NAME________________________________                           AP American

DBQ Project                                                                        Horton

 

Herein please find all the pertinent information and directions for the completion of the DBQ portion of the assignment which was begun in the summer.

 

Description:

There are several important goals:

   You will learn how to write evaluative essay questions like those you will encounter on the AP test

   You will learn how documents are selected and used in answering complex questions

   You will provide your fellow students with DBQ’s that they can use to prepare themselves for the test

 

Directions:

1. Your first task is to select a topic within the area that you read over the summer, and write a DBQ question. When you have the question written, you must have it approved by the teacher before proceeding with the next step. A due date for the writing of this question will be set in class. You may choose from the list of suggestions at the bottom of this page, or you may write one of your own design.
    
2. After getting your question approved, you will find at least 8 and no more than 12 documents that can be used in answering the question. These may consist of excerpts from original source documents, significant secondary documents, charts, graphs, cartoons, diagrams, etc. All of the documents must include a citation noting the author and the source from which the document comes.
    
3. On the cover sheet of your final project, you should include the following:

                           Header at the top right corner with your name, date, and    

                    class period

                           Title (use an actual DBQ as a guide)

                           Directions (use an actual DBQ as a guide)
 

4. Your DBQ should be typed, single spaced, and submitted on disk in usable form and ALSO a clean hard copy of the completed assignment.
    
5. Label the documents as on a real DBQ: Source A above the first, Source B above the second etc. At least 5 of the documents should support the essay
    
6. Out an appropriate caption under each source: Author of the source, title of the source, date of the source
    
7. The last page of the DBQ should be a “summary” of each document and how it might be used in the actual essay, which will NOT be written by you!

 

Time Frame: All questions, documents, and responses are due on the date determined in class. I WILL accept projects handed in early. I WILL NOT accept projects handed in late.

 

Grades: Will be based on the following:

   Breadth and depth of the question

   Quality, diversity, and selection of the documents

   Creativity

 

Possible Formats:

   Change over time

   Cause and effect

   Compare and contrast

 

Wording of the Question Itself: Use one of the following

   Evaluate

   Analyze (similar to how did..)

   Compare

   Compare and contrast

   To what extent

   Why

   Assess the validity of...