A DBQ Essay: Writing Tips

First, let’s figure out what a DBQ essay is. This is a Document Based Question, which is familiar to the students who deal with AP History exams. Most often, students have to answer these questions when taking exams on US, European, or World History. Usually, the main task is to analyze a certain historical issue or modern events using evidence from documents. Many students know little to nothing about tasks of this kind so they start to panic and feel stressed. We at Writers-House.com always do what we can to help students so we decided to write this guide.

We hope that it will help you prepare for a DBQ essay. Keep in mind that the rubric, instructions, and guidelines are the same as those necessary for AP History exams. However, there might be a difference in documents.

Writing Tips

The first thing you should do to write a good DBQ essay is to prepare in advance. We recommend that you don’t get right to the writing process without preparation. There are also a few important things you should consider when you have time to prepare. Keep in mind that you’ll only have 15 minutes for preparation.

Start by reading your prompt. Make sure that you understand the question and look for keywords (e.g. society, political problems, time period, etc.). Determine what type of evidence you should use and try to consider your issue in a broad context.

Don’t think about documents at this stage, just research and gather the information that can be useful for your essay. Find information about that historical period and that society. Your goal is to provide this information when writing your DBQ essay and using evidence. If you already know something about this topic, you may also include some relevant outside information.

• First, you should define your point. You will likely get several nice ideas after reading the prompt so choose the best one. Try to provide an original perspective that will make your essay stand out.
• You should also come up with a thesis statement. However, at this stage, it’s enough to just write down a temporary thesis. You’ll be able to modify it in the future but now you need something to understand what documents you’ll use.
• Once you’ve imagined what your thesis will look like, get to your documents. You’ll be given a few historical documents so you will have to read them and to determine the key idea of each document. You should also consider the documents in relation to the draft of your thesis. We recommend that you take notes while reading and note the chronology to analyze it later.
• After familiarizing yourself with the documents, sort them by categories. Consider every document related to the question from your prompt. For instance, you may select the documents that you would like to compare and contrast.
• Your documents must support your thesis statement. Therefore, you should understand the different opinions expressed by multiple authors. Always try to identify an author’s point and to figure out what supports this point. Your essay must explain these opinions.
• Your goal is to demonstrate a deep understanding of different documents so we recommend that you cluster them and reflect your understanding in the essay. Group your sources and make sure that they actually support your thesis. When separating your documents into groups, try to find different kinds of support for different aspects of your argument.
• Although you’ll be given some documents, you’ll also need to provide an additional document. Make sure that your document is directly related to the question from the prompt.
• Now it’s time to develop your thesis statement. Once you’ve got enough information about the question, you can improve your temporary thesis to make sure that it responds to the question explicitly. Your thesis must be concise and clear.

When you’re prepared, it’s time to write the essay itself.

An Outline for a DBQ Essay

Usually, DBQ essays have a standard format described below.

Introduction

Start your introduction with a concise historical context. Your introduction should also include the thesis statement. After this, briefly describe the topics you’re going to address in the body of your essay.

Body paragraphs

Make sure to sort the paragraphs of the body logically. Every paragraph should begin with an introductory sentence that explains the paragraph. A paragraph should consider a certain issue, focusing on it and providing the necessary details. We suggest that you refer to any documents by their titles. When referring to a document, make sure to add analysis, as well.

Different types of AP History essays may have different requirements. For example, the United States History exam requires you to provide a lot of additional evidence while mostly citing the given documents. When writing an essay for the AP European History exam, you won’t need to add many outside sources.

When providing a direct quotation, make sure that it’s directly related to your context. Your body paragraphs should also include relevant citations for all of the sources used. Don’t forget that your body paragraphs should also be related to the thesis statement. Make sure to explain how exactly the evidence supports your points and develop your thesis. You also have to explain any specific nuances associated with the historical period.

Conclusion

This is another important part of your essay. Here, you have to restate your thesis statement and summarize the main points from the body section.

Examples of Questions

Here are some examples of questions that can be used for DBQ essays:

• Explain why a new conservatism became so popular in the United States between 1960 and 1990
• Compare and contrast different situations with women’s rights in the US in the 1890s and the 1930s
• Explain why the women’s rights movement gained power from 1940 to 1975