1. What to do when you don’t know what to do DBQ edition
The focus of this information is not how to score a 7 on a DBQ.  It is focused on helping you ‘steal’ any points you can on an essay topic you don’t know much about.

2. FIRST THINGS FIRST…. ALWAYS mark up the prompt
CIRCLE what you should do and UNDERLINE the topic in the prompt
Understand exactly WHAT the prompt is asking and if there are any limits (time periods, regions, themes, etc) to what you should write about.

3. Reminder of what you are SUPPOSED to do…
A1 - Write a historically defensible thesis
A2 - Well-developed argument supported by Corroborative AND/OR Contradictory Documents
B1 - Use at least 6 docs (of 7) to support your thesis
B2 - HIPP at least 4 documents
C1 - What is the Historical Context of the essay topic (What is it relevance to history?  Why is it so important that you are writing an essay about it?)
C2 - Use Outside Evidence
D1 - Extend argument by making connections to another (a) event, period, region in history, (b) historical theme, (c) field of study
* We’ve highlighted the easiest points to get….

4. Grouping and Finding Connections - Influenza
Possible Groupings:
Responses:
Volunteered to help: 1, 7, 6
Ignored the problem: 2, 5, 1 (contradictory)
Turned to religion: 3, 4

5. THESIS
Thesis - On a DBQ, everything you need to develop a thesis is in the documents.  Spend your reading time looking for connections between documents.  If you find any, define the connection (which then becomes a reason behind your thesis.)
 Try to identify 3 different connections but you can generally get away with two.

6. THESIS – CONTINUED….
EX: There were a variety of response to ______________ including X, Y, Z.
EX:  The primary causes of ___________ were X and Y.  This ultimately led to Z.
Writing a thesis is easier than it might seem if you can break it down to this goal:  Answer the Question with at least 2 reasons or areas of focus.

7. Thesis Example from the Influenza prompt…
The spread of influenza in the early 20th century caused widespread panic and chaos. People reacted to it in a variety of ways. Some volunteered to help the sick while others turned to their own religions for comfort and advice. The governments, however, often ignored the problem out of fear or ignorance which helped make it a worldwide crisis and contributed to the end of WWI.

8. CONTEXTUALIZATION
The “Big C”; The Big Picture; The Process that influenced your topic prompt.
Remember all that fluff you might have wanted in the intro if you still want to use it, this is where to put it.  Just make sure you explain why the theme of the essay is important to world history.  How you approach this will depend on the prompt.  If the prompt is a causation explaining what led to the theme should go in the body paragraphs supporting your thesis not the Contextualization paragraph.
EX: The 2015 DBQ focus on the response to the Spanish Flu.  Your big C paragraph should explain the relevance of the flu - the role it played in ending WW1 as a global epidemic.  It should not explain how people reacted to it.

9. CONTEXTUALIZATION – EXAMPLE
Influenza, in the early 20th century, was still a disease that could kill you. There was no flu shot and it was easily spread. However, with WWI, the disease became an epidemic as the mobilization of millions of troops from around the world meant that the disease spread to far greater distances and would affect many more people. Empires had moved their colonial soldiers into new regions in Europe and Africa and they were substituting soldiers throughout the war. With people fighting in close quarters and the battle conditions being ideal for the spread of germs and airborne illnesses, millions of people contracted the disease and even brought it back to their homelands so it would spread further. Although the numbers are hard to verify, between million people died and the spread of influenza became one of the main factors in ending WWI.

10. SYNTHESIS….yes, NEXT PARAGRAPH
PUT THE SYNTHESIS IN THE PARAGRAPH AFTER CONTEXT!!!!
Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.  Focus on connecting the theme to (a) different period, region, situation.  Just be sure to show how the theme of the essay CONNECTS to the other event.  Don’t just say:  “This is similar to . . .”  Explain how or why it is similar.
EX:  The Spanish Flu is one of many global epidemics that countries struggled to deal with.  The Bubonic Plague Small pox….OR The AIDS epidemic OR The spread of Ebola..

11. SYNTHESIS – TWO EXAMPLES
The spread of influenza can be compared to other global epidemics, such as the bubonic plague. In both cases, the disease spread through dirty conditions because of increased “globalization” as new people entered the areas where it landed. With influenza, it started with the mobilization of global soldiers and in the bubonic plague, it started with traders arriving in new areas and bringing the disease with them. (1) In both cases, the responses were similar. People didn’t understand the disease and without strong governments who were willing to enforce rules and help its citizens, people were left to care for each other. Religion was used to justify the deaths and treat the symptoms and this proved inadequate as a method of care. (2)

12. SYNTHEIS – LAST EXAMPLE
….Today, doctors and governments work together to contain epidemics and supply medication as needed. Our scientific and biological understanding of diseases has increased tremendously and there are vaccines that are available to all. However, we must be careful not to get lax about treatment. Diseases can mutate quickly and we are a far more global society than at any other time in history and it can spread at a much more rapid pace than ever before. We must educate our population to the benefits of vaccinations and create laws that deter anti-vaccinators so that an epidemic of this sort never happens again. (3)

13. TOPIC SENTENCES AND A2 (CORROBORATION)
Use topic sentences that reflect the thesis and/or groupings – DO NOT START WITH “In doc 2…” – so awful!)
NEXT SENTENCE – Create a CORROBORATION SENTENCE that shows how the documents go together!!! (see next page)
Yes, this is very formulaic…but if you are desperate for points and won’t be writing much more than this – DO IT!

14. EXAMPLE OF A SIMPLISTIC A2 & TOPIC SENTENCE
CORROBORATION…. Governments often ignored the disease because they didn’t have answers as to how to stop it (topic sentence). Both document 2 and 5 accuse the government of inaction as they let their citizens succumb to influenza…. (then, discuss each document using corroborative words such as “similarily, both, again, “doc 2 agrees…”, etc…)
CONTRADICTON AND QUALIFICATION
… However, not all governments ignored the problem (shows contradiction). In the US, the government did set up field hospitals and camps to help the sick and they considered forcing government workers to stay home in order to stop the spread of the disease (1). Later, they even used the disease to serve as inspiration for people to join the Red Cross (7). Perhaps the difference lay in the wealth of the countries affected and the stability of government; while the US was both a stable and wealthy country, areas such as Africa and Latin America were still considered “third world” and may not have had access to the kind of science and treatments that the US had. (shows qualification)

15. YOU GOT 3-4 POINTS!!!!!
If you can do these things, you’ve set yourself up to earn at least a 3 without even mentioning a document.  By doing it early, you don’t run as great a risk of running out of time or forgetting.
 Next turn your attention to the more “time consuming” points on the rubric….

16. BODY PARAGRAPHS
At this point you are trying to get as many of the 4 remaining points as possible.  Formulaic writing doesn’t lend itself to great writing, but it does help score points.  As they say, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Here’s how I would approach the Body Paragraphs related to your thesis.  Include Corroborative statements early in the paragraph.  
Introduce and HIPP the documents linked to your corroborative statement

17. Sentence #1 - Topic Sentence
Sentence #2 - Corroboration of documents A and B
(EX: Both Documents A and B demonstrate _____________)
Sentence #3 - Use document A
Sentence #4 - HIPP document A using intentional language
Sentence #5 - Show how Document A proves thesis
Sentence #6 - Use document B
Sentence #7 - Hipp document B using intentional language
Sentence #8 - Show how document B proves thesis

18. Start next body paragraph and repeat
Start next body paragraph and repeat.  Remember, you only need to HIPP 4 document.  You won’t get the B1 point but you can get B2.
As best as we can tell, the threshold for A2 is at least 2 corroborative/contradiction statements.  Get them into each paragraph early in the event you run out of time.

19. INTENTIONAL LANGUAGE AND HIPP
Intentional Language: Make it obvious to the reader what you are trying to do - especially with HIPP.  I’ve included some sample sentence starters for each of the HIPP options.
H (Historical Context of Document):  
Document A was created at a time in which . . .
Document A reflects a common attitude . . .
I (Intended Audience):
The author of document A was trying to reach The intended audience is…. (and why that is important to understand)
P (Purpose):
The author intended . . .
The author’s goal in drafting this letter was . . .
P (POV)
The author’s perspective on the issue was impacted by . . .(gender, religion, job, ethnicity, relationship, age, class, elite)
The author was closely associated with the subject of Document X leading to . . .

20. HIPP examples – think HAPPY instead….
Document 3 Source: Sanitary Commissioner’s report on the influenza epidemic, Madras, British India, 1918
People, mostly in the interior, were adverse in the beginning to resorting to a medical treatment under a superstitious belief that the epidemic was a visitation of the Hindu Goddess Amman and that no treatment by drugs should be attempted.
HIPP Notes: India was a British colony (H) – Sanitary Commissioner is probably British (POV). Audience was probably the British government (I) and the Commissioner may be providing excuses as to why the interior people weren’t getting treatment – as head of Sanitation he would be responsible – perhaps he wants to blame someone/thing else or he is frustrated by their religious belief in stopping him from doing this (P and Y)

21. HIPP EXAMPLE (using as many HIPP as possible)
India was a colony of Britain and the British were responsible for its care and maintenance (H). The Sanitary Commission was probably British and this report was to the British Government as his job was to provide safety and sanitation in India (POV, I). He may be frustrated by the Hindu intolerance to drugs and the lack of progress in the interior and wants to make sure the British government understands that the matter is out of his hands and is simply “superstition”. (P, tone and why it’s important). It’s an example of social darwinsim, the “ignorant Indian child” focusing more on religion than science (use of document, connect to topic sentence and analysis). You don’t need to have 3-4 HIPP on one document, but you need to explain why it’s important to the prompt/thesis.

22. FINAL THOUGHTS AND HINTS….
Do your best to ID documents you can HIPP during the reading time.  If you can’t do four of them in your first read, don’t waste your time.  Focus on the analysis of the documents instead (by which I mean focus on explaining how the documents support your thesis.)
Use parenthetical citations when using the docs.  Avoid saying “In document 1 it says ”  Replace Document 1 with the title of a brief description and then cite after its use.  “In the Letter to Pope Francis . . .” (1)
Outside Evidence should be used to support your thesis.  Use it while demonstrating how the document supports your Topic Sentence. Use any information you have about the topic.
Avoid a conclusion UNLESS you revised the focus (THESIS) of your paper or feel that it was unclear during the initial attempt.  Remember, the reader has been instructed to look for your thesis in the paragraph.  If it’s not there they are told to look at the last paragraph.