Taking the DBQ
The primary purpose of the document-based essay question is not to test students' prior knowledge of subject matter, but rather to evaluate their ability to formulate and support an answer from documentary evidence. Documents for study are chosen on the basis of both the information they convey about the topic and the Perspective which they offer on other documents used in the exercise. Thus the fullest understanding of any particular document emerges only when that document is viewed within the wider context of the entire series.
Designed to test skills analogous to those of the historian at work on source materials, the document-based exercise differs from the task of actual historians mainly in the time available for analysis and the prearranged sequence of the documents, which helps illuminate the specifics of the question. There is no single correct answer; Instead, a variety of approaches and responses is possible according to the students' ability to understand the documents and ultimately to judge their significance.
In writing the essay, candidates might find it useful to consider the following points. First, the document-based question is an exercise in both analysis and synthesis. As such, it requires that students first read and analyze the documents individually and then plan and construct an appropriate response to the essay question based upon their interpretation of the documentary evidence as a whole. What is desired, then, is a unified essay which integrates analysis of documents with treatment of the topic.
Accordingly, specific mention of individual documents should always occur within the framework of the overall topic, serving Principally to substantiate and illustrate points made in the essay. Thus it is not necessary that every document be cited in the essay, since the way in which students approach the topic provides a good indication of their understanding of the question and their ability to weigh the evidence.
In no case, however, should documents simply be cited and explained in a laundry-list fashion; reference to the documentary material must always be closely tied to the essay topic. Evidence from the documents should be utilized both to construct and to illustrate responses.
In approaching the documents, a suggested procedure is to read all the documents in order of presentation, returning to the more important for further study. There are no decoy (irrelevant or deliberately misleading) documents. Whereas some documents are more central to an understanding of the topic than others, every one is related to the question and can be used by students in the preparation of their essays. However, even a superior essay does not have to make implicit or explicit use of all the documents, for different combinations of documents may be used to support various lines of reasoning.
The most common errors in student responses to document- based questions include: paraphrasing or summarizing the documents