DBQ's

DBQ's or Document Based Questions are essay questions that give you documents which are primary sources, and ask you to interpret them. These documents may include letters, book excerpts, newspaper articles and editorials, diaries, speeches, political cartoons, charts, and graphs. The 45 Minute DBQ is the second part of the AP European History Test. The DBQ begins with a 15 minute mandatory reading time, which you can not start to write the DBQ, followed by a 45 minute writing time. You must include relevant outside information when writing a DBQ. Writing a DBQ is an acquired skill. Remember there is no right or wrong answer. Remember, a DBQ is not an essay which you would write in your English class, but rather the AP Test is looking for content, not structure. The following is how the AP Test evaluates your DBQ Essay, be sure to follow these guidelines in order to achieve the score that would prove beneficial to you:

(Score Scale 0-9)

BASIC CORE

EXPANDED CORE

Points

1) Has acceptable thesis.

Expands beyond basic core of 1 to 6 points. A student must earn 6 points in the basic core area before earning points in the expanded core area.

Examples:

Has a clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis.
Uses all or almost all documents.
Uses documents persuasively as evidence.
Shows careful and insightful analysis of the documents.
Analyzes bias or point of view in at least four documents cited in the essay.
Analyzes documents in additional ways — additional groupings or other.
Brings in relevant "outside" historical content.

0-3

2) Uses a majority of documents.

3) Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from documents.

4) Understands the basic meaning of documents cited in the essay. (May misinterpret one document.)

5) Analyzes bias or point of view in at least two or three documents.

6) Analyzes documents by grouping them in one (or two or three) ways, depending on DBQ question.

Subtotal

TOTAL