2022
AP
®
Human Geography
Sample Student Responses
and Scoring Commentary
Set 1
Inside:
Free-Response Question 3
Scoring Guidelines
Student Samples
Scoring Commentary
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AP® Human Geography 2022 Scoring Guidelines
Question 3: Two Stimuli
7 points
(A)
Describe the type of political boundaries shown in Map 1.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• A1. Boundaries that are superimposed by an outside power.
• A2. Geometric boundaries that are generally straight lines.
• A3. Physical boundaries that follow landforms and/or waterways.
(B)
Describe ONE way that the European colonial boundaries shown in Map 1 differ from the
African cultural boundaries shown in Map 2.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• B1. Map 2 portrays consequent and/or subsequent boundaries; Map 1 portrays
superimposed, geometric, or physical boundaries.
• B2. Map 2 boundaries separate distinct culture groups; Map 1 boundaries largely
disregard cultural boundaries.
• B3. Map 2 boundaries enclose areas containing distinct culture groups; Map 1
boundaries often cut across culture group areas.
• B4. Map 2 boundaries represent or reflect the cultural geography of the region; Map
1 boundaries are political and imposed by outsiders (e.g., Berlin Conference),
disregarding cultural geography.
• B5. Map 2 boundaries represent the cultural geography of the region; Map 1
boundaries may be influenced by physical geography (e.g., rivers, lakes) or precolonial
trade routes.
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AP® Human Geography 2022 Scoring Guidelines
(C)
Explain ONE political outcome for present-day Africans as a result of the European
colonial boundaries.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• C1. Some colonial boundaries that were retained after independence contributed to
long-term political fragmentation and instability in some countries.
• C2. Some colonial boundaries split culture group areas, weakening the cultures’
long-term cohesiveness and impact on the countries in which they are located.
• C3. Some colonial boundaries enclosed historically adversarial culture groups within
the same countries, leading to conflict or heightened tension and/or creating
centrifugal forces.
• C4. Some colonial boundaries that were retained after independence led to conflict
over access to natural resources (e.g., rivers, lakes, forests) when populations that
traditionally had access to these resources were cut off from them.
• C5. Some colonial boundaries split up culture groups (e.g., Somali, Ewe, Tuareg)
between different countries, resulting in the contesting of current state boundaries as
these cultures attempted to reunify.
• C6. Some superimposed boundaries were rarely surveyed on the ground, and many
boundaries have still not been demarcated, leading to unresolved border conflicts.
• C7. Some colonial boundaries resulted in multinational states, multistate nations,
and/or stateless nations, leading to unresolved border conflicts or internal instability.
(D)
Describe ONE way that European colonization of Africa reflected the concept of
ethnocentrism.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• D1. European colonizers’ biased disregard for African culture groups reflected
European ethnocentric attitudes (e.g., racism, prejudice, and/or superiority).
• D2. European colonizers tended to claim dominion over African peoples, lands, and
resources based upon expansionist European ideologies or through environmental
determinism.
• D3. Africans educated in European institutions during colonialism were wrongly
taught that their “ancestors” were European (e.g., “Our ancestors the Gauls” in
French colonies) in attempts to absorb Africans into the ethnocentric worldview of
Europe.
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AP® Human Geography 2022 Scoring Guidelines
(E)
Explain ONE way that the political boundaries shown in Map 1 illustrate a European
colonial emphasis on resource extraction.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• E1. The boundaries of some coastal colonies are drawn to provide access to ports or
the ocean (e.g., Belgian Congo) while extending boundaries into the continent’s
interior or to the location of exportable resources.
• E2. The boundaries of some countries (e.g., the Caprivi Strip) were extended to water
bodies in the interior of the continent to provide access to lines of transportation or
to facilitate transportation of people and/or exportable resources.
• E3. The boundaries of some countries were extended to access resources in interior
regions where specific resources (e.g., rubber, timber, gold) or agricultural growing
conditions were available (e.g., coffee, cacao).
