This quick skill-building activity is intended to help you understand what is being asked of you when you’re presented with historical prompts, particularly those you’ll encounter in assessment prompts such as document-based questions (DBQs) and long essay questions (LEQs).

In this activity, you will revisit the process of how to parse a prompt. Remember, parsing a prompt is the process of analyzing a string of words—that is, trying to figure out what something is saying and asking!

Take out the Question Parsing Tool and write down the following prompt at the top of the tool: Evaluate the extent to which religious responses to wealth accumulation in Eurasia in the period circa 600 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E. differed from state responses to wealth accumulation.

Now, follow the tool directions. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class!

Historian Trevor Getz provides a global overview of World War II, and adds an intimate dimension to the narrative by including his grandfather’s experience of the war. Getz introduces the most important campaigns and major political shifts in the war, starting as early as China in 1931 and Ethiopia in 1935, to the US dropping two atom bombs on Japan in 1945. This article includes the changes in fortune for the major alliances, and the ways in which the fate of the war was changed by factors ranging from economic might to operational mistakes, random contingency to courageous defiance.

This article introduces you to the complex and global events of the Second World War, but it does so through a personal story. It will help you respond to the Unit 7 Problem about the conflicts and aftermath of World War II. Getz weaves together his grandfather’s story into a global story and gives a sense of the complexity of his grandfather’s recollections of the war. What are the pros and cons of explaining a global conflict through one human history? What makes Getz’s account an effective example of weaving together the personal and the universal?

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. When did World War II start, and why is the date somewhat unclear? What do you think is the most appropriate date to use?
2. In Europe, what forces dominated the early years of World War II?
3. When and why did the US join World War II?
4. How and why did the Soviet Union enter the Second World War?
5. What was the big ideological difference between Britain and the Soviet Union? How did they find common ground?
6. What factors shifted the tide of the war around 1942? 

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How would this article be different without including Getz’s grandfather in the narrative? Do you think you would still understand and remember the major developments in World War II in the way that you do now? Does this personal story help you deepen your understanding of the war? Why or why not?
2. Consider your friends and family members, and how you might weave the narrative of a grandparent, or someone whose life story you know very well, into historical events on the grandest scale. How does it help you understand and appreciate history when you successfully weave together the personal and the global or universal?

In this activity, you will evaluate the causes of World War II. In doing so, you’ll see once again that there can be multiple causes for a historical event. Some of these causes might occur long before the actual event takes place, while others are more immediate. You will again see how historians often disagree on the most important causes for an event, and how they often focus on particular causes to shape people’s understanding of those events. This will continue to sharpen your causation skills, enabling you to look at different accounts in history and make your own viable historical explanations and causal arguments to explain historical events from your own perspective.

In this final activity in the causation progression, you will complete the Causation Tool, create a causal map, and write a multi-paragraph response to a causal prompt.

First, your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Causation – World War II worksheet, which includes the Causation Tool, along with the article “The Second World War,” and will have you review either the video or the video transcript for World War II: Crash Course World History #38. As you read or watch, pull out any information that will help you complete the Causation Tool as well as details that will help you write a response that answers this causal prompt:

What were two of the most significant causes AND what were two of the most significant consequences of World War II?

Next, use your list of causes and consequences to complete the Causation Tool, following all of the directions. Then, categorize your causes by time (long term, intermediate term, and short term); then, by type, using the tool’s legend; and finally, by role (necessary, relevant, triggering event).

Now, use your causes and consequences from the tool to create a causal map. Remember that you did this for the Black Death in Unit 2 and for the Indian Uprising activity in the previous unit. Your causal maps should have World War II in the center circle/box with the causes leading to the war as well as any consequences that stemmed from this war.

Once everyone has completed their causal maps, return to the causal prompt and, working alone, write a multi-paragraph response to the prompt. Remember that you can use your completed tools, the article, video, and your causal maps to help you write your paragraphs. Make sure to explain your reasoning for why the causes and consequences you chose are the most significant ones and remember to use the acronym ADE to help determine historical significance. Your teacher will collect your worksheet and paragraphs at the end of class and use them to assess your understanding of this historical event and the historical thinking practice of causation.

World War II was a devastating war, but historians debate many aspects of it. When did it start? What caused it? And what do the atrocities of the war tell us about human progress? John Green tackles many of these issues, taking a close look at how things like food, racism, industry, and technology played a role in creating this “total war.”

