AP World History: Modern - Student Samples from the 2023 Exam Administration

2023

World History:

Modern

Sample Student Responses

and Scoring Commentary

Set 1

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Inside:

Short-Answer Question 2

 Scoring Guidelines

 Student Samples

 Scoring Commentary

AP® World History: Modern 2023 Scoring Guidelines

Question 2: Short Answer Primary Text 3 points

General Scoring Notes

• Each point is earned independently.

• Accuracy: These scoring guidelines require that students demonstrate historically defensible content

knowledge. Given the timed nature of the exam, responses may contain errors that do not detract from

their overall quality, as long as the historical content used to advance the argument is accurate.

• Clarity: Exam responses should be considered first drafts and thus may contain grammatical errors.

Those errors will not be counted against a student unless they obscure the successful demonstration of

the content knowledge, skills, and practices described below.

• Describe: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic. Description requires more than simply

mentioning an isolated term.

• Explain: Provide information about how or why a historical development or process occurs or how or

why a relationship exists.

(A)

Identify ONE claim that the author makes about the Mamluks in the first paragraph.

Examples that earn this point include the following:

• The Mamluks were chosen by God to save Egypt.

• The Mamluks were guardian rulers and defended Islam.

• Many Turkish enslaved persons converted to Islam and were true believers, even

though they remained nomadic.

1 point

(B)

Identify ONE way the passage illustrates the political situation of the Islamic world in the

period before circa 1450.

Examples that earn this point include the following:

• The passage illustrates the lack of unity among Islamic states.

• The passage illustrates that Islamic rulers invested heavily in soldiers.

• The passage illustrates that Islamic rulers patronized religious learning.

• The passage demonstrates how Islamic rulers engaged in a variety of activities that

increased their power, such as appointing trusted officials to important positions,

training a powerful military, and supporting religious teachings.

1 point

(C)

Explain ONE way the passage could be used to illustrate differences in forms of coerced

labor in the period before circa 1750.

Examples that earn this point include the following:

• The formerly enslaved Mamluks could rise to high political positions, such as sultan,

unlike enslaved persons in the Americas.

• The ability of the Mamluks to achieve high status in Egypt differs from other forms of

coerced labor. In the Americas, for example, the purpose of slavery was mostly

economic, and enslaved persons largely worked on plantations.

1 point

AP® World History: Modern 2023 Scoring Guidelines

• Because the Mamluks were male, they were afforded the opportunity to receive

military training and political promotion unlike enslaved women in Islamic societies.

Total for question 2

3 points

a. The author claims that the Mamluk rulers of Egypt derive their authority to rule and serve as soldiers from divine

sources. They also claim that the Mamluks were all devout Muslims.

b. The first paragraph of the passage implies that Egypt had been divided in the mid-thirteenth century and the

Mamluks had been required to restore unity to Egypt. This reflects the political fragmentation in the Muslim world

as the Muslim world was divided into many smaller states in the mid-thirteenth century.

c. The passage describes an unusual form of coerced labor where slaves are trained into soldiers, trained to read and

study religious texts. and can be appointed as rulers and given large amounts of land and wealth. This differs

significantly from other forms of slavery which existed at the time such as chattel slavery in the Americas where

enslaved people were not allowed to own property, rule, or read. Comparisons between the two could show

differences between these two forms of slavery, which both existed before 1750.

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A. One claim that the author makes about the Mamluks in the first paragraph is that they embrace Islam with the

determination of a real, devoted, muslim. The author explains that the Mamluks are a gift from god, and that they

have the ability to rescue Islam. This shows one claim that the author made about the Mamluks in the first paragraph

because it demonstrates the intense praise the author had for the Mamluk population.

B. O

ne way that the passage illustrates the political situation of the Islamic world in the period before circa 1450 is

by explaining that Islam was under attack. The Mamluks were important in protecting the Islamic state during this

period of time, as turkic and mongol expansion both posed threats to Islam in the middle eastern region. This shows

how the passage Illustrates the political situation of the Islamic world in the period before circa 1450 because it

shows how the Islamic world was at risk of being conquered.

One way the passage could be used to illustrate differences in forms of coerced labor in the period before circa

1750 is by comparing the treatment of the Mamluks under turkic rule, versus under rule of the Islamic world. The

mamluks were treated as slaves and imported to egypt by the Qipchaq turks, and when they arrived in egpyt, they

were taught the way of the Qur'an, trained for combat, and payed in land and incomes. This shows one way the

passage could be used to illustrate differences in forms of coerced labor because it shows the differences between

the treatment of the Mamluks between two different states.

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A)One claim that the author makes about the Mamluks in the first paragraph is that they were sent to the muslims as

a gardian ruler and devoted defenders. It says that it was by the grace of god that they were sent over to thr muslims

even though they were imported slaves.

B)O

ne way this passage illistarates the political siduation of the islamic world is by laying out what has happend

with the turkish slaves. It says that the turkish slaves embraced islam with the determination of true belivers.

One way this passage could be used to illistrate diffrences in forms of coerced labor is They were trained to use a

bow and a sword. This meant that they were going to be most likely apart of the people who will fight when

needed.

1 of 1

World History: Modern 2023 Scoring Commentary

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Short Answer Question 2

Note: Student samples are quoted verbatim and may contain spelling and grammatical errors.

Overview

The intent of this question was for students to analyze a primary source document from Ibn Khaldun,

an Arab scholar and historian writing about the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt in the late fourteenth

century. Part A asked students to identify one claim that the author makes about the Mamluks in the

first paragraph. Part B asks students to identify one way the passage illustrates the political situation

of the Islamic world in the period before circa 1450. Part C asks students to explain one way the

passage could be used to illustrate differences in forms of coerced labor in the period before circa

1750.

The question was focused on analyzing historical evidence and analyzing primary sources.

The question tested content primarily from Topics 1.2, 2.2, and 4.4 of the course framework.

Sample: 2A

Score: 3

a) The response earned 1 point for identifying the author’s claim that the Mamluks were divinely

inspired to rule and defend Egypt.

b) The response earned 1 point for identifying that Ibn Khaldun argued the Mamluks were needed to

unify Egypt, implying fragmentation had been a problem prior to their arrival.

c) The response earned 1 point for explaining that the Mamluks could own property and even be

appointed as rulers despite being enslaved, which was very different from chattel slavery in the

Americas, where slaves could not own property, rule, or read.

Sample: 2B

Score: 2

a) The response earned 1 point for identifying the author’s claim that the Mamluks were divinely

inspired to rule and defend Egypt.

b) The response earned 1 point for identifying that the Islamic world was under threat of conquest

due to the rise of other states, including the Mongols, before 1450.

c) The response did not earn the point because, despite describing the different treatment of

Mamluks by the Turks and in the Islamic world, the statement that the Mamluks “were treated as

slaves” is not enough to explain one way the passage could be used to illustrate differences in forms

of coerced labor.

World History: Modern 2023 Scoring Commentary

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Short Answer Question 2 (continued)

Sample: 2C

Score: 1

a) The response earned 1 point because it correctly identifies the claim that the Mamluks were sent

to Muslims to serve as “a guardian ruler and devoted defenders.”

b) The response did not earn the point because the statement that “the Turkish slaves embraced

Islam with the determination of true believers” does not identify a way in which the passage reflects

the political situation in the Islamic world in the period before circa 1450.

c) The response did not earn the point because it does not include any information on a second form

of coerced labor and therefore does not explain one way in which the passage could be used to

illustrate differences in forms of coerced labor in the period before circa 1750.