How to DBQ Teacher Versionsanchezhistory.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/6/4/12647792/how_to_dbq.pdf · How to DBQ Name _____ 2004 DBQ ... V. Reading & Analyzing Documents p. 4 VI. ... 4 Analyzes

How to DBQ Name ________________________2004 DBQ: Responses to Buddhism in China June 30, 2012

Bill StricklandEast Grand Rapids High School

East Grand Rapids, [email protected]

http://moodle.egrps.org/course/enrol.php?id=136

Teachers,

Here’s what I use to introduce the DBQ to my students. Since the 2004 DBQ (Buddhism in China) isearly in the 1 semester, I use it to teach good document analysis skills. This lesson is divided intost

several sections which I teach over 3-4 class periods. (I have 58 min classes, 5 days/week)

I. General Advice for All Essays, p. iii

II. The DBQ, p. iv

III. The Question p. 1

IV. The Historical Background p. 3

V. Reading & Analyzing Documents p. 4

VI. Pulling It All Together p. 15

VII. The Thesis p. 18

VIII. The “Missing Piece” p. 21

IX. Appendixes:Appendix A: Shoe Activity p. 22Appendix B: Suggested Generic DBQ Structure p. 24Appendix C: “Bias Rules” p. 35Appendix D: Must Do/Not Do’s for DBQs p. 25Appendix E: Using Documents for the DBQ p. 26Appendix F: Frequent DBQ Mistakes p. 27Appendix G: “Power Writing” for DBQs p. 34

Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids High School [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.egrps.org/hs/hsstaff/BSTRICKL/apwh.html


How to DBQ June 30, 2012ii

How to DBQ Classroom CalendarNote: I see my students on a “traditional” schedule, 58 minutes/day, 5 days/week.

DayHomework to be completed before class

Students should read/complete ... Class activity

1

• Introduction: General Advice for allEssays1

• Sect. I: The Question• Sect. II: Historical Background• Sect. III: Analyzing the Documents

Lead the whole class activity through a carefulreading & analysis of the question, the Histor-ical Background paragraph, and each of the sixdocuments. By the end of the class hour stu-dents should understand “what” the individualdocuments say and how they individually relateto the question.

2

• Sect IV: Pulling It All Together• Sect V: Thesis• Sect VI: Additional Document

By the end of this hour students should: under-stand how each of the documents contributesthe “what” to the question, and how thedocuments relate to each other.

3(optional depending on your students’skills)Point of View/Context

I use Monica Bond-Lamberty’s excellentMastering POV Powerpoint.2

4 Write DBQ Essay in Class

When I use this lesson in class, I spend a full class day (58 min/class) on the document analysis (p. 1-12)and a second day for the rest of this handout. Then I “call an audible” whether to spend a day on Point ofView, based on their questions during the first two days. Then on the final day, I give them the wholehour to write an actual DBQ on (you guessed it) this same exact question. Given that they’ve spent twoor three full days analyzing the question and the documents they have no excuse for not writing a greatessay. Obviously that doesn’t always happen, but it encourages good writing habits from the verybeginning of the year, rather than spending months breaking them of bad habits.

Hope this helps,

Bill StricklandEast Grand Rapids High SchoolEast Grand Rapids, [email protected]

This is entirely optional. The “General Advice” section is really just background material that gives students the1

larger context for how the DBQ fits into the AP exam, as well as introducing the DBQ Generic Rubric. In my ownclassroom, I don’t assign these pages now because my students have already read this information in previous weeks.

See my website for more detail.2


mailto:[email protected]


How to DBQ June 30, 2012iii

General Advice for All Essays

Remember the overall structure of the APWH Exam? On the day of the national exam, you’ll have justfinished 70 Multiple Choice questions in 55 minutes. You’ll then have a 5-10 minutes break before start-ing the Essay section. Below is a table summarizing how the Essay Section fits into the overall exam.

SectionMultipleChoice

5 M

in B

reak

Free Response (Essay)

Weight 50%50%

16.67% 16.67% 16.67%

# ofQuestions 70

DBQDocument Based

Question

CCOTContinuity &

Change Over Time

Comparative(Compare and

Contrast)

TimeAllowed 55 minutes 10 minute mandatory reading/planning period,

then 120 self-budgeted minutes to write all 3 essays.

SuggestedPace

~ 45 secondsper question

40-45 minutes 35-40 minutes 35-40 minutes

Mandatory Reading PeriodWhen the Essay section begins, you’ll receive a green booklet containing all three essays questions:the DBQ; the CCOT; and the Comparative. You have 10 minutes to read all the questions, includingthe documents for the DBQ, take notes, and plan your essays. You are NOT allowed to actually beginwriting during these 10 minutes.

Big Mistake #1: Wasting 10 min Reading/Planning PeriodOne of the biggest mistakes students make during the AP Exam is not using the 10-minute mandatory reading/planning period to plan and outline their essays. Too oftenstudents simply stare into space, think about what they’re going to do after school, etc.You’re can’t start writing your actual essays during these 10 minutes, but the time is agreat opportunity to:

1. brainstorm evidence2. write an outline of your essays’ paragraph structure3. write a 1 draft of your essays’ theses.st

As the next two hours unfold, you can then look back over your notes and outline to makesure you write as good an essay as possible.

Maximizing your Score

Plan More, Write Less3

Great advice from Chirs Wolfe, Bellermine College Prep, San Jose, CA.3



How to DBQ June 30, 2012iv

You do not have to write the DBQ first. You can write the essays in any order. There’s no “trick” forwhich to write first, last, etc. Also note that while the exam proctor will remind you during the writingtime that “you have x minutes remaining,” you can spend as much or as little time as you want on eachessay, so you’ll need to be self-disciplined in order to write three high-quality essays in the time allowed.

Maximizing your ScoreEach point on an Essay is worth more than 2.5 Multiple Choice questions!

Core ScoringNext, realize that APWH essays are graded according to a rubric. The rubric for each type of essay isslightly different, but all three essays’ rubrics require the essay to satisfy 5-6 “Core” characteristics.If, and only if, all of these “Core” characteristics are satisfied, then the essay is eligible for “ExpandedCore” (extra credit) points. The “Expanded Core” categories are basically just the same as the Corecategories, but require a higher quality of performance. The Rubrics are structured this way to encouragestudents to write well-rounded essays. On a practical level this means it is crucial to know what the“Core” characteristics are so that one can satisfy all the “Core” requirements, as well as then possiblyearning “Expanded Core” points. The “Core” characteristics are worth 7 points, while the ExpandedCore is worth 2 additional points. Thus, the maximum possible score for each essay is 9.

Asset ModelOne last thing to note is that the scoring of the essays is done on a so-called asset model. That is, thescorers want to give you every point that you deserve and are looking for every opportunity to do so.What this means, practically speaking, is that they will read over your errors rather than remove points.So, be daring and do everything that is required and more. Do not let fear of errors hold you back to atimid standard on the AP World History essays. Study the rubrics in this section so that you know whatis scored on each essay.

The DBQ (Document Based Question)

Purpose of the DBQThe purpose of the DBQ is to test students’ ability to do what professional historians actually do: useand interpret historical documents to make conclusions based on those documents. It is NOT a test ofstudents’ prior knowledge (you’re not expected to know anything about the topic before the exam) butrather a test of students’ skills to perform a variety of analytical tasks. Why is this important to realize?When you first read a DBQ question, you will most likely have absolutely no idea about the topic.Relax! That’s normal. No one is expected to know anything about the topic. That’s what makes a DBQ a“level playing field.” No one has any advantage over anyone else.

Maximizing your ScoreDon’t panic when you read the DBQ Question! You’re not expected to know anything

about the topic. The purpose of the DBQ is to test your skills, not your knowledge.



How to DBQ June 30, 2012v

The DBQ “Core” Rubric

Official Description Points Shorthand Description

1 Has an acceptable Thesis 1 Thesis

2 Addresses all of the documents and demonstrates under-standing of all or all but one. 1 Meaning

of Documents

3

Supports thesis with appropriate evidence from all orall but one document. 2

EvidenceSupports thesis with appropriate evidence from all but twodocuments. 1

4 Analyzes the point of view of at least two documents. 1 Point of View

5 Analyzes documents by grouping them in two or three ways,depending on the question. 1 Grouping

6 Identifies and explains the need for one type of appropriateadditional document or source. 1 Additional

Document

In addition to the 7 points possible in the “Core” above, students can earn up to two “Expanded Core”(extra credit) points for doing any of these “Core” tasks exceptionally well. But ALL seven of the“Core” points must be earned before an essay is eligible for “Expanded Core” credit.

Big Mistake #2: The Purpose of the RubricThe Rubric is meant as a guide for essay Readers to score the essay, not as an outline forstudents in how to write the essay. Although the DBQ Rubric lists six “Core” character-istics, that does NOT mean that students should write the essay in the order of these char-acteristics. Do NOT write a “Point of View” paragraph, then a “Grouping” paragraph, etc.

Big Mistake #3: The Minimum Requirements of the RubricWhen the Rubric gives a minimum requirement (e.g. “at least two documents,” or “two orthree ways,” the Teacher chooses the minimum, not the student. So how many should youdo? Aim high. A good general rule is the “Rule of 3.” If it says “two or three,” assumeyou should give three. If it says, “at least two,” give three because the required minimumcan’t be any lower than two, but could be higher.



How to DBQ June 30, 20121

Section I: The Question:

The Question:Based on the following documents, analyze the responses to the spread of Buddhism in China. Whatadditional kind of document(s) would you need to evaluate the extent of Buddhism’s appeal in China?

1. What is the question asking you to do? (What’s the verb in the question? Restate the verb in yourown words.)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. O.K., now what is the object of the verb? ([verb] what? [verb] where? [verb] when?) Make sure youfocus your essay so that it answers ALL of these “Key Word(s)” characteristics.What? (the topic) _________________________________________________________________4

_________________________________________________________________________________Where? (the place) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When? (the time) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Teachers: Students will be tempted to answer that the topic (the “what”) is “Buddhism.” WRONG! or “the spread4

of Buddhism.” also WRONG! The correct topic is “the responses to the spread of Buddhism.” Any essay discussingsomething other than “the responses to the spread of Buddhism” will be wasted effort, earning few, if any, points.Students must learn to parse questions and focus on the “key words” that define the question. Hopefully, the subjectof every sentence in their essay will be “the responses to the spread of Buddhism,” rather than “Doc #1 says …”

Plan More, Write Less.Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids High School [email protected]



Big Mistake #4: Vague Answers Irrelevant to the QuestionTHE biggest and most common mistake that students do not …

Answer the Question

Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? “Don’t most students answer the question?,” you maywonder. Surprisingly, the answer is “No.” Instead of answering the question, studentsanswer a question related to or similar to the question, or what they wish the questionasked, but not the question that is actually written on the paper. This is a huge “no-no.”• One way to help yourself focus on the question is to identify the question’s verb.

Usually the verb is “analyze” “Analyze” is DIFFERENT than “summarize.” Moststudents merely summarize rather than analyzing.“Summarize” = “what happened” “Analyze” = “why it happened.”

• Another tactic to help yourself answer the question is to break the question into it’sspecific parts. Each question has a what, a where, and a when. Every sentence in youressays must relate to the question. You must not get off track and talk about a slightlydifferent where, or a when that you heard a great story about, or a what that you knowa ton of information about. Anything you write that does not “answer the question” isirrelevant, and will not help your score, no matter how well written or informative.Don’t waste your time writing irrelevant information! Plan MORE, write LESS.

Teachers: Getting students to analyze rather than merely summarize is perhaps one of the greatestchallenges in teaching. My students are so accustomed to summarizing that they unconsciously andrepeatedly slip back into “Book Report/Summarization” mode unless they make a deliberate effort tothink at a higher level. I used to be very critical of them for this behavior until I tried to imagine how Iwould feel if I were doing a DBQ for the first time. They’ve been instructed to ‘Read and summarize”for their entire academic career. Now suddenly along comes this crazy AP World History teacher whosays, “I don’t care about whether you can read, understand and summarize. I assume you can do thosesimple tasks. I want you to do something different, something more challenging. I want you to analyze.

The trouble is that student usually don’t even know what the verb “analyze” means! I often use Legos asan analogy to help students understand this point. Rather than summarizing (“That’s a house. It has a redroof and a blue door.”) analysis requires students to take the house apart, name “important” individualbricks, describe the relationship among various bricks, and determine the role certain bricks play in thehouse as a whole.

Big Mistake #5: Summarizing DocumentsThe purpose of any essay is to ANSWER THE QUESTION. Too often students’ DBQssink to a mere summarization of the documents. The DBQ is NOT “about the docu-ments,” it’s just a “normal” essay question. The documents are not “the point” of theDBQ. The documents are merely raw materials to help students answer the question.See Section IV “Pulling it All Together” on p. 16 for more on this important point.




Section II: The Historical Background

The DBQ can be on any topic from any time period and any geographical region. Intimidating, right?Not really. Remember the purpose of the DBQ? (To assess students’ skills at doing what historians do,NOT whether students know what historians know.) Fight the instinct to panic and show your reader howwell you can read, think, and write!

Big Mistake #6: Historical BackgroundToo many students don’t realize that the Historical Background paragraph is there to helpthem. Don’t ignore the HB information. The exam writers have given it to you for areason. Make sure you know how the historical background relates to the question andhow to use the background information to help you write a better essay.

The exam writers know that students need some hints to help them place the DBQ question into thelarger context of “everything” in world history. That’s exactly what the Historical Background is: theexam writers’ gift to you. It helps by:

• “Jogging your memory,” calming and reassuring you during the high-pressure of the exam. (“Ohyeah, now I’m beginning to remember when we studied this general topic/era/region.”)

• Giving valuable hints that suggest connections you should make in your essay.

Historical Background: Buddhism, founded in India in the sixth century BCE, was brought toChina by the first century C.E., gradually winning converts following the collapse of the Handynasty in 220 C.E. Buddhist influence continued to expand for several centuries. Between220 C.E. and 570 C.E., China experienced a period of political instability and disunity. After570 C.E., the imperial structure was restored.

1. What theme(s) does the HB’s information relate to? How do those theme(s) relate to the theme of thequestion?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Are there any hints in the HB paragraph that will influence how you read, interpret, and categorizethe documents? Based on the information in the HB, how are you going to read the documents anydifferently than you would if you hadn’t read the HB? After all, the writers went to some effort togive this HB information. What use will you make of it?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




Section III: Reading and Analyzing the Documents

Document CharacteristicsWhat notes should one take as one reads the documents? Much of that depends on the question beingasked, but there are several common characteristics in each document that one should look for becauseany of these characteristics can influence how a document should be interpreted/analyzed. The acronym“SOAPSTone” is often useful as a guide for these characteristics.Subject What is the main topic of this document?Occasion When was this document produced? Was it created for a particular event or occasion, or

even during an era when other similar documents were produced?Audience Who was this document’s intended audience? Was the document written to be read

privately by a specific person (who?), a public announcement, or an officialproclamation?

Purpose Why was this document produced? What was the purpose or motivation of thewriter/author of the document, based on what limited information you have about them?What effect did the author hope this document would have? What did the author want thereader(s) of this document to do?

Speaker Who was the Speaker of this document? Was it an official person representing agovernment, or an informal, anonymous individual? Usually a document’s author andspeaker are the same individual, but occasionally they may actually be different. (e.g. aspeech may be written by a speech writer, but spoken by a government official)

Tone Is there any apparent tone or “voice” in this document that would influence one’sinterpretation? Is it filled with any apparent emotion? (e.g. sarcasm, exuberance, anger,disdain, admiration, etc.) Underline any unusual vocabulary in the document that servesas a clue to this interpretation.5

Additional DocumentAfter you read a document, you’ll be able to use information in the document to help answer thequestion, but no single document contains everything needed to answer the question fully. No matterhow much information a document contains, it will never provide the answer to all parts of the question,and in fact it will often raise new questions.

So, what kinds of information would you like to have to help answer the question better? You don’t haveto name a specific actual document, but you must do two things with this Additional Document:

1. Describe the kind of information you’d like to see in an additional document.2. Explain of how that information would help a historian answer the question more

completely. (“…because it would help” is not an acceptable answer.) What would you dowith such information? What conclusion could you make with “Information x” that you can’tmake now?

We’ll come back to the Additional Document later in Section VII on p. 19.

These questions are all taken from Ane Lintvedt’s APWH Listserv message, 4/28/2004.5




Characteristics Shared with Other Documents (aka “Grouping”)After you’re finished reading all the documents, look back over your SOAPSTone notes written. Do younotice any characteristics that more than one document share? These characteristics are vitally importantto note because they will become the topic sentences of your essay’s body paragraphs.

Note: You won’t be able to complete this part of analyzing the documents until you finish reading all thedocuments. So, after you read each individual document and note that document’s characteristics, goback for a “2 pass” at all of the documents and look for characteristics that appear in more than onend

document. Examples of the kinds of shared characteristics might (hypothetically) include:• Buddhism became less popular after imperial structure was restored in 589 C.E. (as seen in

Doc #4 by Han Yu and Doc #6 by Emperor Wu)• Government officials frequently tried to influence imperial attitudes toward Buddhism. (as

seen in Doc #4 by Han Yu and Doc #5 by Zong Mi)• Chinese often didn’t trust Buddhism because it was “foreign” or “unfamiliar” (as seen in

Doc #3 by the Anonymous scholar and Doc #4 by Han Yu)• Chinese often relied on Buddhism to provide a spiritual sanctuary from the cares of everyday

life. (as seen in Doc #2 by Zhi Dun or Doc #5 by Zong Mi)

Maximizing your ScoreCompare documents to each other. For example: Zhi Dun (Doc #2) and Zong Mi(Doc #5) were both Buddhist scholars, but Zhi Dun favored Buddhism exclusively,while Zong Mi spoke favorably about Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism.Why the difference?

Context (aka “Point of View” or POV)The purpose of the DBQ is to test students’ ability to do what professional historians actually do. Well,what do professional historians do? One essential task is to interpret historical documents. History is notjust facts, a large part is also interpretation of facts. This is one area that makes history both fun andcontroversial, because different historians interpret identical documents differently.6

So as you read and interpret each document, what clues are there that any particular document meansanything other than the literal words on the paper? Are there any reasons why although a document says“x” it should be interpreted as meaning something more, less, or different? All the intangible circum-stances surrounding a document that influence how one should interpret that document comprise what iscalled the “Context.”

If this concept seems vague or meaningless to you, imagine that two people tell you exactly the samewords. Would you interpret and respond to each person identically, or would you take each person’sidentity into account when you weigh whether to take their words seriously? For instance:

This bring up a related point. As long as your interpretation of the documents is plausible, your reader will never6

grade your writing according to whether he/she agrees or disagrees with your interpretation of the documents. It isof course possible to misinterpret documents, which does carry a penalty for Rubric category #2, but as long as youinclude all the documents somewhere in your essay and misinterpret no more than one document, you’ll earn fullcredit for your interpretation(s).




Document 1“If you park your car there, you’ll get in trouble,” says your six-year-old sister.

Document 2“If you park your car there, you’ll get in trouble,” says the police officer.

You’d interpret these two statements very differently, wouldn’t you? Obviously the identity of the sourcemakes a huge difference in how seriously one interprets the document. Note, however, that one shouldnot automatically come to the conclusion that Document 1 is “wrong” while Document 2 is “right.”(Can you think of any circumstances that might make your sister be correct? Just because she’s six yearsold doesn’t mean she’s automatically wrong, it just means that you’d probably want some moreinformation re: the context of your sister’s comments before you render judgement on her words. Afterall, she might have just heard your parent say, “If that car isn’t moved out of the middle of the street[your name] will be punished!”)

Context is far more subtle than simply labeling documents as “right” or “wrong.” You have to be veryspecific in deciding to what degree a document should be interpreted a certain way. Ultimately, youshould be able to place each document on a spectrum of the document’s “trustworthiness.”

Value Limitations

What characteristics strengthen/enhancethe value of this document?

What characteristics limit/reducethe value of this document?

So, how does one interpret the context surrounding a document? Some common ways are listed below.(Many are SOAPSTone characteristics with which you’re already familiar.)

1. Who produced this document? Is this author have any special knowledge about the topic? Howcredible is this author? Discuss the author’s gender, age, ethnicity, social status, religion, level ofeducation, intellectual or political philosophy, etc.

2. When was this document produced? What else was happening at that time? Can it be connectedwith a significant historical event or era? (Think back to the Historical Background information.)Note the date of each document. Was this doc created before/after/at the same time as any otherdocument?

3. Who was the intended audience? Was the document written to be read by a specific person? Is ita public announcement, a private letter to a friend, or an official proclamation?

4. Why was this document produced? What was the author’s purpose or motivation, based on whatlimited information you have about them? What effect did the author hope this document wouldhave? What did the author want the reader to do after reading the document?

5. Is there any apparent tone or “voice” in this document that would influence one’s interpretation?Is it filled with any apparent emotion? (e.g. sarcasm, exuberance, anger, disdain, admiration, etc.)Underline any unusual vocabulary in the document that serves as a clue to this interpretation.




If these questions seem too overwhelming to remember, here’s a simplified way of earningContext/POV:

Maximizing Your Score: Context/POV

Answer this question re: each document:

Why did this person create this document at this time?7

Big Mistake #7: Misuse of “Bias”Too many students attempt to interpret the value or limitation of historical sources byusing the term “bias.” While it is entirely legitimate to analyze bias in historicaldocuments, most students do it so poorly that it actually hurts their score. (Students thinkthey’ve interpreted more than they really have, and smugly stop trying to think anydeeper.)The term “bias” can be used effectively, but only IF you answer these 4 questions:1) The specific topic/issue about which the doc/author is biased. (Is the author biased

toward everything?)8

2) In what direction is the document biased? Remember that bias can be positive and/ornegative. Is the document/author in favor of a particular issue, or against it? If youjust say, “the author is biased,” your reader won’t know whether the author is biasedfor or against something.

3) How much bias does the document contain? Someone can be strongly biased in favorof their favorite sports team or slightly biased against a political philosophy, etc.

4) Why is the document (or document’s author) biased? (Cannot simply repeat a word inthe doc’s source info. Bias must “connect” a specific characteristic of the contextbehind the doc to a specific characteristic in the text of the doc.)

I first received this advice from Ane Lintvedt, McDonough School, MD.7

Here’s a vignette that illustrates this point. Practically every year one of my students uses the term “bias” in a vague8

or inappropriate way, such as writing, “Doc #3 is biased because the author is British.” When I anonymously quotesuch an example out loud to the class I immediately declare that I won’t award credit for such a statement. When thestudents ask, “Why not?” I respond, “Because you’re Sophomores.” There’s usually an awkward pause, and then onebrave student quite understandably asks, “Why does being a Sophomore mean the bias statement won’t earn anycredit for Context/POV?” “Absolutely nothing,” I respond. “What does being British have to do with being biased?Are all British completely “biased” about everything? Are you saying that all British persons were never objective orreliable on any topic and any time?” At that point there’s usually a chuckle around the classroom as my studentsrealize how simplistic and inappropriate the “biased because he’s British,” attempt was, and how much more specific(and more difficult) truly valid historical interpretation really is.




SOAPSTone Characteristics• Subject: life, desire, = sorrow• Occasion: Buddha’s 1 sermon. He had justst

reached enlightenment. Earliest of doc’s(by ~800 years)

• Audience: Buddha’s followers• Purpose: Spiritual enlightenment, answer to

the “meaning of life”• Speaker: the Buddha [Enlightened One]• Tone: Spiritual solution to earthly problems

Characteristics shared with another Doc• Teachings reflected by Zhi Dun (Doc #2)• Inspired followers like Zong Mi for centuries,

(Doc #5)• Purpose: Persuade reader/listener• Is the cause of all other documents’ reactions

Document 1

Source: According to Buddhist tradition, “The Four Noble Truths,” the first sermon preached by theBuddha (563 BCE-483 BCE), India, fifth century BCE.

The First Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of Sorrow. Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow, disease is sorrow,death is sorrow, contact with the unpleasant is sorrow, separation from the pleasant is sorrow, every wishunfulfilled is sorrow.

The Second Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Arising of Sorrow, it arises from craving, which leadsto rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and seeks pleasure-the craving for sensual pleasure, thecraving for continued life, and the craving for power.

The Third Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow. It is the complete stopping of thatcraving, so that no passion remains, leaving it, being emancipated from it, being released from it, givingno place to it.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Way that Leads to the Stopping of Sorrow.

Additional Document• How many people agreed with/followed?• Did political rulers support/resist?

Context• Buddha’s purpose: to teach/inspire• This document represents the beginning of

Buddhism itself.• Written outside of China, therefore will have

to overcome “fear of foreigners” later byChinese.

OK, now it’s your chance to read the actual documents and take your notes.




Document #1

Source: According to Buddhist tradition, “The Four Noble Truths,” the first sermon preached by theBuddha (563 BCE-483 BCE), India, fifth century BCE.

The First Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of Sorrow. Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow, disease is sorrow,death is sorrow, contact with the unpleasant is sorrow, separation from the pleasant is sorrow, every wishunfulfilled is sorrow.

The Second Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Arising of Sorrow, it arises from craving, which leadsto rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and seeks pleasure-the craving for sensual pleasure, thecraving for continued life, and the craving for power.

The Third Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow. It is the complete stopping of thatcraving, so that no passion remains, leaving it, being emancipated from it, being released from it, givingno place to it.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Way that Leads to the Stopping of Sorrow.




Document #2

Source: Zhi Dun, Chinese scholar, author, and confidant of Chinese aristocrats and high officials duringthe period when northern China was invaded by central Asian steppe nomads, circa 350 CE.

Whosoever in China, in this era of sensual pleasures, serves the Buddha and correctly observes thecommandments, who recites the Buddhist Scriptures, and who furthermore makes a vow to be rebornwithout ever abandoning his sincere intention, will at the end of his life, when his soul passes away, bemiraculously transported thither. He will behold the Buddha and be enlightened in his spirit, and then hewill enter Nirvana.*

*Nirvana: the extinction of desire and individual consciousness




Document #3

Source: Anonymous Chinese scholar, “The Disposition of Error,” China, circa 500 CE.

Question: If Buddhism is the greatest and most venerable of ways, why did the great sages of the pastand Confucius not practice it? In the Confucian Classics no one mentions it. Why, then, do you love theWay of the Buddha and rejoice in outlandish arts’? Can the writings of the Buddha exceed the Classicsand commentaries and beautify the accomplishments of the sages?

Answer: All written works need not necessarily be the words of Confucius. To compare the sages to theBuddha would be like comparing a white deer to a unicorn, or a swallow to a phoenix. The records andteachings of the Confucian classics do not contain everything. Even if the Buddha is not mentioned inthem, what occasion is there for suspicion?

Question: Now of happiness there is none greater than the continuation of one’s line, of unfilial conductthere is none worse than childlessness. The monks forsake wives and children, reject property andwealth. Some do not marry all their lives.

Answer: Wives, children, and property are the luxuries of the world, but simple living and inaction arethe wonders of the Way. The monk practices the Way and substitutes that for worldly pleasures. Heaccumulates goodness and wisdom in exchange for the joys of having a wife and children.




Document #4

Source: Han Yu, leading Confucian scholar and official at the Tang imperial court, “Memorial onBuddhism,” 819 CE.

Your servant begs leave to say that Buddhism is no more than a cult of the barbarian peoples spread toChina. It did not exist here in ancient times.

Now I hear that Your Majesty has ordered the community of monks to go to greet the finger bone of theBuddha [a relic brought to China from India], and that Your Majesty will ascend a tower to watch theprocession as this relic is brought into the palace. If these practices are not stopped, and this relic of theBuddha is allowed to be carried from one temple to another, there will be those in the crowd who willcut off their arms and mutilate their flesh in offering, to the Buddha.

Now the Buddha was a man of the barbarians who did not speak Chinese and who wore clothes of adifferent fashion. The Buddha’s sayings contain nothing about our ancient kings and the Buddha’smanner of dress did not conform to our laws; he understood neither the duties that bind sovereign andsubject, nor the affections of father and son. If the Buddha were still alive today and came to our court,Your Majesty might condescend to receive him, but he would then be escorted to the borders of thenation, dismissed, and not allowed to delude the masses. How then, when he has long been dead, couldthe Buddha’s rotten bones, the foul and unlucky remains of his body, be rightly admitted to the palace?Confucius said: “Respect ghosts and spirits, but keep them at a distance!” Your servant is deeplyashamed and begs that this bone from the Buddha be given to the proper authorities to be cast into fireand water, that this evil be rooted out, and later generations spared this delusion.




Document #5

Source: Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar, favored by the Tang imperial household, essay, “On theNature of Man,” early ninth century CE.

Confucius, Laozi and the Buddha were perfect sages. They established their teachings according to thedemands of the age and the needs of various beings. They differ in their approaches in that theyencourage the perfection of good deeds, punish wicked ones, and reward good ones; all three teachingslead to the creation of an orderly society and for this they must be observed with respect.




Document #6

Source: Tang Emperor Wu, Edict on Buddhism, 845 CE.

We have heard that the Buddha was never spoken of before the Han dynasty; from then on the religionof idols gradually came to prominence. So in this latter age Buddhism has transmitted its strange waysand has spread like a luxuriant vine until it has poisoned the customs of our nation. Buddhism has spreadto all the nine provinces of China; each day finds its monks and followers growing more numerous andits temples more lofty. Buddhism wears out the people’s strength, pilfers their wealth, causes people toabandon their lords and parents for the company of teachers, and severs man and wife with its monasticdecrees. In destroying law and injuring humankind indeed nothing surpasses this doctrine!

Now if even one man fails to work the fields, someone must go hungry; if one woman does not tend hersilkworms, someone will go cold. At present there are an inestimable number of monks and nuns in theempire, all of them waiting for the farmers to feed them and the silkworms to clothe them while theBuddhist public temples and private chapels have reached boundless numbers, sufficient to outshine theimperial palace itself.

Having thoroughly examined all earlier reports and consulted public opinion on all sides, there no longerremains the slightest doubt in Our mind that this evil should be eradicated.




Section IV: Pulling It All Together

Now that you’ve analyzed all the documents individually, it’s time to start the fun part of comparing thedocuments to each other. There are a bezillion ways to do this, but here are some of the most common.

• Chronological - Sort the documents in historical order.

Date Doc # SOAPSTone CharacteristicsNotice any trends or patterns?

(e.g. changes over time, documents thatagree with or contradict each other?)9

1 3

2 4

1 3

2 4

1 3

2 4

1 3

2 4

1 3

2 4

1 3

2 4

Remember the Historical Background information? (p. 3) Do you see any relationship between thecharacteristics you listed in the table above and the timeline described in the Historical Backgroundsection?

Use your notes on the Historical Background paragraph (p. 3) to help with this chronological categorization.9




• Look back over your notes on the documents (p. 7-12). Make a list of all the SOAPSTone character-istics that are shared by more than one document or author. Note: Documents can belong in morethan one group/category. (because documents have more than one characteristic!)

Caution: Do NOT summarize the documents. Your reader already knows what the documents“say.” Your job is to interpret the evidence in the documents in order to answer the question.

Remember the topic? (the “what” = “the responses to the spread of Buddhism.”) The subjectof every sentence should be the responses to the spread of Buddhism, NOT what the docs ‘say.’

Wrong “Doc #4 is stronglyanti-Buddhist.”

“Zong Mi says that all thereligions are equal.”

Right “Han Yu’s rejection of Buddhism as a “cult” was possible now thatConfucianism had been restored under an emperor. (Doc #4)” Sentence’ssubject = “response to the spread of Buddhism” = “rejection”

“Zong Mi recommended a policy of toleration for all religions. (Doc #5)Sentence’s subject = “response to the spread of Buddhism = “recommendedtoleration for all religions”

Organizing the EvidenceThis characteristic …

(must be “a response”)is shared by thesedoc’s/authors …10

as shown by this specific word(s) from thedocument. (cite 1-3 words, 5 maximum)

There must be at least 2 documents that share each characteristic, but each group could include more than the 310

rows reflected in this table. Any characteristic that is present in only 1 document is inadmissable because it is not acharacteristic that is shared by a “group” of documents as required by the rubric.




Now, look at your characteristics list on the previous page. You may not realize it, but you’vejust outlined/organized the body paragraphs for your essay! Simply change the titles onthe table’s columns:.

• The characteristic in the left column = Paragraph’s topic sentence.• The middle column list of which docs/authors share the characteristic = the documents/authors to

include in that paragraph. • The right column citing the specific words = the specific evidence that supports that paragraph’s

topic.

So take another look at the table on the previous page, this time with different titles for each column.

Outline of My EssayParagraph subject(Topic Sentence)

Must be “a response …”

Doc’s/authors toinclude in this

paragraphExamples to use as evidence that support your

interpretation of the document.




Section V: The Thesis

OK, so now you’ve spent considerable time reading, sifting, and analyzing these documents. Can youstill remember why you did all this work? Oh yeah, it was in order to ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Based on the following documents, analyze the responses to the spread of Buddhism in China.

• Your task is to write an essay that answers this question, drawing on all the documents you’ve readand analysis you’ve already done. The hardest part is actually coming up with a good thesisstatement. Look back on your notes in the “Organizing the Evidence” table (p. 14)

• How do you interpret the evidence reflected in the documents?• What do the characteristics that you’ve detected in the documents add up to?

It is vitally important that you write your thesis after you’ve examined the evidence in the documents.Perhaps the greatest mistake you can make is to choose a thesis in a knee-jerk manner when you firstread the question, because then as you read the documents you will tend to selectively favor only theevidence that supports your thesis and ignore any evidence that contradicts your thesis. The DBQ isdesigned to test your ability to interpret all relevant evidence and develop a thesis that reflects thatevidence. To write your thesis before examining all of the evidence is to fail the DBQ before you evenstart. This is a fundamental error. Even professional historians struggle to maintain the objectivity whenexamining the complexities of all relevant evidence.11

The whole purpose of the DBQ is to test your ability to do what historians actually do: Developarguments that are supported by interpret evidence objectively to develop

If you want to see an example of a wannabe-historian who refuses to acknowledge evidence that contradicts his11

own interpretation, see PBS’ 1421 DVD that examines Gavin Menzies’ theory that the Chinese admiral Zheng Hediscovered the Americas approximately 75 years before Columbus. When I show the dvd, my students squeal withdelight as Menzies interprets various facts in just the right way that support his interpretations, while ignoringevidence that obviously (and overwhelmingly) contradict his interpretations. Menzies is the poster-child example ofhow NOT to be a good historian.




Here’s a guide to the most common mistakes students make when attempting to write a thesis.

Mistake Example How to Fix It

1Thesis

No Thesis Pre-writing organization. Read the question, thenplan/outline your response before you begin to write.

Plan More, Write Less

Thesis notrelated to thequestion

Most Chinese areBuddhists …

China has over abillion people today …

Buddhists like tomeditate …

Read the question. Make sure every sentence in youressay is relevant to the topic, time, and place that thequestion asks.

Topic = What? Time = When? Place = Where?

Note what the verb in the question asks you to do.Analyze � Describe � Justify � Trace.

Thesis repeatsor just para-phrases thequestion

There were manyresponses to thespread of Buddhismin China.

Try to “argue” your thesis. Could you take an“opposite” position? If not, then the thesis doesn’treally say anything. The thesis must “take a stand.”

Avoid the “thesis killer” words (very, many,12

things, a lot/lots, stuff, ways, really, etc.).Thesis is toovague

Buddhism had a largeimpact on China.

Mentioningindividualdocs

or

GroupingDocs

Some Chinese rejectedBuddhism, (Doc #4and #6)

This isn’t “wrong” so much as just unnecessary anda poor use of time. Your reader already knows thedocuments. If you eliminated the “Doc #4 & #6”would the sentence be any worse? How will tellingyour reader which documents you’ll use to do x, y,or z help your score?

This sentence IS a good topic sentence for a bodyparagraph, but it’s not appropriate for the Thesisparagraph. The Thesis is supposed to be your overallconclusion after analyzing the docs. Mentioningindividual documents in the Thesis is too detailed.

I have a rule in my classroom, “Any thesis that contains these words is automatically vetoed.” Possibly the hardest12

skill to learn is the ability to form a sophisticated, complex thesis. One strategy I’ve learned (from Geri McCarthy ofBarrington, RI) is to require students to begin their thesis with either “While”, “Although”, or “Despite/In spite of.”These words strongly encourage students to formulate a mature thesis that helps structure the rest of their essay.Once students can consistently write a competent thesis sentence, then I concentrate on having them develop anessay preview/outline of later paragraphs. The result should be a thesis paragraph that is several sentences long (theparagraph should NOT just be a single sentence).




OK, now pull together everything you’ve done: your reading & understanding of the documents; theircontent; author’s characteristics; etc. Write your thesis statement. (1-2 sentences)

My Thesis (Argument)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the Thesis Paragraph (How will you prove your Argument?)Now summarize the main points that you’ll use to support your thesis. (This part of the Thesis Paragraphshould preview the topic sentences of your later body paragraphs.) This takes some time and a lot ofpractice to do well, but if you can learn to plan your thesis and outline your essay, it will make the actualwriting TONS easier. By the time your reader finishes the Thesis Paragraph, s/he should know WHATyour thesis is, and have an idea of HOW what evidence you will use to prove it.

Main Point / Body #1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Main Point / Body #2 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Main Point / Body #3 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Main Point / Body #4, etc._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




Section VI: The Additional Document

OK, so you’ve answered the question using the documents as evidence to support your thesis. Theproblem is that there are only a handful of documents. They can’t possibly represent EVERY conceiv-able piece of relevant evidence. Are there any pieces of evidence relevant to the question that AREN’Talready represented in the documents? Can you think of any kinds of documents that would help youanswer the question more completely?

You can add the “Additional Document” suggestion at virtually any point in your essay. It’s mostcommon to add it at the end of the essay, or at the end of the thesis paragraph, but the best essays call foran additional document in every body paragraph to supplement the evidence supporting that paragraph’stopic sentence.

“Historians could better [make what conclusion?] if a document from a [type of source] thatdealt with [subject matter] existed.”

or“In order to [describe what conclusion you’d like to be able to draw] historians would need a[kind of document] showing [describe what kind of information desired].”

MissingInformation /

AdditionalDocument

Type ofinformation/

evidence

How would this document would help answerthe question more completely? How would anhistorian use this document? What conclusioncould historians make using this documentthat isn’t possible to make now?

Big Mistake #7: Additional DocumentThe most common mistake is that students simply forget to even ask for an AdditionalDocument. Even when they do, students don’t adequately explain how/why such adocument is necessary. The most common unsuccessful types are:

“It would help to have a document from a peasant.” HOW would it help? Same for adocument written by a woman, someone from Greenland, etc.

“It would help because there aren’t any documents written by a peasant.” So what?How/why do you think a peasant’s perspective would help historians answer thequestion? This isn’t a poll surveying public opinion re: Buddhism. There aren’t anydocuments written by illiterate left-handed giraffes, either. How would a peasant-authored document ‘help’ more than one authored by an illiterate left-handed giraffe?Describe HOW and WHY you think a peasant might think differently than the existingauthors, and HOW/WHY historians would CARE. If you don’t explain the HOW andWHY you won’t earn the point.




Appendix A: The “Shoe Activity”13

Here’s a simple & easy activity that demonstrates the complexity of good historical analysis. Note: thereare dozens of variations on this lesson, so this is not at all the only way to do this. If you’re serendipi-tously inspired in the middle of the activity, go with your own intuition.

1. Ask for 3-4 student volunteers, and immediately send them out of the room.2. Ask the remaining students to take off one of their shoes. (ANY shoe)14

3. Pile all the shoes up into one big heap.4. Invite one volunteer to come back into the room. Ask that person to “organize the shoes5. I ask them to organize the shoes in 3 or more groups. The only rules for the groups are:

A. The shoes in each group must share a common characteristic.B. There must be at least 2 shoes in each group.

6. Allow the volunteer a minute to sort the shoes. When he/she is finished, ask them to give a “Name”to each group of shoes.

7. Repeat steps 4-5-6 above until each volunteer has had the opportunity to participate.8. Discuss and debrief activity with students.

Variations1 While volunteers are sorting the shoes into groups, having the rest of the students be absolutely silent

and write down the names of the categories that they perceive each volunteer used.2 Poll the class as to which volunteer sorted the shoes into the “best” groupings.3 Instead of giving volunteers no guidance at all, ask them to “Evaluate the wear patterns on the

shoes.” This will reinforce the purpose of this lesson as an analytical tool in a persuasive argument.Post-activity discussion might ask, “Why did you think this group of shoes had ___ characteristic?”

4 Offer extra credit originality/creativity. Students who can create a category that no other student inthe room thought of get a special reward. To give you an idea of how inspired students can be, hereare some of the nominations my students have suggested:

Common Possible Groupings:• age of shoe• athletic shoes (e.g. tennis)• brand name• casual• color• cost• formal• heel (pumps, flats, etc)• left/right• size• toe style (open/closed)• winter/summer

Sophisticated/Creative Groupings• age/grade level of shoe owner• attractiveness of shoe• attractiveness of shoe’s owner• gender of shoe’s owner• motivation of shoe’s owner for wearing (e.g. “He/she was late

for school this morning, which is why he threw on theseclunkers,” or “He/she wanted to impress another personbecause they’re trying to ask them out on a date.”)

• popularity (e.g. “This is the shoe to have!”)• price vs. value (e.g. “You paid how much for those?”)• relative shoe size (e.g. “Is this shoe bigger, smaller, or the same

size as the volunteer’s?”)

Post-Activity Discussion

I don’t know the proper source to cite for this activity. The first I heard of it was from an APWH Listserv13

message, dated 11/3/2003 by Matt Allen of Byram Hills High School.

In order to avoid foot odor some teachers substitute Beanie Babies, stuffed animals, etc. for the shoes.14




There is no single “right” answer that students “should” have used to analyze the shoes. There are amyriad of legitimate ways to categorize shoes. While this seems obvious to bystanders, I try to rememberthat many of my students think that the “goal” of learning how to write essays is to write the one andonly one “correct answer” to the question. Essay writing involves all of AP World History’s HistoricalThinking Skills. The purpose of an essay question is not to see whether students know the right answer,but to ask them to develop an argument. Historical interpretation is inherently subjective, constantlyevolving and relies on evidence to build a logical argument.

I’ll never forget one of my classes had a particularly enthusiastic group of students who were wonder-fully open and non-defensive with each other. At the start of this activity they looked at me like,“C’mon, how interesting can this be?” and “Why are we wasting our time doing this?” Twenty minuteslater we were all laughing and giving each other a hard time at how they felt that “Chris” didn’t knowthe first thing about shoes, so his/her categorization really wasn’t meaningful, but “Mary” was such aclothes-hound, that her analysis was much more significant.

Also, students should recognize the importance of looking at all the shoes and planning how they wantto organize them before actually doing so. The point is that they should also read all the DBQ’s docu-ments before sorting them into appropriate groups, and they should do so before they begin to write theiressay.

CaveatI try to point out one important limitation this activity has: Because shoes are physical objects, onecannot sort a single shoe into two groups simultaneously. (e.g. “brown” and “left foot”) Historicaldocuments can exist in two different analytical categories simultaneously. (e.g. A document might beBOTH “confident” AND “selfish,” and a dozen other characteristics.) This is an important concept toremember when students are scrambling to organize their essays while trying to remember to includeeach document into one of the groups/paragraphs.

Teaching TipThe DBQ rubric requires students to address all the documents, correctly understand all but onedocument, and to analyze the documents by grouping them in 2 or more groups, depending on thequestion.” In order to reinforce this idea that historical documents/evidence have multiplecharacteristics, I offer “extra credit” to any student who includes at least one document in more than onegroup.




Appendix B: Suggested Generic DBQ Structure15

Thesis Paragraph• Background/Context (Optional. “Where does this question fall in the larger context of history?”)• Thesis Statement• “Road Map” (outline of later categories of document Groupings/Analysis)• Additional Document (Optional)

Body Paragraph #1 (1 Group of Analyzed Doc’s)st

• Topic Sentence (what characteristic do these doc’s share, and how does that support the thesis? Seetables on p. 16-17)

• Evidence Doc #1 (what text from doc #1 supports the thesis or this paragraph’s topic?)Analysis of doc #1 (see the “SOAPSTone” notes that you took on each document)

• Evidence Doc #2 (what text from doc #2 supports the thesis or this paragraph’s topic?)Analysis of doc #2

• Evidence Doc #3 (what text from doc #3 supports the thesis or this paragraph’s topic?)Analysis of doc #3

• How these doc’s relate/compare to each other. (The fullest understanding of any individualdocument emerges only when that document is viewed within the wider context of ALL thedocuments.)

• Additional Doc (Describe what evidence this document should contain and how/why this evidencewould be useful in better answering the question)

• Conclusion/Transition Sentence

Additional Body Paragraphs as needed• Check to make sure that all doc’s are included, with explicit discussion of specific Evidence and

POV analysis from each doc.

Conclusion• Include Additional Doc (if not included previously)• Restatement/Summarization of Thesis

Writing Tip: Avoid any sentence in your essay that begins, “Doc #___ says ‘…’” This is merelysummarizing the document. Your teacher/reader already knows that information better than you do.Your job is to interpret the information in the doc’s to make an argument or draw a conclusion.

I don’t really think there is one particular “best” way to structure a DBQ. I include this just because many of my15

students say it helps them focus while they’re writing.Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids High School [email protected]


Appendix C: “Bias” Rules

“Bias” RulesIf you use “bias”

you must describe the:

1) Topic/Issue

2) Direction

3) Degree

4) Cause



Appendix D: “Must Do’s” for Essay Rubrics June 30, 2012

DBQ

Rubric Must Do’s Should NOT Do’s

1 Thesis

• Focus on the Question (bull’s eye, the “what,”“where,” and “when”)

• Be in 1 or last Paragraphst

• Address all “PERSIA” topics/categories in thequestion. (aka “Answer the Question!”)

• “While, Although, Despite, In spite of ”• “Road Map” / Preview Body Paragraph Topics

(How will you prove/support your thesis?)

• “Thesis Killer” Words (very, many,things, lots, stuff, ways)

• Only 1-sentence ¶. (Expand to outline/preview/forecast your argument inlater ¶s)

2 DocMeaning

• Attempt to understand all documents. (cannot ignoreor leave out any document)

• No sentence should discuss “the doc”in the nominative clause.• “Doc #2 says …” (summarization

of doc)• Sentences that begin w/ the word

“Doc # …” • Discussing doc’s in numerical order.• Long quotations (2-3, max 5 words)

• Correctly interpret all but one document

3 Evidence• Supports thesis w/ specific evidence (a unique word,

short phrase, or characteristic in/of each document)from all or all but 1 doc..

4POV(ContextAnalysis)

• Analyzes POV in at least 2 (preferably 3) docs.• “SOAPSTone” Author’s motive, intended

audience,• How does this characteristic change one’s

interpretation of this doc?• Why did THIS person create THIS doc at THIS time?

• “bias” (without connection to char-acteristic) e.g. “Doc #2 author’s isbiased because he is British.”

5Grouping(ContentAnalysis)

• Group doc’s by a shared characteristic• �3 Groups, organized around ¶ Topic Sentence,

e.g. “Gov’t authorities used their power to theirown advantage.” (Doc’s 2, 7, 4)

• Each Paragraph must discuss �2 documents

6 Add’lDoc/Info

• Identify additional doc/info.• Explain the need for the additional doc/info. What

conclusion could you make w/ additional info?• Ask for 2 Add’l Doc (easy possible 8 point)nd th

• “It would be nice to have a doc from…” (why would it ‘be nice?’)

• “because none of the doc’s are from apeasant/woman” is NOT enough.

Ideal Body Paragraph Template• Topic Sentence (what characteristic do these doc’s share, and how does that support the thesis?)• Evidence Doc #1 (what text from doc #1 supports this paragraph’s topic/thesis?) POV/Analysis of doc #1• Evidence Doc #2 (what text from doc #2 supports this paragraph’s topic/thesis?) POV/Analysis of doc #2• Evidence Doc #3 (what text from doc #3 supports this paragraph’s topic/thesis?) POV/Analysis of doc #3• How these doc’s relate/compare to each other. (The fullest understanding of any particular document emerges only

when that document is viewed within the wider context of all the documents.)• Additional Doc (be sure to relate how/why this doc would be useful in answering question) What info do none of the

doc’s contain that relates to the question & this paragraph’s topic sentence?• Conclusion / Transition to next Paragraph.

Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids HS [email protected]

Continuity & Change Over Time (CCOT)

Rubric Must Do’s Should NOT Do’s

1 Thesis

• Be in 1 or last Paragraphst

• Answer the Question (What, Where, When)• Include 1 Cont. and 1 Change (often part of above)• “While/Although/Despite (A continued), (B changed).”• Include Beginning & Ending Dates of Question

� Thesis “Killer” Words (very,many, things, lots, stuff, ways)

• (A + B) both(continued & changed)

2AddressesParts ofQuestion

• Discuss 2 continuities (3 if possible)• Discuss 2 changes (3 if possible)• Include beginning of the time period of the question in

your answer. (Changed from what?)

� only changes (no cont’s)� only continuities (no changes)

3 Evidence

• Give 6 specific examples of evidence (for 2 pts)• Give 3 specific examples of evidence (for 1 pt)• Give dates where possible (“Must Know Dates”)• Examples should explain how change happened, how

early became middle and then became late. Useactive/transitive verbs and adverbs (evolved, morphed,developed, slowly, quickly, intermittently)

� “snapshots”� “then vs. now” comparisons(first it was like this, then itended up as that.)

