The WHAP DBQ!
What you need to know to do well on the World History AP
Document Based Question.
“Lego your fears, boy
wonder we got this!”
WHAP the DBQ!
“DB… what?”
45-minute timed writing
Assesses your scholarly writing skills
Assesses your ability to think critically
Must analyze 8-12 primary source documents
Put on your "historian" hat to
demonstrate your ability to
analyze source materials and
develop an essay based on
those materials.
Your goal: a unified essay that
integrates your analysis given
documents with your
treatment of the topic.
Document-Based Essay Question
You don’t need to “know” anything
about history to "WHAP" the DBQ.
The more you know, the better, but
you can score a 9 without
knowledge of history.
All the information that you
need to do well & score is
contained or can be inferred
from the documents you are
given.
Writing the DBQ is a skill. Skills
can be learned.
What should you be on the lookout for with the DBQ?
Comparative topics on the major themes,
including comparative questions about different
societies in situations of mutual contact.
10 minute reading period (mandatory).
★ You cannot write in your green essay answer booklet
★ Use the time to think about the documents & plan essay
★ Jot down notes, M-A-P, POV, & Bucket List in margins of the
documents
40 minutes to write the essay.
A set of 8-12 primary source documents
Text - almost all docs will be text.
Could possibly get 1 or maybe 2:
★ Map
★ Graph
★ Chart
★ Painting
★ Sculpture
★ Photo
★ Artifact
Historical Information: A short paragraph
or two of background information
Can you crack the case?
The source materials are chosen for 2 reasons:
1. Information they convey about the topic &
2. Perspective they offer on other documents used in the
section
There are no “misleading documents.” All of them have a
purpose & can be used in your answer.
There are no singular perfect
DBQ answers; a variety of
approaches & responses are possible
depending on your ability to
understand the documents &,
ultimately, judge their significance.
Remember: You'll most fully
understand some of the documents
when you view them within the
wider context of the entire series.
DBQ Prompt:
Read the prompt.
Underline the words that relate to
the prompt expectation (task).
★
★
★
★
Analyze
Discuss
List
Contrast
Don’t let the prompt/question
“riddle” you!
What is Joan of Arc made of?
Maid of
Orleans!
DBQ Prompt:
Look at the VERB
Understand the task the prompt is asking you
to perform
What people are
always in a hurry?
Russians!
Analyze: examine each part of the
whole in a systematic way, then
evaluate
Define: briefly tell what something
means
Discuss: give details about;
illustrate with examples
Explain: Make something clear by
giving reasons or examples; tell
how and why
Don’t let the DBQ
FREAK you out, man!
I can’t… stop…
Looking at the VERB!
★ Categorize/classify: sort into groups based on a given
set of traits or features
★ Compare & contrast: point out similarities (compare)
& differences (contrast)
★ Determine cause & effect: decide what leads to an
event or circumstance (cause) & what results from an
event or circumstance (effect)
★ Evaluate/judge: Determine the worth or wisdom of an
opinion, belief or idea
★ Argue/defend/justify/support: give evidence to show
why an idea is right or good
What is the question asking?
Example:
Compare and contrast the various religious and philosophical perspectives that
developed in the classical period.
Include in your discussion examples from at least two of the following:
Mesopotamia, Greece, China
Write down on your notes what you
would have underlined from this prompt.
What did you underline?
You should have noticed:
Compare and contrast (not describe, explain, etc.)
Religious and philosophical (not political, economic)
Classical period (not postclassical, not ancient, not modern)
Timing is important!
You will not receive credit for information that does fit within the specified time.
What about the historical background?
It sets the scene
Is intended to stimulate your memory
You DO NOT receive points for citing the
background information
When writing the document-based essay, it's important to:
READ THE DOCUMENTS!
Look at the source
Who wrote it?
What is their perspective?
The POINT OF VIEW of the document is essential
to understanding
An upper-class Greek man will have a very
different perspective on “democracy” than a
slave or a women!
A Buddhist will have a different perspective
on the meaning of life than a Jew
An enslaved African will have a different
perspective than a white plantation owner
Source Characteristics: SOAPSTone
What notes should one take as one reads the Sources? Much of that depends on the question being asked, but
there are several common characteristics in each source that one should look for because any of these
characteristics can influence how a source should be interpreted/analyzed.
The acronym “SOAPSTone” is often useful as a guide for these characteristics.
Subject
What is the main topic of this source?
Occasion
When was this source produced? Was it created for a particular
event or occasion, or even during an era when other, similar sources were produced?
Audience
Who was this source’s intended audience? Was the source written to
be read privately by a specific person, public announcement, or official proclamation?
Purpose
Why was this source produced? What was the purpose or
motivation of the writer/author of the source? What effect did the author hope this
source would have? What did the author want the reader(s) of this source to do?
Speaker
Who was the Speaker of this source? Was it an official
person representing a government, or an informal, anonymous individual? Usually a
source’s author and speaker are the same individual, but occasionally they may actually
be different. (e.g. a speech may be written by a speech writer, but spoken by a
government official)
Tone
Is there any apparent tone or “voice” in this source that would
influence one’s interpretation? Is it filled with any apparent emotion? (e.g. sarcasm,
exuberance, anger, disdain, admiration, etc.) Underline any unusual vocabulary in the
source that serves as a clue to this interpretation.
DBQ Tips:
Group or juxtapose documents
in a variety of ways
according to their ideas
context: the circumstances
that form the setting for an event,
statement, or idea, & in terms of
which it can be fully understood
and assessed.
points of view - P.O.V.
