how to write a document based essay

Documented Essay Example, Topics, & How-To Guide 

What is a documented essay and what is the purpose of it? It is a type of academic writing where the author develops an opinion relying on secondary resources. A documented essay can be assigned in school or college. You should incorporate arguments and facts from outside sources into the text.

The components of a successful documented essay are as follows:

• A good topic;
• A well-developed outline;
• Thorough research of an issue;
• A flawless reference list.

For more information on the subject, consider the sections below prepared by our experts .

❓ What Is a Documented Essay?

📓 how to write a documented essay.

• 📚 Essay Topics
• 📝 Free Essay Example

🔗 References

A documented essay is a piece of academic writing that aims to consider a particular topic relying on a number of the most trusted secondary sources. This kind of essay is longer than a standard 5-paragraph essay. It highlights the spectrum of existing research in the field.

Of course, this work will be a bit more complicated than the papers you have written before. If you’ve seen documented essay examples, you understand that they differ from standard essays .

To write a documented essay, you have to do the following:

✅ Find Sources

Sources that you use when writing your documented essay are crucial for your success. You will have to work with primary and secondary sources, collect data from books and publications. Alternatively, you will come up with experiments and conduct surveys to get the necessary data.

• Investigate your issue as meticulously as possible. To make your paper strong and impressive, you have to consider plenty of sources and data. Prove the readers your excellence and professionalism.
• Use only academic articles and scholarly books. Select extremely carefully! All the supportive facts should be valid and directly correspond to your topic. When it comes to sources, pay attention to their credibility.
• Avoid using any info from random websites. Exclude Wikipedia and personal blogs from the list of possible sources. Official e-newspapers (New York Times, BBC), governmental pages (.gov), and educational websites (.edu) are considered to be trustworthy.

Finding credible sources can be a challenging task. So, try using online research tools to facilitate it.

✅ Outline and Write a Research-Based Documented Essay

The majority of students tend to underestimate the power of outlining. Don’t make this mistake! Consider the following tips on your essay structure:

• The sketch of your documented essay should include an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs.
• The last sentence of an intro is supposed to be your thesis statement . It is a critical part of your research paper, so make it well-developed and concise.
• Each paragraph should have an introductory and concluding sentence. Such a frame will effectively structure your thoughts.
• While creating an outline, figure out your arguments’ order and choose the appropriate evidence for each point. Make sure your paper is structured coherently and logically.
• If you feel like something is wrong, take a note and consider rewriting it later, after the essay’s whole picture will be visible.

After completing the rough draft of the paper, start polishing it. Double-check all the citations. Make sure appropriate transitions connect the paragraphs. Trace the arguments and supporting evidence and check if they are logically structured.

Your documented essay should cover the research issue and state your position. Properly develop your ideas and support them by the valid evidence from outside resources. Every point has to be related to your thesis statement. Finally, the conclusion should open a space for further investigation of the issue.

✅ Document Sources

It is the gist of writing the documented essays. All sources should be cited and arranged into a Bibliography list . Make sure it is error-free and follows the essay format. Mind that you will have to learn the rules of MLA, APA, and some other citation styles. Every style has numerous formatting requirements, so students often get confused.

The primary tip is:

To ensure the flawlessness of your works cited list, carefully read the instructions of the essay format you are applying. Always follow the guidelines and double-check all the details. The creation of the reference list is quite a challenging task. Yet, if you are concentrated and careful enough, you will succeed!

We suggest you read articles about MLA and APA formats. They are the most popular citation styles, so you should find out more about their peculiarities.

In short, the bibliography lists will look as follows:

Check an example of a documented essay to see how an APA reference list looks like.

📚 Documented Essay Topics

Here are some examples of documented essay topics:

• The influence of different types of advertising on various age groups. 
• The influence of financial well-being on life quality. 
• The health risks of sugar overconsumption.
• Possible ways of dealing with corruption in developing countries. 
• Online banking : new opportunities or new threats?
• The installation of parents’ control on children’s smartphones : pros and cons. Is it worth doing?
• Ways to successful communication between managers and employees.
• Analyze the impact of organizational leadership philosophy on the company performance.
• Explore the specifics of real estate fund management.
• Describe the pros and cons of a diversified investment portfolio.
• Interconnection between global economy and business expansion.
• Discuss the advantages and risks of investing in the furniture business.
• Explain what made Asia Pacific multinational enterprises so successful.
• Analyze the crucial factors of the successful global entrepreneurship.
• Social media and its impact on teenagers lives .
• Examine the influence of culture on shaping human behavior and relationships.  
• Has culture really become a driver of urbanization?
• Describe the connection between the climate change and carbon dioxide emissions. 
• The influence of organizational politics on decision making.
• The role of Greenpeace in lowering the negative technological influence on the environment.
• Discuss the influence of family on eating disorders in children.  
• Explore the ways social changes can influence the environment.
• Analyze how air pollution influences the health of the New York City citizens.
• What are the core values of Chinese culture ?
• Impact of globalization on a country’s economy.
• Describe the advantages and shortcomings of random drug testing.
• Discuss the aspects of various theories of personal development .
• What can be done to prevent Netherlands from flooding? 
• Is it a good idea to decriminalize marijuana?
• Ethic al issues in ICT: disclosing personal information.
• Examine the influence of technologic innovations on business. 
• Analyze the impact of globalization processes on media industry.
• Is solar power a solution of environmental issues?  
• Describe the health hazards of having nightmares.  
• Discuss the pros and cons of international credit.
• Explore the influence of COVID-19 on the economy.
• Compare the differences in coffee culture in different countries.
• Connection between clean water shortage and the problem of poverty.
• Analyze the positive and negative aspects of a high nutrition diet.  
• Examine the effect of trans and saturated fats on human health.
• How the use of solar energy in China influences climate change.
• Is it possible to give up food additives completely?  
• Pros and cons of integrating bilingualism in early childhood education .
• Describe the peculiarities of native and non-native educators in language teaching.
• Can the design activism change society?  
• Discuss the role of social media marketing for business practices.
• Talent management impact on OCBC’s formation.
• Explore the advantages and drawbacks of social media .
• Do you believe that social media can be a tool to change the world?
• Analyze the pros and cons of genetically modified food.  

