1
The DBQ

• (Document Based Question)

2
Where to Start

• Read the Question
• Try to answer the question in your head before
  you even look at the documents
• Re-Read the prompt and keep it in your mind
• Skim the documents
• Make notes on the documents

3

• The first and biggest mistake that many students
  make is in reading and answering only part of the
  prompt.
• How successful was organized labor in improving
  the position of workers in the period from 1875
  to 1900? Analyze the factors that contributed to
  the level of success achieved.

4
How successful was organized labor in improving
the position of workers in the period from 1875
to 1900? Analyze the factors that contributed to
the level of success achieved.

• What EXACTLY does it mean to .
• analyze
• evaluate
• assess the validity of
• compare/contrast?

5
VERBS in Prompts

• Go back and look carefully at the VERB in the
  prompt. This word will tell you what you are
  expected to do. The following is a list of
  commonly used verbs and explanations for the
  tasks they indicate.

6
ANALYZE

• Explain how AND why something occurred. Any
  question that uses how and/or why is an
  analysis question even if the word analyze is
  not in the prompt.

7
ASSESS the Validity of..

• How true is the statement?
• The statement doesnt have to be all true (it
  could be true in one instance or circumstance and
  false in another!)
• !!!get this explained and you will certainly
  reflect the complexity of the prompt!

8
EVALUATE

• You will need to rank several events or factors
  then decide which is most and which is least
  significant.
• See the word value in evaluateyou will have to
  make a judgment here and defend your answer

9
To What Extent

• This prompt frequently requires you to specify a
  cause and effect relationship and then..
• State and explain which causes were more
  important.

10
Compare and Contrast

• To do this correctly you need to discuss BOTH
  similarities AND differences between two events
  or periods. It is important to both in a
  balanced way without shortchanging either.

11
Discuss or Consider

• These are frequently used in free response
  prompts but MAY appear in a DBQ
• They should be written as analysis essays.

12
basic definitions

• Define any terms in the prompt that you will need
  to explain.
• EX a recent essay prompt asked students to
  assess the validity of this statement
• Reform movements in the United States sought to
  expand democratic ideals.
• (Jot down some democratic ideals and be
  prepared to explain how they are democratic.
  Failing to do this will lower your score!)

13
Readers Know their History

• Dont review history, critique it.
• Dont grocery list documents and explain what
  they mean, use them together and/or separately to
  support your response.
• You do not have to use EACH one, just MOST.

14
How to Analyze Documents

• You will see a sample list of documents you MAY
  see on the AP TEST.
• The principles of how to analyze documents apply
  to ANY document they may give you.

15
Do you know what you are going to do?

• Know your task (analyze, evaluate, etc.)
• Be sure you understand the complexity you must
  reflect..
• Skim the documents for an overview
• Read them carefully and make notes

16

• Read the prompt AGAIN
• READ the documents with your tentative thesis in
  mind.(it might change...be flexible with
  yourself!)
• Make notes of your first impressions, where you
  may use each DOC, how you can group them, etc.

17
Documents You May See

• Visuals
• Pictures and photographs
• Cartoons
• Posters
• Diagrams and/or flow charts
• Maps
• Charts
• Graphs

18
Documents You May See

• Printed Materials
• Newspaper
• Magazine or pamphlet
• Book
• Poem

19
Documents You May See

• Personal Documents
• Speech
• Letter
• Diary

20
Documents You May See

• Political Info
• Party Platform
• List of groups supporting legislation

21
Documents You May See

• Public Records
• Laws, proclamations, executive orders
• Court decisions
• Legislative Debate, Congressional Record, speech
  in Congress, testimony before a congressional
  committee
• Government agency report
• Others

22
Your Full Essay Response

• Follow standard writing rules (Thesis, topic
  sentences, evidence, etc.)
• Cite the documents but do not waste time
  paraphrasing them
• Readers are divided in reporting which they
  prefer citing doc within the writing or
  parenthetically.....for this class, we will use
  (Doc. A) until you get comfortable incorporating
  the documents into your writing.

23
Back to the Basics .

• It all comes down to
• Your knowledge of American History
• Your ability to recall ACCURATE facts from
  American History
• Your ability to write a decent essay (and for
  DBQ, to incorporate the documents into that
  amazing essay)

24
Thesis

• A single, declaratory sentence
• That answers the prompt
• With a clearly and simply stated
• ..hopefully original opinion!
• A good thesis never restates the prompt.
• The thesis is the single most important sentence
  in your essay. Make it count.

25

• After reading the whole prompt, marking the verbs
  and conjunctions, and sketching out how you
  intend to proceed. . .
• Answer the prompt in a simple sentence.
• For instance, consider this DBQ prompt
• How successful was organized labor in improving
  the position of workers in the period from 1875
  to 1900? Analyze the factors that contributed to
  the level of success achieved

26

• What do you think about this prompt?
• Was the time period 1875 to 1900 a period of
  labor success?
• Or was it a time of extreme hardship and struggle
  for organized labor?
• YOUR OPINION IS ESSENTIAL!
• And your opinion must be clear.
• So. . .

27

• Lets say that you think this time period was not
  a period of labor success.
• Write a simple statement that answers the prompt
  with your opinion. Like this. . .
• The last 30 years of the 1800s nearly destroyed
  organized labor.
• Or. . .
• These years were a period of extreme struggle
  for organized labor.

28

• Its extremely important to get your thinking
  clearly into a simple answer to the prompt.
• Do NOT restate the wording of the prompt.
• Rather than saying the time period 1875 to
  1900, say the last decades of the 19th century
  or the three decades following the Civil War.
• Rather than saying organized labor, refer to
  labor unions.

29

• Now that you know your opinion, you need to write
  a sentence that is both complex and specific.
• One way of doing this is to begin your thesis
  sentence with the word although.
• This may seem odd, but recent AP grading rubrics
  award high scores only to essays that address
  the complexity of the question.

30

• One of the easiest ways of doing this is to write
  a sentence that looks like this
• Although the last decades of the 19th century
  were periods of intense labor organization, they
  nearly destroyed the labor unions.
• Or. . .
• Although the post-Civil War period saw increased
  labor organization, it was also a time of
  government persecution of labor unions.

31

• Writing this kind of thesis sentence sets you up
  from the very beginning to
• acknowledge the complexity in the essay prompt
• Your opinion / your answer to the prompt, goes
  in the second half of the thesis sentence

32

• APUSH essays may have an introduction paragraph
  that is 2-3 sentences (this is OK)
• The thesis sentence should be the last sentence
  in your introduction paragraph
• Take a step back from your thesis and write a few
  general sentences that could introduce the thesis
  (you may want to save this step for later)

33

• The general topic of this prompt is organized
  labor.
• Using one of the earlier thesis sentences, the
  introduction might look like this
• Labor unions had existed in America since the
  early days of industrialization and had grown in
  number prior to the Civil War. Although the
  post-Civil War period saw increased labor
  organization, it was also a time of government
  persecution of labor unions.

34
Good Writing Requires Practice

• Essay worksheets may be useful in the beginning
• Competition can be fun
• Critical Analysis can be fun if you dont take
  criticism personally!

35
Review YOUR writing

• Review your old essay practice
• Be critical of yourself FIRST
• Take a deep breath and review what your peers had
  to say about your writing
• Do you think they fairly critiqued your effort?