Name: _____________________________
9/11/2001 DBQ
DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
Part B
Essay
Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
Use evidence from at least ten documents (including the video) in your essay. Support your response
with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include additional outside information.
Historical Context:
9/11/2001 was a major turning point for the United States. In addition to the social ramifications of
the day, 9/11/2001 caused major changes in the government of the United States.
Task: Using the information from the documents and your knowledge of US government,
write an essay in which you


Explain what happened on September 11, 2001.
Discuss at least four changes that occurred within US governments and/or public policies
after September 11, 2001.
Guidelines:
In your essay, be sure to
• Develop all aspects of the task
• Incorporate information from at least ten documents. Cite the documents that you use.
• Incorporate relevant outside information. Underline the outside information that you use.
• Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details
• Use a logical and clear plan of organization, including an introduction and a conclusion that are
beyond a restatement of the theme
This essay will be graded as a project. It will be graded according to the US History Regents DBQ
rubric.
Do not use first person (“I”/”me”) in your essay!
Due Date: This assignment (9/11/2001 DBQ essay outline and the 9/11/2001 DBQ itself) is due at the beginning of
class on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. It will be graded according to the Regents DBQ rubric and calculated into the
projects portions of your report card grade. In accordance with class policy outlined in your class contract, projects
are not accepted late unless a student is absent on the due date and presents a note, with the project, excusing his/her
absence on day of return to school. This essay does not need to be typed. Therefore, computer related excuses for
not submitting the paper on time will not be accepted.
Name: _____________________________
9/11/2001 DBQ Essay Outline
Paragraph One – Introduction
Give some brief background information to the topic. For a DBQ essay, you may wish to draw from the
historical context for the introductory paragraph. Remember, do not use the historical context word for
word! Use the information and synthesize it for yourself. The last sentence of your introductory
paragraph must be your thesis statement/topic sentence, one sentence that summarizes what will be
discussed in the essay. The topic sentence of each body paragraph (the first sentence of each body
paragraph which outlines the main idea of that paragraph) must relate back to the thesis statement/topic
sentence of the essay.
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Topic Sentence/Thesis Statement: The events of September 11, 2001 impacted US
government and public policies by
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Paragraph Two - 1st Body Paragraph
In this paragraph, explain what happened on 9/11/2001.
a)
How do you know this information? (Is this a document or outside information? If it is from a
document, which document is it from?)
b)
How do you know this information?
c)
How do you know this information?
Paragraph Three – 2nd Body Paragraph
In this paragraph, discuss one change that occurred within US government or public
policy after September 11, 2001.
The change that will be discussed in this paragraph is ________________. Here are
some supporting facts for this idea:
a)
How do you know this information? (Is this a document or outside information? If it is from a
document, which document is it from?)
b)
How do you know this information?
c)
How do you know this information?
Paragraph Four – 3rd Body Paragraph
In this paragraph, discuss a second change that occurred within US government or
public policy after September 11, 2001.
The change that will be discussed in this paragraph is ________________. Here are
some supporting facts for this idea:
a)
How do you know this information? (Is this a document or outside information? If it is from a
document, which document is it from?)
b)
How do you know this information?
c)
How do you know this information?
Paragraph Five – 4th Body Paragraph
In this paragraph, discuss a third change that occurred within US government or public
policy after September 11, 2001.
The change that will be discussed in this paragraph is ________________. Here are
some supporting facts for this idea:
a)
How do you know this information? (Is this a document or outside information? If it is from a
document, which document is it from?)
b)
How do you know this information?
c)
How do you know this information?
Paragraph Six – 5th Body Paragraph
In this paragraph, discuss a fourth change that occurred within US government or public
policy after September 11, 2001.
The change that will be discussed in this paragraph is ________________. Here are
some supporting facts for this idea:
a)
How do you know this information? (Is this a document or outside information? If it is from a
document, which document is it from?)
b)
How do you know this information?
c)
How do you know this information?
Paragraph Seven – Conclusion
Restate the thesis statement/topic sentence from your introductory paragraph.
Summarize the main points of your essay.
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