AP US History · Free-response guide
How to write the APUSH DBQ (document-based question)
By the CollegePrepRoom editorial team · Updated · How we write and check these pages
The document-based question, or DBQ, is the first essay in Section II of the AP U.S. History exam. You get a prompt and seven documents, a mix of primary sources such as letters, speeches, laws, cartoons, photographs and data, all related to a development in U.S. history. You write an argument that answers the prompt, using the documents and your own knowledge as evidence.
The DBQ is scored on a 7-point analytic rubric, and each point is earned independently. Because each point is judged on its own, it helps to know exactly what each one asks for and to make each scored move clearly. This guide walks through each rubric point, gives a method for the reading period and the writing time, and shows examples of the thesis, contextualization and sourcing moves that scorers look for.
DBQ at a glance
| Where it appears | Section II, Question 1 |
|---|---|
| Documents | Seven documents, which can include texts, images, maps and data |
| Score | 0 to 7 points on the analytic rubric |
| Weight | 25% of the exam score |
| Suggested time | 60 minutes, including a 15-minute reading period |
| Section II | The DBQ and the long essay question (LEQ) |
How the DBQ is scored
The DBQ is scored out of 7 points. Each row of the rubric is scored separately, so you can earn points in one row even if you miss another.
| Rubric row | Points | What earns the points |
|---|---|---|
| A. Thesis / claim | 1 | A historically defensible thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning. It must make a claim beyond restating the prompt, and it must appear in one place, in the introduction or the conclusion. |
| B. Contextualization | 1 | A description of the broader historical context relevant to the prompt: events, developments or processes before, during or continuing after the time frame of the question. A phrase or a passing reference does not earn the point. |
| C. Evidence from the documents | 2 | 1 point for accurately describing the content of at least three documents to address the topic of the prompt. 2 points for using the content of at least four documents to support an argument in response to the prompt. Quoting or summarizing without connecting the document to an argument does not reach the second point. |
| C. Evidence beyond the documents | 1 | Using at least one additional piece of specific historical evidence from outside the documents that is relevant to an argument about the prompt. It must be different from the evidence used for contextualization. |
| D. Sourcing | 1 | For at least two documents, explaining how or why the document's point of view, purpose, historical situation or audience is relevant to an argument. You must explain why that feature matters. Identifying the author alone does not earn the point. |
| D. Complexity | 1 | Demonstrating a complex understanding of the historical development that is the focus of the prompt, through sophisticated argumentation or effective use of evidence, for example by explaining nuance, multiple causes or effects, both continuity and change, or connections across periods. It must be part of the argument. A single phrase does not earn it. |
| Total | 7 | Points from all rows are added together. |
- Points are additive and independent. An essay can earn evidence and sourcing points even if the thesis point is missed, so keep writing even if your thesis feels imperfect.
- The two most frequently missed points are sourcing and complexity. Sourcing needs an explanation of why a document's author, purpose, audience or situation matters to the argument; complexity needs sustained, argued nuance across the essay.
- Contextualization and the evidence-beyond-the-documents point must use different evidence. If you describe a development in the introduction for context, choose another fact for outside evidence.
Rubric summaries are written in our own words from the publicly available AP course and exam materials. Check the current official scoring guidelines for exact wording, as they can be revised.
Step-by-step method
Decode the prompt
Identify the task verb (evaluate the extent, explain causes, compare), the topic and the exact time frame. Write the time frame in large numbers at the top of your notes. Evidence from outside the dates is one of the most common reasons outside evidence and contextualization points are missed.
Brainstorm before you read the documents
Spend two minutes listing what you already know about the topic: events, laws, people, movements. This list becomes your source for contextualization and evidence beyond the documents, and it keeps your own knowledge in play alongside the documents.
Read each document for meaning and source
For each document, write a short note on what it says (its content) and one note on its sourcing: who wrote it, for whom, why, and in what situation. Mark the two or three documents whose sourcing is easiest to explain; those are your sourcing targets.
Group the documents
Sort the documents into two or three groups that support different parts of an argument, for example political causes, economic causes and a document that complicates the picture. Each group becomes a body paragraph. Use at least four documents to support your argument; using six or all seven is fine if each one does work.
Write a thesis with a line of reasoning
Answer the prompt directly and preview your reasons. For 'evaluate the extent' prompts, take a clear position on how much (to a large extent, to a limited extent) and why. Put the thesis at the end of your introduction or the start of your conclusion.
Open with contextualization
Before the thesis, write three or four sentences about the broader developments that set up the prompt: what was happening before or around the time frame and why it matters to the question. Connect it explicitly to the topic in the last sentence.
Write body paragraphs that argue
Start each paragraph with a claim that supports the thesis. Use documents as evidence, explaining how each one supports the claim. Add at least one specific piece of outside evidence in a body paragraph. Explain the sourcing of at least two documents where it strengthens the argument.
Build complexity into the argument
Include a paragraph or a sustained thread that complicates the thesis: a cause that matters less than it seems, a group whose experience differs, a continuity alongside the change. Then explain how that complication refines your answer to the prompt.
Common mistakes
Describing documents in order
Going through Documents 1 to 7 in sequence turns the essay into a summary. Group documents by argument.
Sourcing by label only
Writing 'Document 3 is from a newspaper' only labels the source. Explain why the newspaper's audience or purpose shapes what the document says and how that matters to your argument.
A thesis that restates the prompt
'There were many causes of westward expansion' takes no position. Name the causes and say which mattered most.
Context that is too thin or too far away
A one-sentence reference, or context from a different century with no link to the topic, does not earn the point.
Reusing context as outside evidence
Evidence beyond the documents must be a different fact from the one used for contextualization.
Ignoring the time frame
Evidence must fall within the dates in the prompt to support the argument.
Example: thesis, context and sourcing moves
Invented prompt for illustration: evaluate the extent to which the market revolution changed the lives of American workers from 1815 to 1850.
Thesis that does not earn the point
The market revolution changed the lives of American workers in many ways between 1815 and 1850.
Thesis with a line of reasoning
The market revolution transformed the lives of northern workers by moving production from homes and small shops into factories that paid wages and imposed the clock, but it changed far less for enslaved workers, whose labor became more valuable to the national economy without becoming any freer.
Contextualization
Before 1815, most Americans worked on farms or in small workshops where an artisan owned his tools and set his own pace. After the War of 1812, new turnpikes and canals, together with protective tariffs, made it profitable to produce goods for distant markets, setting the stage for the shift in work the prompt asks about.
Sourcing that earns the point
Because the factory owner writes his account to persuade investors, his description of contented mill workers is likely to downplay the long hours the workers themselves complain about in Document 4, which shows why the owners' view cannot be taken as the whole picture of factory life.
All prompts, passages and sample sentences on this page are original examples written for illustration. They are not official exam material.
Practice prompts
Original prompts in the style of the DBQ, written by our editorial team for practice. They are not official exam questions.
- Evaluate the extent to which the Second Great Awakening shaped reform movements in the United States from 1800 to 1848.
- Evaluate the relative importance of the causes of the growth of the American labor movement from 1865 to 1900.
- Evaluate the extent to which World War II changed the lives of women in the United States from 1941 to 1950.
- Evaluate the extent to which the civil rights movement changed federal policy from 1954 to 1968.
How to practice the DBQ
Practice the DBQ in parts before writing full essays. Do a 15-minute reading period on a document set and produce only a thesis, a context paragraph outline and a document grouping. Then write individual paragraphs to practice sourcing until the explanation of purpose or audience feels routine.
After a full practice DBQ, score it yourself point by point with the rubric above. Note which points you earned consistently and which you missed, and practice those moves in isolation.
Lessons in the AP US History course
Related guides and terms
DBQ: frequently asked questions
How many documents do you need to use in the APUSH DBQ?
To earn both document points, use the content of at least four documents to support an argument. Describing the content of three documents earns the first point. Using more than four is fine if each document supports your argument.
How many documents need sourcing in the DBQ?
You need to explain how or why the point of view, purpose, historical situation or audience is relevant to your argument for at least two documents.
Where should the thesis go in the DBQ?
The thesis must be in one place, either in the introduction or in the conclusion. Most students put it at the end of the introduction, after the contextualization.
Can I get the complexity point without a perfect essay?
Yes. Points are scored independently, and complexity is awarded for sustained nuance in the argument or the evidence. It is the point awarded least often, so plan for it from the thesis onward.