(F)
Explain the degree to which colonization affected the languages spoken in present-day
Africa.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
Statement or indication of a high or substantial degree
AND
Supported by one of the following:
•
F1. European languages often became linguae francae or official languages (e.g., for
government, business, religion, education) and continue to be spoken widely as
second languages.
• F2. European colonial languages have retained their status as first languages among
settler colonists in some areas (e.g., English and Afrikaans in South Africa).
• F3. African languages and European languages merged to form creoles that are widely
spoken in parts of Africa (e.g., Cabo Verde, Liberia, Sierra Leone).
•
F4. Many European loan-words entered African vocabularies as a result of
colonization and the widespread usage of European languages (e.g., from Portuguese,
English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish).
•
F
5. Arabic was introduced by Arab colonizers and spread across Africa, where it is
widely spoken as a first language.
OR
Statement or indication of a low or minimal degree
AND
S
upported by one of the following:
• F6. Most African languages were barely affected by European colonization (despite
sometimes being suppressed) and continue to be widely spoken.
• F7. African social and political movements and/or post-independence governments
may teach, revive, and/or expand the use of indigenous languages as a part of
reclaiming independence or national identity.
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AP® Human Geography 2022 Scoring Guidelines
(G)
Explain a possible limitation of using Map 2 to understand the geography of religion in
present-day Africa.
1 point
Accept one of the following:
• G1. The map shows culture groups, which are not necessarily synonymous with
religions.
• G2. The map only shows West Africa, not Africa as a whole, making it difficult to
understand religion at that scale.
• G3. Many culture groups in Africa have populations practicing more than one religion,
making it impossible to know which religion is practiced in any given area.
• G4. The map shows only areas where culture groups are dominant, or the map fails to
indicate the diversity of religions that may be practiced in those areas.
• G5. The absence of a map legend or key limits interpretation or analysis of the
information provided.
Total for question 3:
7 points
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3A 1 of 2
3A 2 of 2
3B 1 of 2
3B 2 of 2
3C 1 of 2
3C 2 of 2
AP
®
Human Geography 2022 Scoring Commentary
Question 3
Note: Student samples are quoted verbatim and may contain spelling and grammatical errors.
Overview
This seven-part question tasked students to demonstrate knowledge about the difference between
A
frica’s political boundaries (many imposed by outside political powers) and the geography of the
region’s many and diverse cultural groups. Several skills were required of the students to be able to
answer this question: (1) the ability to interpret and compare the geographic information shown on two
maps; (2) the ability to explain the reasons behind the spatial patterns observed in these maps; (3) the
ability to integrate their knowledge from different units of the course (e.g., cultural and political).
In part A students were asked to describe the type of political boundaries shown in Map 1. In part B
s
tudents were expected to describe one way that European colonial boundaries shown in Map 1
differed from African cultural boundaries shown in Map 2. Parts A and B are entry-level, and many
students earned points in part A, but there were many students who did not know the types of
boundaries or could not describe how the boundaries were different.
In part C students were to explain one political outcome for present-day Africans as a result of
European colonial boundaries. In part D students w ere asked to describe one way that European
colonialization of Africa reflected the concept of ethnocentrism. Parts C and D focused on how
historical geographic processes (such as colonialism and imposing political boundaries) can have
enduring consequences. For example, in part C some students were not able to connect the geographic
significance of creating boundaries in the 19
th
century with contemporary impacts on Africa today.
In
part E students needed to explain a way that the political boundaries shown in Map 1 illustrated a
European colonial emphasis on resource extraction. The focus here was to connect the drawing of
boundaries to resource extraction. While many students understood that Europeans extracted
resources, some were not able to make the direct connection to why some boundaries were drawn in a
way that facilitated resource extraction. For example, the boundaries of some coastal colonies were
drawn to provide access to ports or the ocean, while extending boundaries into the continent’s interior
to extract resources.
