Creating Lives: An Introduction to Biography

Strategies – Unit Question – Who was Langston Hughes?

Document Based Question (DBQ)

Historically, DBQs have been used to enhance and test a student's synthesizing skills on the AP European, US, and World History exams. It also has been a featured component on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme exams and was most recently referred to as The Synthesis Essay on the 2007 AP English Language and Composition exam. According to the AP Central, a website run by The College Board as a support system for their exam, "the required DBQ differs from the standard essays in its emphasis on your ability to analyze and synthesize historical data and assess verbal, quantitative, or pictorial materials as historical evidence. Like the standard essays, however, the DBQ is judged on its thesis and argument." ⁷ What makes DBQ interesting is that it isn't confined to a certain format. DBQs use a variety of sources and always touch upon the importance of looking at documents/evidence. For example, the DBQ for the 2010 AP United States History Free-Response Question section: "In what ways did ideas and values held by Puritans influence the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s?" The question then provides the student with 10 documents as possible evidence and support a student can use in their essay. Some examples of documents from the 2010 question include a section from John Winthrop's "A Modell of Christian Charity," a town map of Colonial New England, selected sections of The Enlarged Salem Covenant of 1636, a section of one of William Bradford's personal essays; "After the Colonists' Attacked on the Pequot's Mystic River Village," a villager's statement on the education in New England during from 1643, a selection from Roger Williams' "A Plea for Religious Liberty," a selection from Nathaniel Ward's The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam, a selection from John Cotton's "Limitation of Government," the last will and testament of Robert Keayne, and a section from John Higginson's "The Cause of God and His People in New England." ⁸ I have used something similar to the DBQ in my classroom as it has been seen on the AP English Language and Composition exam — the synthesis question.

Chicago Public Schools has a well vested interest in Advanced Placement classes. It is particularly clear on their website that their goal is to provide high school students with the advantage of taking college level courses, impart an enhanced program of academic rigor, and foster their commitment to academics. ⁹ CPS's interest in AP exams has also been increasingly apparent. In The Chicago Tribune article, "As AP Classes Grow, Test Failure Rises," it is evident that the amount of students that have received equity and access to this kind of education has been on the rise. The article states that the number of exams taken by low-income students has risen from 2,689 students in 2001 to 9,291 students in 2006: a 345% increase in 5 years. More specifically, during that time, there has been a 258% African-American, 239% Latino, and 345% low-income students increase in the administering of these exams. Since there has been a massive shift in the amount of exams taken by these groups, it has greatly effected the percentage of exams passed. This trend has shown a 6% loss in the African-American testing community and an 8% loss in low-income students. ¹⁰

For purposes of this unit I have created my own background essay, selected a variety of sources and provided a framework in which students can answer the question — Who was Langston Hughes?