1. Mr. Brock’s AICE Thinking Skills
The DBQ
“Document Based Question”

2. What is a DBQ? What is its purpose?
A DBQ is a test of your analytical skills.
It is NOT a test of your historical knowledge.
Walking into a DBQ, you do not have to know anything about the subject to do well.
100% of the knowledge you need is contained in the documents you are provided.
A solid DBQ will get you most (more than 50%) of the points you need to pass any AICE History Exam.

3. Steps to Completing a DBQ
Step 1: Skip to the end and read the question.
When you know what you are looking for, you are more likely to find it Underline the part of the prompt that tells you what to do.
Step 2: Read the documents carefully.
Make sure you understand the content of the document.
What is the author’s Point of View?
Where is the tension?
What is the origin of the document?
Is the document valid or hearsay?
If time, gender, race, nationality or age were changed, would the author be saying the same thing?

4. Steps to Completing a DBQ
Step 3: You should strive to use all of the documents, if possible.
*** DO NOT use the documents in the order they are given to you!!!
- A laundry list of summaries is the kiss of death!
You will spend 40 minutes working hard and get nothing for it!
-Instead, group the documents by ideas or categories.

5. Steps to Completing a DBQ
Step 4: Analyze each document. Be sure
The Point of View (POV) of the author must be taken into account.
The Validity (VAL) of the document is noted. How do we know the author is not wrong or lying?
Any Change Over Time (COT) should be recognized and discussed (if it occurs).

6. Steps to Completing a DBQ
Analyze, don’t summarize. Then communicate your findings in a clear and organized way.
You broke the documents apart, now reassemble them in a way that makes your argument for you.
Create a thesis sentence that lays out what you think and divides your arguments into categories.
The documents must be used as evidence to support your thesis.
Your answer must always remain focused on the question. Don’t give amazing answers to questions nobody asked you!

7. How To Find A Point of View (POV)
There are two acronyms that you will find useful for this purpose.
S.P.R.I.T.E. and A.P.P.A.R.T.S.
With these two tools, you can analyze any document and construct your essay.

8. Social Political SPRITE Religious Intellectual Technological
When looking at each document it is important to determine if the subject is one, or more, of the following.
Social
Political
Religious
Intellectual
Technological
Economic or Other

9. APPARTS Reason- Why was this source produced in the first place?
Author- Who created the this source? What do we know about them? Would they likely have any way to know about the subject or reason to bend the truth?
Place and Time- Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?
Prior Knowledge – Do you know anything already about this time period/event that you would like to use? (Be careful)
Audience – For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source? Example: Private message vs.. public announcement.
Reason- Why was this source produced in the first place?
The Main Idea – What point is the source trying to convey?
Significance – Why is the source important? What knowledge did you gain from this document, answer your own question of “so what?”.