How to write a Document Based Question AP World History

Overview of the DBQ 7 points. 25% of your exam score. 60 minutes to complete. Which includes a 15 minute reading period. Only 1 prompt. No options to select a prompt. Will cover Periods (Units) 3, 4, 5, and/or 6. 7 documents to read. At least one document will be a visual. Chart, graph, map, art, etc.

7 points of the Rubric Thesis (claim) Contextualization Evidence from 3 documents Evidence from 6 documents Evidence beyond the documents Analysis Reasoning All of the points of the rubric above that are in purple are exactly the same as the LEQ essay rubric.

Thesis Statement aka Claim

AP History Disciplinary Practices: Argument Development Make a historically defensible claim in the form of an evaluative thesis. Support an argument using specific and relevant evidence. Use historical reasoning to explain relationships among pieces of historical evidence. Consider ways that diverse or alternative evidence could be used to qualify or modify an argument.

Thesis Statement (1 point) Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis/claim that establishes a line of reasoning. The line of reasoning will be related to the skill being asked of you. The thesis must consists of one or more sentences located in one place. Either in the introduction or the conclusion

Sample Prompt Using the documents provided and your knowledge of World History, analyze the degree to which communist movements affected women’s struggle for rights in the twentieth century.

Thesis Example that Works: “Communism furthered the struggle for women’s equality in the 20th century, but not as much as it said it did as shown by how women fought for their own rights, how others fought and viewed women’s rights, and how women were equal in theory, but not in actuality.”

Thesis Non-Example: “Women in some of these countries (Vietnam and China) were given rights, but in most countries they continued to be held back from gaining power (USSR, Cuba, Romania).” Not related to communism

Contextualization AP History Reasoning Skill #1

AP History Reasoning Skills: Contextualization Describe an accurate historical context for a specific historical development or process. Explain how a relevant context influenced a specific historical development or process. Use context to explain the relative historical significance of a specific historical development or process.

Contextualization (1 point) Describes a broader historical context relevant to the prompt. Point is not awarded for merely a phrase or reference. Instead requires an explanation, typically consisting of multiple sentences or a full paragraph. Best situated in the introduction (or conclusion). Making connections to and from global processes. Situating the topic of the essay or the argument, into a larger flow of historical events

Contextualization Example 1 in Intro “Women’s rights have been a struggle that many females tried to achieve ever since the early beginnings of industrialization. The unfair divide industrialization caused led to a mass usage of Enlightenment or socialist ideals which in some ways supported women’s rights. THESIS …………….”

Contextualization Example 2 “While women struggled for freedom throughout the western world, communist revolutions were radically equalizing for females, helping the suffragettes everywhere.”

Contextualization Non-Example 1 “In the 20th century, the two world wars gripped the world with bloodshed and fear. Between the wars, the Great Depression saw the world experience the greatest economic collapse in history. These events led many to look to socialism and communist movements as a way to create a better world.” CONTEXT NOT IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Contextualization Non-Example 2 “During the 20th century, communism was becoming widespread. Because of Marxist ideas, communist movements affected women’s struggle for rights.” NOT SPECIFIC

Evidence Documents and Evidence Beyond the Documents

AP History Disciplinary Practices: Analyzing Historical Documents Primary Sources Describe the historical relevant information and/or arguments within a source. Explain how a source provides information about the broader historical setting within which it was created. Explain how a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience might affect a source’s meaning. Explain the relative historical significance of a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience. Evaluate a source’s credibility and/or limitations.

AP History Disciplinary Practices: Analyzing Historical Documents Secondary Sources Describe the claim or argument of a secondary source, as well as the evidence used. Describe a pattern or trend in quantitative date in non- text-based sources. Explain how a historian’s claim or argument is supported with evidence. Explain how a historian’s context influences the claim or argument. Analyze patterns and trends in quantitative data in non- text-based sources. Evaluate the effectiveness of a historical claim or argument.

Evidence from the Documents (1 or 2 points) Uses the content of the at least 3 of the documents to address the topic of the prompt. 2 points Uses the content of the at least 6 of the documents to address the topic of the prompt. For earn each point, the response must accurately describe (rather than simply quote) the content from at least 3 or at least 6 of the documents. Must use the content of the documents to support an argument/claim in response to the prompt.

Utilizing Documents: Example 1 “Kollontai noticed how little her party cared about the fate of working-class women (Doc 1).”

Utilizing Documents: Example 2 “ A female Soviet official explains that the Central Asian Muslim tradition of wearing veils opposes the fundamentals of the Communist Party… this shows how communist ideals supported equality (Doc 2).”

Utilizing Documents: Example 3 “A propaganda poster from communist China shows many women pursing countless professional fields. This shows that Communist movements supported the advancement of women’s roles (Doc 5).”

