Give ‘Em What They Want
&
Show ‘Em Where You Got It
• 130-minute free-response section
1.Part A: DBQ (60 Mins)
1. 15-minute reading period
a. analyzing the documents and planning
their answer to the document-based essay
question (DBQ) in Part A.
2. 45 minutes writing DBQ
2.Part B & C: Free Response
1. each include two standard essay questions
2. required to answer one essay question in
each part in a total of 70minutes.
• Age of Exploration to Present
• Letters, paintings, graphics, maps, primary
resources
• Use Documents as additional form of
evidence
• Demonstrate you can handle different
opinion/evidence
• DBQ: have two or three parts to the
question
• Spelling and punctuation errors won’t affect your
performance rating unless person CANNOT
understand what you wrote
• Thesis Statement that addresses the question
• Arguments need to lead to a viable conclusion
• DBQ: use at least 75% of documents in essay
• Outside information (extra details to support)
• ANALYZE (DO NOT DESCRIBE THE TOPIC)
• End of essay restate the thesis like if your are
approving what your write
• Write like if you are lawyer presenting a
case before a jury
• Present a set of arguments that support
your position (thesis statement)
– From Documents & outside resources
• Convince a jury that your position is
correct
• JURY= your reader
• Break down the question into different
parts
• Jot down ideas to cover
• List outside facts
• Look through the documents and see how
to use them
• 8-Step Strategy:
• 1.
Read the question three times. Do not move on until you fully
understand it.
• 2.
Identify the task by circling the main words. (For example:
assess the validity, compare and contrast, evaluate relative
importance, analyze the
significance, etc.)
• 3.
Ask yourself “what do I have to prove?” (e.g. Foreign policy
is more important than domestic policy).
• 4. Pay special attention to economic, political, social issues that
need to be included.
• 5.
Make a list (outline) of outside information (as if you were
writing a standard essay)
• 6.
Examine the documents, underlining any key words or
phrases that you may use later in the essay. Reread the question
again after reading the first three documents.
• 7.
Construct a thesis that is well-developed and clear. If the
thesis is a mystery to the writer, it will be a mystery to the reader!
• 8.
Write your essay.
• At the beginning of your essay
• Tell the reader the position you will attempt
to prove
– DO NOT DESCRIBE
– DO NOT REPEAT THE QUESTION
• Intro Paragraph + Thesis= direction of
your essay
• ANALYZE: “how” and “why”
• Scratch outs, messy, difficulty to read can hurt your
evaluation
• Do keep essay prganize
• No abbreviations or symbols, colored pens,
highlighters
• Do underline/break down your question
• DON’T add info that is irrelevant
• Do define when necessary (common sense)
• NO personal opinion (NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU
THINK)
• Do close w/ a good conclusion that restates your
thesis
• When you cite a document, do not call it by its letter
(Document A, Document B…).
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DON’T site documents in the intro
DON’T use a document you don’t understand
Use as many documents 75%
DON’T use documents in order in your essay
DON’T quote or copy caption of graphics
Don’t explain documents -- that is not your task.!
AP readers have a list and a summary for each
document. Use documents to reinforce your
main points and outside information.
• Don’t rewrite large portions of documents. Try to
limit quotations to 1 sentence or less.
• Reference author’s you are citing (e.g. …“In the
letter by Abraham Lincoln”)
• Cite every document used, e.g., (Doc. A), (Doc.
• Avoid factual mistakes.
• DON’T describe documents and how they
relate to the topic
• Documents DON’T control essay
• Ex: “The complaints of the Rhode Island
legislators (Doc. A)…” or “F.D.R.’s speech
given two months before his bid for
reelection (Doc. E)…”
• Analyze: determine their component parts; examine their
nature and relationship
• Assess/evaluate: judge the value or character of something;
appraise; evaluate the positive and negative points; give an
opinion regarding the value of; discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of
• Compare: examine for the purpose of noting similarities and
differences
• Contrast: examine in order to show dissimilarities or points of
difference
• Describe: give an account of; tell about; give a word picture of
• Discuss: talk over; write about; consider or examine by
argument or from various points of view; debate; present the
different sides of
• Explain: make clear or plain; make clear the causes or reasons
for; make known in detail; tell the meaning of