Suggest reasons for similarities
or differences in perspective
among the documents;
And identify possible biases or
inconsistencies within
documents.
Don’t have regrets after the AP test is over about the DBQ!
Categories
Try to come up with 3 categories into
which the documents fit
Remember, just like with vocabulary, some of
the documents will fit into MORE than 1
category
Ask yourself: which is the best fit?
Make a chart!
1
G
P
E
R
S
I
A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Into what categories do the
documents BEST fit?
1
G
P
E
2
X
3
6
7
8
X
X
X
X
X
X
S
A
5
X
R
I
4
X
X
X
X
X
Write that thesis!
AP graders can assign a probable score to your essay by glancing
at the introduction.
★Is there a thesis?
★Does it respond to the prompt (and just not restate it)
★Does it include all of the necessary components?
★No thesis, you will NOT score high;
you might not even score at all!
Don’t FREEZE up
& get SCARED.
You can do it!
Write that thesis!
Example:
Compare and contrast the various religious and
philosophical perspectives that developed in the
classical period.
Include in your discussion examples from at least two
of the following:
Mesopotamia, Greece, China
Let’s do some exploring.
Write a thesis based on a
guess of what you think would
be a good thesis.
Evaluate the thesis:
Many different religious and philosophical ideas
developed during the classical period.
Ouch. You are about to get crushed.
Ice cream is cold. The sun is hot. Freshman are losers.
That much is evident from the prompt. Furthermore, it just restates the
prompt but does not respond to it!
Evaluate the thesis:
Different religious and philosophical perspectives
arose in classical China and Greece. They were
different and similar in many ways.
Pizza-Taco anyone? If you can take two words (China/Greece) & replace them with
Pizza/Taco & make the same amount of sense, you are in trouble.
You are wasting words!
Also, it is NOT the best idea to construct a 2-sentence thesis.
Evaluate the thesis:
Whereas the classical Greeks developed a secular, rational, or
scientific way to seeing worldly phenomenon, the ancient Jews of
Mesopotamia explained their world in terms of an all powerful God
who supernaturally intervened in human history.
There it is! It responds to the prompt, but does not restate it!
Structure
Your thesis will anticipate the
essay structure.
Topic 1: Greek rationalism
★Proof 1 (document citation)
★Proof 2 (document citation)
★Proof 3 (document citation)
Topic 2: Supernatural Judaism
★Proof 1 (document citation)
★Proof 2 (document citation)
★Proof 3 (document citation)
How do I cite documents?
Cite them internally with a parentheses and the letter of the document.
Examples:
….therefore, the Hebrews clearly saw history as the product of an all knowing and caring Deity rather than
an impersonal forces of nature (doc. C)
Plato’s argument therefore (doc. A), reflects his aversion toward democracy in favor of an authoritarian
system in which philosopher-kings ruled.
ANALYZE THE DOCUMENTS, MAKE INFERENCES, &
DRAW CONCLUSIONS. DO NOT SUMMARIZE THEM!
NO
“QUOTING”
I said, “No
Quoting.”
Thinking of adding outside
information?
Risky play!
It can help you, but only if you
have already nailed each
document, analyzed point of
view three times, and made
no other mistakes.
My advice: concentrate on doc
analysis
DBQ? What DB.. She is so…
pretty. I am the man.
This guy is handsome, but
if he plans on citing Mulan
on his WHAP DBQ, I’m
dropping him like a led
balloon.
BASIC CORE (competence)
0-7 Points
1. Has acceptable thesis
1 Point
2. Addresses all documents. Understands the basic meaning of
documents. (May misinterpret one document.)
1 Point
3. Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all documents.
2 Points
(Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but one document)
(1 Point)
4. Analyzes point of view in at least two documents
1 Point
5. Analyzes documents by grouping them in two or three ways,
depending on the question
1 Point
6. Identifies and explains the need for one type of appropriate additional
document or source
1 Point
Subtotal
EXPANDED CORE (excellence)
(Historical skills and knowledge required to show excellence)
/7 Points
0-2 Points
Subtotal
/2 Points
TOTAL
/9 Points
BASIC CORE (competence)
0-7 Points
1. Has acceptable thesis
1 Point
2. Addresses all documents.
Understands the basic meaning of
documents. (May misinterpret one
document.)
1 Point
3. Supports thesis with appropriate
evidence from all documents.
2 Points
(Supports thesis with appropriate
evidence from all but one document)
(1 Point)
4. Analyzes point of view in at least
two documents
1 Point
5. Analyzes documents by grouping
them in two or three ways,
depending on the question
1 Point
6. Identifies and explains the need
for one type of appropriate
additional document or source
1 Point
Subtotal
EXPANDED CORE (excellence)
(Historical skills and knowledge
required to show excellence)
/7 Points
0-2 Points
Subtotal
/2 Points
TOTAL
/9 Points
Essay Tips From Jedi Masters
★ Do NOT use words with which
you are not familiar. Misuse of
words makes you appear
desperate!
★ Do NOT preach, moralize,
editorialize or use “cute”
comments. This is a risky play.
★ Do NOT try to write about what you
believe; write about what you can
prove!
★ Write neatly and legibly.
★ NO personal pronouns: “I” don’t
care what “you” think!
★ Use correct grammar, spelling &
punctuation. Do Not ABV.
Not use this sage advice you will?
Use the sage advice…
it is almost as awesome as this picture.
You can do it!