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| AP EXAM FORMAT - DBQ EXPLAINED | |
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HISTORY REASONING SKILLS EXPLAINED Continuity and Change Examples RETURN TO AP WORLD REVIEW SHEET
You will be given a Document Based Question essay and a standard Long Essay. The DBQ makes up 25% of your grade, and the Long Essay is worth 15%.
First, let’s talk about the
Document Based Question
(DBQ) essay. The test will give you a series of 7 documents.
The topics tend to be general, and the question looks to show
continuity and change, or one of the other historical thinking
skills. Here is a guide as to how you should write
your essay. It is your job to group the 7 documents into different
categories and argue a thesis.
Your Score on the DBQ will be
largely based on you answering “yes” to the following questions:
Section II will consist of a DBQ and a
Long Essay. First, let’s talk about the
Document Based Question
(DBQ) essay, where you will be given a
question followed by a series of seven documents. The topics tend to
be general and the question looks to address the AP History
Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills (see earlier). The DBQ
will be on a topic from periods 3-6.
You can succeed on the DBQ if you answer “yes” to the
following:
1. Do I have a detailed
thesis?
2. Did I put the documents into
historical context?
3. Did I utilize at least
six of
the documents to support the
argument?
4. Is my
outside information
impressive?
5. On at least two
documents, did I explain the relevance towards the argument
regarding the audience,
purpose, historical situation, or author’s point of view?
6. Did I
demonstrate a complex
understanding of what the question is looking for? Did I use
sophisticated argumentation and/or effective use of evidence?
The new DBQ will have 7 Documents, and most likely ask you a question that can have two different sides to it. It is your job to do all of the following to get 7/7 points on your essay score.
Thesis = 1 Point (The Essay is Worth 7 Points in Total)
The exam wants you to make a defensible thesis or claim which
responds to all parts of the question. Be warned! Do not just
use the sentence they give you as your thesis. We know that
there are economic, political, and social causes for conflict. If
you get a little creative, it will help your grade.
Average
Thesis:
The economic, political, and social issues of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries created division and conflict around the world.
Better
Thesis:
Although economic, political, and social divisions were similar in
that they brought about increased tensions and global conflict,
economic motivations were more powerful in that they ultimately
caused immense political and social strife.
The second thesis shows a greater level of creative and critical
thinking. Often, starting your thesis with a word like “although”
will send you on the right path to comparing and contrasting,
or showing continuity and change. Your thesis doesn’t have to
be as elaborate as above, but this example should help you
understand critical thinking.
Evidence from the Documents = 2 Points
Mark up those documents in the 15 minute reading period! Include
only the vital bits and pieces from them. Use the clock or bring a
noiseless watch to the testing site, and keep an eye out on the
time! You should be able to write down in the margin of each
document the answers to the following:
1. What are the important and relevant details of this document?
2. Where does it fit into my essay, and how does it relate to the
history reasoning skill being targeted?
3. How can I use this information to support the argument?
Don’t just quote … analyze and utilize the documents to support that
all-important thesis! For both points, you must
support the argument by accurately describing at least six
of the documents. Accurately describing three documents will help
you only get one point.
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Evidence Beyond the Documents = 1 Point; Contextualization = 1
Point
No Bull, you need to have a lot of evidence beyond the documents, or
outside information. You will not
get credit for only providing a phrase!
As you go through each document, jot down notes in the margins.
I don’t see anything about the Treaty of Nanjing in the
documents. That’s political outside information.
I don’t see anything about resistance to apartheid. That’s
social outside information.
I don’t see anything about diamonds in South Africa. That’s
economic outside information.
Throw it in. Show
impressive detail,
or a great scope of knowledge, to get this
point. A phrase won’t cut it!
Impressive Detail:
On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated
in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. The
assassination set off a chain reaction that caused World War I.
Impressive Detail:
After European nations divided up Africa at the Berlin Conference,
there was still conflict in South Africa, as the superior British
military fought the Second Boer War c1900.
Do you see the difference? Throw in
a fact here, a year there. It must
relate to the prompt and argument.
That’s impressive detail!
Similar to your outside knowledge, you must show
contextualization. In other words, you must connect the
documents to the larger picture of events, processes, and
developments occurring before, during, or after. You can’t use
the same outside knowledge for your contextualization. So,
if the document is about the rise of fascism, connect it to the
Treaty of Versailles. If it’s on Japanese imperialism, link it to
the Meiji Era and modernization of Japan. But like above, be
in-depth, as a phrase just won’t cut it.
Analysis and Reasoning = 2 Points
For at least
two documents, you should point out the Historical
Situation,
Audience, Point of
View, and/or Purpose
and explain why it is relevant to the argument. For instance, in
Document 1, the Historical Situation would be the
antebellum period which saw abolition grow out of the Second Great
Awakening. The Audience would be the American public
or those sympathetic to abolition. The Purpose is for
bringing about the end of slavery. The Point of View
of Garrison, an abolitionist, is that slavery is an injustice and
must end. Showing how these ideas help to prove your argument is
worth one point.
Thus, “The purpose of the speech is ________, which further supports
the notion that ____________” Now for the final point: Complex
Understanding. This question is looking for you to
compare and contrast. Don’t just show similarities…show
differences as well! If they ask for continuity and change,
SHOW BOTH! If they ask a question about causation,
show multiple short-term and long-term causes, as well as short-term
and long-term effects. This will display a higher level of
understanding.
You get one point for
this type of complex understanding. For the point, you could also
explain multiple themes or perspectives to explore complexity or
nuance or explain relevant connections within and across periods or
geographic areas. Effectively using all 7
documents to support the argument works, as does explaining
how the Historical
Situation,
Audience, Point of
View, and/or Purpose
supports the argument in 4 documents.
In addition, one could also use the documents and outside
information to present a sophisticated understanding of different
perspectives relevant to the prompt. |
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HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS EXPLAINED Continuity and Change Examples RETURN TO AP WORLD REVIEW SHEET
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