📝 Documented Essay Example

Are you looking for a research-based documented essay example? We have prepared one for you. Check it out:

The Obesity Epidemic and Its Complex Causes 

In recent decades, the obesity epidemic has become a serious problem for public health. According to the WHO (2016), there are just under 2 billion overweight adults in the world. More than 600 million of them are considered obese. These indicators testify to a severe epidemic caused by various reasons, including genetics, environment, and lifestyle.

Several genetic factors may predispose to the development of obesity. A cross-sectional observational study of 260 children showed that a family history of obesity is a critical risk factor for the severity of obesity in childhood (Corica et al., 2018). According to Tester et al. (2020), children gain excess weight due to the multiple genes they have, and these genes make them favor food and, thereby, have a higher caloric intake. Obesity-predisposing genes may as well persist into adulthood, causing some adults to struggle with weight management despite similar lifestyle choices compared to their peers.

Although genetics play an important role in obesity predisposition, extragenetic factors also contribute to its development. For example, long working hours can increase BMI due to reduced time for exercise and physical activity and shifting toward ready-processed meals and fast food (Courtemanche, 2009). Besides, the role of social networks and peer effects in increasing obesity prevalence cannot be ignored. Christakis (2007) emphasizes that an individual’s risk of weight gain increases by more than 50% if a friend becomes obese and by more than 30% if a partner is obese. As a result, many people suffer from obesity even though their family members or forefathers never had such a problem.

Obesity has become a big global concern in the 21st century. Now it is clearer than ever that the obesity epidemic is the result of a complex interaction between environmental influences, genetic vulnerability, and human activity. To solve this problem, public health professionals should develop effective interventions considering genetic and extragenetic factors contributing to obesity.

Thank you for reading, and good luck with your documented essay! Feel free to come back and check out our other academic articles, available on the blog. Share the article with those who might find it useful.

• The Documented Essay/Research Paper: Hunter College
• What is a Research Papeer: Online Writing Center, SUNY Empire State College
• 5 Steps to Create the Perfect Outline: Brandon Ramey, Herzing University
• Making an Outline, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at University of Southern California
• How Can I Find Good Sources for My Research Paper: University of Louisville Writing Center
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This is a great blog! There are a lot of really helpful ideas. I am going to start writing my documented essay, and this post will help me. So thanks!

I’d like to share this post on writing a documented essay with my friends in college. Soon we have to write our documented essays, and your guide will definitely help us!

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, writing a document-based essay.

Hey everyone! I have an upcoming assignment for my history class that requires writing a document-based essay. I've never done one before and could use some guidance. How do I analyze the provided documents and incorporate them into my essay? Thanks!

Hey there! Document-based essays can seem overwhelming at first, but with a bit of guidance, you'll be well on your way to acing your assignment. Here are step-by-step instructions for writing a successful document-based essay:

1. Read the prompt: Before diving into the documents, make sure you fully understand the essay question. This will give you a clear sense of what you're looking for as you read and analyze the documents.

2. Analyze each document: Read each document carefully and take notes on key points, themes, or ideas that relate to the essay question. Be sure to consider the source, the author's point of view, and any potential biases.

3. Develop your thesis: Based on your analysis, craft a thesis that addresses the essay question and outlines your argument. Your thesis should be clear, concise, and supported by the documents you've analyzed.

4. Create an outline: Organize your ideas into a logical structure by creating an essay outline. Include your thesis, main arguments, and the supporting evidence from the documents. Remember to incorporate at least one piece of evidence from each document into your essay.

5. Write the introduction: Start your essay by introducing the topic and providing historical context. This should set the stage for your thesis statement, which you'll include at the end of the introduction.

6. Write body paragraphs: Each body paragraph should focus on one main argument that supports your thesis. Begin with a topic sentence, then provide evidence from the documents to back up your argument. As you reference the documents, be sure to cite them appropriately, either by document number or author/title (depending on your instructor's requirements). Analyze the evidence in your own words and explain how it supports your argument.

7. Address counterarguments: It's important to show that you've considered alternative perspectives or potential criticisms. Use a separate paragraph or weave these counterarguments into your body paragraphs by acknowledging them and explaining why they don't undermine your argument.

8. Conclude your essay: Summarize your main points and reinforce your thesis statement in the conclusion. You can also provide some broader implications or connections to the present day if relevant.

9. Proofread and edit: Finally, read through your essay carefully, checking for clarity, coherence, and proper grammar and punctuation. Make any necessary revisions before submitting your work.

Good luck with your document-based essay! Just take it one step at a time, and remember to stay organized and focused on your thesis.

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How to Write an Academic Essay in 6 Simple Steps

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Written by  Scribendi

Are you wondering how to write an academic essay successfully? There are so many steps to writing an academic essay that it can be difficult to know where to start.

Here, we outline how to write an academic essay in 6 simple steps, from how to research for an academic essay to how to revise an essay and everything in between. 

Our essay writing tips are designed to help you learn how to write an academic essay that is ready for publication (after academic editing and academic proofreading , of course!).

Your paper isn't complete until you've done all the needed proofreading. Make sure you leave time for it after the writing process!

Download Our Pocket Checklist for Academic Papers. Just input your email below!

Types of academic writing.

With academic essay writing, there are certain conventions that writers are expected to follow. As such, it's important to know the basics of academic writing before you begin writing your essay.

Read More: What Is Academic Writing?

Before you begin writing your essay, you need to know what type of essay you are writing. This will help you follow the correct structure, which will make academic paper editing a faster and simpler process. 

Will you be writing a descriptive essay, an analytical essay, a persuasive essay, or a critical essay?

Read More: How to Master the 4 Types of Academic Writing

You can learn how to write academic essays by first mastering the four types of academic writing and then applying the correct rules to the appropriate type of essay writing.

Regardless of the type of essay you will be writing, all essays will include:

An introduction

At least three body paragraphs

A conclusion

A bibliography/reference list

To strengthen your essay writing skills, it can also help to learn how to research for an academic essay.

