Score my AP World History DBQ?

Shimbo
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:13:31 +0000

I haven’t read the whole thing, but your intro is not good enough. Frankly, I see no thesis statement, which is the fundamental answer to the question. All I see is you stating that mankind would be different now if Europe hadn’t been imperialistic and that the Natives disagreed with the greatness of European imperialism. That is not a thesis, and considering that your whole essay is answered based upon your thesis, I can imagine that this DBQ would not get a very good grade.

You should have grouped your documents in a logical way that could help you answer the questions. This should be seen in your thesis, once you formulate one. Since I don’t know your documents, I can’t specifically help you out. However, your thesis should clearly state the Western European attitudes toward imperialism, the United States attitudes towards imperialism, and the indigenous attitudes towards imperialism. Thus, your thesis should read something like:

“Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the attitude of Western Europe and the United States towards imperialism was similar in that they both sought more territory and viewed it as being vital to the success of their respective nations, as seen in (write one specific example given to you from one of the documents for both Western Europe and for the United States). This, however, is opposed to the indigenous attitude toward imperialism, despising this policy for decimating populations and whatnot, as seen in (wirte one specific example from the documents).”

^ that’s more of intro (and a very rough one at that), but for World your thesis statement can be your intro. I would also add in a concluding and clincher sentence that would bring the two sentences together.