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DBQ Instruction AP United States History
The D.B.Q. question consists of a statement and a time period, such as, "To what extent did the status of Blacks in America change during the period from 1940-1980?" Sometimes the question will include subtopics, as in, "To what extent did the social, political, and economic status of Blacks in America change during the period from 1940-1980?" If the question includes subtopics, you must write about those subtopics in your answer.
Sometimes the question will not be a question at all, but rather a statement which you are asked to agree or disagree with: "The status of Blacks in America changed radically during the period from 1940-1980. Use the documents and your knowledge of the time period to assess the validity of the statement." The question always calls for an opinion answer, so there is no right or wrong answer. The amount of points you get will depend upon how well you support your answer with the documents and with your own knowledge.
There are generally nine documents following the question, all of which date from the time period of the question. You can choose which to use, but you should use most of them. Most of the documents are short written excerpts, about 1-3 paragraphs in length. They may be parts of laws, court case rulings, official declarations, presidential addresses, editorials, speeches, books, or personal letters. Not all of the documents will be written excerpts; generally a D.B.Q. will include at least one or two political cartoons, pictures, charts, graphs, or maps.
When answering the D.B.Q., you should refer to the documents and also include historical details from your own knowledge. The graders look primarily for a thoughtful thesis statement, sound historical support, and good use of the documents to support your answer.
Tips For The DBQ • Start with a clearly stated thesis. • Good essays begin with a thesis statement, back it up with supporting evidence from documents and outside knowledge and, if time permits, restate the thesis at the end. • Make sure you have additional outside information beyond the documents presented on the exam. • You need to demonstrate an ability to integrate outside knowledge in your document-based essay question as well as your ability to use the documents themselves • Organize your response carefully. • Make an outline before you begin your essay.
Tips For The DBQ • Make sure that your thesis matches your own assessment and knowledge. • You should support a clear, simple thesis that can be supported using the documents and other outside information you may know. You may agree or disagree with the statement. • Build an argument. • The best essays are those that marshal the positive arguments in favor of their position but that also refute or answer rival theses. Even if you think a statement is completely true, it is better to confront and negate the evidence that seems to refute it than to ignore the counterevidence completely.
Tips For The DBQ • Integrate the documents and your analysis. • You do not have to use all of the documents but you must use the majority of them and integrate them well. Don't merely explain what is stated in the documents. Use the documents as part of an integrated essay in support of your thesis. • Don't quote large portions of the documents. • The reader of the essays are already familiar with the documents. You can quote a short passage or two if necessary to make your point, but don't waste time or space reciting them.
Tips For The DBQ • Do take a stand on the question. Draw a definite conclusion from the historical facts and documents. • Do not spend your essay explaining that there are many different points of view and that you cannot draw any definite conclusion about the question. • Make Sure You Do Use the Documents • Using the documents means to refer to them and not to depend on them. Generally, you should use one more than half the documents.
Brainstorming • Identify both sides of the question • Elephant in the Closet
Analyzing the Documents P E A K E R C C A S S I O N U D I E N C E U R P O S E I G N I F C A N C E S O A P S
Scoring Guide: 8-9 • Clear, well developed thesis that addresses the question • Makes substantial use of relevant outside information. • Provides effective analysis of the question • Uses substantial number of the documents • May contain insignificant errors • Well organized and well written
Scoring Guide: 5-7 • Clear thesis with limited development • Uses some documents effectively. • Supports thesis with outside information. • Limited analysis. Mostly describes. • May contain insignificant errors • Clearly organized, but not exceptional.
Scoring Guide: 2-4 • Lacks a thesis, or thesis may be confused or underdeveloped. • Ignores complexity. Deals with the question or in a superficial way. • Quotes and briefly cites documents. • Contains little outside information, and that which is inaccurate or irrelevant. • May contain major errors • Weak organization and writing.
Scoring Guide: 0-1 • No thesis. • Restates the question • No analysis. • No outside information. • No understanding of the documents. • Contains many major and minor errors • Disorganized and poorly written.
Students who received top scores did the following: • Development of the Prompt • Made analytical and thematic use of most documents, offering at least two or three examples of tension. • Brought in significant outside information for either or both questions. • Made only minor errors that did not detract from the overall knowledge of the essay.
Students who received good scores did the following: • Addressed the question generally or one question in more depth. • Used documents in support of answer. • Brought in some outside information in support of answer. • May have had errors that did not detract from the overall essay.
Students who received lower scores did the following: • Dealt with the questions in a superficial way. • Restated the documents with little interpretation, or demonstrated minimal use of documents. • Provided little outside information. • Offered no analysis. • May have had major errors.
Students who received the lowest scores did the following: • Provided an incompetent, inappropriate response. • May have simply paraphrased or restated the question. • Showed little understanding of the question.
