Transcript The DBQ - Levittown School District

The DBQ
• Read the prompt carefully and thoroughly.
• Do not begin any other step until you know
what the question is asking.
• Sadly, to disregard these cautions means that
you are in danger of joining the hundreds of
students each year who write a beautiful
essay yet still earn 0 points because they
totally misinterpret the question.
• Do not panic if you know little or nothing
about the topic of the question.
• This question tests your ability to read,
analyze, synthesize, and communicate those
skills effectively in writing.
• Sure, knowing something about the topic is a
great help, but it is not essential to writing a
solid DBQ.
• You can anticipate 10 documents for each
DBQ.
• Always mark the documents for key words,
ideas, and phrases that seem to be important
• Make a few notes in the margins next to the
document to record your ideas as you read.
• Jot down your thoughts as you read each
document.
• After you have read a couple of the documents,
you should see some connections or
contradictions between the documents.
• Underline or circle key ideas in each document.
• Begin a list of these ideas in the margins of your
test booklet so you can refer to them later.
• As you finish reading the documents, you are
ready to group them. (This is simply
combining documents that have 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.
• Make a quick chart in the test booklet.
• Include your grouping categories and the
documents you have assigned to each group. It
can be as simple as this:
Group 1 Idea
1, 2, 4, 6
Group 2 Idea
5, 7, 8
Group 3 Idea
3, 9
Here are a few key points about grouping.
• Have at least 3 groups. (The generic rubric says “two or three ways,”
but If you always have at least 3 groups, you will meet the standard.
• Each group needs at least 2 documents.
• You can use a document in more than one group.
• Use all the documents!
• Though there are no irrelevant or misleading documents,
sometimes you might find one document that does not seem to fit
their otherwise wonderful grouping plan. It is okay to include such a
document in an intro or conclusion. However, you must interweave
that document artfully in an introduction or conclusion to show
that you understand the meaning of the document and that it
supports your thesis. Of course, it is best to use the document in a
grouping.
• Grouping the documents effectively allows you to
form a thesis easily.
• Consider the relationship between the groups. Can
you connect them as causes and effects? Can you
organize them as comparisons and contrasts? 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.
• As always with the all essays on this exam,
draft a clear, one-sentence thesis that fully
addresses the prompt, takes a position you
can support, and provides a structural
framework for the rest of your essay.
• Make that sentence the last sentence of your
introduction, if you have an introduction.
Without an introduction, just start the essay
with your thesis.
• Begin a new paragraph for each group.
• Each body paragraph should be tied to a grouping.
• Use your thesis as a map for putting the essay together.
• Use words from your thesis in each body paragraph topic
sentence.
• It is not necessary to list the documents that you will be
using in the paragraph in this topic sentence.
• Follow your thesis order and rely on your grouping chart
to organize each body paragraph.
• Use the evidence you have identified in each document to
support your thesis. Your margin notes next to each
document will come in handy.
• Always cite the document.
• You should cite each document every time
you use it.
• Putting a (Doc. 1) or a (1), for example, after
each usage is fine.
THE POINT OF VIEW (POV) POINT
• This point is earned as you demonstrate that you
understand how a person’s background, situation,
purpose, audience, or life experience affects what he
or she says and how he or she says it.
• Think about how a person’s gender, occupation, social
class, religion, ethnicity, education, nationality, or a
dozen other factors influence what he or she says or
how he or she says it.
• As you use a document, state how the POV of the
author of the document may affect the document’s
content.
• While you only need a POV for 2 of the
documents, include a POV for each document
to be safe. This will help you get expanded core
points (above a 7)
Additional Document
•You must suggest an additional document that would help you answer the essay task that
is not amongst the documents provided.
•You need at least one, but to get expanded points need at least 3, so aim for that
You must ask for a document that is:
a) Possible: A TV broadcast from the 1258 C.E. Mongol conquest of Baghdad is not feasible
and will not count.
b) Relevant: In a DBQ about the factors that shaped the modern Olympics, a Taoist
scripture about the benefits of exercise is too much of a stretch.
c) Not already supplied: If you already have a document from a fourth-century Christian
monk discussing illuminated manuscripts, do not ask for an additional monk’s ideas to
confirm the statements in the original document. That will not count.
d) Specific: For example, “I would like to have a document from a woman to know how
women felt about this topic.” is unacceptable. Be specific in the type of document you
want and why you want it.
When finished, check that you have:
• Used and cited all the documents
• Finished each body paragraph with a request
for an additional document
• Explained why that document would help
you answer the DBQ question more
effectively
• Addressed POV to the best of your ability.
SCORING RUBRIC LINK