DBQ Essay TipsDecember 2010

These tips can apply to all types of expository essays!

Title for your DBQ Essay

Give your piece a title and use the capitalization rules for titles—

capitalize the first, last, and all important words within a title.

Martin Luther King: Nonviolence Brought Results

Opening Paragraph: The Grabber

Be sure your grabber is not too corny or informal. This is a formal essay.

Example: “Peace and nonviolence are key to freedom and prosperity.”

Notice: the above grabber is also a universal statement because…

the universal statement refers to a truth that applies to many, many areas and topics.

Opening Paragraph:Thesis statement

Make it complete, clear, and direct, NOT… complicated and vague! Example: “Martin Luther King’s

philosophy made the most sense for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.”

Opening Paragraph:Introduction of the 3 “road map”

ideas Write a full sentence for each of your 3 road

map ideas. Be sure to use the name of the analytical

category in each of the 3 road map sentences. (voting/elections, filling government offices/spoils system, etc.)

Example: “Andrew Jackson cared about all the people including Native Americans.”

Body Paragraphs: Topic Sentences

 Topic sentences of the body paragraphs should be clear BUT NOT EXACT WORD-FOR-WORD re-statements of your 3 “road map” ideas.

Example: “Seeing himself as a caretaker for all citizens of the United States, Andrew Jackson paid special attention to the needs of the Native Americans.”

Supporting Sentences within the Body Paragraphs

Use the documents for support. For full credit, you must use at least 2 different documents per paragraph and at least 6 different documents for the entire essay.

You may use the Background Essay as a document!

As you support your road map ideas within the body paragraphs, DO NOT use the word “document” in the text of your essay, such as “Document A says…”

Supporting Sentences within the Body Paragraphs

Instead, use information from the document and put this at the end of your sentence:

A second manifestation of the struggle over morality is seen in America’s obsession with celebrity Charles Lindbergh (Document A).

Quotations:• If you use them, don’t make them longer than

a phrase or a sentence. Most of the paper should be in your own words.

• Explain each quotation with at least 2 sentences of your own. This explanation should be in the form of a paraphrase in your own words AND explaining the context of the quotation.

• Use the exact words if you are quoting and be sure to spell every word just the way it is spelled in the document.

Using Quotations Example: (I lifted this directly from an essay

without using quotation marks so you can see exactly how it appears on the paper.)

Martin Luther King had a response for the terrible name-calling and snide expressions from his opposition. “No matter what you do to us,” he said, “we will always love you” (Document H). King believed in a nonviolent and loving response to enemies in order to bring about real cooperation and change. This was a very different approach from Malcolm X.

Explaining Quotations and Data

Did you notice the excellent explanations of the quotation on the previous slide?

Before the quotation: Martin Luther King had a response for the terrible name-calling and snide expressions from his opposition.

After the quotation: King believed in a nonviolent and loving

response to enemies in order to bring about real cooperation and change. This was a very different approach from Malcolm X.

Possible Words to Use in Explanations of Quotations and

Data “These data (or this quotation)… Show(s), relate(s), display(s), prove(s),

identif(ies), create(s), paint(s), give(s) credence, chronicle(s), illustrate(s), etc…..

…Jackson’s belief that the common people should have a voice.”

DON’T SAY… “I’m going to tell you about….” “Andrew Jackson showed he was democratic

in three ways.”

DON’T USE… First person pronouns—I, we, my, us, our,

ours, me, mine, etc.! Second person pronouns—you, your, etc.! Don’t use the second person command

pattern… “Try to picture…Look at the evidence…”

DO USE… Third person pronouns: he, she, they, one,

etc. Remember that “he,” “she,” and “one” are

third person singular, so if you need to use a pronoun later in the sentence, the corresponding pronoun should be “he/she” not “they.” “If one looks at the speech, he/she can see that….”

Closing Paragraph Re-state your thesis, in different words, of course! Re-state your 3 road map statements, in different

words, of course! If you really want to knock your reader’s socks

off…close with a reference back to your grabber…and if it was a universal statement, all the better.

Example: True progress toward freedom for all can come about only through nonviolence and respect as shown by Martin Luther King.

Caveats and Encouragement

PROOFREAD every time before you ask someone else to read something you’ve written.

BE CAREFUL using the thesaurus. Be sure the shades of meaning and nuances of the word really work.

DO NOT BE AFRAID to write with your own voice. Even in expository writing, your own voice needs to come through.