Adapted from Chris Novak

Focused DBQ Practice: Sourcing

Part 1: What does the College Board say about Sourcing?

AP Rubric: Analysis Points 1 & 2

The College board has decided that for the modified

AP World History Exam this year (2020) the format
will be a DBQ only. In order to help students write a
DBQ in 45 minutes, they have reduced the number of
documents from seven to five, and changed the rubric
to what you see here. Today, we will be targeting one
of the more advanced skills - sourcing the POV,
historical situation, audience, & purpose of
documents in support of your argument. You must do
this for two documents in your essay to earn 2 points
in the analysis/reasoning category

How does the College Board describe

Sourcing?
To earn this point, the response must​ explain how or
why​ (rather than simply identifying) the document’s
point of view, purpose, historical situation, or
audience is​ relevant to an argument about the prompt
for each of the documents sourced.

Therefore, in order to earn these two analysis points, your goal is to ​connect​ the “surrounding” info
of the document to the ​larger point​ you are making in your paragraph. That means that sourcing
should expand the reader’s understanding of your thesis in some way, and make them agree with you
more. Ultimately, for sourcing, you need to think about how you can leverage the HIPP information
to prove your point.

1. Summarize in your own words:

Sourcing Is used to prove your thesis by analyzing the documents using HIPP and connecting that to
your larger argument
Part 2: how do you go about sourcing?
What do AP WORLD TEACHERS say about SOURCING?
Question
Where does sourcing go in
my DBQ essay?
How long does my
sourcing have to be?
What information should
my sourcing consist of?
Which sourcing category
should I use?
Why is sourcing important
to the study of history?
Answer
Your sourcing information should go in your body paragraphs, right
​ vidence​ you are presenting about the document. It should
after the e
not stand alone or be shoehorned into another part of the essay.
It depends! Usually, you can achieve your goal of expanding your
argument using the sourcing info in ​around 2 sentences​, but if you
are making a more complex point/argument you might need more. As
long as you both ​identify​ the sourcing info and ​ connect​ to your
argument, you’re good!
You should focus on one of the following categories based on the
information the College Board gives you in the “sourcing” lines
before/after the document:
● Point of View:​ who is the author? This isn’t just their name;
rather what can you tell about their identity that impacts your
argument?
● Historical Situation​: what’s going on that led to the creation
of this document? What events is the author living through?
(This is kind of like micro-context)
● Audience:​ who was this document created for and why? Note
that “the general public” doesn’t really help your case
● Purpose​: why was this document created? What function does
​ riginal reader​? What impact was it intended to
it serve for the o
have on it’s reader?
Whichever one you want!​ Think about the info you are given, and
which category you can make the strongest claims about. (for example,
a letter or speech is a great time to use audience; a newspaper article is
a great time to use historical situation)
If you don’t get a lot of sourcing info for a particular document...don’t
source that one (for example, in our maritime empires practice DBQ,
sourcing doc 2 with very little info provided was not usually a wise
choice)
In regards to your DBQ essay, sourcing introduces more complex
elements to your argument and supports your thesis. However, in
relation to the study of history, sourcing is how we know whether and
how much to trust a document, and how we start to see the “big
picture” as it relates to a particular text
Part 3: Sourcing Practice - Earns the Point, Yes or No?

Read each of the DBQ prompts and the two attempts at sourcing below to determine which statement
would earn the point and why. Note that in your essay, you should do this twice, for two different
documents. Then, decide if the two attempts given for Question B satisfy the sourcing requirements.

Question A: ​Evaluate the extent to which Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian
Ocean in the sixteenth century. (we did this DBQ in class)

Earn the Sourcing Point: Yes or No?

“Being a Muslim scholar, Zainudeen Makhdoom al “Zainudeen was a Muslim scholar who has studied
Sageer is understandably hostile to the Portuguese the Qur’an and is likely respected as an authority in
trade pass system that targeted mostly Muslim his community”
traders, calling it a ‘system of persecution,’ and
saying it allowed the Portuguese to unjusty become
rich. As a Muslim, he would want to protect Muslim
interests.

YES: ​Provides sourcing regarding the point of view NO: ​Brings up potentially relevant info on the point
of the document relevant to an argument addressing of view of the document, but does not tie back to an
the prompt argument addressing the prompt.

Question B: ​Evaluate the extent to which railroads affected the process of empire-building in
Afro-Eurasia between 1860 and 1918. You just read this DBQ with Mr. Heimler.

Earn the Sourcing Point: Yes or No?

Purpose: “Because the Ottoman sultan had to
approve the proposals mentioned in Document 3,
the report attempts to flatter the sultan by
emphasizing his supposed popularity among
Muslims across the world and how the
construction of a railroad from Damascus to
Mecca would only increase that popularity.”
POV: “Document six is from Ernest Roume, a
French governor of west Africa in 1904 and he
proposed that the railroads would help bring the
country/region out of ‘poverty and barbarism’ and
that is the French government’s ‘duty as a civilized
nation’ to construct railroads.”

YES or NO? Why? YES or NO? Why?

2. No, It identifies the purpose of 3. No, It does not say what causes
the document, but does not Ernest Roume to have the belief that
connect it back to the main he does.
prompt.
Part 4: Sourcing Practice - Your Turn Now!

For each of the following documents, choose a sourcing category to analyze in relation to the prompt
provided. Write 1-2 sentences explaining the sourcing information and connecting it to an argument
about the prompt. You can write a thesis statement if you wish.

Prompt: ​Using the documents provided, evaluate the extent to which the Industrial
Revolution negatively impacted the lives of women and children in industrial societies
during the nineteenth century.

4. Your Sourcing

The POV of this document is from A former farm worker, who later worked in a factory. The woman
in this document describes the life of a factory worker as better than the life of a farmer. This is
because she has experienced both and makes more money to survive on in the factory. This means
that some women had positive impacts from the industrial revolution.
 5. Why did you choose to use this element (POV, HC, Audience, or Purpose)?

I chose POV because it was the narrative of a specific person, and that means that they are
representing their own POV.

Prompt: ​Using the documents provided, evaluate the causes of the rise of nationalism
throughout the world during the period 1750-1900 CE.

6. Your sourcing

The purpose of this document is to encourage French Citizens to join the army. This song aims to
capitalize on the nationalism of france to get people to join the army and fight in their war against
Austria
 7. Why did you choose to use this element (POV, HC, Audience, or Purpose)?
I chose Purpose because the song was a sort of call to arms, which means it has a clear purpose of
army recruitment

Prompt: ​Using the documents provided, evaluate the extent to which Christianity
changed societies in Latin America in the period 1500–1800.

8. Your sourcing

The historical context of this document is the spanish colonization of Meso-America. When the
Spanish came to the americas they brought christianity with them, and in some cases it merged with
native religions like seen in the document.
9. Why did you choose to use this element (POV, HC, Audience, or Purpose)?