In the past, these types of trials were not found very often outside of advanced placement history exams. However, they are now used in social studies classes at all levels, so you will have to take a test focused on them at some point. To take them, you will need a solid prior knowledge of the periods of history and the geographic areas on which you will be evaluated. The documents will always direct you to the main topics of the class. The key to being successful is to analyze the provided documents and use them to support an argument in response to the essay question. These tests are rigorous, but they will allow you to do history work instead of forcing you to just memorize the facts. Don't stress and start investigating!
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Analyze the documents
Step 1. Review the documents for 10-15 minutes
If you are taking an advanced placement exam, you will need to review the question and the documents in the first 15 minutes. During this initial reading period, you should read the essay question carefully, analyze the included documents, and develop your argument.
- On these exams, you will generally have 45 minutes to write your essay. The exact times will vary by exam and assignment, but the first step for all document-based essays will be analysis of the papers.
- You must also include a thesis, establish the historical context of the question, use 6 documents to support an argument, describe external evidence, and comment on the point of view or context of at least 3 of the sources. Classify these elements as you review and make the outline, so you won't forget anything.
Step 2. Recognize the keywords and tasks assigned in the question
You should know what type of evidence you will have to look for in the documents and the objective that your essay will have to fulfill. Circle or underline the task-oriented words (such as “evaluate,” “analyze,” and “compare”). Also write down keywords like "social," "political," and "economic"; as well as information on the period and the society in question.
- The question might ask you to analyze or explain the causes of a historical development; p. eg, "Explain how the progressive movement gained social, political, and cultural influence in the United States from 1890 to after 1920."
- You may have to use leading sources to compare different attitudes or points of view around a concept, policy, or event; p. eg, "Compare the different attitudes to women's rights in the United States from 1890 to 1920."
- The keywords in these examples will tell you how to read the sources. For example, to compare different attitudes, you will need to identify the authors of your sources, classify their views, and determine how attitudes have changed during that period in history.
Step 3. Identify the authors, views, and other details of the documents
Read sources critically rather than just skimming them for information. In each document, you will have to identify the author, the target audience, their point of view, the people and everything that has influenced them, and their credibility. Underline key phrases, take notes in the margins, and refer to them when writing your essay.
- Imagine that one of the documents is a diary entry for a suffragette. Excerpts from the post detailing the defense of the women's rights movement will be evidence of your point of view. On the other hand, another document could be an article in a newspaper from the same period, which opposes women's suffrage.
- The journal entry may not have a target audience, but you will need to identify potential readers for letters, brochures, and newspaper articles.
- Most sources are likely to be written documents, but you may find political cartoons, photographs, maps, or graphics. If you know English, the United States Library of Congress offers a helpful guide on reading specific primary source categories at the following link:
Step 4. Put the sources into categories based on the essay question
Determine how each document relates to the question, and how to use sources to support an argument. For example, if you are comparing different attitudes, you will need to classify the sources based on the opposing ideologies they represent.
- Imagine that you have a letter sent by one suffragette to another, which addresses the methods used to obtain the right to vote. This document could help you deduce how attitudes vary among supporters of the movement.
- You can understand an opposite attitude if you review a newspaper article in which suffragettes are depicted as unpatriotic women who could sabotage World War I for the United States.
- Other sources might include a 1917 editorial on the mistreatment of suffragettes in prison, and an article on the main political measures in support of women's suffrage. From these sources, you can deduce that 1917 was a decisive year and that the role of women in the domestic sphere during the First World War would generate greater support for the suffrage.
Step 5. Reflect on the relevant external information that you can include in the essay
In the case of an advanced placement exam, you will need to include at least one source of support in addition to the documents provided. Rather than just making a reference, you should describe how that event, policy, post, person, or other piece of historical evidence supports your claims.
- You may have read that the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) made a strategic change in 1916. Instead of focusing on suffrage in each individual state, it began prioritizing a constitutional amendment. If you mention this shift to a more aggressive strategy, this will support your claim that the foundations were laid for a crucial change in 1917 with popular support for the right to vote for women.