4 GlobalContext

• Contextualize events “inside” the question to the largerworld historical context “outside” the question.(“zoom out”)

5 Analysis ofChange/Cont

• Explains reason(s) for a change or continuity. WHY?because led to caused by due toaffected impacted came from in order to

Comparative

Description Must Do’s Should NOT Do’s

1 Thesis• Be in 1 or last Paragraphst

• Answer the Question (What, Where, When)• Include 1 Sim & 1 Diff (usually part of above)• “While/Although/Despite (A was sim), (B was diff).”

• (A + B) were both(similar & different)

2Addresses

Parts ofQuestion

• Discuss 2 similarities (3 if possible)• Discuss 2 differences (3 if possible)

3 Evidence • Give 6 specific examples of evidence (for 2 pts)• Give 3 specific examples of evidence (for 1 pt)

4 DirectComparison

• Makes at least 1 relevant, direct comparison (“Cue” words:also, as well, both, shared, in addition, like, similarly, too, however,on the other hand, conversely, differently, disagree, in contrast, either,neither, in opposition to, unlike, in contrast to, while)

• Put a comma btwn this & that, here & there.

� Parallel/Indirect Comp’s(“This happened here. [Period]That happened there.”)

5 Analysis ofSim/Diff

• Explains reason(s) for a similarity/difference WHY?because led to caused by due toaffected impacted came from in order to

Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids HS [email protected]

Appendix E: “Using” Documentsfor the AP World History DBQ June 30, 2012

Students often ask, “How many documents do I have to use for the DBQ?” Well, there is no simple answer, because there are four different Rubriccategories that require students to “use” documents, each for a different purpose, and each Rubric category requires the “use” of a different numberof documents.

Rubric Official DescriptionShorthandDescription

Historical Thinking Skill(or Cognitive Task)

Required Numberof Documents

2

Addresses all of the documents

and

demonstrates understanding ofall or all but one.

Meaning

Acknowledging Existenceof Evidence

Must attempt to understand all documents.(cannot ignore or “leave out” any document)

Reading Comprehension Must correctly understand all but onedocument.

3Supports thesis with appropriateevidence from all or all but onedocument.

EvidenceHistorical Argumentation

Appropriate Use of RelevantHistorical Evidence

All or all but one document = 2 pts

All but two docs = 1 pt

4 Analyzes point of view in atleast two documents. POV

Appropriate Use of RelevantHistorical EvidenceContextualization

No less than 2 (but minimum could be more)

5Analyzes documents by groupingthem in two or three ways,depending on the question.

Grouping Analysis No less than 2 (but minimum could be 3)

28Bill Strickland, East Grand Rapids HS [email protected]

Appendix F: Frequent DBQ Mistakes June 30, 2012

Question: Based on the following documents, analyze the responses to the spread of Buddhism in China. What additional kind ofdocument(s) would you need to evaluate the extent of Buddhism’s appeal in China?

Historical Background: Buddhism, founded in India in the sixth century B.C.E., was brought to China by the first century C.E., gradually win-ning converts following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E. Buddhist influence continued to expand for several centuries. Between220 C.E. and 570 C.E. China experienced a period of political instability and disunity. After 570 C.E., the imperial structure was restored.

Category Mistake How to Fix It

Pre-WritingOrganization PWO

Not reading the questionto know EXACTLYwhat it is asking.

Essays are difficult to do, especially under pressure in limited time. Taking 5+ minutes to organizeyour thoughts helps in several ways: 1) It will focus your thesis directly on the question, ratherthan some tangent; 2) Your essay will be a 2 draft, while your pre-writing notes act as a mentalnd

“1 draft”; 3) You can think of specific examples to support your thesis/argument.st

Read the question several times. What is it asking? What words seem important in guiding howyou organize your response? Are there any categories that lend themselves to organizing yourresponse? Plan More, Write Less

HistoricalBackground HB

Ignoring or not usingthe historical back-ground information.

The HB info is designed to HELP YOU! You don’t know what the DBQ will ask, right? You’rethinking to yourself, “How can they possibly expect me to remember everything I’ve learned allyear?” Well, the HB info is there to refresh your memory, to give you clues as to how to structureyour essay, what information is important, and place the question in the larger context of allyou’ve learned.With this specific DBQ question, the HB information practically outlines a chronological structurefor you: 1) Buddhism gradually wins converts following the collapse of the Han dynasty; 2)Buddhist influence continues to expand during the period of political instability and disunity; 3)Imperial structure is restored in 570 C.E.

Can you anticipate likely comparisons or contrasts? (e.g. “Contrast the Chinese responses toBuddhism during the period of political instability and disunity to the responses after imperialstructure was restored..” “How did the political status of China affect Chinese attitudes towardBuddhism?)




1Thesis

1A No Thesis Pre-writing organization. Read the question, then plan/outline your response beforeyou begin to write.

1B

Thesis not relatedto the question

Most Chinese are Buddhists.

China has 1.3 billion people.

Buddhists often meditate.

• Identify the verb in the question. What is the question asking you to do?

• Identify the “key words” of the question that specify the topic, location andtime period. (The “What, Where, and When”)

1CThesis just repeatsor paraphrases thequestion

There were many responses tothe spread of Buddhism inChina.

Try to “argue” your thesis. Could you take an “opposite” position? If not,then the thesis isn’t an acceptable thesis.

Avoid the “thesis killer” words (very, many, things, a lot, big, large, huge,16

etc.).1D Thesis is toovague

Buddhism had a large impacton China.

1E

Mentioningindividual docs

orGrouping Docs

Some Chinese rejected Bud-dhism. (Doc #4 and #6)

The docs can be grouped inseveral ways: Docs #1 & #5favored Buddhism, Docs #4 &#6 opposed Buddhism.

This isn’t “wrong” so much as just unnecessary and a poor use of time. Yourreader already knows the documents. If you eliminated the “Doc #4 & #6”would the sentence be any worse? How will telling your reader whichdocuments you’ll use to do x, y, or z help your score?

The Thesis is supposed to be your overall conclusion of all the docs.Mentioning individual documents in the Thesis is too detailed.

My classroom rule is “Any thesis that contains the words ‘very,’ ‘many,’ ‘things,’ ‘lots,’ ‘stuff,’ ‘ways,’ or ‘really’ is automatically vetoed.” Possibly the16

hardest skill to learn is the ability to form a sophisticated, complex thesis. One tactic I’ve learned (from Geri McCarthy of Barrington, RI) is to require studentsto begin their thesis with either “While,” “Although,” or “Despite/In spite of.” These words strongly encourage students to formulate a mature thesis, which inturn helps structure the rest of their essay.




2Meaningof Doc’s

2A

Document(s) notreferenced or usedat all in the essay

Essay never mentions a document,explicitly or implicitly.

Pre-writing organization. As you outline your essay, note whichdoc’s support each paragraph topic. If you still don’t use a doc, adda topic to include the unused doc. You can NOT simply “ignore”any document. Even if you MISunderstand a document, you must atleast include it in your essay and ATTEMPT to understand it.

2B

Misinterpretationof document

The Anonymous Chinese Scholar(Doc #3) is clearly attacking Bud-dhism. The questions are hostile andmeant to drive people away fromBuddhism.

Practice, practice, practice. Read documents of all sorts: text, photo-graphs, maps, political cartoons, charts & graphs, etc.

Note: This is not a fatal error. You CAN misinterpret 1 documentand still earn this Rubric point.

2C Documents usedinappropriately

Doc #2 says … Don’t being any sentence with the word “document” or “indocument #…”

Using the word “Document”

The only place to write the word “document” is in parentheses after the end of a sentence. The subject of everysentence should be “the responses to the spread of Buddhism.” The DBQ is NOT “about” the documents. Thedocuments are not “the point” of the DBQ, they are merely “raw materials” to help students answer the questionabout “the responses to the spread of Buddhism.” Strive to spend your time answering the question rather thandiscussing the documents.

Correct: “Chinese initially favored Buddhism. (Doc #2)” Subject = a response to Buddhism

Incorrect: “Doc #2 shows how Chinese initially favored Buddhism.” Subject = “the doc.”“In doc #2 Zhi Dun favors Buddhism.” Just eliminate “in doc #2"




3Evidence

3A

No specific evidenceused from documents

Pre-writing organization should include a brief outline of each para-graph, including topic sentences. Once you know what each paragraphwill discuss, note which doc’s contain information relevant to thatparagraph.

3B

Evidence used fromdocuments unrelatedto the thesis.

The unicorn mentioned inDoc #3 is a mythical creature.

