The DBQ Project

Project Overview: The completion of this project will require a group of 4-5 students to cooperatively produce an A.P. quality DBQ, with extensive accompanying documentation, in order to display depth and breadth of historical knowledge, insight into essay construction and the key ideas/themes of a period of American history, and the ability to create and present a meaningful review project as a group. Students will be given an opportunity to sign up for groups on the morning of February 5, will meet checkpoint deadlines over the subsequent weeks, and present the elements of the finished product to the entire class (presentation days will occur in the two weeks following spring break: specific dates and times TBA). All group work must be carefully completed, and reflect the combined efforts of each member of the group. The overall grade on this project will comprise 10% of each student’s overall A.P. grade, replacing the Fall Semester Final as a grading category.

Elements of the Project: The Prompt—This is, in some ways, the most important aspect of the project, as each other element of the project proceeds from this point. You will need to research and discuss extensively as a group before settling on the wording of your prompt. It should be indistinguishable from the best examples of A.P. DBQ prompts in style and substance: it should be written with care. It should focus on an interesting topic, take advantage of ample and diverse documentary evidence, and offer the prospective essayist more than one possible avenue of argument to explore. You may find, as you work, that the prompt needs to be reworded, and you should feel free as a group to agree on that decision.

The Documents—This is the most research-intensive component of the project, and (if a group wishes to receive top marks for excellent document selection) probably the most time-consuming. Before you settle on a final prompt, you will want to get your feet wet in the available documents, to get a sense of what options are most accessible. Once you’ve gained this familiarity, you need to decide as a group what is needed, and go hunting for the ideal documents for the DBQ. Do not simply use the first documents that come to hand: for one thing, doing so will almost certainly lower your score in this area, and for another, haphazard or random document selection will weaken every other area of this project. Each document should supply a meaningful and unique idea related to the prompt, and be a potential trigger to remind an essayist of outside information. Your DBQ should have nine primary source documents: six text documents (letters, poems, editorials, excerpts of books or magazines, diary entries, lyrics, etc.), 1 political cartoon (from the time period, not self- created), 1 other graphic (painting, map, poster, photograph, chart, etc.), and 1 student-created document. (If you need adjustments to these limits, your group will need to ask me.) The student-created document must be a map/chart/table/graph/etc. created by your group from data or statistics you discover on your own. All documents must be legible and well-copied. Remember that the documents form a unit—consider using at least one pair of documents that, when read correctly, provide contrasting or conflicting views. Remember that the order in which documents are presented is also important. If you cannot find appropriate documents to select from, despite extensive work in our library, on the Internet, and in other local libraries (public and/or collegiate), please see me for guidance.

The Essay—Your group will write an essay cooperatively that answers the prompt you have designed. It will need to be an example of a 9 response to your prompt: that is, it makes fluid and well-organized use of every document and of extensive outside information, and believably provides the structure for an essay that could be written in 45 minutes. If I, in grading it, determine it to be less than a 9, you will not receive full credit for this piece. Document Analysis—Each document in your DBQ must be explained in detail and depth in the following three ways: (1) what the document actually says (the “summary”), (2) what the document should suggest to the student (the “inferences”), and (3) what specific facts the document ought to remind students to include (the “related facts”). Outside Information—Your group must produce a thorough and detailed list of the outside factual information students ought to consider including in their response. Organize them into a number of large useful categories/groups. Rationale—Your group must provide a detailed explanation of why each document was selected and how each individual document was a better choice than the other documents you ultimately did not choose for inclusion. Specific comparisons (rather than vague generalizations) will be needed to make clear why these documents are the ideal choices. You must also explain why the documents are arranged in the order they are. Source—A type of bibliography is also necessary. The original source of each document must be provided, as well as clear directions on how each document can be easily found. Group Responsibilities—You will have to log all group time spent working on the project (either cooperatively or on one’s own). A written breakdown of individual responsibilities must also be included. All members must do a reasonable and fair share of the group work. Visual Aid—Each group will complete a visual aid that displays the information they have learned, including the question, all documents, and the list of outside information. The presentation must be neat, well-composed, and easy to follow, and should supply useful tips for approaching this question and similar questions on the general topic. It should be clear from the visual aid how this question and the themes it addresses fits into the larger picture of American history in the time period you have chosen. Review Handout—Each group will create and copy for their peers a typed handout (1-2 pages in length; copied back-to-back) that covers the essential points needed to successfully answer a DBQ on the assigned topic, and that more generally orients students to the major themes of the unit. Presentation—Each group will prepare a brief presentation (between 10 and 20 minutes in length) to walk the class through the topic they have chosen. This requires not only explaining the question, documents, and outside information, but situating the DBQ in the context of the assigned time period. A visual aid that supplies useful information on its own is needed. However, it is not a script, and it should not generally be read from (an occasional point you want to highlight is fine…the whole presentation is not). Your goal is to teach your classmates so that they are not only prepared to respond to a question identical to yours, but also that they are more ready to handle a variety of related questions. The presentation should be creative. DO NOT SIMPLY REVIEW YOUR ENTIRE DBQ.

DBQ Project Due Dates: The prompt: February 28 The complete DBQ, outside information, document analysis, rationale, and source: TBD The entire project (on paper and in electronic form): TBD Some Possibilities for DBQ Topics

1. Colonial Period (1492-1783)  The Collision of Worlds: Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans  Tensions/Rebellions in Colonial Society in 17th and/or 18th centuries  Interactions between Religion, Politics, and/or Economics in the Colonies  Factors leading to the Revolution (1763-1776)

2. Early Nationhood (1783-1812)  The Constitution: Compromises, Ratification, Impact  Foreign and/or Domestic Tensions in the New Republic  Washington’s, Adams’, and/or Jefferson’s Political Legacies  Louisiana Purchase and/or Lewis and Clark

3. Madison to Polk (1808-1846)  The War of 1812: Causes, Impacts, Significance  Re-emergence of the Two-Party System  States’ Rights and Controversies in the Age of Jackson  Manifest Destiny and/or the Mexican War

4. Antebellum America and the Coming Civil War (1840-1870)  The Market Revolution during the Antebellum Age  Changes in Antebellum Society (impacts of industrialization, technology, urbanization, etc.)  Causes of Sectionalism and the Civil War (political, economic, social, cultural)  Impacts of the Civil War on Northern Society (during and after the war)

5. The Gilded Age (1865-1900)  The New South: Politics, the Economy, “Colonial Status”  Native Americans in the Post-War Period  Causes/Impacts of Industry and Technology in the late 19th century  Urbanization and City Life in the Gilded Age

6. Turn of the Century to the Cold War (1900-1945)  The Rise of Conservationism and/or the Environmental Movement  WWI and/or WWII: Motives and/or Impacts (political, social, economic)  WWII: The Home Front  The Great Depression: Causes, Impacts (social, economic, cultural) (note: No New Deal)

7. The Cold War Era (1945-1992)  1950s Culture, Economics, and Politics  The Stormy Sixties/Seventies: Vietnam, Assassinations, Civil Rights, Hippies, Watergate  Changes in U.S. Foreign Policy: Isolationism to Interventionism  Changes in the Role of Federal Government and/or the Office of the President, post WWII