AAE - Deconstructing the DBQ (Lesson)
Deconstructing the DBQ.
The Document Based Question in European History has a very prescribed method of writing. It is here that the College Board is testing a mix of what you know along with how well you can "write historically."
So what does it mean to "write historically?" Well, it simply means you can do the work a historian would do. You can read primary and secondary source documents, analyze them, extract information from them, draw conclusions about the topic at hand, and relate it to your studies, thereby bringing in "outside knowledge" to support the documents. Think of it as a mini-research paper for you where someone else has already done the majority of the research.
| Primary Sources | Secondary Sources |
|---|---|
| Primary sources are firsthand sources. . .something directly from the person. A diary entry, a painting, a letter, a government report, an original work by an author (not a compilation or a book about another's work), etc | Secondary source documents are documents written AFTER the fact. They don't provide a first hand account, instead they analyze historical events, often providing different perspectives. Historian accounts, textbooks, etc. are all considered to be secondary sources. |
Your task, then, is to work with that information. To create a comprehensive thesis then support that thesis with evidence gleaned from the given documents. You need to display a greater analysis of the documents by determining the point of view of said documents. . . determine if the information can be accepted at face value or if there is some evidence of bias that may impact what is being said, thus how we interpret it.
The College Board states: Each document-based question will also always assess the historical thinking skills of argumentation, use of evidence, contextualization, and synthesis. The directions to students will explain the discrete tasks necessary to score well on this question. If you have not already, download a copy of the DBQ rubric. Links to an external site.As noted earlier in the module it is recommended that you have a copy of this available whenever you write a dbq.
Using and Understanding the Docs.
There are two points that are associated with the using and understanding of documents. All start with a base assumption that you will use three of the documents.
In order to get this point you must discuss the three documents individually and specifically. This means if you simply laundry list the docs or lump them together in a sentence, you haven't actually discussed them and therefore can not gain this point. So how should you refer to them? At a bare minimum, you should refer to the docs by attribution. Two documents, however, will also need to have point of view references. (Note: While only two are required you should consider writing one for every document you use. The reason for this is to give you a little bit of added protection. You have to have 2 statements to gain the rubric point. If one falls short and you only wrote 2, you fail to get the point. But if one falls short and you wrote 3 or more, you have another chance to have one counted.)
Can you use more than 3? YES!
In fact, I would encourage you to get in the habit of using four or more of the documents. Using three documents is the baseline. IF you are already working to incorporate documents AND drafting point of view sentences (which you will need to do to get credit for DBQs within this course), why would you not attempt to incorporate at least 1 more document? It's a simple addition to the essay you are already writing and might net you a major payoff.
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