1. Writing the Document Based Question (DBQ) Essay
“Taming the Beast”

2. Overview
The Document – Based Question (DBQ) is the first essay you will complete for the exam. You should complete this essay in 50 minutes. The DBQ is specifically designed to evaluate your ability to read critically and to formulate and support an answer from documentary evidence. These are the same reading and writing skills practiced by historians. Like the other essay questions on this exam, there is no single correct response in crafting your DBQ. However, there are some consistent elements to consider while constructing your response.

3. The Directions
Sample Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1 – 9. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise. Write your answer on the lined pages of the Section II free – response booklet.
The question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:
Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.
Uses all of the documents.
Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible. Does not simply summarize the documents individually.
Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the author’s point of view.
Identifies and explains at least one type of additional document.

4. The Directions In order to write a successful DBQ, you must:
Write an essay that opens with an appropriate thesis statement
Support that thesis with all of the documents
Group and analyze the documents
Identify and explain additional documents that would add to our understanding of the prompt.

5. Basic Core Points Core Requirements Point(s) Has acceptable thesis 1
Understands the basic meaning of the documents (may misinterpret one)
Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from ALL documents (supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but two documents)
2(1)
Analyzes point of view (POV) in at least two, but preferably three documents
Analyzing document, groups them in at least two, but preferably three groups
Identifies and explains the need for an additional document or point of view
SUBTOTAL 7

6. Basic Core Points What to Do Point(s) Write a good thesis
Is your thesis acceptable? 1
Interpret the evidence within the documents.
Do you understand the basic meanings of the documents used in this essay?
Support your thesis
Have you supported the thesis with appropriate evidence from ALL of the documents? 2
Analyze the documents and identify author’s point of view
Group the documents in at least two different ways
Have you analyzed the documents by grouping them in at least three ways?
Identify and explain the need for other types of documents to clarify the issue
Have you identified and explained the need for at least two types of additional documents AND explained why you need them?
SUBTOTAL 7

7. Consistent Elements in Constructing a Response
“Taming the Beast”
Consistent Elements in Constructing a Response

8. 1. Read the prompt carefully and thoroughly.
Mark it to indicate key words, phrases, or tasks required.
Do not begin any other step until you know what the question is asking.
Sadly, disregarding this caution means that you are in danger of joining the hundreds (or thousands) of students each year who write beautiful essays with all the major elements included and yet still earn 0 points because they totally misinterpret the question. 

9. 2. Do not panic if you know little or nothing about the topic of the question.
The DBQ question tests your ability to read, analyze, synthesize, and communicate historical thinking skills effectively in writing.
Sure, knowing something about the topic helps, but it is not essential to writing a solid DBQ.

10. 3. When you are confident that you understand the demands of the prompt, begin to read the documents.
Anticipate between 5 and 10 documents for each DBQ.
Always annotate the documents for key words, ideas, and phrases that seem to be important.
Always make a few notes in the margins next to the document to record your ideas.
After you have read a couple of the documents, you should begin to see some connections or contradictions between the documents.

11. 4. After you finish reading/annotating, you are ready to begin grouping the documents.
This is simply DBQ talk for combining documents that share similarities.
You might group them by time period, region, types of sources, theme, or other criteria.
In general, the best DBQs are those where the student groups the documents based on the content in the documents; this technique demonstrates that you are a careful and thoughtful reader.
Refer to your annotations to see whether the same ideas are represented in two or more documents.

12. 4. Make a quick grouping chart in the test booklet.
This chart will assist you with recording your ideas and figuring out an analysis scheme.
Include your grouping categories and the documents you have assigned to each group. It can be as simple as this:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
1,2,4,6
5,7,8
3,9

13. 4. Some final key points about grouping…
Have at least THREE groups. Yes, the generic rubric says “two or three ways,” but the determination of whether the standard is two or three is set each year at the reading. If you always have at least three groups, you will meet the standard ever year.
Each group needs at least TWO documents.
You can use a document in more than one group.
Use all of the documents.
Though there are no irrelevant or misleading documents, sometimes you might find one document that does not seem to fit your wonderful grouping plan. It is okay to include such a document in an intro or conclusion.

14. 5. Grouping the documents effectively allows you to easily form a thesis statement
Consider the relationship between the groups:
Can you connect them as causes and effects?
Can you organize them as comparisons?
Can you see positive and negative aspects to them?
Is one group more important than the other groups?
A sentence that only lists your groups will not be enough to earn a thesis point. Figuring out a supportable relationship between the documents will help you create an acceptable thesis.

15. Your DBQ thesis should NOT include:
6. Draft a clear thesis that fully addresses the prompt, takes an arguable position you can support, and provides a structural framework for the rest of your essay.
There is no set structure for a DBQ thesis statement. However, your thesis MUST include the following:
Answers the question
An arguable position
Time and place
Theme(s)/topic(s)
Groupings
Your DBQ thesis should NOT include:
References to specific documents
Quotes from specific documents

16. 7. Tie each body paragraph to a document group.
Use your thesis as a map for putting the essay together.
Use words from your thesis in the topic sentence of each body paragraph.
It is not necessary to list the documents that you will be using in each topic sentence.
Follow your thesis order and rely on your groupings chart to organize each body paragraph.
Use the evidence you have identified in each document to support your thesis. This is where your annotations will be particularly useful.

17. 8. Cite every document. Cite each document every time it is used.
Example: (Doc.1) or a (1) after each usage is fine.

18. 9. Analyze and establish the point of view (POV) for each document.
Although the generic scoring guide only requires two document references for basic core points, every document is selected by the test creator to have a point of view.
Attempting only two points of view is never a good idea, as you might not reach an acceptable level with your two attempts.
The more POV statements you make, the more likely you are to earn expanded core points.
Refer to you Historical Thinking Chart for historical analysis skills and ways to communicate your understanding of point of view.
Sourcing
Contextualization
Corroboration
Close reading

19. 10. Recommend additional documents (AD).
Although the basic core rubric only requires recommending one additional document, you should recommend an additional document and explain why you need it at the end of each body paragraph.
Recommending an additional document at the end of each body paragraph increases the likelihood that you will earn this point (and expanded points).
Identify an appropriate additional document, source, or voice and explain how the document or source will contribute to analysis of the prompt’s theme/topic.