DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION

THE FACTS

• Total suggested time- ONE HOUR– 15 minutes prep– 45 writing

• SUGGESTED LENGTH– 3-5 pages

THE STRATEGY

• Step one- read the question searching for catch words and categories.

– Circle catch words– Look for any given categories, if not present

establish at LEAST TWO of your own.– Quickly write down any facts you remember

concerning the question (place them in the proper category)

THE STRATEGY

• SAMPLE 1-– In what ways did the French and Indian War

(1754-1763) alter the political, economic and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies?• Circle catch words• Identify categories and on the side of your paper

write them down• Quickly list all possible facts and identify the

category where they belong

The Strategy

• Political– Proclamatio

n of 1763

• Economic– Navigatio

n Acts

• Ideological– End of

salutary neglect

THE STRATEGY

• Step Two- Create your thesis – Write it before looking at documents– Follow the same rules as a thesis for an

essay question

THE STRATEGY

• Step Three- Analyze the documents – Remember

• They are in chronological order• Use a majority of the documents• Remember they are designed to bring you to

conclusions and often show both sides of an argument

Analyzing Documents

• Information v Inference– Look for anything that

may tip off the document if you are unsure of its purpose

– Write any outside information that might be associated with the document next to it.

– Decide which thesis category it best fits into

Analyzing Documents

• Information v Inference– Call for colonial unity– Benjamin Franklin’s

proposal– Protect against French

threat– Provide for home rule

• Decision in McCullough v Maryland (1819)

Has Congress the power to incorporate a bank?... In discussing this question, the council for the state of Maryland have deemed it of some importance, in the construction of the Constitution, to consider that instrument not as emanating from the people but as the act of sovereign an independent states. The powers of the general government, it has been said, are delegated by the states, who alone are truly sovereign; and must be exercised in subordination to the states, who alone possess the supreme dominion. It would be difficult to sustain this proposition.

INFERENCE- what’s not written

• Information– Maryland believes the

Constitution is subject to state power

– Maryland argues that central government power is subject to the states

• Inference– Congress has the

power to charter a bank

– John Marshall– Argues that the

Constitution represents the people not the states

– Strengthens power of Central government

• Candidate Warren G. Harding (Oct 1920)– I oppose the League not because I fail to

understand what… ‘we are being let in for,’ but because I believe I understand precisely what we are being let in for.

– I do not want to clarify these obligations; I want to turn my back on them. It is not interpretation, but rejection that I am seeking. My position is that the present League strikes a deadly blow at our constitutional integrity and surrenders to a dangerous extent our independence of action.

Document usage

• In the essay use a parenthetical note to show document usage (DOC A)

• Use the inferences as your material to link to the thesis

• DO NOT QUOTE or USE EXCERPTS FROM DOCUMENTS

• Use a majority of the documents and a considerable amount of outside information