Writing a DBQ Essay

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Writing a DBQ Essay
Name _____________________ Global Studies ___,
Period _____
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Examples of Historical Documents

• Political statement (Declaration of Independence)
• Maps
• Newspaper magazine articles
• Graphs
• Biography or autobiography
• Paintings, engravings, and photographs
• Political cartoons
• Non-fiction book of a historical event
• Artifacts
• Letters and Diaries
• Sculptures
• Constitutions
• Architecture
• Scriptures
• Medical texts

Excerpts quotations from written documents
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• Step 1 Read all the questions that accompany
  each document in the constructed response
  section.
• Step 2 Study each document carefully.
• Underline key words and phrases and take notes
  that state ideas in the document in your own
  words.
• Legends and keys on maps and charts should be
  read through at least twice to be sure that you
  are clear what the chart map/chart is teaching
  you.
• Read labels on political cartoons carefully
  many times they help give clues to solve the
  cartoon.

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• Step 3 Read the question again. Form your
  response IN SENTENCE FORM to the question asked.
• Be sure to echo the question somewhere in your
  response.
• Be sure to refer to the document. If you do not,
  then you are not showing that you understood the
  document. Use phrases like
• According to (the map or excerpt or chart or
  political cartoon), _________________________.
• As (the map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) clearly shows, ______________________.
• ( The map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) states that _____________
  ______________.
• State your answer to the question. Be sure that
  there is a clear connection b/w what you state is
  in the document and what your answer is. DO NOT
  DIRECTLY QUOTE FROM THE DOCUMENTS. STATE THE
  IDEAS IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
• Including your outside knowledge on the topic to
  help solidify your answer will certainly help and
  will make your essay writing easier.

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Document 1
The unexamined
life is not worth living.

Socrates 470 B.C. 399B.C.
1. Who was Socrates, and what was he suggesting
in this quote?
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Document 2
Our plan of government favors the many instead of
the few that is why it is called a democracy. .
. . As for social standing, advancement is open
to everyone, according to ability. While every
citizen has an equal opportunity to serve the
public, we reward our most distinguished citizens
by asking them to make our political decisions.
Nor do we discriminate against the poor. A man
may serve his country no matter how low his
position on the social scale.
Pericles' Funeral
Oration, given to the Athenians in about 430 B.C.
1. What type of government is described?
2. What were the expectations for citizens in
this type of government?
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Document 3
I will follow that treatment which, according
to my ability and judgment, I will consider for
the benefit of my patients, and abstain from
whatever is harmful. I will give no deadly
medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such
advice . . An excerpt from the Hippocratic
Oath. Hippocrates, creator of this oath, lived
from about 460 to about 377 BC


1. Who was Hippocrates, and what was he
promising to do?
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Document 4
Creon And still you dared to overstep these
laws? Antigone For me, it was not Zeus who made
that order. Nor do I think your orders were so
strong that you, a mortal man, could overrun the
gods' unwritten and unfailing laws.... I know I
must die . . . but if I left my brother dead and
unburied, I'd have cause to grieve as now I
grieve not. This is an excerpt from the play
Antigone by Sophodes, written in about 441 b.c.
In this play, Antigone defies the king's order
and buries her brother, who was killed while
leading a rebellion.
1. What values are expressed in this Greek play?
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Document 5
The Parthenon
1. How have specific features of this building
influenced Western civilization?
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Document 6
1. What does this statue reveal about Greek
values?
2. How did the Olympics influence later
civilizations?
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• Step 4 Read the essay question carefully.
• Identify the subject/s of the essay. For
  example, the French Revolution and two key people
  from it or ancient religions or the Industrial
  Revolution and two key countries involved
• By doing this, you are determining what your 2
  body paragraphs should be.
• Determine what kind of question you are being
  asked on the subject you identified.
  Possibilities include
• Compare show similarities
• Contrast show differences
• Define show meaning of
• Describe give an account of tell what
  something is like
• Discuss give facts to support BOTH sides
• Evaluate make a judgment after showing
  information from BOTH sides
• Explain make clear so that the reader knows YOU
  understand
• Trace follow the development of

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Grade 10
Document 1
What effect did the items shown in this chart
have on life in the late 18th and early 19th
centuries?
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Document 2
What side effect of rapid industrialization is
shown by this drawing?
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Document 3
According to Ashton, how has industrialization
improved the lives of the workers?
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• Part B Essay Response
• Directions Using information from the documents
  provided and your knowledge of the history of the
  Industrial Revolution, write a well-organized
  essay with an introductory paragraph that states
  your thesis as to the effects of
  industrialization, several paragraphs, and a
  conclusion. Use evidence from at least four
  documents in the body of the essay. Support your
  response with relevant facts, examples, and
  details. Include additional outside information.
  
