2017 AP European History Free-Response Questions - Section I - Part B - 4 Questions

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel

2017 AP European History Free-Response Questions provide structured short-answer prompts for Section I, Part B, allotted 50 minutes and divided into four questions. Students must answer every part using complete sentences that fit within designated page space. The prompts cover continuity and change in European family life from 1700 to 1900, causes and effects tied to the spread of printing centers from 1452–1789, evidence supporting Tony Judt’s argument about welfare states and late-20th-century political conditions, and analysis of Johannes Kepler’s passage alongside a Scientific Revolution discovery that challenged traditional views of nature.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Section I, Part B

Question 1: European family life (1700–1900)

Question 2: Printing centers (1452–1789)

Question 3: Welfare states and evidence (1960–2000)

Question 4: Kepler passage and Scientific Revolution

2017 AP European History Free-Response Questions © 2017 The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. Visit [the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org](the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org). [AP Central is the official online home for the AP Program: apcentral.collegeboard.org](AP Central is the official online home for the AP Program: apcentral.collegeboard.org). 2017 AP® EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS EUROPEAN HISTORY SECTION I, Part B Time—50 minutes 4 Questions Directions: Read each question carefully and write your response in the Section I, Part B: Short-Answer Response booklet. You must write your response to each question on the lined page designated for that response. Each response is expected to fit within its designated page. Answer all parts of every question. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. You may plan your answers in this exam booklet, but no credit will be given for notes written in this booklet. Sources have been edited for the purposes of this exercise. 1. a) Identify and explain ONE continuity in European family life from 1700 through 1900. b) Identify and explain ONE change in European family life from 1700 through 1900. c) Identify and explain a SECOND distinct change in European family life from 1700 through 1900. © 2017 The College Board. Visit [the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org](the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org). -2- GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. 2017 AP® EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS Use the map below to answer all parts of the question that follows. Each dot represents a city that produced at least 50 different books or book editions during the period 1452–1500. 2. a) For the period 1452–1500, identify and explain ONE cause that contributed to the geographical distribution of printing centers in Europe shown on the map. b) For the period 1500–1550, identify and explain ONE short-term cultural or political effect of the emergence of printing centers such as the ones shown on the map. c) For the period 1550–1789, identify and explain ONE long-term effect of the spread of printing on European society. © 2017 The College Board. Visit [the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org](the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org). -3- GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. 2017 AP® EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows. “The welfare state, in short, was born of a cross-party twentieth-century consensus. . . . Moreover, and here the memory of war once again played an important role, the twentieth-century ‘socialist’ welfare states were constructed not as an advance guard of egalitarian revolution but to provide a barrier against the return of the past: against economic depression and its polarizing, violent political outcome in the desperate politics of Fascism and Communism alike. The welfare states were thus prophylactic [preventive] . . . . Thanks to a half century of prosperity and safety, we in the West have forgotten the political and social traumas of mass insecurity. And thus we have forgotten why we have inherited those welfare states and what brought them about.” Tony Judt, British historian, Reappraisals: Reﬂections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century, 2008 3. a) Provide ONE piece of evidence that would support Judt’s argument regarding the creation of welfare states. b) Provide ONE piece of evidence that would support Judt’s characterization of political and economic conditions in the period 1960 to 2000. c) Briefly analyze ONE way in which Judt’s argument is a response to the political and intellectual trends in late-twentieth-century Europe. © 2017 The College Board. Visit [the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org](the College Board on

FAQs

What are the time limit and required response format for Section I, Part B?

Section I, Part B allows 50 minutes. Responses must be written in complete sentences on the lined page designated for each response, and all parts of every question must be answered.

What does Question 1 ask students to demonstrate about European family life?

Question 1 requires identifying and explaining one continuity and two distinct changes in European family life from 1700 through 1900.

What topics are covered in Questions 2–4?

Question 2 focuses on causes and effects related to the geographical distribution and influence of printing centers across multiple time periods. Question 3 asks for evidence supporting Tony Judt’s claims about welfare states and political-economic conditions. Question 4 analyzes how Kepler’s passage reflects and challenges traditional views of the cosmos and requires an additional Scientific Revolution example.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel