Four Steps in Writing a Great Long Essay Question (LEQ):
1. Your first THREE sentences need to feature Contextualization
This is the first point that you can earn on a LEQ! 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 & Addressing the Three Historical Thinking Skills
This is the second (and possibly the most crucial) point that you can earn on a LEQ! 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. All in all, the categories of A, B, and X will amount to three body paragraphs.
There are three thinking skills that are assessed in APUSH essays: Causation, Continuity and Change Over Time, and Comparison. This means that there are three types of essays that you may encounter on the APUSH exam.
If you are presented a causation essay, you will have to argue which is more important - the causes or the effects of a topic.
If you are presented a continuity and change over time essay, you will have to argue which is more important - the things that stayed the same throughout time or the things that changed.
If you are presented a comparison essay, you will have to argue which is more important - the similarities or differences between two topics.
NOTE: Merely acknowledging that there were causes and effects, similarities and differences, and changes and continuities will not earn a thesis point. A student must take a position on which one is most significant!
3. Body Paragraphs with Factual Information
The next TWO points on a LEQ involve evidence! A student has to use specific examples (meaning at least two) and then tie the evidence back to the thesis statement.
A good body paragraph will start with an argument. In APUSH, we call those TOPIC SENTENCES because they introduce the topic of the paragraph and make an argument. For example, one might begin a paragraph by writing, “The Great Depression was eased, but not completely solved, at home by Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.” Your topic sentence needs to be related and tied back to one of your categories that you wrote about in your thesis statement.
In this class, you will want to try to write at least three good body paragraphs, beginning with a topic sentence, and including 3-5 pieces of SFI in each paragraph. What is SFI? SPECIFIC FACTUAL INFORMATION, or another way of saying key terms. The rest of the paragraph is where you prove your point—but be sure to use INTERPRETIVE COMMENTARY in your work explain HOW and WHY your SFI matters—points are NOT awarded for merely describing a key term. A good paragraph will be least 4-5 sentences long.
The final sentence in a body paragraph is called a CLINCHER SENTENCE that reaffirms your main point and ties directly back to the thesis statement. Always begin with the word "Therefore, ..." when starting your clincher sentence.
Example clincher sentence: "Therefore, the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine was by far the most significant factor that led the U.S. into the Spanish-American War."
4. The Historical Thinking Skill
A student can earn this point by using historical reasoning (Comparison, Causation, and Continuity and Change Over Time) to frame or structure an argument that addresses the prompt. In other words, you must use one of the three thinking skills (mentioned above) and write about BOTH parts of the thinking skill in your essay.
NOTE: It is easy to forget to use the thinking skill in the body paragraphs! Remember to dedicate at least one paragraph to causes and one paragraph to effects. The same is true for the thinking skills of comparison and continuity and change over time!
TIP: If you know more effects of a subject rather than the causes of a topic, then dedicate 2 of your 3 body paragraphs to effects and only one to causes!
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:
Explaining nuance by analyzing multiple variables
Explaining both similarity and difference, both continuity and change, or multiple causes, or both causes and effects
Explaining relevant and insightful connections within and across periods
Confirming the validity of an argument by corroborating multiple perspectives across themes
Qualifying or modifying an argument by considering diverse or alternative views or evidence
6. Conclusion
You do not earn any points for a conclusion! However, try to rewrite and weigh the thesis including the evidence. Your final sentences need to tie to the next time period. I like to think of the conclusion as linking up to the future. However, you don’t need to end with “THIS IS WHY WE ARE WHAT WE ARE TODAY” or “THIS IS WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT.”
*It is also possible to earn a point for a thesis statement here! Make sure to restate/reword your thesis again if you feel like your first thesis was not argumentative enough!