WRITING A DBQ: AP * U.S. History. What Is a DBQ? DBQ Documents

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1 WRITING A DBQ: AP * U.S. History 1 What Is a DBQ? An essay question that asks you to take a position on an issue that has several possible answers No right or correct response You must craft a thesis based on your own knowledge and your interpretation of the evidence presented 2 DBQ Documents Charts, graphs, and maps Newspaper articles/editorials Speeches Letters Diaries Laws Treaties Executive orders Editorial cartoons 3 H1

2 Prompt Analysis Format: A 9 Step Method 4 The Question Read the question carefully, then think about the following: What is the essence of the question? Is it a yes/no, to what extent, or compare and contrast question? Does it have more than one part? Are there bullets provided? Is there a choice of responses? 5 Sample DBQ: Multipart Question Discuss the changing ideals of American womanhood between the American Revolution (1770s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factors fostered the emergence of republican motherhood and the cult of domesticity? Assess the extent to which these ideals influenced the lives of women during this period. In your answer be sure to consider issues of race and class. 6 H2

3 Key Terms Discuss the changing ideals of American womanhood between the American Revolution (1770s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factors fostered the emergence of republican motherhood and the cult of domesticity? Assess the extent to which these ideals influenced the lives of women during this period. In your answer be sure to consider issues of race and class. 7 Date Parameters Discuss the changing ideals of American womanhood between the American Revolution (1770s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factors fostered the emergence of republican motherhood and the cult of domesticity? Assess the extent to which these ideals influenced the lives of women during this period. In your answer be sure to consider issues of race and class. 8 Date Parameters (continued) Does the question state specific dates? What are they? If no specific date parameters are given, set ones of your own List presidents of the period Put the question in chronological context of the events and culture of the period 9 H3

4 Construct a Database Use a database to organize outside information you know that may be relevant to the question Write down headings on the back of your test booklet Create the database before you read the documents Next, read the documents and add any other info to your database that occurs to you 10 The Thesis Statement A positive assertion regarding an issue about which reasonable people may hold different opinions Answers the question in one sentence Use your database to organize your arguments Don t discuss the documents in the order in which the DBQ presents them 11 Analyzing the Documents A document is not a fact, but a piece of evidence to interpret Point of view is crucial Does the document support or refute your thesis? 12 H4

5 Analyzing the Documents: APPARTS A=Author: Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author s point of view? P=Place and time: Where and when was the source produced? How might this have affected the content of the source? 14 Analyzing the Documents: APPARTS (continued) A=Audience: For whom was the source created? How might this affect the reliability of the source? R=Reason why: Why was this source produced? How might this affect the reliability of the source? T=The main idea: What point is the source trying to convey? S=Significance: Why is this source important? Ask yourself, So what? in relation to the question asked (i.e. the prompt). 15 The First Paragraph Insight: analysis, perspective, point of view Make a strong first impression Provide analysis of the question The reader should know your position on the question unequivocally after the first paragraph 16 H5

6 The Body of the Essay Provide factual support for your thesis Stay focused on the question Don t just write down everything you know about the topic Chronological sequence is more important than precise dates 17 The Body of the Essay (continued) Stick to the facts; don t editorialize Make sure that each point you make supports your thesis Include outside information Cite a majority of the documents 18 The Conclusion If time permits, write a conclusion that provides the following information: if my thesis is correct, then is true. An example: If the Navigation Acts were not economically oppressing the colonists, then we must look elsewhere for the basic causes of the American Revolution. 19 H6

7 Prompt Analysis Format: Summary 1. What is the ESSENCE of the question? 2. What key terms need to be DEFINED? 3. Are the date PARAMETERS stated? 4. Construct a DATABASE 5. Write a clear THESIS that answers the question in one sentence 6. Analyze the documents (APARTS). Always take POINT OF VIEW into account. 7. Provide INSIGHT into the complexity of the question 8. Provide abundant and appropriate factual SUPPORT for your thesis 9. If time permits, write a CONCLUSION 20 DBQ Facts & Tips Within the free-response section, the DBQ counts for 50% and the other two essays count for 25% each. You have 210 minutes to write the freeresponse section. That s roughly 60 minutes for the DBQ and 35 minutes each for the other essays. Handwriting matters! 21 DBQ #1 22 H7

8 Question Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition. 23 Prompt Analysis Format Let s apply the prompt analysis format to this question. 1. ESSENCE 2. DEFINITIONS 3. PARAMETERS 4. DATABASE 5. POINT OF VIEW 6. INSIGHT 7. THESIS 8. SUPPORT 9. CONCLUSION 24 What is the ESSENCE of the question, and what kind of judgment is it asking you to make? Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition. 25 H8

9 Does the answer have more than one part? Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition. 26 What key terms need to be DEFINED? Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition 27 What are the PARAMETERS? Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition? 28 H9

10 Construct a DATABASE Necessary Dangerous 29 Necessary National Congress unable to tax Stronger national government needed to stabilize country National Congress unable to effectively pay back war debt National Congress unable to effectively regulate currency (i.e. print/coin money) Ineffectiveness led to instability Shays Rebellion (national congress was almost unable to quell rebellion An Extended Republic is the best way to balance democracy with stabilizing authority Construct a DATABASE 30 Dangerous A strong national government may infringe on individual civil liberties speech religion press assembly Constitution would legitimize the control of the elite The new gov. favors them The states would be giving up tremendous power Construct a DATABASE 31 H10

