The use of docs, like any other step in this process, can be tricky at first. But, in reality it is just a formula that is pretty easy to apply when you get it down. There are three components that must be present each time you use a doc in an essay: the lead-in sentence, the document, and the lead-out sentence.
The lead-in sentence is basically the introduction to the document. Without the intro (lead-in), the reader cannot fully grasp why that doc was so supportive in proving your opinion or thesis. For example, if I am writing a paper with a thesis that air travel is safer than driving on the road, I would not throw out a random stat declaring the odds of dying in a car accident to be 1 in 98 in a lifetime and a plane is 1 in 7,178. This is a good stat and it supports my thesis that cars are deadlier than planes. However, this could have been made up by my crazy uncle Hal, who is a pilot that hates cars. If I give the following lead-in sentence, it legitimizes the stat and adds more weight to my argument: The National Safety Council compiled an odds-of-dying list in 2008.
Too often a student will write as if he or she is writing the essay for the teacher who has access to the documents. This student usually approached the lead-in by saying, "In doc F...". However, students should write as if the read knows nothing about the topic and does not have the docs. That means you do not want your reader to stop reading and start a scavenger hunt to find Doc F and figure out what you are talking about. So, instead, describe what Doc F is as if the person is blind to it, because they are. For example, "A map captures how the number of printing presses increased from 1390 to 1420", "In 1980, a docuemntary was made by world famous Ken Burns capturing the destruction of the Civil War", or " Many French citizens wrote letter to their king, Louis XVI, pleading for help in the countryside".
Students are basically stealing the info for the lead-in directly from the Source. The Source is a sentence or two at the top of each doc that explains the author, date, kind of document, etc. Here is an example of a source, word for word: "Abram Colby, testimony to a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872. Colby was a former slave who was elected to the Georgia State legislature during Reconstruction." So here are a couple potential lead-ins: 1)Abram Colby, a former slave and elected official, testified in front of a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872. 2)In a joint House and Senate Committee meeting in 1872, a former slave and elected state representative testified.
If you are using a quote, the lead-in sentence should set up who the person is and why they are an authority on the matter. So, if you paraphrase that a revolution every 25 years in America is a healthy exercise; you should include a lead-in sentence establishing that this is not some crazed person spouting off about their hate for the president. The following would be a good way to introduce the speaker: Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers and America's 3rd president, was passionate about maintaining a healthy democracy.
Students are basically stealing the info for the lead-in directly from the Source. The Source is a sentence or two at the top of each doc that explains the author, date, kind of document, etc. Here is an example of a source, word for word: "Abram Colby, testimony to a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872. Colby was a former slave who was elected to the Georgia State legislature during Reconstruction." So here are a couple potential lead-ins: 1)Abram Colby, a former slave and elected official, testified in front of a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872. 2)In a joint House and Senate Committee meeting in 1872, a former slave and elected state representative testified.
If you are using a quote, the lead-in sentence should set up who the person is and why they are an authority on the matter. So, if you paraphrase that a revolution every 25 years in America is a healthy exercise; you should include a lead-in sentence establishing that this is not some crazed person spouting off about their hate for the president. The following would be a good way to introduce the speaker: Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers and America's 3rd president, was passionate about maintaining a healthy democracy.
Often times the info you need to make a lead-in sentence can be found in the Source note that accompanies documents. Some students will simply put, "In doc A it shows...". At that point the reader has to stop reading, find the doc, and look it over. This speed bump is not what the writer wants. So instead, actually introduce or describe what the document is specifically:
- The Great Plains Drought Area Committee released a report on August 27, 1936 outlining the increase in crops harvested over the years in eight planes states.
The date and committee name can be found in the Source section and one could look at the doc title and see what info is being presented.
The info from the document is sandwiched between the lead-in and lead-out sentence. Most documents that are selected for DBQs are primary sources- created during the time period in question. The content for this sentence is all based on what the document is specifically. For example, if the document is a political cartoon made by Dr. Seuss before America got involved in WWII, you may share that Americans are lined up to buy their "Ostrich-bonnets" so they can forget about foreign threats by burying their heads in the sand. Specific numbers or stats may stand out if the document is a chart or graph. If the document is in written text, you can paragraph or summarize the main point. The primary objective is to find portions of the docs that will help make the reader believe that your thesis is true. Some docs will not be suited for this, so focus on the ones that are or revise your thesis.
The proper way to cite the use of a doc is to put it at the end of the sentence referring to the doc like this (Doc 5). It is important that a writer only refers to a doc for a sentence. Some students have made the mistake of devoting a paragraph to a single doc. This hurt their effort to find the necessary 50/50 balance between docs and outside info and relied too heavily on the docs.
The lead-out sentence is where you can either rephrase the info from the doc (if it is complex) or explain how the info from the doc proves your thesis. Some students make the mistake of not providing a lead-out sentence. In this instance, the writer is making a statement and hoping the reader somehow comes to the same conclusion the writer did. Instead of taking chances, the writer can insert that thought into the reader's head and make the connection for them. Often times the lead-out sentence makes reference to the thesis. This sentence usually starts with "This..." and then you can choose any of the following words: proves, shows, demonstrated, verifies, illustrates, supports, validates, etc. You then describe how the doc supports your thesis. For example, "This proves that the KKK had no regard for authority and were determined to kill Reconstruction."
Here are three student samples of a good lead-in sentences, documents, and lead-out sentences. The samples are from a DBQ evaluating the causes of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression in America. Many students selected a thesis that argued that the Dust Bowl was man made. The samples are color coded to help identify each component.
- In a passage from Timothy Egan's book from 2006 called The Worst Hard Time, he addresses the farming improvements that a farmer named Fred Folker faced. With a mechanized tractor, Fred Folker was able to increase the amount of land farmed and wheat produced by ten times the amount with less labor, compared to his previous horse drawn plow (Doc D). The creation of tractors allowed farmers to rip up the land for farming quickly and easily, allowing the production of wheat to skyrocket.
- The tractor became available in 1921 and the impact they created was immediate. By 1929, the amount of harvested crops had climbed up to 105 million acres, while a horse and plow could only bring in 10 million acres in a single state (Doc D). Although the speech at which farmers could farm was increased exponentially, the same can be said of the speed at which they were damaging the land.
- A report was created by the Great Plains Area Drought Committee in the 1936, showing how many more acres of harvested crops there were with the help of the tractor. When using the horse drawn power, only 10 million acres were able to be harvested, though when using the mechanical power, 150 million acres were harvested in the same time period (Doc D). Although harvesting lots of crops can bring in profit, it leaves many farmers with dirt filled acres of depleted soil.
