Heimler Notes - DBQ’s
❖ There are four steps to the process
❖ Step One
➢ Read the question
■ Lots of people stumble
■ Mark the question
➢ Look for 3 things
■ Look at the timeline
● Mark the timeline
● “I’m dumber than I think I am”
■ Categories (Look at PIECES Assignment)
● Most common are social, political and economic
■ Historical Thinking Skill
● Ability to think historically
● Mark the skill because that is the essay you need to write
❖ Step Two
➢ Read and Analyze the document
■ Going to give you 7 documents
■ Primary, Secondary, Maps, Charts
■ Come to terms
■ There is a reason they gave you what they did
● They will address what is asked
■ Social, Political and economic (Sometimes it is said; Sometimes have to
supply it)
● Safest number of categories is three sometimes two
➢ After everything, source the documents
■ At least three-five (One wrong = no point)
➢ H
■ Historical Context
● Explore the wider context in which this document was produced to
show why that context matter to the interpretation of the document
◆ Example: Martin Luther King
➢ The Historical Context is the Civil right movement
➢ A
■ Intended Audience
● Explain how the document might be better interpreted because of
who the document was written to
◆ Example: A letter to a friend
➢ The person will be more likely to share personal
feelings
➢ P
■ Purpose
● Explain how the interpretation of the document is affected by what
it was intended to do in it’s audience
● Inform, Persuade, Strike fear, etc
➢ P
■ Point-of-View
● A way to answer the following question: Why does he or she say?
What does he or she say? In the way he or she says it
◆ Example: A document from a chinese court official
➢ They will speak a certain way to keep their job
➢ (Do not merely describe the documents)You must be able to argue with them
■ Example: A lawyer
● You need to describe everything in exact detail, and well written
and executed
❖ Step three
➢ Write your thesis
■ Your thesis is your whole paper
■ Couple tips
◆ 1. Answer the question
◆ 2. Make sure to use the Historical Thinking Skill in the
question (Comparison, Cause, Change over time, etc)
◆ 3. Make sure thesis is an argument
➢ John Irish’s Formula for thesis
■ Although X; A,B, and, C
● X is the counter argument
● ABC is your argument
◆ 4. Be specific
➢ Pack as much you can
➢ Everything little thing (Can not be Vague)
❖ Step four
➢ DBQ’s are graded on a seven point scale
■ Thesis 0-1 points
■ Contextualization 0-1 points
◆ 50 to 100 years within that time period
◆ 3-4 sentences to setup your argument
■ Evidence 0-3 points
◆ Use all documents and outside sources to get all 3 points
■ Analysis 0-2 points
◆ Part 1
➢ Correctly sourcing 3 or more sources
◆ Part 2
➢ Introducing complexity
➢ Do the opposite of the historical thinking skill in the
question
❖ Easy seven