- As you analyze external evidence during the planning stages, you will need to write it down so that you can refer to it when you write your essay. A suitable point could be the margin of a document that relates to external information.
Part 2 of 4: Developing an Argument
Step 1. Review the question and get a point of view after reading the documents
After you have learned more about the subject, you should return to the question and formulate an answer. Keep in mind that you are not just going to develop an opinion based on your instincts. Take advantage of the information obtained from the documents to form a well-founded opinion that has evidence.
- For example, after reviewing documents related to women's suffrage, you will need to identify opposing attitudes, how they differ, and how they have changed over time.
- The initial argument at this stage could be “The opposition viewed suffragettes as unpatriotic and feminine women. Attitudes in the suffrage movement were divided between conservative and more aggressive members. At the end of the First World War, the change in the perception of the role of women contributed to the increase in popular support for women's suffrage”.
Step 2. Polish the opening argument into a possible thesis
The thesis is a concise statement that synthesizes the argument. This should be a justifiable statement that answers the question, and not just reaffirms it.
- Imagine the essay question is "How did World War I affect attitudes about women's suffrage in the United States?" A strong thesis would be "The role that women played in the labor force and in favor of the efforts made in the war contributed to the increase in popular support for the suffrage movement."
- A weak thesis would be "The First World War affected the way Americans perceived women's suffrage." This will only reaffirm the question.
Step 3. Outline the structure of your argument
Start with the thesis, then use Roman numerals (I., II., III., Etc.) or letters (A., B., C., etc.). You will need to write a statement or a step in the general argument for each number or letter. Under each statement, you will have to place some bullets in which you support that part of the argument.
- For example, you can write "New woman: change in perception from 1890" under the number I. This section will explain the concept of the new woman during that period, which rejected the common characteristics of women as a dependent and fragile. You will indicate that this, in part, laid the groundwork for attitude change during and after World War I.
- You will be able to start planning the essay during the exam reading period. If necessary, take about 5 minutes of the writing period to finish the plot outline.
Step 4. Include the document citations in the outline
You will have to support your argument by citing the documents included in the question. You can make a quick reference if you take notes in the diagram, where you are going to talk about a source. If you are taking an advanced placement exam, you will need to include 6 of the 7 documents, so it will be important to stay organized.
- For example, under “I. New woman: change in perception from 1890 ", you can write" (Doc. 1) ", which is a pamphlet that praises women who ride bicycles (which was considered" unladylike "at the time).
- Below that line, you can write “(Doc. 2)”, which will be an article that defends the common point of view that women should stay at home. You will use this document to explain opposing views that set the context for the suffrage debates from 1900 to after 1910.
Step 5. Polish the thesis after creating the outline
Verify that the structure and evidence of the argument support it. Recheck that the thesis is clear, does not include filler or unnecessary words, and that it answers the question completely.
Imagine that the thesis is "The role of women in the workforce and in favor of the efforts made in the war contributed to the increase in popular support for the suffrage movement." You could decide that "contributed" is not strong enough, and choose to change it to "resulted" in order to emphasize the cause
Part 3 of 4: Make the Essay Outline
Step 1. Pay attention to the time and plan your time strategically
If you are taking an advanced placement exam, you will have 45 minutes to write the document-based essay. Times may vary in other cases, but you should always determine how much you can devote to each section of the essay. Do your best to leave at least 2-3 minutes at the end to review.
- If you have 45 minutes to write, spend 5 minutes creating an outline. If you have an introduction, 3 main points citing 6 documents, and a conclusion; spend 7 minutes or less on each of these 5 sections. This will allow you 5 minutes to review or improve your work in case you need more time.
- Check the weather every now and then as you write to ensure you stay on track.
Step 2. Include the thesis and 1-2 sentences of context in the introduction
If you are taking an AP history exam, you will lose one point (out of 7 given) if you do not relate the question to its broader historical context. Setting the context is a natural way to start your essay, so you can use one or the first two sentences of your introduction to bring it up.
- To set the context, you could write, “The Progressive Era occurred from approximately 1890 to 1920, and was a period of political, economic, and cultural reform in the United States. It experienced a central movement known as the women's rights movement, which gained momentum when the perception of the role of women changed drastically”.