Step 1: Preparing to Write Your Essay

The essay writing process involves a few main stages:

Researching

As such, in learning how to write an academic essay, it is also important to learn how to research for an academic essay and how to revise an essay.

Read More: Online Research Tips for Students and Scholars

To beef up your research skills, remember these essay writing tips from the above article: 

Learn how to identify reliable sources.

Understand the nuances of open access.

Discover free academic journals and research databases.

Manage your references. 

Provide evidence for every claim so you can avoid plagiarism .

Read More: 17 Research Databases for Free Articles

You will want to do the research for your academic essay points, of course, but you will also want to research various journals for the publication of your paper.

Different journals have different guidelines and thus different requirements for writers. These can be related to style, formatting, and more. 

Knowing these before you begin writing can save you a lot of time if you also want to learn how to revise an essay. If you ensure your paper meets the guidelines of the journal you want to publish in, you will not have to revise it again later for this purpose. 

After the research stage, you can draft your thesis and introduction as well as outline the rest of your essay. This will put you in a good position to draft your body paragraphs and conclusion, craft your bibliography, and edit and proofread your paper.

Step 2: Writing the Essay Introduction and Thesis Statement

When learning how to write academic essays , learning how to write an introduction is key alongside learning how to research for an academic essay.

Your introduction should broadly introduce your topic. It will give an overview of your essay and the points that will be discussed. It is typically about 10% of the final word count of the text.

All introductions follow a general structure:

Topic statement

Thesis statement

Read More: How to Write an Introduction

Your topic statement should hook your reader, making them curious about your topic. They should want to learn more after reading this statement. To best hook your reader in academic essay writing, consider providing a fact, a bold statement, or an intriguing question. 

The discussion about your topic in the middle of your introduction should include some background information about your topic in the academic sphere. Your scope should be limited enough that you can address the topic within the length of your paper but broad enough that the content is understood by the reader.

Your thesis statement should be incredibly specific and only one to two sentences long. Here is another essay writing tip: if you are able to locate an effective thesis early on, it will save you time during the academic editing process.

Read More: How to Write a Great Thesis Statement

Step 3: Writing the Essay Body

When learning how to write academic essays, you must learn how to write a good body paragraph. That's because your essay will be primarily made up of them!

The body paragraphs of your essay will develop the argument you outlined in your thesis. They will do this by providing your ideas on a topic backed up by evidence of specific points.

These paragraphs will typically take up about 80% of your essay. As a result, a good essay writing tip is to learn how to properly structure a paragraph.

Each paragraph consists of the following:

A topic sentence

Supporting sentences

A transition

Read More: How to Write a Paragraph

In learning how to revise an essay, you should keep in mind the organization of your paragraphs.

Your first paragraph should contain your strongest argument.

The secondary paragraphs should contain supporting arguments.

The last paragraph should contain your second-strongest argument. 

Step 4: Writing the Essay Conclusion

Your essay conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay and primarily reminds your reader of your thesis. It also wraps up your essay and discusses your findings more generally.

The conclusion typically makes up about 10% of the text, like the introduction. It shows the reader that you have accomplished what you intended to at the outset of your essay.

Here are a couple more good essay writing tips for your conclusion:

Don't introduce any new ideas into your conclusion.

Don't undermine your argument with opposing ideas.

Read More: How to Write a Conclusion Paragraph in 3 Easy Steps

Now that you know how to write an academic essay, it's time to learn how to write a bibliography along with some academic editing and proofreading advice.

Step 5: Writing the Bibliography or Works Cited

The bibliography of your paper lists all the references you cited. It is typically alphabetized or numbered (depending on the style guide).

Read More: How to Write an Academic Essay with References

When learning how to write academic essays, you may notice that there are various style guides you may be required to use by a professor or journal, including unique or custom styles. 

Some of the most common style guides include:

Chicago style

For help organizing your references for academic essay writing, consider a software manager. They can help you collect and format your references correctly and consistently, both quickly and with minimal effort.

Read More: 6 Reference Manager Software Solutions for Your Research

As you learn how to research for an academic essay most effectively, you may notice that a reference manager can also help make academic paper editing easier.

Step 6: Revising Your Essay

Once you've finally drafted your entire essay . . . you're still not done! 

That's because editing and proofreading are the essential final steps of any writing process . 

An academic editor can help you identify core issues with your writing , including its structure, its flow, its clarity, and its overall readability. They can give you substantive feedback and essay writing tips to improve your document. Therefore, it's a good idea to have an editor review your first draft so you can improve it prior to proofreading.

A specialized academic editor can assess the content of your writing. As a subject-matter expert in your subject, they can offer field-specific insight and critical commentary. Specialized academic editors can also provide services that others may not, including:

Academic document formatting

Academic figure formatting

Academic reference formatting

An academic proofreader can help you perfect the final draft of your paper to ensure it is completely error free in terms of spelling and grammar. They can also identify any inconsistencies in your work but will not look for any issues in the content of your writing, only its mechanics. This is why you should have a proofreader revise your final draft so that it is ready to be seen by an audience. 

Read More: How to Find the Right Academic Paper Editor or Proofreader

When learning how to research and write an academic essay, it is important to remember that editing is a required step. Don ' t forget to allot time for editing after you ' ve written your paper.

Set yourself up for success with this guide on how to write an academic essay. With a solid draft, you'll have better chances of getting published and read in any journal of your choosing.

Our academic essay writing tips are sure to help you learn how to research an academic essay, how to write an academic essay, and how to revise an academic essay.

If your academic paper looks sloppy, your readers may assume your research is sloppy. Download our Pocket Proofreading Checklist for Academic Papers before you take that one last crucial look at your paper.

About the Author

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing transformed into a great one. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained numerous degrees. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

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How to Write a DBQ Essay

Last Updated: July 15, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a Private Tutor and Life Coach in Santa Cruz, California. In 2018, she founded Mindful & Well, a natural healing and wellness coaching service. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. Emily also received her Wellness Coach Certificate from Cornell University and completed the Mindfulness Training by Mindful Schools. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 682,632 times.

In the past, Document Based Questions (DBQ) were rarely found outside of AP history exams. However, they’re now used in social studies classes across grade levels, so you’re bound to take a DBQ test at some point. [1] X Research source Going into the test, you will need strong background knowledge of the time periods and geographical areas on which you will be tested. Your documents will always relate back directly to the major subjects and themes of your class. The key to success is to analyze the provided documents and use them to support an argument in response to the essay prompt. While DBQ tests are rigorous, they allow you to actually do historical work instead of merely memorize facts. Don’t stress, put on your historian hat, and start investigating!

Writing Help

Analyzing the Documents

• For an AP exam, you’ll then have 45 minutes to write your essay. Exact times may vary for other exams and assignments but, for all DBQ essays, document analysis is the first step.
• For an AP exam, you will also need to include a thesis, set the prompt’s historical context, use 6 documents to support an argument, describe 1 piece of outside evidence, and discuss the point of view or context of at least 3 of the sources. Label these elements as you review and outline so you don’t forget something.

• A prompt might ask you to analyze or explain the causes of a historical development, such as, “Explain how the Progressive Movement gained social, political, and cultural influence from the 1890s to the 1920s in the United States.”
• You might need to use primary sources to compare and contrast differing attitudes or points of view toward a concept, policy, or event, such as, “Compare and contrast the differing attitudes towards women’s rights in the United States from 1890 to 1920.”
• Keywords in these examples inform you how to read your sources. For instance, to compare and contrast differing attitudes, you’ll need to identify your sources’ authors, categorize their points of view, and figure out how attitudes changed over the specified period of time.

• Suppose one of the documents is a suffragette’s diary entry. Passages in the entry that detail her advocacy for the Women’s Rights Movement are evidence of her point of view. In contrast, another document is newspaper article written around the same time that opposes suffrage.
• A diary entry might not have an intended audience but, for documents such as letters, pamphlets, and newspaper articles, you’ll need to identify the author’s likely readers.
• Most of your sources will probably be written documents, but you’ll likely encounter political cartoons, photographs, maps, or graphs. The U.S. Library of Congress offers a helpful guide to reading specific primary source categories at https://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html .

• Suppose you have a letter sent from one suffragette to another about the methods used to obtain the right to vote. This document may help you infer how attitudes vary among the movement’s supporters.
• A newspaper article depicting suffragettes as unpatriotic women who would sabotage World War I for the United States helps you understand the opposing attitude.
• Perhaps other sources include a 1917 editorial on the harsh treatment of imprisoned suffragists and an article on major political endorsements for women’s suffrage. From these, you’d infer that 1917 marked a pivotal year, and that the role women played on the home front during World War I would lead to broader support for suffrage.

• For instance, perhaps you read that the National American Woman Suffrage association (NAWSA) made a strategic shift in 1916 from focusing on state-by-state suffrage to prioritizing a constitutional amendment. Mentioning this switch to a more aggressive strategy supports your claim that the stage was set for a 1917 turning point in popular support for women’s suffrage.
• When you think of outside evidence during the planning stages, jot it down so you can refer to it when you write your essay. A good spot could be in the margin of a document that relates to the outside information.

Developing an Argument

• For example, after reviewing the documents related to women’s suffrage, identify the opposing attitudes, how they differed, and how they changed over time.
• Your rough argument at this stage could be, “Those in opposition saw suffragettes as unpatriotic and unfeminine. Attitudes within the suffrage movement were divided between conservative and confrontational elements. By the end of World War I, changing perceptions of the role of women contributed to growing popular support for suffrage.”

• Suppose your DBQ is, “How did World War I affect attitudes toward women’s suffrage in the United States?” A strong tentative thesis would be, “The roles women played in the workforce and in support of the war effort contributed to growing popular support for the suffrage movement.”
• A weak thesis would be, “World War I affected how Americans perceived women’s suffrage.” This simply restates the prompt.

• For example, under numeral I., write, “New Woman: perceptions shift in the 1890s.” This section will explain the 1890s concept of the New Woman, which rejected traditional characterizations of women as dependent and fragile. You’ll argue that this, in part, set the stage for shifting attitudes during and following World War I.
• You can start your planning your essay during the reading portion of the test. If necessary, take around 5 minutes out of the writing portion to finish outlining your argument.

• For instance, under “I. New Woman: perceptions shift in the 1890s,” write “(Doc 1),” which is a pamphlet praising women who ride bicycles, which was seen as “unladylike” at the time.
• Beneath that line, write “(Doc 2),” which is an article that defends the traditional view that women should remain in the household. You’ll use this document to explain the opposing views that set the context for suffrage debates in the 1900s and 1910s.

• Suppose your tentative thesis is, “The roles women played in the workforce and in support of the war effort contributed to growing popular support for the suffrage movement.” You decide that “contributed” isn’t strong enough, and swap it out for “led” to emphasize causation.

Drafting Your Essay

• If you have 45 minutes to write, take about 5 minutes to make an outline. If you have an introduction, 3 main points that cite 6 documents, and a conclusion, plan on spending 7 minutes or less on each of these 5 sections. That will leave you 5 minutes to proofread or to serve as a buffer in case you need more time.
• Check the time periodically as you write to ensure you’re staying on target.

• To set the context, you might write, “The Progressive Era, which spanned roughly from 1890 to 1920, was a time of political, economic, and cultural reform in the United States. A central movement of the era, the Women’s Rights Movement gained momentum as perceptions of the role of women dramatically shifted.”
• If you’d prefer to get straight to the point, feel free to start your introduction with your thesis, then set the context.
• A timed DBQ essay test doesn’t leave you much time to write a long introduction, so get straight to analyzing the documents rather than spell out a long, detailed intro.

• Each body section should have a topic sentence to let the reader know you’re transitioning to a new piece of evidence. For example, start the first section with, “The 1890s saw shifts in perception that set the stage for the major advances in women’s suffrage during and following World War I.”
• Be sure to cite your documents to support each part of your argument. Include direct quotes sparingly, if at all, and prioritize analysis of a source over merely quoting it.
• Whenever you mention a document or information within a document, add parentheses and the number of the document at the end of the sentence, like this: “Women who were not suffragettes but still supported the movement wrote letters discussing their desire to help (Document 2).”

• For example, a private diary entry from 1916 dismissing suffrage as morally corrupt isn’t necessarily a reflection of broader public opinion. There's more to consider than just its content, or what it says.
• Suppose a more reliable document, such as a major newspaper article on the 1916 Democratic and Republican national conventions, details the growing political and public support for women’s suffrage. You’d use this source to show that the diary entry conveys an attitude that was becoming less popular.

• In your essay on World War I and women’s suffrage, you could summarize your argument, then mention that the war similarly impacted women’s voting rights on an international scale.

Revising Your Draft

• If you’re taking an AP history exam or other timed test, minor errors are acceptable as long as they don't affect your argument. Spelling mistakes, for instance, won’t result in a loss of points if the scorer can still understand the word, such as “sufrage” instead of “suffrage.”

• A clear thesis statement.
• Set the prompt’s broader historical context.
• Support your argument using 6 of the 7 included documents.
• Identify and explain 1 piece of historical evidence other than the included documents.
• Describe 3 of the documents’ points of view, purposes, audiences, or context.
• Demonstrate a complex understanding of the topic, such as by discussing causation, change, continuity, or connections to other historical periods.

• As with spelling and grammar, minor errors are acceptable as long as the scorer knows what you mean. Little spelling mistakes are fine, but you’ll lose points if you write that a source supports suffrage when it doesn’t.

Community Q&A

• Remember that you shouldn't just identify or summarize a document. Explain why a source is important, and tie each reference into your argument. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you’re taking an AP history exam, find exam rubrics, practice tests, and other resources at https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses . Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Taking a timed test can be tough, so time yourself when you take practice tests. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2016/10/14/getting-started-document-based-questions
• ↑ https://sourceessay.com/tips-to-write-an-impressive-dbq-essay/
• ↑ https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/writing/writing1
• ↑ https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-us-history-dbq-2018.pdf?course=ap-united-states-history
• ↑ https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

Document-Based Questions, or DBQ essays, are often used in social studies classes to test your ability to do historical work rather than simply memorize facts. Start by spending some time reviewing the documents and developing an argument. Pay special attention to keywords in the prompt that will help you construct your argument. For example, if the prompt includes the words "compare and contrast," you'll need to include 2 different viewpoints in your essay and compare them. Then, as you read your sources, note the authors, points of view, and other key details that will help you figure out how to use the documents. Once you’ve reviewed all of the material, come up with your response. Sketch out a tentative thesis that encapsulates your argument and make an outline for your essay. You can then draft your essay, starting with an introduction that gives context and states your thesis, followed by supporting body paragraphs. To learn how to write a conclusion for your DBQ, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principal tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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Research Paper: A step-by-step guide: 3. Thesis Statement & Outline

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. Topic Ideas
• 3. Thesis Statement & Outline
• 4. Appropriate Sources
• 5. Search Techniques
• 6. Taking Notes & Documenting Sources
• 7. Evaluating Sources
• 8. Citations & Plagiarism
• 9. Writing Your Research Paper

About Thesis Statements

Qualities of a thesis statement.

Thesis statements:

• state the subject matter and main ideas of a paper.
• appear in the first paragraph and announces what you will discuss in your paper.
• define the scope and focus of your essay, and tells your reader what to expect.  
• are not a simple factual statement.  It is an assertion that states your claims and that you can prove with evidence.
• should be the product of research and your own critical thinking.
• can be very helpful in constructing an outline for your essay; for each point you make, ask yourself whether it is relevant to the thesis.

Steps you can use to create a thesis statement

1. Start out with the main topic and focus of your essay.

youth gangs + prevention and intervention programs

2. Make a claim or argument in one sentence.  It can be helpful to start with a question which you then turn into an argument

Can prevention and intervention programs stop youth gang activities?  How?  ►►►  "Prevention and intervention programs can stop youth gang activities by giving teens something else to do."

3. Revise the sentence by using specific terms.

"Early prevention programs in schools are the most effective way to prevent youth gang involvement by giving teens good activities that offer a path to success."

4. Further revise the sentence to cover the scope of your essay and make a strong statement.

"Among various prevention and intervention efforts that have been made to deal with the rapid growth of youth gangs, early school-based prevention programs are the most effective way to prevent youth gang involvement, which they do by giving teens meaningful activities that offer pathways to achievement and success."

5. Keep your thesis statement flexible and revise it as needed. In the process of researching and writing, you may find new information or refine your understanding of the topic.

You can view this short video for more tips on how to write a clear thesis statement.

An outline is the skeleton of your essay, in which you list the arguments and subtopics in a logical order. A good outline is an important element in writing a good paper. An outline helps to target your research areas, keep you within the scope without going off-track, and it can also help to keep your argument in good order when writing the essay.  Once your outline is in good shape, it is much easier to write your paper; you've already done most of the thinking, so you just need to fill in the outline with a paragraph for each point.

To write an outline: The most common way to write an outline is the list format.  List all the major topics and subtopics with the key points that support them. Put similar topics and points together and arrange them in a logical order.    Include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. 

A list outline should arrange the main points or arguments in a hierarchical structure indicated by Roman numerals for main ideas (I, II, III...), capital letters for subtopics (A, B, C...), Arabic numerals for details (1,2,3...), and lower-case letters for fine details if needed (a,b,c...). This helps keep things organized.  

Here is a shortened example of an outline:

Introduction: background and thesis statement

I. First topic

1. Supporting evidence 2. Supporting evidence

II. Second Topic

III. Third Topic

I. Summarize the main points of your paper II. Restate your thesis in different words III. Make a strong final statement

You can see examples of a few different kinds of outlines and get more help at the Purdue OWL .

• << Previous: 2. Topic Ideas
• Next: 4. Appropriate Sources >>
• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2023 12:12 PM
• URL: https://butte.libguides.com/ResearchPaper

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• Tags: Academic Writing , Essay , Essay Writing

Knowing how to write an essay can help you out significantly in both, your academic and professional life. An essay is a highly versatile nonfiction piece of writing that not only tests your knowledge of a topic but also your literary and argumentative skills.     

Each essay requires the same basic process of planning, writing, and editing. Naturally, we’ve used these stages to group our steps on how to write an essay. So w ithout further ado, let’s get into it! Here are the eight steps to write an essay:

Stage 1: Planning

1. Pick an appropriate research topic

In certain cases, your teacher or professor may assign you a topic. However, in many cases, students have the freedom to select a topic of their choice. Make sure you choose a topic that you’re well versed in and have significant knowledge of. 

Having prior knowledge of the topic will help you determine the subsequent steps to write an essay. It will also make your research process considerably easier.

2. Form an appropriate thesis statement

A thesis statement is the central idea or premise your essay is based on. It is usually a sentence or two long and is included in the introduction of the essay. The scope of your thesis statement depends on the type of your essay and its length.

For instance, the scope of the thesis statement for a 500–1000 word school essay will be narrower than a 1000–5000 word college essay. A rule of thumb is that your essay topic should be broad enough to gather enough information, but narrow enough to address specific points and not be vague. Here’s an example: 

The invention of the airplane by the Wright Brothers in 1903 revolutionized transportation and paved the way for modern aviation. It represents a monumental achievement in human history that forever changed the course of human civilization.

3. Create an essay outline

Creating a well-organized essay outline not only gives structure and flow to your essay but also makes it more impactful and easy to understand. The idea is to collect the main points of information that support or elaborate on your thesis statement. You can also include references or examples under these main points. 

For example, if your thesis statement revolves around the invention of the airplane, your main points will include travel before the invention of the airplane, how it was invented, and its effects on modern-day travel. Take a look:

The Wright Brothers’ invention had a massive impact on modern-day travel. The subsequent growth of the aviation industry led to increased accessibility of air travel to the general public.

Stage 2: Writing

4. Write a comprehensive introduction

After creating the basic outline, it is important to know how to write an essay. Begin your essay by introducing your voice and point of view to the reader. An introduction is usually a paragraph or two long and consists of three main parts:

• Background information
• Thesis statement

Let’s better understand this with the help of an example:

The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane in 1903 revolutionized the way humans travel and explore the world. Prior to this invention, transportation relied on trains, boats, and cars, which limited the distance and speed of travel. However, the airplane made air travel a reality, allowing people to reach far-off destinations in mere hours. This breakthrough paved the way for modern-day air travel, transforming the world into a smaller, more connected place. In this essay, we will explore the impact of the Wright Brothers’ invention on modern-day travel, including the growth of the aviation industry, increased accessibility of air travel to the general public, and the economic and cultural benefits of air travel.

Let’s understand how to construct each of these sections in more detail.

A. Construct an attractive hook

The opening sentence of an essay, also known as the hook, should include a powerful or startling statement that captures the reader’s attention. Depending on the type of your essay, it can be an interesting fact, a surprising statistic, or an engaging anecdote. 

B. Provide relevant background information

While writing the introduction, it’s important to provide context or background information before including the thesis statement. The background information may include the time before a groundbreaking invention, the pros and cons of a significant discovery, or the short- and long-term effects of an event.

C. Edit the thesis statement

If you’ve constructed your thesis statement during the outlining stage, it’s time to edit it based on the background information you’ve provided. Observe the slight changes we’ve made to the scope of the thesis statement in the example above. This accommodates the bits of information we’ve provided in the background history.

5. Form relevant body paragraphs

Body paragraphs play a crucial role in supporting and expanding the central argument presented in the thesis statement. The number of body paragraphs depends on the type of essay as well as the scope of the thesis statement.

Most school-level essays contain three body paragraphs while college-level essays can vary in length depending on the assignment.

A well-crafted body paragraph consists of the following parts:

• A topic sentence
• Supporting information
• An analysis of the information
• A smooth transition to the next paragraph

Let’s understand this with the help of an example. 

The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane revolutionized air travel. They achieved the first-ever successful powered flight with the Wright Flyer in 1903, after years of conducting experiments and studying flight principles. Despite their first flight lasting only 12 seconds, it was a significant milestone that paved the way for modern aviation. The Wright Brothers’ success can be attributed to their systematic approach to problem-solving, which included numerous experiments with gliders, the development of a wind tunnel to test their designs, and meticulous analysis and recording of their results. Their dedication and ingenuity forever changed the way we travel, making modern aviation possible.

Here’s a detailed overview of how to construct each of these sections.

A. Construct appropriate topic sentences

A topic sentence is the title of the body paragraph that elaborates on the thesis statement. It is the main idea on which the body paragraph is developed. Ensure that each topic sentence is relevant to the thesis statement and makes the essay flow seamlessly. 

The order of topic sentences is key in creating an impactful essay. This order varies depending on the type of essay you choose to write. These sentences may be arranged chronologically, in the order of importance, or in a cause-and-effect format.

B. Provide supporting information

It is necessary to provide relevant supporting information and evidence to validate your topic statement. This may include examples, relevant statistics, history, or even personal anecdotes.

You should also remember to cite your sources wherever you use them to substantiate your arguments. Always give researchers and authors credit for their work!

C. Analyze the supporting information

After presenting the appropriate evidence, the next step is to conduct an in-depth analysis. Establish connections and provide additional details to strengthen the link between your topic sentence and the supporting information. 

Depending on the type of essay, this step may also involve sharing your subjective opinions and key takeaways.

D. Create a smooth transition

In case you plan to create multiple body paragraphs, it is crucial to create a seamless transition between them. Transitional statements not only make the essay less jarring to read but also guide the reader in the right direction.

However, these statements need not be too lengthy and complicated. Use words such as “however”, “in addition to”, and “therefore” to convey transitions.

6. Construct an impactful conclusion

An impactful conclusion creates a lasting impression on the mind of the reader. Although it varies in length depending on the specific essay, the conclusion is typically a paragraph long.

It consists of

• A restated thesis statement
• Summary of the main points
• The broader implications of the thesis statement

Here’s an example of a well-structured conclusion:

The Wright Brothers’ invention of the airplane forever changed history by paving the way for modern aviation and countless aerospace advancements. Their persistence, innovation, and dedication to problem-solving led to the first successful powered flight in 1903, sparking a revolution in transportation that transformed the world. Today, air travel remains an integral part of our globalized society, highlighting the undeniable impact of the Wright Brothers’ contribution to human civilization.  

