1. Credit Recovery
  2. History Document Based Question (DBQ) Directions
    1. When you write your essay, you will use the format from the outline and sample
    2. SCORING GUIDE

Credit Recovery

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History Document Based Question (DBQ) Directions

 

Step 1: Read the DBQ Outline and Essay Sample

 



When you write your essay, you will use the format from the outline and sample

 

Step 2: Choose one DBQ Prompt

Step 3: Watch/Read background information for the topic of the DBQ Prompt you choose

Step 4: Complete and submit worksheet portion of the DBQ Document

·   Evaluate thesis statements (first page)

·   Read Documents

·   Fill out Pre-writing worksheet (the page with all the boxes)

o   The Pre-writing worksheet will be handwritten. You will be given a hard copy in class



 


You will need to get teacher approval before writing the DBQ essay. You will be approved once the worksheet portion is complete and meets the criteria

 

 

Step 5: Write DBQ essay and submit

 



Your teacher will either mark your essay as “Meets Requirement to Recover Credit” or will provide feedback to help you revise and improve your essay. If your essay meets the requirement to recover credit… Congratulations! You are done. If not… go to step 6

 


 

Step 6: Continue to revise and submit until your essay is marked “Meets Requirement to Recover Credit.”

 

 

Credit Recovery World History Sample DBQ Essay

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Outline of Essay Using 4 Documents

 

(Thesis)

(Contextualization)

(Topic sentence restating the 1st claim). (Describe 1st Document). (A/P 1st Document). (Elaborate on evidence from the 1st Document). (Evidence Beyond the Documents). (Analysis tying the evidence back to the claim and to the prompt). (Topic sentence restating the 1st claim). (Describe and A/P 2nd Document). (Elaborate on evidence from the 2nd Document). (Analysis tying the evidence back to the claim and to the prompt).

(Topic sentence restating the 2nd claim). (Describe 3rd Document). (A/P 3rd Document). (Elaborate on evidence from the 3rd Document). (Evidence Beyond the Documents). (Analysis tying the evidence back to the claim and to the prompt). (Topic sentence restating the 2nd claim). (Describe and A/P 4th Document). (Elaborate on evidence from the 4th Document). (Analysis tying the evidence back to the claim and to the prompt).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to see the documents used for this DBQ essay go to:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap18-frq-world-history.pdf

 

Evaluate the extent to which railroads affected the process of empire-building in Afro-Eurasia between 1860 and 1918.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Complete Essay Using 4 Documents with My Commentary in Bold

 Although railroad construction in Asia and Africa greatly facilitated the development and maintenance of European colonial empires, it also aided in the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule (Thesis).

 The Industrial Revolution created a demand for raw materials, sources of labor and new markets that Europeans nations started to look for in Africa-Eurasian. Technological advances of the Industrial Revolution helped Europeans create large empires by linking places together at a cheaper cost. Railroads played an important role in the Industrial Revolution because they provided a faster more efficient method of overland transportation than ever existed before (Contextualization).

 Railroad construction in Africa helped European’s develop and maintain colonial empires (Topic sentence restating the 1st claim). For example, Document 4 shows a proposed railway that would connect all of Britain’s colonial territory from Cape Town to Cairo (Describe Document). The purpose of Document 4 was to instill pride in British imperial achievements. Cecil Rhodes probably hoped to gain investors to help get the proposed railway built (Purpose). Even though only parts of the proposed railway were completed, the plan shows how Britain hoped to use railroads to consolidate its power throughout a huge portion of Africa. The British would use African labor to build the railroad. Then they would be able to extract and transport raw materials from African and sell manufactured goods in new markets. (Elaborate on evidence from the document, I also think I would credit for Outside Evidence for the previous 2 sentences) Therefore, this process helped Europeans have the power and money to develop and maintain colonial empires (Analysis tying the evidence back to the claim and to the prompt). Another example of railroad construction leading to European’s developing and maintaining colonial empires is from Document 7 (Topic sentence restating the 1st claim). The purpose of the British officer in Document 7 is to explain how the construction of railways in India is helping unify many Indian ethnic and religious groups and that could create an Indian community that is loyal to Great Britain (Description of the Document and Purpose.) This shows how the British believed that the improved transportation which was bringing large groups of people together that hadn’t interacted with each other before, could increase loyalty toward Great Britain from the colonial people they had power over (Elaborate on evidence from the document). Therefore, even the unintended consequences of railway construction helped Europeans develop and maintain colonial empires (Analysis tying the evidence back the claim and to the prompt).

 Railroad construction in Asia and Africa aided in the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule (Topic sentence restating the 2nd claim). For example, Document 2 shows how the Qing dynasty believed the Chinese government should build railroads but should not allow foreigners to get involved in the construction unless the foreign companies agreed to the Chinese rules. (Describe Document). The purpose of Document 2 is for the Qing dynasty to show their plan to modernize China without being taken advantage of by foreign influence. (Purpose). The Qing dynasty wanted to show they could improve the infrastructure of China while hiring Chinese laborers without giving in to foreign influence. (Elaborate on evidence from the document). This document is from 1867 so the Chinese may be nervous about foreign influence because they already fought and lost to the British in the 1st and 2nd Opium Wars and had to sign unequal treaties with the British. They were right to be nervous considering that about 30 years after this document was written, many Chinese participated in a rebellion against foreign influence called the Boxer Rebellion (Outside Evidence). Therefore, railroad construction could be the catalyst for nationalist movements against Europeans since Europeans had a reputation for only looking out for their own interests and not that of the natives. (Analysis tying the evidence back the claim and to the prompt). Another example of the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule because of railroad construction is from Document 3. (Topic sentence restating the 2nd claim). An Ottoman government report argues that the construction of a railroad from Damascus to Mecca would help Muslims traveling to holy cities. The purpose of Document 3 is to convince the sultan to construct a railroad that would increase the prestige of the Ottoman sultan and decrease the Ottoman’s reliance on foreign ships. The government report is concerned that Western powers are growing dominant in the region and a railroad constructed by Muslims for Muslims would help to curtail that. (Description of the Document and Purpose. This is an example of the Ottomans finding ways to increase pride in the Muslim world. (Elaborate on evidence from the document). Therefore, nationalist movements started to gain traction against European rule as groups looked to decrease European power in their home regions. (Analysis tying the evidence back the claim and to the prompt).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complete Essay Using 4 Documents without Commentary

