The main objective in writing any DBQ essay is to persuade the reader that your argument/thesis is true. This requires that you come back to your thesis throughout the essay as opposed to just mentioning it in the intro and conclusion. Think of the last verbal argument that you had. You probably repeated your thesis ten times, coming back to it after each point. "I'm telling you that the Cardinals are going to make the playoffs (thesis). Houston has too many injuries and Atlanta just lost their closing pitcher. The Cardinals are playoff bound." Your essay is essentially an argument that requires you to nail down your thesis. The ideal time for this, outside of the intro and conclusion, is at the end of each body paragraph.
This act of returning to the thesis at the end of each body paragraph is referred to as "analysis". Analysis is defined as a detailed explanation of the elements or structure of something. Basically, the analysis found at the end of a body paragraph in a DBQ essay is the writer explaining how the info (outside and docs) mentioned in the paragraph prove his or her thesis. So, your thesis and potentially your support point that particular body paragraph is based on, should be in the analysis. One sentence is sufficient for analysis, but as your writing improves, 2-3 should become more of the expectation.
The following student samples are from a DBQ on the Dust Bowl which devastated the plains area during the Great Depression in America. All of the featured essays developed a thesis revolving around the Dust Bowl being man made or preventable. These samples were the last sentences on one of the writer's body paragraphs. They make a connection between the info (outside and docs) from the paragraph and the thesis. The Red type below were added to point out the thesis and support points.
This act of returning to the thesis at the end of each body paragraph is referred to as "analysis". Analysis is defined as a detailed explanation of the elements or structure of something. Basically, the analysis found at the end of a body paragraph in a DBQ essay is the writer explaining how the info (outside and docs) mentioned in the paragraph prove his or her thesis. So, your thesis and potentially your support point that particular body paragraph is based on, should be in the analysis. One sentence is sufficient for analysis, but as your writing improves, 2-3 should become more of the expectation.
The following student samples are from a DBQ on the Dust Bowl which devastated the plains area during the Great Depression in America. All of the featured essays developed a thesis revolving around the Dust Bowl being man made or preventable. These samples were the last sentences on one of the writer's body paragraphs. They make a connection between the info (outside and docs) from the paragraph and the thesis. The Red type below were added to point out the thesis and support points.
- Human ignorance and error caused the Dust Bowl (the thesis) by being too rough to the earth while farming (the support point of that body paragraph).
- The widespread number of lands harvested by new technology methods (support point) caused an inevitable collection of dust in the troposphere, contributing greatly to the Dust Bowl (thesis- man made event).
- When the grass was tore up (support point) they should have known they would have to pay the price (alluding to the thesis about man made).
- If the technology would not have gotten so advanced (support point) as it was at the time then the land would not have been plowed and grass would still be covering the ground, not dirt (Implying the actions of man created the problem-the thesis).
