Keys to the
Document Based Question
Essay
What is a
Document Based Question?
Models the work of a historian:
 Responding to a historical problem based on
interpreting primary documents
…essentially a research paper
– Technically demanding
• But requires little/no historical knowledge
– DBQs often ask to connect a seemingly unrelated
idea to the topic of the documents
– DBQs often are based on topics that may be
unfamiliar
– Analyze the Mongol attitudes toward the spread
of Buddhism between 200 CE and 1450.
– Analyze the impact of the Olympic games on the
global economy during the 20th century.
Do the Process
1. Process the Question
– Note the verb & time period – circle, underline!
•
Centuries to dates, etc
– AP = Answer the Prompt!
2. Build a Framework / Graphic Organizer
– Anticipate what your answer will look like
before you read the docs
3. Work the Documents (apparts)
– Author –
• Who created the source? What is their pov?
– Place & Time –
• Where & when was the source produced?
– Prior Knowledge –
• What do you already know?
– Audience –
• For whom was the source created? Does this affect its reliability?
– Reason –
• Why was this source produced?
– The Main Idea –
• What is the source trying to convey?
– Significance –
• Why is this source important? How does it fit your framework or connect to
the question?
Source: Seneca, upper-class Roman
philosopher and adviser to Emperor Nero, first
century CE.
I do not believe that tools for the crafts were
invented by wise men. The question of whether
the hammer or the tongs came first does not
seem important to me. Both were invented by
someone with a mind that was nimble and sharp,
but not great or elevated.
Do the Process
1. Process the Question
– Note the verb & time period
2. Build a Framework / Graphic Organizer
– Anticipate what your answer will look like
before you read the docs
3. Work the Documents (apparts)
4. Answer the Question
An Implied Step: Grouping
 Put documents into at least 2 groups or categories
based on what will help answer the prompt
– national origin, topic, social class of author, pro/con
 This is largely solved with a strong planning and
topic sentences
– Each body paragraph is likely a group (Topic sentence
should explain what the documents have in common)
– Do not have to specifically state “The ____ group can be
seen in documents #,#,#.”
• Types of groupings can be mixed if it helps answer the question
– Every group must have at least 2 docs, but docs can be
used in more than group
Answer the Question?
Write an Essay
THE BASICS
…remember - a research paper
 Thesis statement
 Use all the sources
 Explain how sources support thesis
Thesis
 Restate location & time period boundaries
 Write a strong statement of 1-3 sentences in your
intro that lays out your central argument & 2-3
controlling ideas
– Should directly answer the question asked
Using Document Evidence
 Must use every document at least once
 Must demonstrate understanding
– Paraphrase rather than quote
– Use individually
 Cite your sources
– “According to _______ …”
• author’s name or title
– Parenthetical citation: (doc #).
• Do not start sentence with “In document 1…”
Analyzing Documents
 Good historical writing requires analysis
– Explain how a document supports your thesis
– Connect information in doc to thesis
– How does the source help prove your answer?
 Should have analysis EVERY time a doc is used
DBQ – advanced skills
Evidence / Analysis Relationship
 Challenge issued:
– Try writing your analysis first
– And then follow up by using the document as
supporting evidence to your analytical claim
 Result: Your answer to the question will be
stronger
– If you deleted all sentences referring to the
documents, your essay should still be able to
stand.
Analyzing an
Author’s Point of View
A look a the impacts of an author’s
selfish motivations
Point of View
 Requirement = analyze 2 documents per DBQ
 Suggestion = Mostert rule of 3
 PoV is an attempt to explain how the content of the
document is likely impacted by the circumstances
behind their creation.
– Consider: Social class, time period, religion, occupation,
gender, type of document
“__________(author) exaggerates ___________(content)
because __________(circumstance).”
Additional Document
Additional Document
 Requirement = justify the inclusion of 1 doc
 Suggestion = Mostert rule of 3
 Add Doc is a recognition of “missing voices” in the
DBQ, suggesting a needed document, and
explaining how the document would help answer
the question.
– Be specific: type of doc & how it benefits answer
“It would be nice to have evidence from …”
(why would it ‘be nice?’)
“because none of the sources are from a __”
is NOT enough.
 “In order to [describe what interpretation /
conclusion you’d like to be able to draw]
historians would need [describe what kind
of evidence / information desired].”
 And then…
1. HOW would this Evidence would help answer the
question more completely?
2. HOW would an historian use this Evidence?
3. What CONCLUSION could historians make using
this Evidence that isn’t possible to make now?
 Don’t describe the person that the evidence
should come from.
– Instead, describe the evidence itself, and
what historians might do with such
evidence.
 Avoid asking for a document to simply
“check the accuracy” of another document.
– The suggested additional document should be
directed toward rounding out an answer to the
question or more fully analyzing a grouping.
 Avoid simply requesting another document
from a source or a kind of source already
included in the document set.
 Avoid asking for a source that is not
relatively possible – for example: written
document from Inca, photograph prior to
late 1800s, etc
 Avoid asking for a secondary source
(history book, etc)
Formulaic Responses to PoV
& Additional Document
-In the end, formulas to not always
fit, but the following are basic
responses that might help you get
started.
Point of View
– “________(author) exaggerates
________(content)
because
__________(circumstance).”
– “________(author) attempts to persuade
________(content) due to
__________(circumstance).”
– “________(author) attempts to justify
________(content)
due to
__________(circumstance).”
Additional Document
 “A document by a ___________(type of person)
from ___________(place) at
___________(time) would help determine
___________(grouping) .”
Implied: Grouping
 Place the documents into at least 2 groups or
categories
– PERSIA
– national origin, topic, social class of author, pro/con
 Must have topic sentences to satisfy requirement!
– Each body paragraph is likely a group
– Do not have to specifically state “The ____ group can be
seen in documents #,#,#.” Use topic sentence to explain
common purpose of paragraph & then follow through by
using docs
– Every group must have at least 2 docs, but docs can be
used in more than group