 

 Although railroad construction in Asia and Africa greatly facilitated the development and maintenance of European colonial empires, it also aided in the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule.

 The Industrial Revolution created a demand for raw materials, sources of labor and new markets that Europeans nations started to look for in Africa-Eurasian. Technological advances of the Industrial Revolution helped Europeans create large empires by linking places together at a cheaper cost. Railroads played an important role in the Industrial Revolution because they provided a faster more efficient method of overland transportation than ever existed before.

 Railroad construction in Africa helped European’s develop and maintain colonial empires. For example, Document 4 shows a proposed railway that would connect all of Britain’s colonial territory from Cape Town to Cairo. The purpose of Document 4 was to instill pride in British imperial achievements. Cecil Rhodes probably hoped to gain investors to help get the proposed railway built. Even though only parts of the proposed railway were completed, the plan shows how Britain hoped to use railroads to consolidate its power throughout a huge portion of Africa. The British would use African labor to build the railroad. Then they would be able to extract and transport raw materials from African and sell manufactured goods in new markets. Therefore, this process helped Europeans have the power and money to develop and maintain colonial empires. Another example of railroad construction leading to European’s developing and maintaining colonial empires is from Document 7. The purpose of the British officer in Document 7 is to explain how the construction of railways in India is helping unify many Indian ethnic and religious groups and that could create an Indian community that is loyal to Great Britain. This shows how the British believed that the improved transportation which was bringing large groups of people together that hadn’t interacted with each other before, could increase loyalty toward Great Britain from the colonial people they had power over. Therefore, even the unintended consequences of railway construction helped Europeans develop and maintain colonial empires.

 Railroad construction in Asia and Africa aided in the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule. For example, Document 2 shows how the Qing dynasty believed the Chinese government should build railroads but should not allow foreigners to get involved in the construction unless the foreign companies agreed to the Chinese rules. The purpose of Document 2 is for the Qing dynasty to show their plan to modernize China without being taken advantage of by foreign influence. The Qing dynasty wanted to show they could improve the infrastructure of China while hiring Chinese laborers without giving in to foreign influence. This document is from 1867 so the Chinese may be nervous about foreign influence because they already fought and lost to the British in the 1st and 2nd Opium Wars and had to sign unequal treaties with the British. They were right to be nervous considering that about 30 years after this document was written, many Chinese participated in a rebellion against foreign influence called the Boxer Rebellion. Therefore, railroad construction could be the catalyst for nationalist movements against Europeans since Europeans had a reputation for only looking out for their own interests and not that of the natives. Another example of the emergence of nationalist movements against European rule because of railroad construction is from Document 3. An Ottoman government report argues that the construction of a railroad from Damascus to Mecca would help Muslims traveling to holy cities. The purpose of Document 3 is to convince the sultan to construct a railroad that would increase the prestige of the Ottoman sultan and decrease the Ottoman’s reliance on foreign ships. The government report is concerned that Western powers are growing dominant in the region and a railroad constructed by Muslims for Muslims would help to curtail that. This is an example of the Ottomans finding ways to increase pride in the Muslim world. Therefore, nationalist movements started to gain traction against European rule as groups looked to decrease European power in their home regions.

Note: If you write an essay similar to this responding to your prompt, you will “Recover your Credit.”



SCORING GUIDE
Reporting Category Scoring Criteria Decision Rules
A. THESIS/CLAIM

(0–1 pt)
1 pt.

Responds to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis/claim that establishes a line of reasoning.
To earn this point, the thesis must make a claim that responds to the prompt rather than restating or rephrasing the prompt. The thesis must consist of one or more sentences located in one place, either in the introduction or the conclusion.
B. CONTEXTUALIZATION

(0–1 pt)
1 pt.

Describes a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
To earn this point, the response must relate the topic of the prompt to broader historical events, developments, or processes that occur before, during, or continue after the time frame of the question. This point is not awarded for merely a phrase or reference
C. EVIDENCE

(0–2 pts)
Evidence from the Documents

1 pt.

Uses the content of at least four documents to address the topic of the prompt.

 

Evidence beyond the Documents

1 pt.

Uses at least one additional piece of the specific historical evidence (beyond that found in the documents) relevant to an argument about the prompt.
 

To earn this point, the response must accurately describe — rather than simply quote — the content from at least four of the documents.

 

 

 

 

To earn this point, the response must describe the evidence and must use more than a phrase or reference. This additional piece of evidence must be different from the evidence used to earn the point for contextualization.

 
D. ANALYSIS AND

REASONING

(0–1 pt)

 
1 pt.

For at least three documents, explains how or why the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or intended audience is relevant to an argument.
To earn this point, the response must explain how or why (rather than simply identifying) the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, or intended audience is relevant to an argument about the prompt for each of the three documents sourced.  

Modified from 2020 College Board – AP World History: Modern: Course and Exam Description

 


 

 

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