Example of Unacceptable Utilization “…this shows the communist government of China promoting a lot of industrial growth. The images show growth in many high-tech industries, such as manufacturing, aerospace, medicine, and science (Doc 5).” Not related to women’s rights

Evidence beyond the Documents (1 point) Use at least one additional piece of specific historical evidence relevant to the argument about the prompt. This must be beyond that found in the documents. The response must describe the evidence and must use more than a phrase or reference. Additional piece of evidence must be different from the evidence used to earn the point for contextualization.

Evidence Beyond the Docs: Positive Example 1 “An example of communist inspiration to their women was the putting of the first woman in space by the USSR, which must have inspired women nationwide.”

Evidence Beyond the Docs: Positive Example 2 “The documents don’t address how radically different the communist lifestyle is such as how the CCP promotes marrying late and planning families which differs from the Confucian emphasis on families.”

Evidence Beyond the Docs: Positive Example 3 “One piece of historical evidence that further helps this topic is that Mao Zedong, a communist leader in China, made a speech directly stating that ‘Women hold up half the sky,’ and made various laws according to that statement to make women more equal to men.”

Additional Evidence: Non-Example “The Chinese communist government also created propaganda posters to persuade women to become nurses.” Document 5 already established that communism brought new job opportunities for women. Another iteration of something already in the documents is not acceptable.

Analysis and Reasoning Using the AP History Reasoning Skills

Analysis and Reasoning (2 points) For at least 3 documents, explains how or why the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is relevant to the argument. (1 point) Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development that is the focus of the prompt, using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument that address the question.

“HIPPO” a Document for Analysis H – historical situation I – intended audience P – point of view P – purpose O – outside evidence beyond the documents

Sourcing Example: Context (1) “…this shows that a communist government officially legislated the equality of women. This would have been something like a slap in the face to the USA who fought to limit the spread of communism in Vietnam, only to fail and see them enforce feminist laws that the U.S. had not (Doc 3).”

Sourcing Example: Context (2) “While likely accurate, coming from a US source raises the question of its legitimacy, as the US was locked in the Cold War with the USSR, and may have simply wanted to rally the American people against the Soviet Union (Doc 4).”

Sourcing by context: Non-Example Simply mentioning a piece of context without explaining the significance to the topic is unacceptable. “…written during the Cold War, shows that women in Russia were not equal to men, especially in top jobs (Doc 4).”

Sourcing: Successful Example - POV: “In the North Vietnamese Constitution, it not only claims democracy, but claims women have complete equality to men, which they did not. It is a government document, so obviously it would glorify Vietnam as a country flooding with equality…(Doc 3).”

Sourcing: Non-Example - POV “…is a government official who cares about women’s rights but many other people in her party didn’t (Doc 2).” Does NOT explain how being a government official shapes or informs what is said in the doc.

Sourcing Example: Audience/Purpose “Cuban communist leader, Fidel Castro, speaking to a women’s organization. It is likely that he is trying to persuade more women to join the communist party (Doc 6).” “The Chinese propaganda poster supports advancement of women… This poster, made to gather support for the communist revolution, was published to appeal to the wants and needs of women (Doc 5).”

Organization Layout and structure of your essay

Organization of Paragraphs Introduction Establish setting for your essay Contextualization is a great way to start and keep up good practice and writing skills. Thesis Statement Should include your main argument (claim) and three key points to support your argument. Argumentation Key Point #1 Topic sentence that establishes your key point that supports the argument from your thesis. Documents are listed at the end of the topic sentence Example: (Doc 1, 3, 4, 7) Evidence from a document. Analysis using of the HIPP. Repeat “b” and “c” as many times as necessary in order to address all the documents you have selected for this paragraph. When applicable insert and explain your evidence beyond the documents (outside information) Reasoning for your key point based how your evidence and analysis connects back to your thesis. Argumentation Key Point #2 Topic sentence that establishes your key point that supports the argument from your thesis. Documents are listed at the end of the topic sentence Example: (Doc 1, 3, 4, 7) Evidence from a document. Analysis using of the HIPP. Repeat “b” and “c” as many times as necessary in order to address all the documents you have selected for this paragraph. When applicable insert and explain your evidence beyond the documents (outside information) Reasoning for your key point based how your evidence and analysis connects back to your thesis Argumentation Key Point #3 (if needed) Conclusion Restate thesis statement and contextualization.

Final Words Accuracy, Clarity, and Argumentation

Accuracy The components of this rubric each require that you demonstrate historically defensible content knowledge. Given the timed nature of the exam, your essay may contain errors that do not detract from the overall quality, as long as the historical content used to advance the argument is accurate.

Clarity Exam essays should be considered a first draft and thus may contain grammatical errors. Those errors will not be counted against you unless they obscure the successful demonstration of the content knowledge, skills, and practices described in the rubrics.

Argumentation To fully and effectively substantiate the stated thesis or a relevant argument, responses must include a broad range of evidence that, through analysis and explanation, justifies the stated thesis or a relevant argument.