the principal framework of the course will be chronological, a thematic approach will be used to explore themes present in intellectual and cultural history, political and diplomatic history, and social and economic history. Spielvogel's Western Civilization, Fourth Edition, will be used as the text. A supplemental text, Viault’s, Modern European History, will also be used as a quick review of the material. Students will be required to read 10-12 pages each night. Tests and quizzes will be based on the readings and on class lectures and will be comprised of both objective and essay items. Students must take the AP Exam in May if they are enrolled in the course. The cost of the AP Exam is approximately $85.00. A final exam will also be given at the end of the course.

FORMAT OF THE AP EUROPEAN HISTORY EXAMINATION

The AP European History examination is three hours and five minutes in length, consisting of a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section. The multiple-choice section contains 80 questions, which are designed to test students’ knowledge of European history from the Renaissance to the present. The first half of the questions deal with the period from 1450 to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era, and the second half deals with the period from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era to the present. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the questions focus on cultural and intellectual themes, 30 to 40 percent on political and diplomatic themes, and 30 to 40 percent on social and economic themes. Section II of the exam consists of two parts. Part A is a required document-based question (DBQ) comprised of a 15 minute required reading period and a 45 minute writing period. In Part B, students are asked to answer two thematic questions in a 70-minute time period. Students choose one essay from two groups of three essays. Parts I and II of the exam count equally towards the final score.

II. The Late Middle Ages, (1300-1527): Centuries of Crisis