APUSH Review: DBQ Writing Tips www.Apushreview.com APUSH Review: DBQ Writing Tips Everything You Need To Know About Writing The DBQ To Succeed In APUSH

First Thing You Should Do…. Read the prompt VERY, VERY CAREFULLY. Make sure you know what it is asking you to do Are you determining the effectiveness of something? If yes, CLEARLY STATE if it was or was not effective Comparing and Contrasting? Make sure to do both! Analyzing? Don’t just list events, describe why they are important and how they relate to other events

The first 15 minutes Take 15 minutes to read the documents, summarize them, and list outside info Documents are in chronological order They start at the beginning of the time period Note the author of the document This can help provide valuable outside info Confused on a document? Skip it! You do NOT need to incorporate every document If the prompt asks you to determine the effectiveness of a topic….. Write “effective” or “ineffective” next to each document

Writing The Essay Make sure you have a strong intro paragraph How long should the essay be? Depends on the essay topic NEVER less than 2 body paragraphs In many cases, at least 3 body paragraphs Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that relates to your thesis Define historical terms! Cash and Carry, Lend-Lease Act, etc. When in doubt, use “because”

Referencing the Documents Never write, “Document A says the Republican Party opposed World War II in 1940.” The document says nothing, the author does Instead, “Many Americans opposed entrance into World War II, even as the war raged on in Europe. The Republican Party platform from 1940 articulated this exact position.”

Miscellaneous Tips Be careful of overgeneralizing Don’t use “all,” “never,” etc. Focus on sophisticated vocabulary Instead of writing: “says,” “states,” “shows,” “feels,” etc… Use: “demonstrates,” “portrays,” “depicts,” “illustrates,” “symbolizes,” “exemplifies,” “articulates,” etc. Never, EVER use “I” or “you” Instead of saying, “As you can see, the causes of World War I were….” write: “The events that contributed to the outbreak of World War I were”