CONQUERING THE DBQ
AP European History
Recipe for a Good Essay: 9 Points
I’ll just DIE
if I don’t
get that
recipe…!
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NO SCORES
BELOW A 6…and
NO WIRE
HANGERS!
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The DBQ is scored out of 9 points.
The DBQ is scored using CORE
SCORING, which means that 6
specific tasks MUST be earned in
order to earn the last 3.
You all have the generic corescoring guide for the DBQ –
PLEASE USE IT to craft your
essays.
Before you turn your essay in,
check to see that all 6 core points
have been addressed.
The Question:
Identifying the Task
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UNDERLINE all required tasks involved in fully
responding to the question.
Failure to address all parts of the question will
result in an inadequate thesis and an
unsatisfactory response.
Your thesis AND body paragraphs should address
ALL PARTS of this question.
Sample
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Analyze the causes of and the responses to the
peasants’ revolts in the German states, 1524-1526.
A strong response will address ALL underlined tasks.
Core Point 1: The Thesis
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Developing a THESIS:
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After underlining all TASKS required by the question,
generate a thesis that addresses ALL PARTS of the question
Your THESIS should provide analysis AS WELL AS set up your
groups.
Failure to construct an adequate thesis will result in a
maximum grade of 5 out of 9. Woh woh.
Sample Thesis (taken from AP Reading):
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Both religious and economic causes were responsible for the
German Peasants’ Revolt. Other German citizens had
positive, and varying degrees of negative responses to these
widespread rebellions.
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What makes this an effective thesis?
Does it fully respond to the question?
How can we improve it?
Core Points 2, 3, and 4: Documents Majority, Meaning, and Supporting the Thesis
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How many documents should I use?
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ALL if possible, but AT LEAST A MAJORITY!
If you are really stumped by the meaning of a document, omit
that one.
Whatever you do, don’t make other core points dependent on
a document you are uncertain of (2nd document in a group of
2, 3rd and final example of POV)
You must refer EXPLICITLY and INDIVIDUALLY to a document
for it to be counted. Referencing a listed group will not count!
Failure to use a majority will result in the loss of points 2, 3,
AND 4!
There are 12 documents for this example, so use AT
LEAST…
Core Point 5: Point of View
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This is the most difficult thing for Euro students to understand, but it’s really
not that difficult!
All documents – even historical ones – are written by or created by someone
who has his/her own perspective, bias, or agenda. POV is all about
identifying that agenda and the purpose the document serves.
Think to yourself: WHY would THIS PERSON believe this? WHAT is this
document’s PURPOSE? HOW does this person’s
title/position/nationality/sex/socioeconomic status influence them to have
this opinion?
Although it may seem formulaic, think about structuring POV in one of the
following ways:
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As a/n _____________________, ______________’s POV is biased because he/she/they
sought to ___________________________.
Because this document is a/n _________________________, it’s specific purpose is to
_____________________________, making it more/less reliable.
This document is a/n __________________________, intended to be read/heard/seen
by ______________________________, causing it to be more/less reliable…
For this question, examples of POV are abundant!
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As a protestant preacher and theologian, Muntzer sought to incite an uprising and
religious reform in the midst of chaos
Because Luther had been protected by the German princes, he spoke against the
peasants who had rebelled against these princes in order to continue to have the
princes’ protection.
Core Point 6: Establishing Groups
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Body Paragraphs – Creating Groups and Themes
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Simple way to organize body paragraphs is by the groups you have established
(e.g. opinions of French, Germans, and English OR views of clergy, government
officials, women)
Your groups should also be decided based on some analysis (e.g. Clergy generally
expressed a sympathetic attitude toward the poor…” and “Government officials
tended to view poor beggars as a nuisance”
A GROUP MUST HAVE AT LEAST TWO DOCUMENTS, but ALWAYS INCLUDE THREE
to be safe, unless it is your fourth or fifth group.
Documents can be used in multiple groups.
If you want an 8-9, count on having AT LEAST 4 groups.
Look to the required tasks of the question to help guide how you form
groups.
Your thesis should SET UP your groups. e.g. if we take the previous thesis,
“Both religious and economic causes were responsible for the German
Peasants’ Revolt. Other German citizens had positive, and varying
degrees of negative responses to these widespread rebellions,” this
group has wisely created 4 groups:
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Religious Causes (docs. 1, 3, 6)
Economic Causes (docs. 2, 8, 5)
Positive Responses (docs. 5, 6, 10)
Negative Responses (docs. 8, 11, 4, 9, 7, 12, AND 10)
The Expanded Core: Beyond a 6
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Points 7-9 are assigned in a more
subjective manner
The more “extras” you have, the closer you
will move into 9-ville!
Extras include the following:
High-level comprehensive thesis
 Using all documents
 Outside information
 Multiple groups/examples of POV
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Some Extra Pointers…
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How should I refer to documents?
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DO NOT waste time with long quotes from the documents
You may quote SHORT phrases, but referring to the ideas in the
document is more than sufficient
It is helpful to make reference to the document explicitly in one of
the following ways
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Parentheses at end of sentence in which you refer to it e.g. (Doc. 1)
By explicitly stating, “In Document 1, Martin Luther condemns the
peasants…”
Writing “Doc. 1” in the margin next to the sentence that refers to it
Underline it if you want – the more obvious you make it, the easier it
is for the reader to find it!
Conclusion?
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Tie together all your groups
Restate your thesis
Don’t go crazy with this!