Let’s take a closer look at how to construct each of these sections.

A. Restate the thesis statement

Your conclusion should call back to your original argument or thesis statement.

However, this does not mean repeating the thesis statement as is. The essence of your argument should remain the same, but it should also be modified and evolved as per the information presented in your essay.

B. Summarize important points

A powerful conclusion not only lingers in the reader’s mind but also provokes thought. You can create a strong impression on the reader by highlighting the most impactful points of your essay.

C. State the greater implications

End your essay with the most powerful and impactful part: the larger perspective. This can‌ include a question you’d like to leave the reader with, the broader implications and impact of your thesis statement, or the long-term, lingering effects of your experience. 

Make sure to include no new evidence or arguments, or to undermine your findings in any way. 

Stage 3: Editing

7. Review your essay

Knowing how to write an essay is just one part of essay writing. Properly reviewing and editing your essay is just as important. Make sure to spend enough time going over your essay and adding any bits of information that you’ve missed. 

This is also a good time to make minor structural changes in your essay.

8. Thoroughly proofread your essay

After making the necessary structural changes, recheck your essay word by word. It is important to not only correct major grammatical and spelling errors but also minor errors regarding the phrasing or tone of voice.

You can either choose to do this by yourself, ask a friend for assistance, or hire an essay proofreading service to go over your writing. To construct a fool-proof, error-free essay, it is helpful to have a trained pair of eyes go over it. Professional proofreaders can spot errors that are not visible to most people and set the right tone for your essay. 

Now that you know the basics of how to write an essay, it’s time to learn about the specifics. Feel free to dig into the articles below and keep reading!

• How to Write an Essay Header in 4 Steps
• How to Write an Essay Outline
• What is an Expository Essay?
• How to Start an Essay

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How to Write a Documented Essay

Josalin mitchell.

The process of writing a documented essay is generally the same no matter the project and begins with having an assignment or idea. Next, an outline is written, then research is conducted. Finally, the document is written and edited. Be aware of the instructor's requirements. Note the purpose of the essay to determine its structure and the information it should contain. An instructional essay, for instance, contains detailed instructions for the completion of a particular task.

Explore this article

• Read the essay instructions provided by the course instructor
• Write an outline of the essay
• Go to the library
• Avoid plagiarism of any material
• Write the rough draft according to the outline
• Compile and format all works
• Reorganize material

things needed

• Library account
• Computer access
• Something to write with

1 Read the essay instructions provided by the course instructor

Read the essay instructions provided by the course instructor. The rubric or project description will include the specified documentation or citation format for the assigned essay. The instructor might assign a certain style manual for the essay or provide his or her own system of documentation.

2 Write an outline of the essay

Write an outline of the essay according to its purpose or argument. For instance, an opinion essay would begin with an overview of the issue. Then other viewpoints might be introduced. Next, the essay would put forth the each claim and justify each claim with evidence. Use subheadings with bullets for a detailed outline.

3 Go to the library

Go to the library. Check out any style manuals that are assigned by your instructor. Bring the outline. Research the subject, broadly at first, then progressively narrow topics according to the information that is needed for the essay. For instance, an instructional essay on methods of cooking eggs might start out with research on "cooking eggs," then narrow to "hard-boiled eggs" and "egg-cooking temperature."

4 Take notes

Take notes while reading the research material for use later when you write the essay. This makes avoiding plagiarism easier by minimizing the chance the citations will be left out of the essay.

5 Avoid plagiarism of any material

Avoid plagiarism of any material, no matter the source. Plagiarism means taking someone's work and passing it off as your original material. The only material that does not need to be cited in an essay is that which is considered public knowledge, like the blue color of the sky, according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Use quotations only when the information cannot be adequately paraphrased or is best presented as a quotation.

6 Write the rough draft according to the outline

Write the rough draft according to the outline. Document or cite information according to format in this part of the process.

7 Compile and format all works

Compile and format all works cited in the paper. Format the references page according to style guidelines from a style manual or instructor specifications.

8 Reorganize material

Edit the rough draft and reorganize material as necessary. If some citations are taken out, remove them from the references page and add as necessary. Some instructors allow the inclusion of sources not directly cited in the essay under the title of "Related Works" or some other heading of the same meaning. Check with the instructor before including sources not cited directly in the text.

• 1 The Chicago Manual of Style: 15th Edition; The University of Chicago Press; 2003

About the Author

Josalin Mitchell began her writing career in 2009. She has written web content as well as grants, training manuals, reports and brochures for nonprofit agencies. Mitchell has a Bachelor of Arts in English and women's studies and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching in English education.

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What is a DBQ? The Document-Based Question Explained

Advanced Placement (AP)

The dreaded DBQ, or "document-based question," is an essay question type on the AP History exams (AP US History, AP European History, and AP World History). For the DBQ essay, you will be asked to analyze some historical issue or trend with the aid of the provided sources, or "documents," as evidence.

The DBQ is an unfamiliar type of in-class essay for many students, but it does not need to be a source of dread or panic. In this guide I'll go over the DBQ's purpose and format, what the documents are and how to use them, how this type of essay is scored, and how to prepare. I'll tell you everything you need torock this unique type of essay!

Note: The rubric, guidelines, and skills tested for all of the History APs are identical; only the historical source material is different.

The DBQ Essay Explained

As a veteran of the DBQ, I'm here to answer all your questions. Why do the AP History exams even have a document-based question? What will it look like on the exam? What are these documents, anyways? Let's dive right in.

This baby is too young to be diving into the DBQ!

Why the DBQ?

The point of the document-based question is not to torment you but actually to put you in the historian's shoes as an interpreter of historical material. Cool, right?

The DBQ is testing your ability to:

• create a strong thesis and support that thesis with the aid of the documents provided
• analyze sources for characteristics such as author's point of view, the author's purpose, the audience, and context
• make connections between the documents
• bring in outside knowledge to strengthen the argument

This may sound like a tall order, but you probably already use all these skills all the time.

