Even YOU can do a DBQ!
MS. TULLY
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
Introductory Paragraph (4-6 sent.)
 Establish a TIME and PLACE
 Create a clear THESIS STATEMENT
 Allude to the SUB-TOPICS or categories you will use
to discuss your thesis statement
 Focus on the question at hand, do not begin with a
“flowery” sentence
Body Paragraphs (8-12 sent.)
 Identify your sub-topic or category in your FIRST
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sentence
Include the documents that are relevant to support
the ideas in your paragraph
Use the MAJORITY of the documents provided
(70%)
Be sure to indicate POV/Bias
Bring in supportive outside information – This is
critical!
Why were these documents selected?
Questions to Ask Yourself About the Documents
 Attribution – who is this person?
 Why might they be significant?
 What is the POV of the author?
 How reliable and how accurate is the source?
 What is the tone or intent of the document’s author?
 What other useful information does this document
call to mind? Use all available clues!
Demonstrating POV/Bias
 Attribution: cite the author by name, title, or
position if possible
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Why is this person and document selected?
How does it help me answer the question?
 Examples:
 “Bartolome de las Casas, a militant frier, wrote…”
Demonstrating POV/Bias
 Authorial Point-of-View: You show awareness that
the gender, occupation, class, religion, nationality,
political position or ethnic identity of the author
could influence his/her views.
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How does this apply to the question?
Why has the author written what he/she has?
 Example:
 Jacque Ciompi, as a French peasant, enjoyed seeing Marie
Antoinette guillotined, since as a peasant and member of the
third estate he was in favor of the French Revolution.
Demonstrating POV/Bias
 Reliability and accuracy of each source referenced:
You examine a source for its reliability and accuracy
by questioning if the author of the document would
be in a position to be accurate.
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How might this help you answer the question?
 Example:
 John Martin’s letter home about the Christmas celebrations in
Germany is probably inaccurate since John Martin is an
Englishman and would not understand all the local traditions
and customs of Germans.
Demonstrating POV/Bias
 Tone or Intent of the Author: You analyze the text of
a document to determine its tone (satire, irony,
indirect commentary, etc…) or the intent of the
author. Especially useful for visual documents, like
art work or political cartoons.
 Example:
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Pieter Brueghel painted “The Harvesters” to show his
audience the struggle and toils that the peasants went
through on a daily basis.
Demonstrating POV/Bias
 Grouping of Docs. By Author: You show a certain
awareness that certain types of authors, simply by
their authorship, will express similar views when you
group documents by type of author.
 Example:
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The government officials of Britain, France, and Spain all
believed that the peasants were being violent, unruly, and
committing sin by revolting.
How to Reference a Document in Your Essay
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Baldassare Castiglione, in The Handbook of the
Courtier, said: “………………….”
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Erasmus of Rotterdam, a northern Christian
humanist, agreed with…
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The 19th century historian, Jacob Burkhardt, felt
that …………………. (Doc. 9)
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NEVER begin with “In Document 9….”
The Concluding Paragraph (3-4 sent.)
 Start with a “concluding” phrase.
 Restate your thesis statement, a bit differently.
 Put your essay answer in a larger historical
perspective:
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End of some trend/movements/ideas, etc…
Beginning of some trend/movements/ideas, etc…
End of one, beginning of another.
Do NOT end on the note that this is the reason we are where
we are today!
The Steps to a DBQ
1.
Identify how each document relates to the
question. What is its PERSIA theme?
Doc. 1: Parliament of England, Act of Supremacy, 1559
Theme: Political
The Steps to a DBQ
2. Group the documents into as many groupings as
you can. A document may be used twice, but it
counted only once. A group must include more
than one document.
Misogyny: 1, 2, 5
Propaganda: 8, 9, 11, 12
Religious Figures: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9
The Steps to a DBQ
3. Using the groupings you created, identify three or
four groupings you will use in your DBQ. Be sure
that the groups you choose go together – using
them together in an essay must make sense:
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Group 4:
The Steps to a DBQ
4. Introduction – Identify and define the main subject
of your essay. When writing your thesis statement,
remember that each of the groups you created will
be one of your body paragraphs.
A.
Intro sentence:
B.
Thesis statement:
The Steps to a DBQ
5. Body Paragraphs – what is the theme of this group?
A. Topic Sentence:
B. Identify relevant, important, and specific
items of historical evidence. How does it support
your thesis?
Evidence #1:
Connection to topic/thesis:
Evidence #2:
Connection:
The Steps of a DBQ
6. POV in Paragraph
POV #1 w/ Doc.#
As a/an
,
because he/she/they sought to
‘s POV is biased
Thus this document is not/reliable because the
author likely exaggerated
.
Concluding Sentence.
The Steps of a DBQ
7. Conclusion and Review:
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Restate thesis
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At least one additional sentence summarizing essay
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Re-read essay!
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Does your thesis still reflect your essay?
Do your topic sentences reflect the paragraphs?
Grammar, spelling, and legibility
3-5 mins, max (you still have FRQ’s…)