You’ve already learned some things about World War II, and this video will build on what you’ve learned. It’s important to have a solid understanding of World War II in order to fully understand other articles in this lesson that deal with the Holocaust, nuclear weapons, and other major changes. This video will give you a sense of how World War II affected different parts of the world, which will help you think through the Unit 7 Problem. It’s also useful to get you thinking about whether innovation, science, and technology are always tied to progress.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. What different dates do historians argue mark the start of World War II and why?
2. What was the Blitzkrieg, and what did it enable the Nazis to do?
3. Why was 1941 such a significant year in the conflict?
4. According to John Green, how did the supply of food in different places contribute to World War II?
5. John Green claims that the Soviet Union under Stalin was undemocratic. What is the significance of this point for the way we interpret this conflict?
6. What factors made World War II a total war?

Evaluating and Corroborating 

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. John Green argues that World War II atrocities like the Holocaust were possible because of technologies we associate with “Western progress” like state record-keeping and advanced industry. Do you think innovations in science and technology have generally resulted in improving or hurting human societies? Use evidence from this video and other material from this era to support your claim.

Plaek Phibunsongkhram (1897-1964) governed Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1948 to 1957. He helped to turn the kingdom into a state with a constitution, but during the Second World War he ruled as an authoritarian nationalist allied with Japan. Removed at the war’s end, he later returned to power as an ally of the United States during the Cold War.

In Unit 7, we ask how the horrors of the Second World War were possible. Some of the answers may have to do with the situation in particular countries you have learned about such as Germany, Japan, and Italy. But you have already seen that the move towards authoritarianism and even fascism was more global. Thailand may be an unexpected place to study the growth of an authoritarian leadership, but this biography can help you to compare, and contrast the situation there to the nation-states you know better.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What country did Plaek Phibunsongkhram lead, and in what years?
2. What did he change the country’s name to, and what did the new name mean? Why was this name change ironic?
3. What evidence does the author provide that Phibunsongkhram was an authoritarian ruler?
4. Why did he create Pad Thai? Why was this creation ironic?
5. What happened to Phibunsonghram after the war?
6. Authoritarian and fascist governments are all about order and following rules and governmental control. How does the artist use art and design to contribute to the message that Phibunsongkhram was an authoritarian leader?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. How does this biography of Phibunsongkhram support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the fascism and authoritarianism leading up to the Second World War?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

In this activity, you’ll use your knowledge of claim testing to write supporting statements for claims. Claim testing is a skill that will not only help you decide what to believe, but can help you develop the capacity to convince others of particular arguments. By working on backing claims with supports, you’ll become more skilled at writing argumentative essays and using evidence to support your assertions.

In this claim-testing activity, you are given four claims about global conflict. You are asked to work with these claims in three different ways:

1. Find supporting statements for those claims.
2. Evaluate the strength of the supporting statements provided for those claims.
3. Provide statements that refute (argue against) the claims.

Get into small table groups. Each group should have a complete set of Claim Cards in the middle of their table. Listen for your teacher’s directions for when to start.

Round 1

1. Grab one Claim Card from the center of the table.
2. On the card, write down a statement that supports the claim. You can use prior knowledge or course materials for this.
3. Pass your Claim Card to the person to your right.
4. Write down a statement that supports the claim on the card that you now have. It can’t be the same as any of the supports already written on the card.
5. Repeat the process until each group member has written a supporting statement on each card.
6. Put the Claim Cards back in the center of the table.

Round 2

1. Grab one Claim Card from the pile and stand up.
2. Find at least three other students who have the same claim as you and get into a group with them (if there are more than six people in your group, let your teacher know).
3. Look at all the supporting statements that were written for your claim. Decide which supporting statements are strongest (that is, they best support the claim).
4. Write the strongest supporting statements on the whiteboard so everyone can see them.

Round 3

1. With the same group you were in for Round 2, consider any historical exceptions to your claim. What can you offer to refute the claim?
2. Add at least one refuting statement, what we often refer to as a counterclaim, on the board so everyone can see it.
3. Write both your strongest supporting statements and the exception to the claim as an exit ticket—be sure to explain your reasoning for choosing your supporting statements and refutations. Your teacher may also have you share your statements and counterclaim with the class.

Over 70 million people died during World War II. This video explores the meaning behind the numbers, to reveal the staggering toll of this global conflict. Millions of soldiers were slaughtered in the war, but civilians were targeted and killed in equal number. While the Soviet Union and China suffered astonishing numbers of casualties, millions of civilians were murdered in the Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities. In terms of total number of deaths, the Second World War is the deadliest in history. Since 1945, wars have become less deadly and less common, resulting in what some call the “Long Peace”.

