What Is a DBQ Essay? DBQ Writing Process Explained

First time writing a DBQ essay? Our expert guide explains all you need to know about this paper and tips for crafting it, including how to arrange arguments.

What Is a DBQ Essay and How Do You Write One?

A DBQ essay is among the most common but delicate essays a student might encounter in college. It is a task that students cannot underestimate because it requires proper preparation and execution.

Students are likely to encounter this task in an AP history course, so AP students should be prepared for one. So, in this text, we aim to give students the best chance of success with a DBQ essay by helping them understand what kind of paper this is, guiding them on how to manage document based questions, and composing a good essay.

What Does a DBQ Encompass?

Document based question (DBQ) is an academic piece of writing where a student is required to analyze and interpret a set of documents related to a historical question. The student will then write a DBQ essay.

DBQ essays are commonly encountered in AP history exams, which high school students take in an AP program to earn a place in their preferred college. An average AP history exam will provide some documents for students to analyze, multiple choice document based questions, and an essay to write.

Students can encounter different types of documents for a DBQ essay, including public records, letters, newspapers, and maps. All this might be intimidating enough to make a student wonder, “Who’ll write my essay cheap?” However, our guide should be enough to get you through this task.

What’s the Objective of a DBQ?

You might be asking yourself, why the DBQ? What intentions do they have for giving this paper? A DBQ essay is meant to test a student’s analytic skills and ability to interpret primary sources of information, synthesize their contents from different perspectives and form a constructive argument backed by evidence.

The task is meant to test a student’s ability to:

• Formulate and support a good thesis statement with information from the provided documents.
• Analyze sources and identify things like context, the author’s point of view, and purpose.
• Identify how the documents relate to each other.
• Create logical arguments backed with info from the documents.

It might seem like a lot, but students often use these skills, so a document based question should not scare you.

DBQ Outline and Why You Need One

What is a DBQ essay outline? It is a list of all the sections of your DBQ essay and the main points you aim to include in the paper.

So, why is a DBQ essay outline important? The outline helps plan for the DBQ essay, making writing easier. It also helps keep you on track with the main points and avoid straying from your main ideas while you write a DBQ paper.

What’s the Correct DBQ Format?

A DBQ essay is a form of analytical essay and thus follows a similar format. The DBQ format includes an introduction, some paragraphs, and a conclusion.

In the introduction, you should provide some historical context, which you might pick up from your AP European history class. The introduction should also address what you intend to discuss in the order you plan to follow in your body paragraphs.

The thesis statement needs to appear at the end of the intro and is meant to introduce the purpose of your DBQ essay. A good thesis statement introduces your main argument and gives a preview of what you’ll discuss in the essay.

The body paragraphs will follow, containing all your arguments and evidence to support them. The final section in a typical DBQ format is the conclusion which sums up your whole essay.

In a document based question exam, you’ll encounter several historical documents which you’ll use to gather information for your DBQ essay.

Students are supposed to use these documents to answer the essay question or prompt provided. The test takes about an hour, 15 minutes of preparation, and 45 for writing.

Which Exams Require Writing a DBQ?

As we mentioned, DBQ exams are found in AP exams, so students taking AP history exams should expect this task and prepare for it. It’s worth noting that a student will encounter a DBQ for all AP history courses they take. So, if one is taking two, for example, AP European History and AP US History, they can expect to answer two document based questions.

How to Compose a DBQ Essay Properly

Thinking of checking essaybox reviews to determine where to get help with your DBQ essay? We have compiled some steps to write a DBQ paper you can be proud of.

Read the Document Based Question Carefully

No matter how well you write a DBQ paper, you’ll automatically lose points during scoring if you do not answer the essay question. So, read every essay question or prompt multiple times to properly familiarize yourself with the essay question and understand what your instructor expects.

Pay attention to every word to understand the instructions for your DBQ essay. Not every instruction will be straightforward, so you should look for key terms to tell you the type of work they want. You can refer to a DBQ essay example online to see the wordage instructors use.

Ask yourself, “Do they want me to compare the documents? or Describe historical events?” Know what your essay question is asking for before writing anything.

Analyze the Documents

After understanding your document based questions, it’s time to turn to the documents provided. Read each document carefully and note any similarities or differences.

For an AP history exam, they will help provide the historical context you need to write a good essay. Figure out the sources that support the key ideas and organize them according to how they relate to the document based questions given.

Outline Your Essay

Even though your time is limited, you should spare some time for the outline. Create a short outline and note down your main ideas. As we mentioned, a DBQ outline will help you stay organized and save you time in writing.

Craft a Captivating Intro

The intro is the first impression you’ll provide the reader, so make it count. Write a DBQ essay intro that captures the reader’s attention and explains what your paper is about. Any DBQ essay example will show you that your introduction needs to be succinct, so avoid filler words and phrases.

Create a Strong Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement should be the intro’s closing sentence and is meant to give your essay direction. It would be best to develop a clear strategy for writing a thesis statement beforehand so it’ll be easier to compose the essay. The thesis should provide a direct answer to the essay question and pave the way for the key points in the essay’s body.

Compose Your Arguments

After your thesis statement, you can dive into writing and construct supporting arguments. Use the sources provided to validate your assertions and wrap up your argument with a conclusion.

Edit and Proofread Your Essay

If there is still time remaining, proofread your DBQ essay. Confirm that your arguments sufficiently support your thesis statement. Eliminate any errors and make your DBQ essay clearer.

Final Thoughts

AP classes can help boost your chances for a place at your preferred college but be prepared to write a DBQ essay that impresses your instructor. While the DBQ essay is important, it should not intimidate you. The above guide should provide some useful information on how to ace it.

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