SurvivalGuide

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Survival Guides for APUSH

Tips for Writing DBQ's and Free Response Essays

Introduction to APUSH Writing



	An Inside Look at the DBQ and Free Response Essay by Kristen Staley DBQ? What the heck is the DBQ? The document based question, a key part of the U.S. History exam, scares most people. This is something you can overcome and in fact, feel good about writing. By the end of this course, the DBQ should feel like just another style of essay writing. The Free Response Essay, which is much less talked about, is not unlike essays you already know how to write. With practice you can write a successful essay. The following attempts to prepare you through handouts, writing tips, and DBQ samples and responses. Remember that it takes time to write a six or seven paper. Do not feel discouraged if you score less when you begin writing. Your here to learn and learn you will!

		By Kristen Staley, class of 2001 Document Based Question 1. You will be given a prompt which you must respond to using the provided documents and outside knowledge of the time period. 2. Use most if not all of the 15 minutes to read through the documents, take notes, and plan your essay. 3. When reading documents, underline key ideas and jot notes next to each document. Also circle key people and dates. This will help you organize your paper and allow you to draw inferences between the documents and your outside knowledge. 4. Pace yourself. Do not stress on the time. Write the start and end time on the top of your essay. That will allow you to focus on your essay and not how much time which you have to write. 5. When you finish writing, reread your paper, checking for any errors in historical information Do not try to make big corrections in your paper, such as deleting or inserting whole paragraphs. 6. Make sure your introduction and conclusion agree with each other, By checking this you will save yourself from possibly taking point deductions with an essay that contradicts itself. 7. Practice, practice, practice!. You�ll receive practice at school and at home. Use this time to your fullest advantage. The point is to improve your writing skills. Free Response Essay 1. You are given four essay choices. You must write on two of them. One must be from before the Civil War and the second from after the Civil War. 2. Choose your first prompt to answer. Underline key dates and parts of the prompt that have to be answered. 3. Jot down a few pieces of knowledge you have remember about that time period. This may help trigger additional information. Writing down names, events and dates also helps to keep the prompt clear in your mind as you write your essay. 4. Write your essay, making sure to pace yourself. 5. Reread your work when finished, making sure all parts of your essay agree. 6. Repeat the same procedure for the second essay.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws