How To Write A DBQ…

Read the prompt Underline the verb in the prompt: evaluate, assess, analyze, establish the validity (truth), etc. Look carefully at any conjunction in the prompt: i.e. does the prompt ask you to compare and contrast, or does the prompt ask you to compare or contrast.

Bring in Outside Knowledge… Quickly make a list of what you already know-- the people, documents, issues, topics, battles, social changes, etc… that you feel are relevant to the prompt.

Read all of the documents Note the source, the author, the point of view, the date, etc. Highlight/ underline specific parts of the document which help answer the prompt You want to use all of the documents if possible.

Questions to ask yourself about the documents…. Who wrote this source? – Attribution  who is this author/artist, etc.? – Why might he/she be significant? – What is the POV of the author? (more than gender) – How reliable & accurate is the source? – What is the tone or intent of the author? What are common themes/ groups in these sources?

Who wrote this source? Demonstrating POV/Bias… Attribution: cite the author by name, title, or position, if possible – Why is this person and document selected? – How does it help me answer the question? Examples: – John Tyler, an English writer, said, “…” – A Dominican monk in Florence described…

Who wrote this source? Demonstrating POV/Bias… Authorial POV: you show awareness that the gender, occupation, class, religion, nationality, political position or ethnic identity of the author could influence his/her views – How does this apply to the question? – Why did the author write what he/she did? Example: – Balthasar Rusow, a Lutheran pastor, was naturally upset by the celebration of a Saint’s Day, since Lutheran don’t venerate saints.

Grouping Documents Try to group documents into three groups… Sometimes the prompt gives you the groupings- – Example: “Analyze the religious, political and social reasons for the rise of the Protestant Reformation in the 16 th century.” Sometimes you have to determine the groupings- Example: “Analyze the reasons for the rise of the Protestant Reformation in the 16 th century.”

Grouping Documents Documents can be grouped in multiple ways… Think about a pile of children’s shoes: Could group by “function”- play vs. party shoes Could group by color Could group by color & design

Grouping documents by author… Grouping of documents by author: you show an awareness that certain types of authors, simply by their authorship*, will express similar views when you group documents by type of author Example – As Northern Renaissance humanists, Erasmus, More, and Cervantes all poked fun at the foibles and scandals of late medieval society as well as their own. *the quality or function of an author

How to write a strong thesis statement.

How to reference a document in your essay…. Baldasare Castiglione, in The Handbook of the Courtier, said, “…….” (doc 4) Erasmus of Rotterdam, a northern Christian humanist, agreed with….. (doc 7) The 19 th C historian, Jacob Burkhardt, felt that ……… (doc 9) NEVER begin with: In document 3, …..

How to “cite” a document Throughout your essay, you may show that you are referencing a document by identifying its number in parentheses, e.g., (Doc. 1). There are no irrelevant or deliberately misleading documents. -College Board

Credits… Dover-Sherborn High School DBQ “How To” Ms. Susan Pojer, Horace Greeley HS, Chappaqua, NY College Board