APUSH DBQ WRITING WORKSHOP

FOR SOUTH LAUREL STUDENTS

BYRD-APUSH 2017

Document Based Question

15 minute mandatory reading period

40 minutes suggested for writing

You must do the following in your essay:

State a relevant thesis that directly addresses ALL

parts of the question

Support the thesis with evidence from all, or all but

one, of the documents

Incorporate analysis of all, or all but one, of the

documents

Focus your analysis of each document on one

of the following: historical context, intended

audience, purpose, and/or point of view (HIPP-)

Support your argument with analysis of historical

evidence outside the documents (-O)

Connect historical phenomena relevant to your

argument to broader events of processes

Synthesize the elements above into a persuasive

essay that extends your argument, connects it to a

different historical context, or accounts for

contradictory evidence on the topic

*

*

Essay Prompt:

Explain the Causes and

Consequences of international and

domestic challenges the United

States faced between 1968 and

1974.

Step 1:

Read all parts of the question carefully

Identify the subject of the essay question

Identify the periodization or date range (if any)-circle it

Identify the required tasks

To what extent

Compare and contrast

Continuity and change

Underline key words

Explain the Causes and Consequences of

international and domestic challenges the

United States faced between 1968 and 1974.

Step 2:

Write down any outside information you know

about the time period or theme BEFORE you start

reading the documents.

Create a rough outline of what you might want to

write

Step 3:

The Documents…

Note the order- chronological? No? – does their order help in

applying the historical thinking skill?

Read the documents quickly and carefully

SOURCE!!!!! Author, date, place it came from

Underline key words

Note point of view

Summarize in a few words the main idea of the doc

ADDRESS AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Historical Context, Intended Audience, Purpose, Point of View

Note any additional outside info that comes to mind at this point

H-I-P-P-…O

Used for document analysis

Very important for DBQ documents – always try

to determine these 5 points

Note: it is possible you won’t be able to determine

all 5 for all of the documents, all of the time

H – Historical Context

When is it taking place?

Where is it taking place?

What is happening in the document?

What is happening in America? (socially, politically,

economically)

What is happening in world history?

I – Intended Audience

Who is the speaker addressing? (don’t forget to look in the description

of the document)

P – Purpose Why is this document created?

P – Point of View Who is the author?

What is their view of the subject being discussed?

Is there bias?

O – Outside Info Are there any other People, Events, Documents, Laws, Ideas, Groups

(PEDLIG) that come to mind?

I return to the question with which I

began: How can the Union be saved?

There is only one way. That is by a full

and final settlement based on the

principle of justice, of all the disputes

between the two sections. The South

asks for justice, simple justice. Less it

ought not to accept. It has no

compromise to offer but the Constitution,

and no concession or surrender to make.

It has already surrendered so much that

it has little left to surrender. Such a

settlement would remove all the causes

of dissatisfaction. It would satisfy the

South that it could remain honorably and

safely in the Union. It would bring back

the harmony and good feelings between

the sections that existed before the

Missouri question. Nothing else can

finally and forever settle the questions at

issue, end agitation, and save the Union.

John Calhoun, March 4, 1850

Historical Context: Speech given at the

height of the tension and debate over the

various elements of the Compromise of

1850. The vote on the measures were in

doubt and the North and South were in

great conflict.

Intended Audience: Southern

conservatives, other states’ rights

supporters, and Northerner opponents.

Point of View: The Compromise was

flawed. Slavery was a constitutional right of

property that could go anywhere. The

South demanded justice.

Purpose: To bolster the South and unite its

supporters in opposition to the

Compromise.

Organization/Use: Depending on the

prompt, it could be used as evidence:

• to show growing sectionalism in 1850

• to show the consequences that had

emerged from the land

• acquired in the Mexican-American War

• to show the South’s mindset that

eventually led to secession

Citing a DBQ Document

Let’s say we have the following prompt:

Analyze the factors that led to the colonists developing a

sense of their own identity and unity as Americans by the

eve of the American Revolution (causation)

This is one of the documents!