- If you would rather be direct, you can start the introduction with the thesis and then establish the context.
- A time-bound document-based essay exam will not allow you to spend many minutes writing a long introduction, so you should directly analyze the documents instead of creating a long and detailed introduction.
Step 3. Write the body paragraphs
You will need to put them in logical order, and each will have to address a component of the argument. For example, you could discuss attitudes around women's suffrage in the decades leading up to World War I, and then explain how women joined the workforce and supported war efforts. Finally, assess how this new role has given advocates of the female vote more credibility and led to increased popular support.
- Each section of the body should have a topic sentence that tells the reader that you are addressing another source of livelihood. For example, the first section begins with "Beginning in 1890, changes in perception occurred that laid the groundwork for major advances in women's suffrage during and after World War I."
- You will need to cite the documents to support each part of the argument. Include direct quotes sparingly (if you're going to use any) and prioritize analysis of the source, rather than just citing it.
- Whenever you mention an information or document within another, you will have to add its number in parentheses at the end of the sentence, in this way: “Women who were not suffragettes, but who still supported the movement, wrote letters in the that mentioned their desire to help (Document 2)”.
Step 4. Show how each body paragraph connects to the thesis
You will not get points if you only mention the sources or if you add quotes randomly. You will have to establish logical connections between the documents, the deductions you have made and the thesis. You will also need to show that you have developed a critical understanding of sources; For which, you should focus on its meaning and not the literal words.
- For example, an entry in a private newspaper from 1916 in which suffrage is dismissed as corrupt and unmoral is not necessarily a reflection of the opinion of the general public. You will have to consider more aspects, not just the content or what it says.
- Imagine that a more reliable document (such as a major newspaper article on the 1916 Democratic and Republican National Conventions) details the growing political and public support for women's suffrage. You will use this font to show that the journal entry expresses an attitude that was becoming less popular.
Step 5. Integrate the argument into the conclusion
You will have to summarize the argument, but the conclusion will not only have to re-mention or paraphrase the thesis and the introduction. Remind the reader of how you demonstrated your claims, and take the opportunity to connect the argument with a larger historical context.
In the essay on World War I and women's suffrage, you could summarize the argument and then mention that the war similarly affected women's voting rights on an international scale
Part 4 of 4: Review your work
Step 1. Check your essay for spelling and grammar errors
Try to leave 5 minutes free after writing the essay, so you can review it and make the final edits. Look for misspelled words, grammatical errors, missing words, and points where you have not written neatly.
If you're taking an AP history test or other time-limited test, small mistakes are acceptable as long as they don't affect the argument. For example, misspellings will not take points away if the person who is going to rate you can understand the word (like "suffrage" instead of "suffrage")
Step 2. Verify that you have included all the required items
Try to add any missing items, if you have time and it is possible to do so. It will be impractical for you to rewrite a section or make any major changes to your organization with only 3 minutes left. Therefore, you should check the list of criteria as you develop the outline and write. If you are taking an Advanced Placement exam, you will need to do the following to receive the maximum score:
- provide a clear thesis statement;
- establish the general historical context for the question;
- support your argument with 6 of the 7 documents included;
- identify and explain a source of historical evidence outside of the included documents;
- describe 3 of the viewpoints, purposes, audiences, or context of the documents;
- demonstrate a complex understanding of the topic; p. eg, when talking about causes, change, continuity, or connections to other historical periods.
Step 3. Check that the names, dates, and other facts are accurate
Verify that you have accurately cited names, dates, places, and points of view as they appear in the documents provided. For each reference, you will need to double-check that you have cited the appropriate document and that you have presented its content accurately.
As with spelling and grammar, small mistakes will be acceptable as long as the person who is rating you can understand what they mean. There will be no problem with small spelling errors, but you will lose points if you write that a source supports suffrage when in fact it does not
Advice
- If you are in the US and taking an advanced placement history exam, find the assessment criteria, practice tests, and other resources at
- Taking a test with a time limit can be difficult, so you will need to measure your time when taking practice tests.
- Remember that it will not be enough to justify or summarize a document. Explain why a source is important and match each reference to the argument.