Essay PREP
DBQ Topics
2013: ???
2012: Arguments about improving European workers’ lives (19th-cen)
2011: Influences & ideas of gender & Elizabeth I’s response
2010: Factors contributing toward instability of Weimar Republic (1918-33)
2009: Attitudes/motivations toward European colonization of Africa
2008: Peasant revolt in German-states (1524-1526)
2007: Assumptions of child-rearing practices in early modern Europe
2006: European perceptions of organized sports from 1860-1940
2005: Views regarding Western European unity from 1946-1989
2004: Attitudes/responses to “the poor” in Europe from 1450-1700
2003: Describe/analyze views toward “civil peace” in Germany (1914-18)
I. The Rubric
 Strong Essays: 8-9
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THESIS: Clear, well-developed, answers the prompt
UNDERSTANDING: understanding of complexity of topic
EVIDENCE: Supports thesis with frequent, specific, and
relevant evidence/examples/proof
ANALYSIS: Effectively analyzes, interprets, makes inferences
ERRORS: May contain insignificant and infrequent errors
ORGANIZATION: Essay is well-organized (contains
introduction, topic sentences, unity of paragraphs, conclusion)
II. Read the Question
“Discuss how Renaissance ideas
are expressed in the Italian art of
the period, referring to specific
works and artists.”
Time period: Renaissance
 Location: Italy
 The writer must identify “Renaissance ideas”
and must show how these ideas influenced
“Italian art” using specific art pieces and artists
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III. Break down question
 Analyze: Break a subject down into parts (assess the
connections between facts, answer how and why)
 Pay attention to DIRECTIVES
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“Analyze the major social and technological changes that
took place in European warfare between 1789 and 1871.”
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“Assess the extent to which the Protestant Reformation
promoted new expectations about social roles in the
sixteenth century. Refer to at least two social groups in your
response.”
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“Compare and contrast the attitudes of Martin Luther and
John Calvin toward political authority and social order.”
 “Compare and contrast political liberalism
with political conservatism in the first half
of the nineteenth century in Europe”
 What is the directive?
Compare and contrast
 What is the location?
 All of Europe
 When?
 The first half of the nineteenth century
 What must you do?
 Find similarities and differences between political liberalism and
political conservatism
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IV. The Thesis
Discuss how Renaissance ideas are expressed in the Italian
art of the period, referring to specific works and artists.
 The thesis statement:
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fully answers the question and establishes your “subtopics”
“subtopics” become body paragraphs
WITHOUT A STRONG THESIS IMPOSSIBLE TO EARN 7-9 pts!
 THESIS EX:
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Renaissance humanism led to the creation of works of art that
reflected the classical ideas of Greece and Rome. The Renaissance
emphasis on the individual led to the rise of art that more
accurately portrayed individuals. Furthermore, the Renaissance
emphasized secular ideas by artists such as daVinci, Michelangelo,
and Raphael that more realistically portrayed the world.
V. The Body Paragraphs
 The body paragraphs prove your thesis from the
subtopics
 Each body paragraph consists of:
a
topic sentence
 sentences with evidence and analysis
 concluding sentence
Thesis Practice
 Using examples from at least two different states, analyze
the key features of the “new monarchies” and the factors
responsible for their rise in the period 1450 to 1550.
 Evaluate the changes and continuities in women’s public
roles during the Renaissance.
 Analyze how Galileo, Descartes, and Newton altered
traditional interpretations of nature and challenged
traditional sources of knowledge.
GO TO FRQ Topics
 Italian Renaissance
 Protestant Reformation
 Woman's or Family History
 Intellectual/Cultural Movements (Enlightenment,
Scientific)
 Commercial or Industrial Revs
 Russia
 Diplomacy 1789-1871
FRQ #1
 2011:
2. Centralization of Spain & decentralization if
Italy (1450-1550)
3. Enlightenment & Romantic views of nature
(specific individuals)
4. Political/Economic causes of French/English
Revs.
 2012:
2. Tech. & state power (1450-1600)
3. Religious reform & arts (16th-17th cen.)
4. French nationalism (1789-1815)
2013???: Renaissance (intellectual ideas)
Protestant Reformation
Women’s history?
FRQ #2
 2011:
5. Industrialization/imperialism & consumerism
(1850-1914)
6. Stalin transformed Lenin’s policies
7. W. European integration (1945-present)
 2012:
5. 1800’s middle class family structure/gender roles
6. Ideology & Nazi German foreign policy (1933-45)
7. Decolonization (1914-1975)
 2013???: RUSSIA: WW I?, WWII?, Cold War?
Imperialism
Itialan/German Unification?