This video explores the statistics of World War II casualties and should help you understand the cost of the conflict at a variety of scales. This video will also help you contextualize World War II in the broader arc of world history to understand how it relates to past conflicts, and also, what it might tell us about the future.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video.

1. What was the general profile up people who make up military deaths as opposed to civilian deaths?
2. Where did the most Nazis die?
3. What country lost the most casualties as a percentage of its population?
4. Who lost the most soldiers and civilians in the war and why?
5. Which side purposely targeted civilians during World War II? Give some examples?
6. Was World War II the deadliest war in history?
7. What does this video mean by “The Long Peace”?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. The video concludes that, since World War II, large conflicts have been less common and less deadly. How do you explain this trend?
2. Do you think World War II was the most devastating event in world history? Why or why not?

During the Second World War, the Nazis and their collaborators murdered tens of million people. Their victims included Jews, Roma, prisoners of war, and other groups. Many, especially the Nazi’s Jewish victims, died in concentration camps. The Nazi’s slaughter was carried out on an industrial scale made possible by modern science and technology. Today, these atrocities are collectively called “the Holocaust”. This article addresses the difficult, but necessary, task of discussing this horrific event.

This article serves as an overview of the Holocaust. It should help you respond to the Unit Problem by addressing how these atrocities were possible, who carried them out, and who was affected. It will also prepare you for other articles you might read in the course, which deal with global reactions to the horrors of the Second World War.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What policies made persecutions of Jewish German citizens official?
2. What was Kristallnacht?
3. What was the T4 program?
4. Who committed the atrocities of the Holocaust?
5. How does the author explain the willing participation of women in fascist regimes, even those regimes limited their public and private freedoms?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. The Holocaust was a horrific event that shattered communities in Europe. The author makes the point that, “in many ways, we are still recovering”. How can you explain some of the causes and effects of the Holocaust using the Communities Frame narrative?
2. Do atrocities like the Holocaust support, extend, or challenge the narrative you have been given?

Manuel Quezon, born in the Spanish colony of the Philippines, had a background that represented the rich heritage of those islands. He was of Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino descent. He fought against Spanish rule, and later American occupation, but later became the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Just prior to the Second World War, he decided to accept Jewish refugees fleeing Germany, believing it was the humane decision to make.

In Unit 7, we ask how the horrors of the Second World War were possible. That task includes identifying those who perpetrated the horrors, and those who stood by to let them happen. It also includes understanding the actions of those who acted to help the victims of the Holocaust and other crimes. This biography of Manuel Quezon highlights one person who decided to act and help with a problem taking place thousands of miles away.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Where did Manuel Quezon live, and what was his position in 1935?
2. Why, according to the author, did Quezon decide to admit 1300 Jewish refugees in 1935?
3. What evidence does the author provide that it was Quezon’s conscience that led him to accept refugees?
4. The artist says that the cards on the table of the poker game represent “a paper wall” that restricted the ability of Jewish refugees to find a place to live. How does she use the art to signify that Quezon was moving that paper wall to the side?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. How does this biography of Quezon support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the Holocaust and the atrocities of the Second World War?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

Make sure you have the UP Notebook worksheets that you partially filled out earlier in the unit.

This is a continuation of the UP Notebook activity that you started in this unit. As part of WHP, you are asked to revisit the Unit Problems in order to maintain a connection to the core themes of the course. Because this is the second time you’re working with this unit’s problems, you are asked to explain how your understanding of the unit’s core concepts has changed over the unit. Make sure you use evidence from this unit and sound reasoning in your answers.

Fill out the second table on your partially completed worksheet from earlier in the unit. Be prepared to talk about your ideas with your class.

In July of 1945, America created the first nuclear fission bomb. In August of the same year, US President Harry Truman gave orders to drop two nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs killed over 120,000 Japanese citizens instantly and thousands more from radiation poisoning. This article examines the historical debates surrounding Truman’s decision.

By examining the continuing debates surrounding the American decision to drop two nuclear bombs, this article highlights some of the ways in which World War II continues to shape our present, making this history usable in today’s world.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did the science of nuclear fission come to the United States?
2. What is Dr. Zimmerman’s argument in support of Truman’s decision to drop the bombs?
3. What does Gar Alperovitz claim was the real reason Truman decided to drop the bomb?
4. Why does Tsuyoshi Hasegawa argue that the Japanese surrendered unconditionally?
5. Death and destruction are the most obvious consequences of nuclear weapons. What was another consequence of the discovery of nuclear weapons?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. This article provides at least three different arguments about whether the United States should have dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Which do you most agree with and why?
2. Why were more civilians than soldiers kill in World War II?

