Cliffs AP Chemistry, 3rd Edition

Methods for Writing the Essays

The Restatement

In the second section of the AP exam, you should begin all questions by numbering your an-

swer. You do not need to work the questions in order. However, the graders must be able to

identify quickly which question you are answering. You may wish to underline any key words

or key concepts in your answer. Do not underline too much, however, because doing so may

obscure your reasons for underlining. In free-response questions that require specific calcula-

tions or the determination of products, you may also want to underline or draw a box around

your final answer(s).

After you have written the problem number, restate the question in as few words as possible,

but do not leave out any essential information. Often a diagram will help. By restating, you put

the question in your own words and allow time for your mind to organize the way you intend to

answer the questions. As a result, you eliminate a great deal of unnecessary language that clut-

ters the basic idea. Even if you do not answer the question, a restatement may be worth 1 point.

If a question has several parts, such as (a), (b), (c), and (d), do not write all of the restatements

together. Instead, write each restatement separately when you begin to answer that part. In this

book, you will see many samples of the use of restatements.

Four Techniques for Answering Free-Response Questions

When you begin Section II, the essays, the last thing you want to do is start writing immedi-

ately. Take a minute and scan the questions. Find the questions that you know you will have the

most success with, and put a star (*) next to them in your booklet. You do not have to answer

the questions in order; however, you must number them clearly in your response book.

After you have identified the questions that you will eventually answer, the next step is to de-

cide what format each question lends itself to. There are four basic formats. Let’s do an actual

essay question to demonstrate each format.

Part I: Introduction

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