1. HOW TO DBQ

2. RECAP DBQ = Document Based Question
You will be given a (probably relatively random) prompt and seven documents that will help you answer the prompt
You will have 55 minutes to write an essay that utilizes the documents to answer the prompt

3. HERE’S THE KICKER
The DBQ is not about you answering the question correctly.
The DBQ is about you being a historian
You will be using these documents to draw a conclusion related to the prompt
In using the documents, you should consider H.I.P.P. – because that’s what historians actually do
And based on the evidence you collect from the documents, you write your essay.
And what do historians do? They use documents to come to a conclusion.

4. HOW DO I USE DOCUMENTS?
It’s your job as a historian to organize, interpret, and analyze the documents.
Don’t freak out.
Organize = can you group the docs into a couple of categories?
Interpret = do you know what the document is telling you based on the prompt you’ve been given?
Analyze = can you use the document to help you come to a conclusion?

5. LET’S DO IT

6. FOR EACH DOCUMENT: 1) On the largest index card:
Contextualization. This should be minimum three sentences. Think of it as an expanded historical context.
People at your group probably have different themes. THAT’S PERFECT – YOU KNOW WHY? CAUSE THERE’S NOT ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

7. WAIT WHAT’S CONTEXTUALIZATION?
This is a perfect example.

8. FOR EACH DOCUMENT: 2) On a regular index card:
Answer the prompt using the document
Use power verbs! Illustrates, substantiates, corroborates, etc…
DON’T just tell me what the document is of, but USE your summary of the document to answer the prompt
Can be one to three sentences.
Choose a HIPP and make a statement based on that. Reminder: H = historical context I = intended audience P = purpose P = point of view
When they’re done – look at the documents. Do they see some similarities between them? Either ones that corroborate or ones that stand in opposition? Similar themes?

9. FOR EACH DOCUMENT: 3) On the slightly larger index card:
Choose a category that several docs can fit into
This can be SPICE themes, but I would prefer something more specific (rather than “culture” you could say “religion”)
Write it on the blank side of the index card
Place the documents that fit into that category underneath that card
People at your group probably have different themes. THAT’S PERFECT – YOU KNOW WHY? CAUSE THERE’S NOT ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

10. FOR EACH DOCUMENT: On the slightly larger index card:
Write a topic sentence that readdresses the prompt and introduces said category.
Use power verbs
Actually say the docs you’re planning to use
Add any outside information that you brainstormed at the beginning
People at your group probably have different themes. THAT’S PERFECT – YOU KNOW WHY? CAUSE THERE’S NOT ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

11. THESIS STATEMENT 4) Go back to your largest index card.
Write a thesis statement. Use the categories you just created in your thesis statement – two can be your counterargument and one can be your actual argument
Remember, HC. X. However, Y. (but, you HC in this case in your larger contextualization!)
So, your thesis will look like this:
Historical context (multiple sentences you’ve already written). Summary of the 1-2 topics and who they address the prompt. However, summary of the 1 topic that was the most significant effect of the Atlantic trade.
People at your group probably have different themes. THAT’S PERFECT – YOU KNOW WHY? CAUSE THERE’S NOT ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

12. SYNTHESIS!
Now that you’ve outlined your entire essay, relate one of your arguments within that essay to a different historical period, situation, or geographical region.
Write it on the star. Remember, this needs to be more than one sentence – minimum of two, if not three.
It can go anywhere! And it can be about anything that relates to your argument and the prompt.

13. YOU JUST DBQ’D

14. "One effect of trans-Atlantic trade was massive population changes, especially in the New World and Africa, as shown in doc 3 and 4. Many Native Americans died due to overwork and war in the years after the Spanish Conquest (Doc. 4). Bartolome de las Casas wrote about the plight of the Native Americans sympathetically. As a priest, he viewed the natives as souls that should be saved – not beasts of burden as many Spaniards did. Native Americans also died by the millions due to outbreaks of diseases like smallpox (Doc. 3). Historians like Geoffrey Cowley, who wrote about this phenomenon in Newsweek in became more interested in the effects of Columbus’s arrival as the U.S. neared the 500 anniversary of his voyage. While many in the U.S. still celebrate Columbus as a national hero, 1992 also saw many celebrating instead Native American culture, much of which was lost due to outbreaks of disease. The declining population in the New World was supplemented by the arrival of millions of Africans, brought over by the Middle Passage…"