The Document Based Question or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the DBQ!

Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. Historical background: For centuries, traditional European life included a cycle of ritualized events and festivals. Carnival, which began as early as January and climaxed with the celebration of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday), was the most elaborate festival. Carnival was celebrated until Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and penance before Easter. Another major festival occurred on midsummer night’s eve. Some community rituals, like charivari (also known as “riding the stang” could occur at any time during the year.

What are the rituals/festivals? What were their purposes? Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 1. Analyze the question. What are the rituals/festivals? What were their purposes?

Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 2. Brainstorm

Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 3. Write a thesis

Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 4. NOW we look at the documents. Read a document. How does it fit into our preexisting response? i.e. which paragraph will I use the document OR can I create an additional paragraph?!! (this is good thing LAZY!) What outside information does this pop into your brain?

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Do we see an obvious extended analysis opportunity? We need to do this at least FOUR documents.

4. Still looking at the documents. Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis (at least FOUR times). There are four different ways to do this. We only have to use one of these methods for analysis.

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. First method: Author’s Point Of View What was the author’s point of view? Does the author’s point of view undermine the explicit purpose of the source? How can you tell, if you can tell, what other belief the author might hold?

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional European life. 4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. First method: Author’s Point Of View All sources have a purpose, which the author is usually aware of. However he or she may not be aware of how his or her point of view shapes a document. Factors that may shape point of view include aspects of the creator’s identity (e.g. gender, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation), his or her relation to the event (e.g. actor, bystander, critic), and the distance in time between the event and the document’s creation.

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Second method: Context When and where was the source produced? What contemporaneous events might have affected the author’s viewpoint and/or message? How does the context affect the reliability of a source?

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Second method: Context Each document was created at a specific moment in time and in a specific place. Identifying this time and place helps us understand purpose, but in order to understand the context, we need to go beyond simple identification. When a historian talks about context, he or she is referring to specific historical processes and events that can explain both the author’s reason for writing the document and the ways in which contemporaries understood the document.

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Third method: Audience Who was the source created for? How might the audience have affected the content of the source? How might the audience have affected the reliability of the source?

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Third method: Audience Every document is created with an audience in mind, even if that audience is oneself. When creating a document, authors make decision based on what they think the audience already knows and what they want the audience to know and believe. In doing so, the author might leave certain information out, emphasize some points rather than others, or adopt a specific tone or point of view. Understanding who the audience was presumed to be and what impact the author wished to have on them, helps us better understand the content and purpose of a document.

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Fourth method: Author’s Purpose Why did the author create the source? Why was the document created at this time? Why has it survived to the present? How does its purpose affect it reliability or usefulness

4. Still looking at the documents. Extended Analysis. Fourth method: Author’s Purpose When an author creates a source-whether it is a diary entry, a political treaty, or a painting-he or she has a purpose in mind: to record the events of the day, to end a war, to paint an image that a patron would want to purchase, etc. This purpose might involve convincing another person, controlling the actions of many people, or serving as a reminder to oneself. As time goes by, the purpose of the document may affect whether or not it is preserved. Documents deemed unimportant or controversial often do not survive. Understanding purpose helps historians understand historical processes, as each document not only tells us about the past but is also the result of an action taken by one or more people in the past.

4. Extended Analysis. Recap You must use extended analysis at least FOUR times i.e. four documents Do extra for insurance. You can use any ONE of the four methods to analyze i.e. you don’t have to use all four methods with each document! One method for one document.

5. Outside information Provide an example or additional piece of specific evidence beyond those found in the documents to support or qualify the argument. Must be different from evidence in the document to earn points. Needs to reference an additional piece of specific evidence and explain how that evidence supports or qualifies the argument.

5. Outside information We are trying to recall outside information in two ways: 1st) During the brainstorm before looking at the documents Memories triggered by the question 2nd) During the inspection of the documents The content of the document makes you remember something relevant to the question.

6. Contextualization Situates the argument by explaining the broader historical events, developments, or processes immediately relevant to the question. What big events/ big issues are going on during this era?

7. Synthesis Explain the connections between the argument and a development in a different historical period, situation, era or geographical area. How is this similar to another time or place? Explain the connections between the argument and a course theme and/or approach to history that is not the focus of the essay (such as political, economic, social, cultural, or intellectual history). Explain the connections between the argument and a different discipline or field of inquiry (such as economics, government and politics, art history, or anthropology).