When we do a HIPP of this document, we may come up

with the following:

Historical Context: cartoon was produced at the start of the French and Indian War to unite colonists

against the French and their Native American allies

Intended Audience: colonial legislatures who Franklin wanted to convince to support the Albany

Congress

Purpose: generate stronger colonial defense on the frontier against the French & Native Americans

Point of View: Franklin was a newspaper publisher & an organizer of the Albany Congress trying to

unify the colonies

NOW FOLLOW THIS…

Use the following formula, you will do extended analysis on the

documents (have to do 4 to get point, we do at least 5 just in case)

What’s the formula? Simple

Noun (name of doc or author, Extended Analysis (HIPP),

document analysis that supports the argument in response to the

promptSome examples:

“Join or Die, produced at the start of the French & Indian War to unite the colonies against the French, illustrates the view of colonists

like Franklin that the colonies had the same threats which helped to unify them even before the American Revolution”

OR

“Join or Die, produced for colonial legislatures who often did not see the threat of the French impacting their interests, illustrates the

view of colonists like Franklin that the colonies had the same threats which helped to unify them even before the American Revolution

OR

“Join or Die, designed to generate greater unity among the colonies in the face of threats from the French, illustrates the view of

colonists like Franklin that the colonies had the same threats which helped to unify them even before the American Revolution

OR

“Join or Die, written by Franklin who was a leader in the organization of the Albany Congress seeking to unify the colonies in the French and Indian War, illustrates the view of colonists like Franklin that the colonies had the same threats which helped to unify them

even before the American Revolution

Identify it – Say what it is! (DON’T SAY “In document 1…”)

Example:

The political cartoon …

In the excerpt …

Verb it- Say what it is doing! (states, explains, demonstrates says, argues, etc.)

Example:

The political cartoon by ______________ shows how…

In the excerpt from… the author explains…

Explain it – finish your thought!

Example:

The political cartoon by Chan Low implies that the instability in the Middle East has been ongoing.

In the excerpt from The Ideas that Conquered the World, by Michael Bishop, the author explains how the Industrial Revolution changed the world by threatening traditional social institutions

*At the end of the sentence you can cite the document by putting the NUMBER in parenthesis – example: (1)

Incorporate your HIPP

incorporate Historical Context, Intended Audience, Purpose or

Point of View FOR EACH DOCUMENT

How?

Historical Context: write a sentence that describes how the document

fits into the historical process; include the phrase “the historical

context of this document is…”

Intended Audience: write a sentence about how the source was

created and how this affects reliability or accuracy; “the author’s

intended audience was ___” and “is shown by ___”.

Purpose: write a sentence explaining why the source was produced

at the time and/or what the goal was; include a phrase like “the

author’s purpose in writing was to ___” and “is shown by _____”

Point of View: write a sentence identifying who the author is and

explain how the author’s personhood might have impacted the

document

Important final step for Documents:

After incorporating your analysis be sure to write a

sentence that does ONE of the following:

Explains why the source is important in relation to the

question being asked

OR

Explains what the source has to do with the question

being asked

Step 4:

Re-read the prompt and Write your thesis

Make sure it takes a (1) takes a stance, (2) answers all parts

of the question, and (3) is defensible

GOOD THESIS FORMULA:

X. However A and B. Therefore, Y.At the conclusion of World War 2 two superpowers emerged, the Soviet Union and the United States. The result was a greater

struggle to defeat communism by the US, and a determination to spread communism by the Soviets. (X) Vietnam was a major

conflict over the struggle to contain communism throughout Southeast Asia and the eventual end of Communist Russia.

(A)However, during the period 1964-1975 America was racked by growing unrest and disenchantment over why the war was

being fought,(B) who should run it and how the war should be waged, (C)and how much of American financial investment

should be expanded into running the war. (Y)Therefore, in the end, the Vietnam war damaged America's confidence in

themselves and their government.

DBQ Essay Format

Paragraph 1 – Thesis Statement & Setting the Scene (Contexualization)

Fully addresses the question

Takes a position

Provides organizational categories (social, economic, political)…ROADMAP

Provide the historical context – what’s going on?

Example: what major events/moments in history led to what you are discussing

Step 5: Organize Your Essay

Paragraph 2,3, & 4 (depends on prompt) – Body

Paragraphs

Always connect to your thesis – what does this paragraph have to

do with the point you’re trying to make?

Be SPECIFIC with MULTIPLE examples & explanations

For DBQs:

Use documents to support your arguments

HIPPO!

Paragraph 5 – Conclusion/Synthesis

Do not add any additional support/info to your argument

Make a connection to another time, event in history (PAST OR PRESENT!!)

REMEMBER:

Do not quote long passages of the documents if you have

to quote at all; it’s better to summarize in your own words

Note relationships: similarities, differences, causes/effects

of all of the documents in the group

The DBQ IS NOT ABOUT THE DOCUMENTS! They are

there to merely help you… your ARGUMENT should be the

basis of the essay, which can be guided but should not be

only based on the documents.

Must use all or all but 1 of the documents.

Step 6: Write your essay

Some DBQ final tips as you write your essay:

Don’t use “I” statements… “I think that Document A…”

Don’t summarize the document, use it to help your argument

Don’t quote documents

Don’t spend so much time on documents you don’t have time to

write your essay