Housekeeping
 Grades updated (except for FRQ and Summer
Work)
 New quiz make up policy:
 First time, I reset the score
 Second time, make an appointment
Activator
 Pairs
 Read the DBQ contextual essay
 Contextualization:
 What else was going on at the time this was written
 What was it like to be alive at this time?
 What things were different back then? What things were the
same?
 What would it look like to see this event through the eyes of
someone who lived back then?
 Close Reading:
 What are the claims/warrants?
 What evidence does the author marshal in support?
 What is left out?
10 min
Tackling the
DBQ
Homework
 Document analysis: use APPARTS + L document
analysis strategy to critically analyze the eight
documents in the DBQ packet.
3 min
The Exam
 Part I: Multiple Choice
 80 questions, 55 minutes
 Part II: Writing
 Mandatory 15 minute doc analysis and pre-writing;
115 minutes to write three essays
 DBQ (recommended time: 45 min.)
 FRQ (recommended time: 35 min. each)
3 min
DBQ basics
 First of three essays (the other two being the free
response questions, or FRQ)
 Mandatory 15 minutes to analyze the
documents, take notes, pre-write
 Recommended 45 minutes to write
 Graded on a 1-9 scale; 5 is passing
Steps to writing a good DBQ
 Step One: break down the question
 Step Two: brainstorm and group relevant
outside information
 Step Three: construct a strong thesis and
structure
 Step Four: analyze and group documents
 Step Five: write the essay
1. Breaking down the question
 Is it simple, complicated?
 Break the question into parts
 Rewrite the question in your own
words (bullet points ok)
 Long form
 Short form (six words)
 Shouldn’t take a lot of time (<1
min.)
 Answer the question directly!
 Identify and address verbs
Although New England and
the Chesapeake region
were both settled largely
by people of English origin,
by 1700 the regions had
evolved into two distinct
societies. Why did this
difference in development
occur?
(effects, responses,
consequences, etc.)
5 min
2. Break down and group
relevant outside information
 “Brain dump” everything you know about
the topic and question (time period,
topics, concepts, identifications, etc.)
 “Bucket.” Begin thinking about how to
group information in a way that will help
you structure your essay and answer the
question directly:
 Paragraphs divided by topic (i.e. SPICEE)
 Paragraphs divided by chronology (e.g.
decades, but with a “turning point”)
10 min
3. The Thesis
 In the Anglo-Western tradition, a history paper,
like many other kinds of academic writing,
usually takes the form of an argument in support
of a thesis.
 NOT a statement of fact, a question, or an
opinion
 NOT a topic, or what the paper is about
5 min
3. Thesis
 A statement that reflects what you have concluded
about the topic under consideration for your paper.
 Always arguable or debatable.
 The central point to which all information in your paper
relates.
 A “three-pronged” thesis contains:
 A claim (the conclusion that you are arguing)
 Three warrants (reasons why your claim is valid)
3. Construct a (tentative) thesis
and decide upon a structure
 Analyze for type of writing:
 Expository: explain, inform, describe
 Persuasive: take a side, make an argument
 +/-/= t-chart (good, bad, both)
1998
1999
With respect to the Federal
Constitution, the Jeffersonian
Republicans are usually characterized
as strict constructionalists who were
opposed to the broad
constructionalism of the Federalists. To
what extent was this characterization
of the two parties accurate during the
presidencies of Jefferson and
Madison?
To what extent had the colonists
developed a sense of identity and
unity as Americans by the eve of
the Revolution?
5 min
3. Write a thesis
 Claim + 3 warrants
 Write a thesis
 If it’s an argumentative prompt, write a counter-
thesis
3. Tips, thesis
 Embrace complexity, ambivalence:
 Nuances, wrinkles, shades of grey
 On the one hand/on the other; it could be/it could
also be; Although; To an extent/to a degree
 Form a conclusion:
 More positive than negative
 To a greater/lesser extent
 Recognize that your thesis is a “roadmap”
 Frame that the house is build around
 Establishes the buckets/baby thesis
 Chronological vs. topical
Homework
 Document analysis: use APPARTS + L document
analysis strategy to critically analyze the eight
documents in the DBQ packet.
Homework
 Prepare an outline for your DBQ essay
4. Let’s talk documents:
 Most DBQs have 8-10 documents. You should use
them all.
 The documents can be a variety of types of
sources -- letters, laws, pictures, graphs, maps,
political cartoons, etc.
 All documents are relevant to the question
 Some will be trickier than others
4. Keys to breaking down
documents
 Answer: how does this document support my
thesis and directly answer my question?
 Use APARTS + L
 Author
 Place, Time and Context
 Audience
 Reason
 The Main Idea
 Significance
 Limitations
Debrief
 Read through the class APARTS+L document
analysis.
 Revisions?
 Lingering questions?
Homework
 Finish outline. You will write your DBQ essay in
class tomorrow.
4. Grouping/using documents
 Revisit your thesis (argument), buckets (subtopics), and
structure (topical, chronological): do they hold up?
Thesis:
Buckets:
Subtopic 1:
Subtopic 2:
Subtopic 3:
Structure: topical (explaining causes that influenced the development of
two different societies) not chronological (change over time)
4. Grouping/using documents
Thesis: The English colonies of New England and
Chesapeake colonies developed into distinct societies
by 1700 due to i) different incentives and motivations for
settlement, ii) different social compositions, and iii)
different systems of governance.
Buckets:
i) different
incentives and
motivations
for settlement
ii) different
compositions
iii) different
systems of
governance
Decide where to “drop” each document. Remember that documents should
be in conversation with each other, and should highlight differences.
4. Grouping/using documents
 Based on your background knowledge and the
documents, what arguments can you make about
each subtopic that explain the causes that contributed
to the development of two different societies?
 Write three “baby thesis.”
 Each “baby thesis” should be the three warrants that
support the central claim of your “mama thesis.”
Outline
 Intro
 Grabber
 Background/context
 Thesis (claim + warrants a, b & c)
 3 body paragraphs:
 Argument: baby thesis (taken from warrants a, b & c)
 Specific and conflicting documentary evidence
 Analysis/reasoning: how and why does each piece of
evidence support your argument?
 Conclusion
 Restate thesis
 Wrinkle in argument (what’s left out?)
5. Tips for using documents in
your essay
 Keep it simple -- you do not need to over-analyze each
document. Find one piece of useful information and use
it.
 Set up your document -- introduce the speaker or the
context. Don’t just dump in quotes
 DON’T describe the document -- the reader will have
the documents on hand.
 Don’t quote documents– get right to the meaning. It is a
timed essay, so wasting energy copying a quote is not a
good use of time!
 Don’t refer to docs as “Doc D”; identify documents
specifically