1. Your first THREE sentences need to feature Contextualization
This is the first point that you can earn on a DBQ! When you begin your essay, you need to try and give the background information to whatever topic has been assigned to you. Have you ever seen the opening crawl in the Star Wars movies? It sets the CONTEXT of the movie, letting you know what happened that led up to the topic at hand. It is RELATED to the topic, but NOT the same as the topic. Did the Star Wars crawl tell you the plot of the movie? No, but it does set the context as to what happened that led up to the start of the movie. Start your essay with approximately three sentences of contextualization, and show what was happening in the U.S. at the time that led up to the topic of the essay. For example, I like using the phrase, “Coming out of the Civil War, the U.S. was….”
2. Thesis Statements
Always place your thesis statement as the LAST SENTENCE in your INTRODUCTION. All good thesis statements will do three things: answer the essay prompt, make an argument, and introduce categories of analysis. Many people miss the ARGUMENTATION point by merely describing events in history and not arguing a point. Students in the past have enjoyed the formula thesis example of Although X, Y because A and B. X represents your counterpoint. A and B represent your categories. Y represents your claim or your argument. X (the counterpoint), A, and B are all three body paragraphs in the essay.
3. Document Analysis
The document analysis section of the DBQ is worth three points out of the seven point rubric. A Document Based Question will feature seven documents that a student is required to use in their essay. A student indicates that they are using a document by citing it. A student simply needs to write (Doc. 2) at the end of the sentence when they are finished using Document 2.
4. Outside Information
This point is awarded if a student's essay must feature at least one piece of outside information that is not already mentioned in the seven documents. The evidence that is used also must be relevant to an argument about the prompt. This additional piece of evidence must be different from the evidence used to earn the point for contextualization in the introduction of the essay.
5. A Complex Understanding
This is the "cherry on top" and separates great essays from average essays. In order to earn this point, a student will demonstrate a complex understanding of the historical development that is the focus of the prompt, using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument that addresses the question. The response must demonstrate a complex understanding, which must be part of the argument and not merely a phrase or reference.
This could include: