Tips for writing the Document-based Essay Question

From the Advanced Placement Program Course Description: World History (commonly known as the "Acorn Book"), January 2000:

"The primary purpose of the document-based essay question is not to test students' prior knowledge of subject matter but rather to evaluate their ability to formulate and support an answer from documentary evidence. It is assumed students have taken the course and understand the broader world historical context. Documents are chosen on the basis of both the information they convey about the topic and the perspective that they offer on other documents used in the exercise. Thus the fullest understanding of any particular document emerges only when that document is viewed within the wider context of the entire series. Designed to test skills analogous to those of the historian at work on source materials, the document-based exercise differs from the task of actual historians mainly in the time available for analysis and the prearranged selection of the documents, which may help illuminate the specifics of the question. There is no single "correct" answer; instead, various approaches and responses are possible, depending on the students' ability to understand the documents and ultimately to judge their significance.

In writing the essay, candidates may find it useful to consider the following points. The document-based question is an exercise in both analysis and synthesis. It requires that students first read and analyze the documents individually and then plan and construct an appropriate response to the essay question based on their interpretation of the documentary evidence as a whole. What is desired is a unified essay that integrates analysis of documents with treatment of the topic."

How to Create A Document-Based Question:
The challenge of creating a complex and rational question is made easier by writing possible thesis statements over interesting historical issues. The interpretive work of a historian draws on a variety of primary source documents in order to analyze evidence which may support or discredit the thesis. These sources may include public records, diaries and letters, charts and graphs, maps, news articles, interviews, art, literature, and music, photographs, political cartoons, speeches and interviews. If at all possible, a DBQ should include a visual to interpret and some documents should contradict others. This disagreement will help to form a thesis and identify possible bias that is the cause of the conflicting reports. After sources are contextualized for bias (and post-modernism avoided), then the student may formulate a reasoned essay that demonstrates their knowledge of a historical period. This will include an acknowledgement of missing sources and opposing perspectives.The values and ideas of authors, set within the religious, social, and political context of a given time and culture, will greatly influence "point-of-view". The POV needs to be identified in each source document.

What kind of topics make a good DBQ?
A good topic begins with an honest question. The question rises from a combination of personal interest and ignorance. Choose a region or time period of historical interest that will keep you engaged as you search the available source documents. The question will develop during your exploration of the material and direct your research to expand or narrow your topic. For example, if you are interested in slavery, chose a region and time period. Although the Triangle Trade is a popular area of study, you may want to instead focus on a form of slavery under Russian serfdom, or Slavery during the Roman Empire, or specifically the slave trade of eunuchs or virgins among Arab raiders on the East coast of Africa. The options are many. Try to avoid recent events for, as Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) said, "Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may haply strike out his teeth."

How should a primary source be presented?
If available, each source presented in the DBQ should include the author’s name, date written, occasion, and a link or other information useful for obtaining the source in its entirety. Provide a very brief comment on the historical context of the document and any information that might give insight to possible bias. Was it written in response to another event? See examples from the Israeli Peace DBQ for what type of context might be presented with a source document. Notice that only the pertinent section of a whole source document is actually used as a source. Either quote a short segment or use ellipses to skip through to another important section of the same source. A source quoted in the DBQ that is more than about five paragraphs long is probably too much. The entire length of all the source documents should not take over 10 minutes to read.

In the essay response to the DBQ there is no bibliography or citation method used. Indicate which document is being discussed in the essay by mentioning the unique title of the source or author’s name in parenthesis or otherwise integrated into the text. The goal is not MLA citation but to simply let the reader know which document is being discussed. If possible, please send everything together in one word document: sources and essay.

As you see sources from newspapers, magazines, books, and the Internet, be careful before accepting the captions which purport to explain an image.

There are lists of several locations of primary sources, repositories, and specifically, historical images. Here is one of the most comprehensive list of sourcebooks on the Internet. and another: http://www.rwc.uc.edu/library/primary.html

Here is a good explanation of Using Historical Sources.

Using Historic Records as Tools in the Classroom has pointers for teachers and students.

For something recent, the 1851-1995 archives of the New York Times is available at $3 per article.

Hmmmm. Let's see,

"The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice."
--Mark Twain

"History is a myth we all agree to believe."
-Napoleon

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
- Winston Churchill

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