Steps in writing a DBQ

Time Management You will be given an hour and forty minutes for the essay portion of the exam. College Board anticipates this time management scheme: 60 minutes for the DBQ ( which includes 15 minutes for reading and planning 40 minutes for the LEQ You can use your time how you want, you do not have to stick to these limitations.

What is the DBQ? When writing an essay for school, you are given a topic, then you research sources for information. The DBQ asks you to write an essay, and they have given you some sources to pull from. In this essay, you are to answer the prompt by developing an argument. Take a stand, propose an idea, and support it with evidence.

Keep the scoring rubric in mind as you proceed Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning. Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt. Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least six documents. Use at least one additional piece of specific historical evidence (beyond that found in the documents) relevant to an argument about the prompt. For at least three documents, explain how or why the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is relevant to an argument. Use evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument that addresses the prompt. Keep the scoring rubric in mind as you proceed

Step 1: The pre-read & organization They recommend 15 minutes Use this to organize your DBQ. Read the prompt and figure out what the question is asking. Comparative, Cause & Effect, CCOT, etc. Read the documents & think about the argument or stance you will take. How they can help you create and support your thesis statement? Can you group them?

Step 2: Organize your argument Remembering what the prompt is asking, figure out how you will use the documents to answer the prompt. Can you organize them into groups that go with your thesis? Supports your thesis Contradicts your thesis Qualifies your thesis (limits its application)

Step 3: Paragraph 1 After reviewing the background information and the documents, write a paragraph that includes contextualization and your thesis statement. Contextualization: What is going on in the world at this time that are relevant to the prompt and your thesis?

Step 3: Paragraph 1 After reviewing the background information and the documents, write a paragraph that includes contextualization and your thesis statement. What is going on in the world at this time? State your argument Watch out for thesis killer words Be as SPECIFIC as possible Make it clear and concise.

Step 4: 2 – 3 body paragraphs Use a topic sentence that addresses your thesis answer. Use information from the documents to support your topic sentence. What would you say is the basic idea that the document is telling you? That is what analyzing is all about. The cause of something? The consequence of something? Evidence for your argument? Use the ideas from the documents to support the topic sentence, which supports your thesis.

Step 4: 2 – 3 body paragraphs You must explain the significance in at least 3 documents (I recommend 4) Analyze ≠ Summarize Use one of the HAPPY steps Historical Situation:  What is going on in the time period that affects the author or source? Why does it matter? Audience: Who is this written for? How does that affect how you interpret the document? Point of View: How could the author’s nationality, class, race, gender, religion, occupation, etc. influence their views? Is this document reliable based on the information from the source or the author? Purpose: Why is the Author writing it? What is their intent or goal? Is this document reliable? WhY: Why is this source important in history? Ask yourself, “So what?” in relation to the prompt.

Step 5: Evidence beyond the documents Additional piece of evidence: Provide an additional fact that you know from history that supports or qualifies your thesis.

Step 6: Conclusion Paragraph Restate your thesis statement in a different way than you did in the beginning, but it should be kind of similar. Remember, the thesis statement for WHAP doesn’t need to be long – a sentence or two will do. But it must be specific!