How to write a DBQ for the AP Euro exam

The DBQ is worth almost 25% of the exam, so it is extremely important to concentrate and put in your best effort.

On Exam Day… After the Multiple Choice section, you will get a short break. After the break you will receive the essay portion of the test. There is a mandatory 15 minute reading period prior to writing your essays – USE this time… organization is KEY to a good score. You will then have 45 minutes to write your essay. Do the DBQ first!!!!!!

Rule of “THREE” Your goal is a MINIMUM of: THREE ideas in your thesis statement THREE groupings of documents THREE documents per grouping THREE POV statements THREE Expanded Core elements

To do this, we are going to use the 2011 DBQ as an example.

Use of Documents: Use of a document can be: citing, paraphrasing, summarizing, interpreting, quoting, listing, critiquing, or analyzing the document. You can directly quote a document or refer to the document. Make sure that you attribute authorship and use a parenthetical citation.

Specific IdeaInfluence of Idea in reign Analysis of influence Elizabeth’s response

Analyzing Documents During the 15 minute ‘reading period’, ask yourself the following questions about each document: What is the type of document? Who wrote it AND why (intent)? When & where was it written? What does it mean?

Knox (Presbyterian leader) – felt women should not take religious leadership roles nor take any authority role over men – Queen Elizabeth I obv did not follow these beliefs Within her own gov’t & Church, Elizabeth faced resistance regarding her authority – in fact it was debated within Parliament

This official painting, most likely commissioned by the Queen herself, demonstrated her political power and strength as it depicts her standing on top of a map of her realm

POV explained by the College Board:

Using ACORNPEG as a tool, note the POV of each document Again, in the margins, determine which elements of ACORNPEG led to the tone/bias/ or intent of the document. Audience (who is the intended Audience?) Class Occupation Religion Nationality Political Affiliation Education Gender See the next few slides for examples

Knox (Presbyterian leader) – felt women should not take religious leadership roles nor take any authority role over men – Queen Elizabeth I obv did not follow these beliefs.. Also poltical rivalry between Eng & Scot Within her own gov’t & Church, Elizabeth faced resistance regarding her authority – in fact it was debated within Parliament Religious/Gender/Political POV Religious/Gender/Political Affiliation POV

Political/Class/Gender POV Gender/Class POV

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: My comments above on POV are NOT correct POV statements. They are merely to show how brainstorm techniques at the start of writing process. So what is a proper POV statement? Let’s look at document 1:

Source: John Knox, Scottish religious reformer, First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, To promote a Woman to bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire above any Realm, Nation, or City, is against all Nature... it is the subversion of good order, of all equity and justice.... And that the Holy Ghost does manifestly express, saying: “I suffer not a woman to usurp authority above the man.”... So both by God’s law and the interpretation of the Holy Ghost, women are utterly forbidden to occupy the place of God in the offices aforesaid.... John Knox, a Scottish Presbyterian Reformer spoke out strongly against Elizabeth’s authority, citing Scripture as his reasoning. He quoted directly from the Bible in an attempt to educate and encourage others to not follow the new Queen’s laws. His tone was matter of fact, persuasive and not entirely unsurprising as Knox’s reformed religion had some strong theological differences with Anglicanism in addition to the longstanding political rivalry between Scotland and England. When in doubt, use the word ‘obviously’ while explaining POV (i.e. – ‘Obviously, Knox’s tone was matter of fact, persuasive and not entirely unsurprising….’

RULE of 3 REMINDER!! You must do at LEAST 3 POVs… but I strongly encourage you to attempt to do 4 – 6 POVs Also note that in addition to INTENT, you are also looking to see if the source is reliable.

Grouping While grouping is listed last among the basic core, you actually must organize your groups immediately – before you even write your thesis statement. The reason? You need to make sure the documents work well to support the thesis that you want to write. It is possible that you may need to adjust your thesis statement because the documents do not support your original thesis.

Sample groupings for 2011 DBQ supplied by the College Board

Grouping Graphic Organizer: Complete this as you read over the documents during the ‘pre-writing period’

Before moving on to the expanded core…

You can write the most insightful, eloquent and descriptive essay of your life and if you do not hit each one of the basic core areas, you will NOT move on to the expanded core. In fact, sometimes some excellent essays receive poor scores and some terribly written essays receive high scores.

The EASIEST ways to earn your 3 expanded core points are: Additional POV statements Additional Groupings Persuasive use of the documents as evidence Addressing all parts of the prompts thoroughly Use of outside information

NEVER,EVER,EVER,NEVER.. Use the 1 st or 2 nd person (I, you, me, our, we, your, us) make a document say something it doesn’t to fit your essay include information in your essay unless you are sure it is correct. begin comparison essays with ‘There are many similarities and differences..’ Use entire quotes Create a laundry list of documents Do not ramble Simply re-state the thesis

Keys to SUCCESS… Make sure you understand the prompt and respond to ALL parts of the question Remember the RULE OF THREE Use a grids to organize the thesis, docs and groupings Refer to authors by LAST name only. If you are running out of time, eliminate the conclusion – focus on the body paragraphs. Incorporate attribution throughout the essay Use the past tense consistently through the essay Look for change over time in the documents