DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS
A D.B.Q. asks the student to answer in essay form demonstrating their understanding of any number of documents (1, 2, 3 or, as on the AP test, 9). They are usually introduced last, after the other two (CC and CCOT) simply because they are considered the most difficult to organize. Why? Because they can be a jumble, and the student must group the documents in as many appropriate ways as possible. It takes practice. A good way to frame your response is by using the acronym SOAP, which stands for Speaker, Occasion, Audience and Purpose. Be sure to detect bias / POV, use ALL the documents in your essay to support the thesis you come up with after reading them over, group the documents for analysis, ude evidence from them specifically but limiting yourself to very short quotes (four words) if you must quote. And don't forget the "extra document" you can make up to use.