• Historical Context
• Industrialization significantly altered modern
  civilization.
• The documents below present views of the
  influence of
• industrialization on modern times.
• Task
• Decide whether industrialization was a
  beneficial or a
• burdensome change and support your opinion with
  the
• documents provided and your knowledge of global
  history and
• geography.

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Guidelines In your essay, be sure to Address
all aspects of the Task by accurately analyzing
and interpreting at least four documents
Incorporate information from the documents in the
body of the essay Incorporate relevant outside
information Support the theme with relevant
facts, examples, and details Use a logical and
clear plan of organization Introduce the theme
by establishing a framework that is beyond a
simple restatement of the Task or Historical
Context and conclude with a summation of the
theme.
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Part B Essay Directions Using information from
the documents provided and your knowledge of the
history of ancient Greece, write a well-organized
essay that includes an introduction, several
paragraphs, and a conclusion. Historical
Context Many of the roots of Western
civilization can be traced back to ancient
Greece. Task Using information from the
documents and your knowledge of global history,
write an essay in which you discuss what
contributions were made to western civilization
by the ancient Greeks and explain how these
contributions affect our civilization
today. Guidelines When writing your essay, be
sure to address all aspects of the Task by
accurately analyzing and interpreting at least
four documents. incorporate information from
the documents in the body of the essay.
incorporate relevant outside information
throughout the essay. richly support the theme
with relevant facts, examples, and details.
write a well-developed essay that consistently
demonstrates a logical and clean plan of
organization.
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• Step 5 Look at the documents and your responses
  to them and choose two per body paragraph that
  you feel would best answer the essay question.
• Step 6 Write your introductory paragraph. Be
  sure to reflect ideas expressed in the writing
  task, but DO NOT COPY THE WRITING TASK. State it
  in your words. This should be about 3 sentences.
  
• Then, write a thesis statement. This is one
  sentence that will state the main idea of how you
  will answer the writing task.
• Step 7 Write 2 body paragraphs.
• Details on following pages

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• Body Paragraph 1
• (A) Topic Sentence States the main idea of
  paragraph by stating the first issue that
  demonstrates the answer to your thesis.
• (B) Document Reference 1 Shows an example of
  what you mean in the topic sentence.
• Begin with one of these expressions
• According to (the map or excerpt or chart or
  political cartoon),
• As (the map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) clearly shows
• (The map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) states
• (C) Commentary 1 This is where you bring in an
  outside example from global studies. You must
  show how your examples prove your topic sentence.
  
• Begin with one of these expressions
• A further example.What these both show
• Furthermore,.Both examples demonstrate

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• (D) Document Reference 2 Shows an example of
  what you mean in the topic sentence. Start with
  a transitional expression.
• Begin with one of these expressions
• Similarly, according to (the map or excerpt or
  chart or political cartoon),
• In addition, as (the map or excerpt or chart or
  political cartoon) clearly shows
• Also, (the map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) states
• (E) Commentary 2 This is where you bring in an
  outside example from global studies. You must
  show how your examples prove your topic sentence.
  
• Begin with one of these expressions
• A further example.What these both show
• Furthermore,.Both examples demonstrate

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• Body Paragraph 2
• (A) Topic Sentence States the main idea of
  paragraph by stating the second issue that will
  demonstrate the answer to your thesis. Start
  with a transitional expression.
• Begin with one of these expressions
• To continue,
• Secondly,
• Furthermore,
• On the other hand,
• However,

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• (B) Document Reference 3 Shows an example of
  what you mean in the topic sentence.
• Begin with one of these expressions
• According to (the map or excerpt or chart or
  political cartoon),
• As (the map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) clearly shows
• (The map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) states
• (C) Commentary 3 This is where you bring in an
  outside example from global studies. You must
  show how your examples prove your topic sentence.
  
• Begin with one of these expressions
• A further example.What these both show
• Furthermore,.Both examples demonstrate

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• (D) Document Reference 4 Shows an example of
  what you mean in the topic sentence. Start with
  a transitional expression.
• Begin with one of these expressions
• Similarly, according to (the map or excerpt or
  chart or political cartoon),
• In addition, as (the map or excerpt or chart or
  political cartoon) clearly shows
• Also, (the map or excerpt or chart or political
  cartoon) states
• (E) Commentary 4 This is where you bring in an
  outside example from global studies. You must
  show how your examples prove your topic sentence.
  
• Begin with one of these expressions
• A further example.What these both show
• Furthermore,.Both examples demonstrate

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• Step 8 Compose a conclusion. This should be 3-4
  sentences that pull the ideas you expressed in
  your essay together and state some kind of lesson
  modern people can learn from your study of this
  subject.
• Choose a transitional expression
• In the final analysis,
• To conclude,
• On the whole,
• In the end,