11 Provide your INSIGHT Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, argue that the Constitution as written in was either necessary or dangerous; in the process of making the argument, acknowledge and disprove the opposition. 32 Document 1 Source: Excerpt from the newspaper The Massachusetts Sentinel, October 20, 1787 Let us look and behold the distresses which prevail in every part of our country the complaints of our farmers the complaints of every class of public creditors the melancholy faces of our working people our ships rotting in our harbors the insults that are offered to the American name and character in every court of Europe View these things, fellow citizens, and then say that we do not require a new, a protecting, and efficient federal government if you can. 34 Document 2 Source: Mercy Otis Warren, Observations on the New Federal Constitution and on the Federal and State Conventions, Spring 1788 There is no security in the system [under the proposed new US Constitution] either for the rights of conscience or for the liberty of the press The executive and the legislature are so dangerously blended that they give just cause for alarm 35 H11

12 Document 3 Source: Letter from George Washington to John Jay, August 1, 1786, agreeing with Jay s criticism of the Articles of Confederation Your sentiments, that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a crisis, accord with my own We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature 36 Document 4 Source: Patrick Henry, a delegate to the Virginia State Constitutional Ratification Convention, in a speech given June 1788 Here is a resolution [i.e. the Constitution] as radical as what separated us from Great Britain our rights and privileges are endangered, the sovereignty of the states will be relinquished The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press and rendered insecure. 37 Document 5 Source: Amos Singletree, member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Ratification Convention, in a speech given 1788 These lawyers and men of learning, and monied men, that talk so finely and gloss over matters so smoothly, to make us poor illiterate people swallow down the pill, expect to get into Congress themselves and get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and then they will swallow all us little folks 38 H12

13 Document 6 Source: Excerpt from themassachusetts Constitutional Ratification Convention, February 1788 it is the opinion of this convention that certain amendments in the constitution would remove the fears of many good people of the commonwealth The resolutions go on to recommend such amendments as, that all powers not expressly delegated by the Constitution are reserved to the several states 39 Document 7 Source: Articles of Confederation The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof nor borrow money on the credit of the United States nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or nave, unless nine states assent [agree]. 40 Document 8 Source: James Madison, The Federalist, No. 47 The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny 41 H13

14 Revisit your THESIS and Start your Intro Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent did the presidency of Andrew Jackson bring about a social, economic, and political revolution? 42 SUPPORT your thesis Using information from the evidence (that follows) as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent did the presidency of Andrew Jackson bring about a social, economic, and political revolution? 43 What is the ESSENCE of the question, and what kind of judgment is it asking you to make? Using information from the evidence below as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent were the social, economic, and political changes in America during World War II permanent? 70 H14

15 Does the answer have more than one part? Using information from the evidence below as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent were the social, economic, and political changes in America during World War II permanent? 71 What are the PARAMETERS? Using information from the evidence below as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent were the social, economic, and political changes in America during World War II permanent? 73 Construct a DATABASE SOCIAL ECONOMIC POLITICAL 74 H15

16 SOCIAL Casualties, both physical and mental Displaced persons Impact on colonial peoples African Americans Japanese Americans Women Demographic shifts Construct a DATABASE 75 POLITICAL The United Nations Polarization of the world, Cold War Controls on civil liberties Four terms for FDR End to isolationism ( non-entanglement ) Expansion of presidential power Foreign aid Defeated powers occupied Territorial changes War crimes trials Construct a DATABASE 77 Provide your INSIGHT Using information from the evidence below as well as your knowledge of the period, to what extent were the social, economic, and political changes in America during World War II permanent? 78 H16

17 READ and ANALYZE the documents DATABASE INTERPRETATION 79 Document B Source: Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, lyrics, Rosie the Riveter (1942) All the day long, whether rain or shine, She's a part of the assembly line. She's making history, Working for victory, Rosie the Riveter. Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage, Sitting up there on the fuselage. That little girl will do more than a male will do. Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie. Charlie, he's a Marine. Rosie is protecting Charlie, Working overtime on the riveting machine. When they gave her a production E, She was as proud as she could be. There's something true about, Red, white, and blue about, Rosie the Riveter. 81 Document C Source: That Damned Fence, anonymous poem circulated at the Poston (AZ) Relocation Center They've sunk the posts deep into the ground They've strung out wires all the way around. With machine gun nests just over there, And sentries and soldiers everywhere. We're trapped like rats in a wired cage, To fret and fume with impotent rage; Yonder whispers the lure of the night, But that DAMNED FENCE assails our sight. We seek the softness of the midnight air, But that DAMNED FENCE in the floodlight glare Awakens unrest in our nocturnal quest, And mockingly laughs with vicious jest. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, We feel terrible, lonesome, and blue: That DAMNED FENCE is driving us crazy, Destroying our youth and making us lazy. Imprisoned in here for a long, long time, We know we're punished though we've committed no crime, Our thoughts are gloomy and enthusiasm damp, To be locked up in a concentration camp. Loyalty we know, and patriotism we feel, To sacrifice our utmost was our ideal, To fight for our country, and die, perhaps; But we're here because we happen to be Japs. We all love life, and our country best, Our misfortune to be here in the West, To keep us penned behind that DAMNED FENCE, Is someone's notion of NATIONAL DEFENSE! 82 H17

18 Document D Source: GI Bill of Rights, 1944 AN ACT to provide Federal Government aid for the readjustment in civilian life of returning World War II veterans. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of Chapter IV Education of Veterans Sec (a) Subsection (f) of section 1, title I, Public Law Numbered 2, Seventy-third Congress, added by the Act of March 24, 1943 (Public Law Numbered 16, Seventy-eighth Congress), is hereby amended to read as follows: (f) Any person who served in the active military or naval forces on or after September 16, 1940, and prior to the termination of hostilities in the present war, shall be entitled to vocational rehabilitation subject to the provisions and limitations of Veterans Regulation Numbered 1(a), as amended, part VII, or to education or training subject to the provisions and limitations of part VIII. 83 H18