3x5 note cards or cut up paper

This sourcing collection, along with the Quick-Sourcing Tool, gives you an opportunity to practice a quicker kind of sourcing than you do in the sourcing practice progression. The tool and the process for using it—specifically designed for unpacking document collections—will help you be successful when responding to DBQs.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with the Quick-Sourcing Tool or the process for using it, we recommend reviewing the Quick-Sourcing Introduction activity in Lesson 2.1.

The Quick-Sourcing Tool can be used any time you encounter a set of sources and are trying to respond to a prompt or question, as opposed to the deeper analysis you do when using the HAPPY tool that is part of the sourcing progression.

First, take out or download the sourcing collection and review the guiding question that appears on the first page. Then, take out or download the Quick-Sourcing Tool and review the directions. For Part 1, you’ll write a quick summary of each source in terms of how it relates to the guiding question (we recommend using one note card or scrap of paper for each source).

For Part 2, which uses the first four letters of the acronym from the HAPPY tool, you only have to respond to one of these four questions. You should always include the historical significance or “why” (the “Y” in “HAPPY”) for any of the four questions you choose to respond to.

In Part 3, you’ll gather the evidence you found in each document and add it to your note cards so you can include it in a response later. Once each document is analyzed, look at your note cards and try to categorize the cards. There might be a group of documents that support the claim you want to make in your response, and another group that will help you consider counterclaims, for example.

To wrap up, try to respond to the guiding question.

This collection explores how World War II affected the populations in the Allied and Axis power countries. We will glimpse some of the destruction and terror of war through photographs and firsthand testimony, as well as through the cultural aspects of war, like propaganda, artwork, cartoons, and political essays.

The primary source excerpts in this collection will help you assess the changes and continuities in how governments waged war from 1914 to 1945. This will help you analyze the causes of global conflict in this era, which will also help you evaluate conflicts today. In addition, you’ll work on your sourcing skills using the Quick-Sourcing Tool.

We recommend using the accompanying Quick Sourcing activity (above) to help you analyze these sources.

In this activity, you’ll examine the continuities and changes in Unit 6: Empire and Other Consequences of Industrialization and Unit 7: Global Conflict to craft thesis statements and compose a multi-paragraph response that answers a CCOT prompt. This will help you solidify your ability to conduct CCOT analysis, which will not only help you think more like a historian, but will also prepare you for the final CCOT activity: writing a CCOT essay about the major changes and continuities across multiple units.

Your teacher will either hand out or ask you to download the CCOT – Empire to Global Conflict worksheet (which includes the CCOT Tool). Then, you’ll work either in pairs or on your own to complete the questions on the tool. Start by adding the timeframe you’re investigating (1850–1950) and identifying the continuities and changes that took place from Unit 6: Empire and Other Consequences of Industrialization to Unit 7: Global Conflict. Remember, you can use any of the articles and videos from these units to help identify continuities and changes—the Units 6 and 7 overview articles are a good place to start.

Once you have identified the continuities and changes, write these on sticky notes (one change or continuity per note). Then, decide if the continuities and changes you identified are positive or negative and place them on the graph in the tool. If you complete the graphing portion of the tool on your own, then your teacher may ask you to pair up with a classmate and discuss how you chose to graph your continuities and changes.

Next, complete the remaining questions on the tool. Remember that you can use the acronym ADE to determine historical significance. Consider if most people’s lives were affected by these changes and continuities (amount); if people living in this time period were deeply affected by these changes and continuities (depth); or if these changes and continuities were long lasting (endurance).

Then, craft thesis statements in response to the following CCOT prompts:

• To what extent were the changes that occurred from c. 1850 to c. 1950 positive?
• To what extent were the continuities that occurred from c. 1850 to c. 1950 positive?

Finally, you’ll use your thesis statements to individually write a multi-paragraph response that fully answers the following question: To what extent were the changes and continuities that occurred from c. 1850 to c. 1950 positive?

This activity will provide additional evidence to help you respond to the Unit Problem: What caused the global conflicts and atrocities from 1914 to 1945, and how did people experience this period of global war? In this activity, you will look back on what you’ve learned during this unit by exploring the geography of the First and Second World Wars. You will examine two thematic maps showing the alliances and casualties in each war. Using these maps, you will evaluate change and continuity over time as well as making some arguments about the causes of the Second World War.

This activity begins with an identification opening in which you will identify 10 countries that participated in World War II. Next, you’ll compare two thematic maps showing alliances and casualties in both World War I and World War II, evaluating what political changes and continuities might have been important between the two wars. Finally, you will reflect on their guesses and predictions from the Part 1 activity and write a response to a prompt about the causes of these global conflicts.

Step 1

Individually, identify the countries associated with the numbers on the black-and-white map of the world in 1914 CE and record your answers on the worksheet. You should indicate the name of the country, the alliance it was a part of in World War I, and the alliance it was a part of in World War II.

Step 2

In small groups, examine the thematic maps of the two world wars. you should compare these two maps and provide four examples of change or continuity between the two wars. You might focus on casualties, alliances, or territory lost and gained by the various empires.

Step 3

Now, return to the two thematic maps of the world wars. Review your predictions from the Part 1 mapping activity. Which guesses did you get correct?

Finally, in small groups, you should prepare a short paragraph or bullet list in response to the prompt below.

The long nineteenth century set into motion massive transformations, some of which would help create the conditions leading to World War I. The peace that followed the First World War helped lay the groundwork for the second. Using the maps you encountered in this unit as evidence, pick one transformation from the long nineteenth century and one outcome of World War I that helped create this 30-year period of global conflict.

In this activity, you’ll look at organization and language and style in a student essay to really drive home these essentials of good writing. You’ll identify and improve upon these aspects in the essay to help improve your historical writing skills.

In this activity, you’ll take another look at the Organization and Language and Style rows of the WHP Writing Rubric and will analyze a student essay using the criteria included in the rubric. The essay is in response to the prompt, “Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which responses to colonial rule were effective c. 1850 to 1900 CE.”

Take out a copy of the WHP Writing Rubric and as needed and review the Language and Style and Organization rows of the rubric.

Once you’ve reviewed these criteria, follow the steps on the Writing – Organization and Language and Style Part 2 worksheet. Be prepared to share your answers with your class.

Unit 7 DBQ: Analyze how and why the Nazi Party rose to power in prewar Germany.

Have the Comparison, CCOT, and Causation tools available (find all resources on the Student Resources page)

This DBQ is another opportunity for you to show how your historical thinking skills and reasoning practices are developing. This will help you become better at making and supporting historical claims and will also help you on standardized tests that ask you to analyze documents in response to a specific prompt.

Comparison, contextualization, sourcing, reading, writing
All DBQs require you to contextualize, source documents, and of course as part of this, read and write.

Day 1

It’s time for another DBQ. The prompt is: Analyze how and why the Nazi Party rose to power in prewar Germany. Start out by using the Question Parsing Tool to help you figure out what this question is really asking so you can write an appropriate response.

Then, take out the DBQ and skim the documents quickly. Pick the thinking tool you want to use to help you analyze the documents (comparison, causation, or CCOT). Then, read each document a bit more closely and write down or underline the information you think you might use in your essay, along with any additional sourcing you have time for. Write your ideas in your chosen tool as you work through the documents.

Next, create a major claim or thesis statement that responds to the prompt. The notes you have taken should help you form a defensible thesis statement.

Finally, it’s time to contextualize. As you likely know, all historical essays require this. If needed, you can use the Contextualization Tool to help you decide what to include.

Day 2

This second day is your writing day. Feel free to use your tools and notes from any prewriting work you completed as you craft your essay response. Make sure you have a copy of the WHP Writing Rubric available to remind you of what is important to include in your essay. And don’t forget to contextualize: Think of the entire time period, not just the time immediately preceding the historical event or process you are writing about. Your teacher will give you a time limit for completing your five- to six-paragraph essay responding to the DBQ.

In order to improve your writing skills, it is important to read examples—both good and bad—written by other people. Reviewing writing samples will help you develop and practice your own skills in order to better understand what makes for a strong essay.

Your teacher will provide sample essays for this unit’s DBQ prompt and provide instructions for how you will use them to refine your writing skills. Whether you’re working with a high-level example or improving on a not-so-great essay, we recommend having the WHP Writing Rubric on hand to help better understand how you can improve your own writing. As you work to identify and improve upon aspects of a sample essay, you’ll also be developing your own historical writing skills!