Intro to Historical Writing

1. Intro to Historical Writing

2. Document-Based Questions • An essay that answers a question while only using provided documents or resources • Beyond history, one can consider any essay that uses sources as a document-based essay • The answer you give for a DBQ prompt (essay) is essentially an argument

3. Arguments • An argument is a reason or set of reasons that try to persuade someone to agree with you Parts of an argument: • Prompt • Claim • Premises (categories) • Evidence • Counter-claim • Conclusion

4. Parts of an Argument • The prompt is the question or statement that focuses on a topic

5. Parts of an Argument • A Claim is an assertion of truth about something • Simply put, the claim is your position on a topic without reason or evidence • A written claim with evidence is known as a thesis statement

6. Parts of an Argument • The reasons for your claim being correct are your premises • In an essay, we use terms like categories or prongs for your argument • Regardless, these all essentially mean the same thing • A good thesis not only includes a claim, but also specific prongs to support your claim

7. Writing Your Thesis

8. Thesis Statement • Declare your stance or position on the question • Establish a time and place • Thesis should be clear and direct • Place in the first or last paragraph • Avoid using general terms (many, things, lots, very) • Group your sources to create the categories for your thesis

9. Examples of a thesis • “Emperor Justinian made many changes to the Byzantine Empire that made it different from the Roman Empire” • “The spread of Christianity throughout the Byzantine empire was primarily due to Justinian’s influence” • “Justinian created a new empire that had both old and new aspects of Rome” • “Justinian’s law code, emphasis on the Christian faith, and expansion of the empire all contribute to the development of a new empire.”

10. Analyzing the documents • Read through the documents thoroughly and keep these questions in mind: • What kind of document is it? • Who is the author? • When was it written? • What does the document say? • What is the purpose of the document? • Using the information from the sources, you can now start organizing your categories

11. Grouping • At least 3 groups in a DBQ • Each group must have at least 2 documents • Use information from the documents to form your grouping • One way is to bucket • Bucketing: • Good way to visualize the groups • Each “bucket” should include text analysis, point of view, and missing documents

12. Analyze the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. Notice that each document has a main idea

13. Analyze the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. ***This is not the only way these categories that can be organized!

14. Tips for a good argument • ALWAYS READ THE QUESTION FIRST! • What kind of question is it? (compare and contrast, yes or no, to what extent) • One document can be used for multiple premises (categories) • Be prepared to adjust your thesis statement • Do not include opinions without evidence • Recognize other perspectives • Use transition terms when appropriate