WHAP The DBQ
WHAP The DBQ
What you need to know to do well on the World History AP Document Based Question. Robin Whats is a DBQ?
DB what?
45-minute timed writing Assesses your scholarly writing skills Assesses your ability to think critically Must analyze 8-12 primary source documents Put on your "historian" hat to demonstrate your ability to analyze source materials and develop an essay based on those materials. Your goal: a unified essay that integrates your analysis given documents with your treatment of the topic.
DBQ Prompt:
Read the prompt. Underline the words that relate to the prompt expectation (task).
DBQ Prompt:
Categorize/classify: sort into groups based on a given set of traits or features Compare & contrast: point out similarities (compare) and differences (contrast) Determine cause & effect: decide what leads to an event or circumstance (cause) and what results from an event or circumstance (effect) Evaluate/judge: Determine the worth or wisdom of an opinion, belief or idea Argue/defend/justify/support: give evidence to show why an idea is right or good
Compare and contrast the various religious and philosophical perspectives that developed in the classical period. Include in your discussion examples from at least two of the following: Mesopotamia, Greece, China
Write down on your notes what you would have underlined from this prompt.
Compare and contrast (not describe, explain, etc.) Religious and philosophical (not political,
economic)
What about the historical background? It sets the scene Is intended to stimulate your memory You DO NOT receive points for citing the background information
AP PARTS
You should learn to do this every time you come into contact with a new document.
* Author - Who created the source? What is their point of view? * Place and Time - Where and when was the source produced? * Prior Knowledge - What do you already know that would further your understanding of this sources? * Audience - For whom was the source created? Does this affect the reliability of the source? * Reason - Why was this source produced at the time is was produced? * The Main Idea - What is the source trying to convey? * Significance - Why is this source important?
Suggest reasons for similarities or differences in perspective among the documents; And identify possible biases or inconsistencies within documents.
Dont have regrets after the AP test is over about the DBQ!
Categories
Try to come up with 3 categories into which the documents fit
Remember, just like with vocabulary, some of the documents will fit into MORE than 1 category Ask yourself: which is the best fit?
Make a chart!
1 G 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
X X X
X X
X X X
X X
X X
Compare and contrast the various religious and philosophical perspectives that developed in the classical period. Include in your discussion examples from at least two of the following: Mesopotamia, Greece, China
Lets do some exploring. Write a thesis based on a guess of what you think would be a good thesis.
Many different religious and philosophical ideas developed during the classical period.
Ouch. You are about to get crushed. Ice cream is cold. The sun is hot. Freshman are losers. That much is evident from the prompt. Furthermore, it just restates the prompt but does not respond to it!
Evaluate the thesis: Different religious and philosophical perspectives arose in classical China and Greece. They were different and similar in many ways.
Pizza-Taco anyone? If you can take two words (China/Greece) & replace them with Pizza/Taco and make the same amount of sense, you are in trouble. You are wasting words! Also, it is NOT the best idea to construct a 2-sentence thesis!
There it is! It responds to the prompt, but does not restate it!
Structure
Your thesis will anticipate the essay structure.
Topic 1: Greek rationalism
Proof 1 (document citation) Proof 2 (document citation) Proof 3 (document citation)
ANALYZE THE DOCUMENTS, MAKE INFERENCES, AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS. DONT SUMMARIZE THEM!
NO
QUOTING
I said, No Quoting.
It can help you, but only if you have already nailed each document, analyzed point of view three times, and made no other mistakes.
My advice: concentrate on doc analysis
DBQ? What DB.. She is so pretty. I am the man.
This guy is handsome, but if he plans on citing Mulan on his WHAP DBQ, Im dropping him like a led balloon.
0-7 Points
1. Has acceptable thesis 2. Addresses all documents. Understands the basic meaning of documents. (May misinterpret one document.) 3. Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all documents. (Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but one document) 4. Analyzes point of view in at least two documents 5. Analyzes documents by grouping them in two or three ways, depending on the question
1 Point 1 Point
6. Identifies and explains the need for one type of appropriate additional 1 Point document or source Subtotal EXPANDED CORE (excellence) (Historical skills and knowledge required to show excellence) 0-2 Points /7 Points
Subtotal TOTAL
/2 Points /9 Points
BASIC CORE (competence) 1. Has acceptable thesis 2. Addresses all documents. Understands the basic meaning of documents. (May misinterpret one document.)
3. Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from 2 Points all documents. (Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but one document) 4. Analyzes point of view in at least two documents (1 Point) 1 Point
5. Analyzes documents by grouping them in two 1 Point or three ways, depending on the question 6. Identifies and explains the need for one type of 1 Point appropriate additional document or source Subtotal EXPANDED CORE (excellence) (Historical skills and knowledge required to show excellence) 0-2 Points /7 Points
Subtotal TOTAL
/2 Points /9 Points