Probably caused by lack of clear thesis and/or lack of pre-writing organ-ization. There isn’t a “quick fix” to this. The purpose of the essay tomake an argument. What IS your argument? You may have to ‘puzzleand puzzle ‘til your puzzler is sore,’ but the whole point of the essay to17

make an argument. There is no ‘shortcut.’

3C

Excessive quoting orparaphrasing ofdocuments

As Zhi Dun says in Doc #2,“[followed by 3 lines of text]”

Try to use only a few words (max 5) from a document. Keep in mind,your teacher/reader knows the documents better than you do. How willquoting whole sentences help your score? Your reader/teacher will thinkyou’re trying to make your essay look longer because you don’t want toadmit that you don’t really know what to write.

3D

Summarizingdocuments (aka“Plot Summary”)

Doc #1 says …blah blah blahDoc #2 says …blah blah blah

Virtually any sentence that begins, “Doc # says …” is guilty of summar-izing documents rather than using evidence to support the thesis.

Even worse is when the 1 paragraph begins, “Doc #1 says …,” fol-st

lowed by the 2 paragraph, “Doc #2 says …” This is what teachers/nd

readers call a “laundry list” essay. It’s merely a straight summation ofeach individual document. (Which is precisely what the directions sayNOT to do!)

With apologies to Theodore Geisel. (Dr. Seuss)17




4Point of

View(POV)

or

Context18

4ANo POV/Context given

POV is really a very sophisticated skill. Don’t despair, you CAN do this, but it willtake work. (see below)

4B

Attribution Zhi Dun (Doc #2) is biasedbecause he is a scholarand confidant of aristo-crats and high officials.

These words are quoted directly from the “source line” information above eachdocument. Merely repeating these words doesn’t count, in fact, it makes yourreader/teacher think you’re trying to “puff”

4C

Quoting orparaphrasingdocuments

Doc #1 says …Doc #2 says …

Some good questions to ask in order to analyze POV are:1) WHO produced it? Discuss the author’s gender, age, ethnicity, social status,

religion, intellectual or political beliefs, etc.2) WHEN was it produced? Can it be connected with a significant historical event?3) Who was the intended audience? Was the document written privately, written to

be read or heard by others (who?), an official document for a ruler to read,commissioned painting, etc.

4) WHY? What was the motivation of the writer/producer of the document, basedon what you can surmise about them?

When you put all these together, you get the POV. Why did THIS personproduce THIS document at THIS time? Then you can evaluate how much you“trust” the information in the document, or what you think was really going on.

Note: It is useful to consider the tone/vocabulary of the document, just as youwould in analyzing a piece of literature. It will sometimes convey the intent of theauthor (anger, disdain, admiration, satire, etc.).19

Special Note: Occasionally students attempt to ‘Group Analyze POV’ by saying that 3 doc’s all share a particular POV. While this statement earns credit for18

“Analyze by Grouping,” it does not “double dip” to earn POV credit as well. Both point #4 (POV) and #5 (Grouping) require analysis, but POV must be specificto a single document, while Analysis by Grouping applies to a characteristic shared by multiple documents.

These POV methods and comments are from Ane Lintvedt’s AP World History Electronic Discussion Group message, 4/28/2004.19




5Grouping

or

ContentAnalysis

5A No groups exist Pre-writing planning and organization.

5B

Groups implied only byessay structure, notexplicitly stated

1 part of essayst

discusses thepositives, the 2 partnd

the negatives.

This does show at least a little organization, so it’s better than nothing, butbe more explicit and sophisticated..

5C

Grouping only of wholedocuments, not specificcharacteristics of thedocuments

Doc’s 1, 3, & 6 allbelong in one group.

Be more specific! Name the specific characteristic that is shared by thedocuments. (e.g. “Supporters of Buddhism like the Anonymous Chinesescholar and Zong Mi ignored or at least de-emphasized Buddhism’s non-Chinese origins, (Doc’s 3, & 5) even as they had to defend Buddhism fromattacks by supporters of ‘native’ Chinese Confucianism. (Doc’s 4, 6)”

5D Group includes only1 document

Each body paragraph must refer to at least 2 documents.

5E Too few groups Write AT LEAST 3 body paragraphs, each mentioning �2 docs.

What IS Content Analysis? (and how is it subtly different from ‘Grouping’?)

Content Analysis requires students to look for some CHARACTERISTIC that multiple documents share, then create a group underthe title of that characteristic. DON’T group whole documents, analyze characteristics OF documents. (That’s why one documentcan belong to more than one group.)

Here’s a good exercise to practice this: Organize the doc’s into at least 3 groups, BUT (here’s the tricky part) ONE of the docs mustbelong in ALL the groups. That way one has to analyze doc #x, and see that it really has several different characteristics:Characteristic #1 makes it belong in Group A; Characteristic #2 makes it belong in Group B, etc. THAT’s real analysis!20

In my own class “double grouping” of documents is worthy of “Expanded Core” points. (Extra Credit)20



Category Mistake Example How to Fix It

6AdditionalDocument

6ANo additionaldocument requested.

Earning the Additional Document point is so easy. All it takes is onesentence to describe the additional document, and a second sentence todescribe how an historian would use it to more fully answer the question.

6B

No reason/justifi-cation stated forthe additionaldocument.

It would be good tohave a documentfrom a peasant.

Describe what information the missing document might contain and how anhistorian might use it. (Why would it be good to hear from a peasant? Whatquestions would an historian be able to answer with a peasant’s perspectivethat aren’t possible to answer now?)

“…so that historians could see how peasants felt’ is NOT an acceptableanswer.

Acceptable justifications could include …

At present one can only wonder whether Emperor Wu was the ONLY emperor opposed to Buddhism. If historians possessed an edict on religiousmatters from a later emperor they could compare Emperor Wu’s (Doc 6) motives to that later emperor’s reasons.

If historians had some kind of census figures of how many Buddhists existed in a given city or region, they could better conclude how widelyBuddhism challenged Confucianism among the general population.


Appendix G: “Power Writing” for DBQs

When students are first aware of the DBQ rubric, they can easily be overwhelmed by the categories. They often wrongly conclude that they have to write threesentences for each document, each sentence focused on earning a point in a separate rubric category.

Analyzing historical sources requires a combination of skills, from basic to highly sophisticated. High quality writing accomplishes satisfies multiple RubricCategories simultaneously. If a student analyzes a document’s Point of View (Category #4) they can/will almost automatically also earn credit toward UsingEvidence (Category #3) and Demonstrating Understanding. (Category #2) Assuming students have mastered the more “basic” skill of Reading Comprehension,I recommend teaching students to “aim high” for Point of View. Obviously if they haven’t mastered Reading Comprehension, they’ll probably not be able toanalyze Point of View, but students should “aim” to write in a way that demonstrates as many Historical Thinking Skills as possible.

Rubric CategoriesNote their “Hierarchical” Relationship

#4 POV

Why didthis author

create this docat this time?

#3 EvidenceWhat specific word/s

unique to this doc support the argument of this paragraph?

#2 Demonstrates UnderstandingReading Comprehension

Did the student correctly understand this doc?

Acknowledge ExistenceDid the student acknowledge that this doc exists?

Efficient “Power” Writing“Zong Mi called each religion’s founder a “sage” because he was afraid toanger his Confucian emperor.” This sentence earns credit toward three rubriccategories simultaneously: POV = author’s motive (“because”); Evidence =the word “sage;” Understanding = the sentence as a whole; Acknowledging

Existence = simply mentioning the doc/author or any text from the document.And the writer used only 17 words to do all this!

Inefficient “Writing to the Rubric”“In Doc #5 Zong Mi says, “Confucius, Laozi and the Buddha were perfectsages.” Acknowledges Existence of Doc #5 but does NOT demonstrate that thewriter Understands the Document’s Meaning, because they merely quoted thedocument without any further comment. Also does NOT earn credit for Using

Evidence, because the only “Evidence” is a quotation without any argument tosupport. Note also how the nominative clause of this sentence is “the docu-ment” rather than “responses to the spread of Buddhism.” This is why I don’tallow students to start sentences with “Doc” or “In doc # …” 14 words ofeffort with little to show for it.

“In Doc #5 Zong Mi supports Buddhism when he says that “all three teachingslead to the creation of an orderly society and for this they must be observedwith respect.” Acknowledges Existence of Doc #5, also Demonstrates Under-

standing by characterizing Zong Mi as “support[ing] Buddhism.” UsesEvidence, but quotes far too much of the document. Unfortunately this is acommon example of student writing. It’s not “wrong” per se, but it spends31 words to earn very little credit toward Rubric points.

36Bill Strickland [email protected]