In a DBQ, sourcing means analyzing a document’s perspective, purpose, audience, or historical situation to explain why it is useful in supporting your argument.
Point of View (POV) refers to how the author’s background, beliefs, or identity might influence their perspective in the document.
Understanding POV helps determine bias, reliability, and why the author presents information in a particular way.
To analyze POV, we use the CORNPEG acronym:
🔹 Class – Is the author an elite, middle class, or lower class person?
🔹 Occupation – How does the author’s job influence their perspective?
🔹 Religion – Does the author’s religious background shape their views?
🔹 Nationality – How does the author’s country of origin affect their bias?
🔹 Politics – Is the author trying to promote a particular ideology or party?
🔹 Education – How does the author’s level of education or scholarly training shape their views?
🔹 Gender – Does the author’s gender impact how they view the topic?
Look for clues about the author’s class, job, religion, nationality, politics, education, or gender.
Ask: How might the author’s identity shape their opinions?
Ask:
Does the author have a reason to exaggerate, criticize, or defend something?
How might the author's background create bias or a unique perspective?
What would someone with a different background say about this topic?
Clearly connect the author's background to the document’s message.
Explain how understanding the POV helps interpret the document’s reliability or bias.
End by tying your sourcing back to your thesis.
Explain how the POV affects the document’s usefulness in answering the prompt.
"Evaluate the extent to which the Enlightenment influenced political revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries."
Document: A political essay by a highly educated Enlightenment philosopher advocating for democracy.
✅ Strong Point of View Sourcing:
"The author is an Enlightenment philosopher with a formal education in political theory, which influences his perspective. His education likely exposes him to new ideas about government and individual rights, leading him to favor democracy over monarchy. Because of his background, he may present Enlightenment ideas as universally positive while ignoring the challenges of implementing them in real-world governance."
🚫 Weak Sourcing:
"The philosopher supports democracy because he likes Enlightenment ideas."
(❌ Too vague and does not explain how the author’s education shapes his views.)
"Evaluate the causes of European imperial expansion in the 19th century."
Document: A speech by a British government official defending imperialism as a way to "civilize" non-Europeans.
✅ Strong Point of View Sourcing:
"The author is a British government official, meaning his occupation and nationality shape his perspective. As someone working for the British Empire, he has a political and national interest in justifying imperialism. His education as a government official may also reflect Eurocentric ideas, leading him to present European rule as beneficial while ignoring the exploitation and violence associated with imperialism."
🚫 Weak Sourcing:
"The British official supports imperialism because he works for the government."
(❌ Too simplistic and does not analyze how the author’s job, nationality, and education influence their view.)
✅ Identify how CORNPEG applies to the author.
✅ Explain how their background influences their opinion.
✅ Analyze whether their POV makes the document biased, exaggerated, or limited.
✅ Connect back to your thesis.