In part F students were tasked with explaining the degree to which colonialization affected the
l
anguages spoken in present-day Africa. To earn this point, students needed to state a degree to which
this was true or not, using terms such as “to a high degree” or “more widely spoken” or to indicate a
low degree, such as “African languages were barely affected.” In part G students were expected to
explain a possible limitation of using Map 2 to understand the geography of religion in present-day
Africa.
Sa
mple: 3A
Score: 7
Th
e response to part A earned 1 point because it describes the type of political boundaries shown in
Map 1 as being superimposed, meaning that they were drawn with no recognition of cultural or
ethnic borders.
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AP
®
Human Geography 2022 Scoring Commentary
Question 3 (continued)
The response to part B earned 1 point because it describes one way that the European cultural
boundaries shown in Map 1 are superimposed by European colonials via the Berlin Conference,
while Map 2 indicates African cultural and ethnic boundaries.
The response to part C earned 1 point because it explains one political outcome for present-day
Africans as a result of the European cultural boundaries indicating that political power may come
from only one of many ethnic groups, which could lead to armed conflict and includes an example of
the breakup of Sudan and South Sudan.
The response to part D earned 1 point because it describes one way that European colonization of
Africa reflects the concept of ethnocentrism, as European colonials ignored the cultural and ethnic
boundaries and divisions in Africa.
The response to part E earned 1 point because it explains one way that the political boundaries
shown in Map 1 illustrate a European colonial emphasis on resource extraction in that most of the
borders established by Europeans follow rivers and coastlines and, therefore, maximize the export of
resources.
The response to part F earned 1 point because it explains the degree to which colonization affected
the languages spoken in present-day Africa, as language being a major effect of European
colonization results in, as one example, most of West Africa speaking French because the French
ruled over that region for a long period.
The response to part G earned 1 point because it explains a possible limitation of using Map 2 by
understanding that the map does not indicate particular religious groups or denominations.
Sample: 3B
Score: 5
T
he response to part A earned 1 point because it describes the type of political boundaries shown in
Map 1 as superimposed and drawn by an outside power without consideration of the culture or
ethnicity of the inhabitants.
The response to part B earned 1 point because it describes one way that the European colonial
boundaries in Map 1 do not align with the African cultural boundaries shown in Map 2.
The response to part C earned 1 point because it explains one political outcome for present-day
Africans, as a result of the European colonial boundaries in that African cultural groups and areas
were not taken into consideration, which led to conflict.
The response to part D earned 1 point because it describes ethnocentrism in European colonization as
taking land without consideration of the aspects of African cultures in those areas.
The response to part E earned 1 point because it explains one way that the political boundaries in
Map 1 illustrate a European colonial emphasis on resource extraction using the example of access to
water, which would allow for Europeans to extract resources and export them through ports.
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AP
®
Human Geography 2022 Scoring Commentary
Question 3 (continued)
The response to part F did not earn a point because it does not explain the degree to which
colonization affected the languages spoken in present-day Africa.
The response to part G did not earn a point because it does not explain a possible limitation of using
M
ap 2 to understand the geography of religion in present-day Africa.
Sa
mple: 3C
Score: 3
Th
e response to part A earned 1 point because it describes that superimposed boundaries were created
after European powers met in the Berlin Conference to divide up Africa.
The response to part B earned 1 point because it describes a difference between the maps in that
M
ap 2 is based off of cultural data, whereas Map 1 is based on a colonial power’s control over a
particular area.
The response to part C earned 1 point because it explains one political outcome for present-day Africa
a
s a result of European colonial boundaries having caused a split due to cultural differences and uses
Sudan and South Sudan as an example.
The response to part D did not earn a point because it does not describe one way that European
c
olonization of Africa reflected the concept of ethnocentrism.
The response to part E did not earn a point because it does not explain one way that the political
b
oundaries shown in Map 1 illustrate a European colonial emphasis on resource extraction.
The response to part F did not earn a point because it does not accurately explain how colonization
a
ffected the languages spoken in present-day Africa.
The response to part G did not earn a point because it does not explain a possible limitation of using
M
ap 2 to understand the geography of religion in present-day Africa.
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