1. Constructing the “Historical Background” section
DBQ Project
Constructing the “Historical Background” section

2. Tip #1: Create an essay question that is both specific and vague
This sounds difficult, but it is important to making sure that YOU don’t do more work than necessary and that you can actually create the DBQ packet
Your essay question should be specific enough so that you (and the theoretical student who would be writing your essay) could answer the question in a well-written 5-paragraph essay NOT a 25 page paper.
Did counterculture result from the Vietnam War? VS Was the youth movement a direct reaction to anti-Vietnam protesting?
Your essay question should be open-ended, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be answered by a “yes” or “no” statement. This keeps the question vague enough so that a theoretical student doesn’t know specifically how they should answer.
Was the youth movement a direct reaction to anti-Vietnam protesting?
What was Richard Nixon’s greatest mistake while in office?

3. What does a good essay question contain?
It is SPECIFIC: Your essay question should be specific enough so that you (and the theoretical student who would be writing your essay) could answer the question in a well-written 5-paragraph essay NOT a 25 page paper.
It is VAGUE/OPEN-ENDED:
Your essay question should be open-ended, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be answered by a “yes” or “no” statement. This keeps the question vague enough so that a theoretical student doesn’t know specifically how they should answer.
It is ARGUABLE/DEBATABLE:
Your essay question should be able to have multiple “correct” answers because it is an OPINION question
Avoid a question in which the student would list steps or processes as their answer
Avoid a question that only has one right answer

4. Tip #2: Decide what a student HAS to know in order to “write” the essay
First, look at your essay question and think to yourself, “What key terms or vocabulary would a student need to know in order to understand what this question is asking?”
Create a list of 2-4 words from your question
Next, determine the important people, places, or events that would be necessary to understand in order to answer your essay question Example: If your essay question is about the Vietnam War, you would want to explain something about Vietnam, Cambodia, Nixon, and the draft.
Create a list of approximately 5 words that are necessary to understand your essay question

5. Tip #3: Research your key terms
Now that you know what needs to go in to your essay question, now you need to research some specific details about your key terms/vocabulary lists and write definitions.
Use credible sources, not just Wikipedia, to define your terms!
TRMS website has the Media Center link that will show you good websites for researching!
It should take you approximately ONE (1) day of research before you’re ready to start writing the paragraphs of your Historical Background section.

6. Tip #4: Tell the story…
The Historical Background is FACTUAL—there shouldn’t be any indication of how the student should answer the essay question!
The Historical Background section gives your theoretical student a way to understand the essay topic before they look at the documents to actually answer the question
Think of the Historical Background section as “story time” for your theoretical student: tell them the story of the event and/or time period so that they can start to form opinions of how they’re going to answer your question
Keep in mind the length requirement, which is 3-5 paragraphs.
Don’t write too much! It will overwhelm your theoretical student if you write 5 pages
Don’t write too little! Give them enough so that they have something to go off of when they start to write

7. Tip #5: