Writing Instructions and Practices
FOCUS ON QUESTION: WHAT IS IT ASKING
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- DETERMINING CREDIBILITY: WHOM DO YOU BELIEVE
FOCUS ON QUESTION: WHAT IS IT ASKINGDevelop a strategy for focusing on specific issues to be addressed when preparing to write an essay. In most cases, free response prompts are questions about a historical era. On accession there will be a quote or statement to be evaluated for its validity. If the statement is a historical problem, quickly jot down a series of questions that breaks the statement into its basic components. For example: “The American Revolution was the culmination of unavoidable mistakes and misunderstandings in England and America form 1763 to 1776.” To address this prompt effectively, first ask— Was the Revolution unavoidable? What were the major mistakes and misunderstandings? Were both sides equally responsible for them? Posing such questions help focus on the specific terms and/or issues that must be addressed to score high on the essay. If the prompt is a question, pose clarifying questions that will help structure the answer. For example: “How did the American Revolution transform European politics from 1775 to 1783?” If this were the question to be addressed, might first ask-- What European countries were involved? What interest did each country pursue? How did the Revolution impact any existing European rivalries? How did the colonies take advantage of these developments? Practice: Look at the following statement and question and develop a series of clarifying questions about each. 1. British policy from 1763 to 1776 was “a history of repeated injuries and usurpations” designed to establish “an absolute tyranny” over the colonies. Ask:
a. ______________________________________________________________________________ b. ______________________________________________________________________________ c. ______________________________________________________________________________ d. ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. How was the colonial social and economic structure affected by the Revolution’s ideology? Ask:
a. ______________________________________________________________________________ b. ______________________________________________________________________________ c. ______________________________________________________________________________
1. Is the source a primary source or a secondary one? A primary document is a first hand account of an event. Examples are letters, speeches, court rulings, and newspaper articles. A secondary source is written by someone who acquired the information second-hand and at a later date. He or she was not actually present at the event. The history textbook is an example. Primary sources are usually given greater weight than secondary sources but not always. 2. Was the document produced at the time the event occurred? Some primary sources such as newspaper articles, journals, and diaries are eyewitness accounts but may have been written many years after the fact. Always look for the date of the source. 3. What is known about the writer? Did the author have a vested interest in the event that would color his/her perspective: For example, were they describing a battle in which they participated? Did they own slaves? Did they command the ship that torpedoed the passenger liner? Generally place greater credence in a neutral observer. 4. Was the person in a position to know what happened? Were they actually present at the battlefront or on the bow of the ship? Were they in the Senate when Charles Sumner was actually attacked? Could they give an accurate first hand account? On a DBQ, look for the date, writer’s agenda, and opportunity immediately. Since the DBQ is composed exclusively of primary sources, it is important to asses these components quickly to establish credibility. For example, both William Lloyd Garrison and George Fitzhugh were first hand observers of slavery, but they held diametrically opposing views and represented totally different constituencies. Also dates are important because their attitudes changed over the antebellum period. All these factors must be considered when deciding which man most accurately described the institution of slavery. Practice Below are two sets of documents about the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, and about the causes of the America Revolution. Read both sets of documents, and select one document from each set that you believe gives the most accurate information about the events. Also, write a short rationale way these documents were selected. Set 1: Who fired first? Document A I, Thomas Fessenden, of Lawful age, testify and Declare, that, being in a Pasture near the meeting house, at said Lexington, on Wednesday last, at about half an hour before sunrise…I saw three Officers, on horseback, advance to the front of said Regulars, when one of them, being within six rods of the said Militia, cried out, "Disperse, you Rebels, immediately," on which he Brandished his sword over his head three times; meanwhile the second Officer, who was about two rods behind him, fired a Pistol, pointed at said Militia, and the Regulars kept huzzaing till he had finished brandishing his sword… --Thomas Fessenden, a colonial onlooker at Lexington, April 23, 1775 Document B However the best of my recollection about 4 oClock in the Morning being the 19th of April 5 front Compays [sic] was order to Load which we did, about half an hour after we found that precaution had been necessary,…it was Lexington when we saw one of their Compys [sic] drawn up in regular order Major Pitcairn of the Marines second in command call’d [sic] to them to disperse, but their not seeming willing he desired us to mind our space which we did when they gave us a frie then run off to get behind a wall. --Ensign Jeremy Lister, British officer, writing in 1832
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Document C In the winter of 1774-75 the British government learned that America had become a power keg. Blame for this situation must be attributed in fare larger measure to the inadequacies of George III and British politicians than to the activities of the radical leadership in America….Had the new policy been firmly and steadily pushed in the Stamp Act crisis, it is barely possible that a consistent course of coercion would have been the abandoning of the effort to turn back the colonial clock. An American policy to be based upon recognition of the maturity of the colonies and to their value to the mother country, together with an attitude of goodwill, might have postponed indefinitely the era of American independence… --John R. Alden, The American Revolution, 1775-1783 (Written in 1954)
The parliament unquestionably posses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain, and all her colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a mother country and her colonies…This power is lodged in the parliament; and we are as much dependent on Great Britain, as a perfectly free people can be on another. I have looked over every statue relating to these colonies, from their first settlement to this time; and I find every one of them founded on this principle, till the Stamp Act administration. All before, are calculated to regulate trade…Thus the King by his judges in his courts of justice, imposes fines which all together amount to a very considerable sum,…But this is merely a consequence arising from restrictions the British parliament till the period above mentioned, think of imposing duties in America fore THE PURPOSE OF RASING A REVENUE…that is, to raise money upon us without our consent. --John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, 1767 Best source is ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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