Here's an example:

Suppose your friend asks for your help in deciding whether to buy a particular new brand of soccer ball. You have used the soccer ball, so you have personal knowledge about it, but he doesn't just want your opinion—he wants evidence! (Your friend takes buying soccer balls very seriously).

So first, you collect information (your "documents"). These could include:

• online reviews of the soccer ball
• your brother's opinion
• the price at the store
• the cost of other soccer balls
• ads for the soccer ball

Next, you'll analyze these "documents" to make a decision about whether the ball is a good purchase for your friend or not. For that, you might:

• Assess bias (also known as the author's point of view): Maybe the soccer ball ad isn't the most objective measure of the ball's quality. Maybe your brother hates soccer.
• Consider the author's audience: Maybe that review of the soccer ball was written for professional soccer players, and you want to know how it is for casual players!
• Think about the context of your friend's decision: What time of year is it? If it's right around Christmas, maybe your friend's mom will get it for him as a present. What you already know about soccer is part of the context as well--you know your friend won't want a ball that's too bouncy, for example.

Buying the right soccer ball might have higher stakes than the AP exam.

If you were going to go back and write an essay for your friend about this after you've reviewed your "documents," your thesis might be something like one of these examples:

• "This soccer ball is a good purchase for my friend because it has all the elements of a good soccer ball at a great price point."
• "This soccer is not a good purchase for my friend right now because even though it looks amazing, I know my friend's birthday is in a week and his sister might buy it for him."

Then you would use the "documents" and your outside knowledge (for example, your experience with the soccer ball and your knowledge about soccer) to support that claim.

That's a document-based question! In fact, I would assert that the DBQ is the easiest essay to score highly on in the AP History exams. As overwhelming as it might be now to think about all of that information getting thrown at you at once, think of it this way:

Instead of relying primarily on your knowledge, the DBQ gives you a bunch of sources to use in your analysis. This means you don't have to be worried you'll waste five minutes racking your brain trying to remember the name of that guy who did that thing. It's important to bring in some outside information for a top score, but the main thing you need to do is analyze.

95% of the info you really need is there. You just have to learn how to use it.

Let's move on to test formatting so you know what to expect from document-based questions.

What Does the DBQ Format Look Like?

Each of the AP history tests has one DBQ, and it is always the first question in the test booklet for the writing section (Part II of the exam). When you open your booklet and turn to the DBQ, you will see the instructions, the prompt, and then the documents.

You will have a 15-minute reading period, with a recommended 40 minutes of writing time. The test has two essays, and you will have 90 minutes total to plan and write them. You won't be forced to move on from one essay to the other, so be sure to budget your time carefully.

You are not required to use the entire reading/planning period. You can begin writing whenever you wish. However, be sure you plan carefully because the writing will go much faster if you have a good outline.

That covers the general format, but no doubt you want to hear more about these mysterious documents. Stay tuned!

What's the Deal With These Documents?

You will receive up to seven sources. These could be primary or secondary, and they could take almost any form: letters, newspaper articles, maps, pictures, cartoons, charts, and so on.

You will need to use all or all but one of the documents in your essay. You should go further in-depth on at least four of the documents. (See the rubric breakdown section below for more details).

For US History, no DBQ will focus exclusively on the time period prior to 1607 or after 1980, although they may focus on a broader time period that includes one of those time periods.

Don't worry, they won't be original copies.

Now that we've discussed the purpose, format, and document protocol of the DBQ, we need to discuss scoring.

How Is the DBQ Scored?

How much is the DBQ worth on your exam? And how do those pesky AP graders even score it?

How Much Is the Document-Based Question Worth?

The DBQ is 25% of your total grade. The entire second section of exam is 50% of your grade, and there are two equally weighted essays.

What Does the Rubric Mean?

The rubric the graders use is freely available to you on the College Board website.

• Click here for the AP DBQ grading rubric .

Don't worry if these look like gibberish to you. I'll break it down briefly here, and go even more in-depth on my article about how to prepare for and write a DBQ .

DBQ Rubric Breakdown

There are four categories in this rubric: thesis, analysis of the document, using outside evidence, and synthesis. You can score up to seven points.

Thesis and Argument—2 points

The breakdown:

• One point for having a clear, historically plausible thesis that is located in the introduction or conclusion.
• You can get another point here for having a particularly good thesis that presents a nuanced relationship between historical factors, and doing a good job supporting that thesis in your essay.

Document Analysis—2 points

• One point for using 6-7 of the documents in your essay. Easy-peasy.
• author's point of view
• author's purpose
• historical context

Just be sure to tie any further analysis back to your main argument!

Using Outside Evidence—2 points

• One point is just for context—if you can locate the issue within its broader historical situation. You do need to write several sentences about it but the contextual information can be very general.
• One point is for being able to name an additional specific example relevant to your argument that is not mentioned in the documents. Don't stress if you freeze up and can't remember one on test day. This is only one point and it will not prevent you from getting a 5 on the exam.

Synthesis—1 point

• All you need to do for synthesis is relate your argument about this specific time period to a different time period, geographical area, historical movement, etc.
• It is probably easiest to do this in the conclusion of the essay.

Still with me? Just remember: the most important thing is having a strong thesis that is supported by the information in the documents and whatever other related information you have around in your brain.

If you are an auditory learner, I recommend this video , which breaks down all the components you need to get a seven.

Parting Thoughts on Scoring

If this seems like a lot to take in, don't worry. You don't have to get a perfect score on the DBQ to get a five on the AP. Somewhere in the 5-6 range can definitely get you there. To get a 3 on the exam (which still gives you course credit at a lot of colleges), you only need a 3 on the DBQ. (See page eight of this DBQ rubric document .)

Additionally, overall historical accuracy is important but not 100% necessary for every tiny detail of the essay. Anything that is in the documents should be correct, but when you start to bring in outside sources for your DBQ essay on unionization and working conditions and you can't remember if the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was in 1911 or 1912, just pick one and don't sweat it. If minor details are incorrect and don't detract from the overall meaning of the essay, you won't lose points.

Now that you understand the purpose, format, and rubric for document-based questions, I'll give you some tips on how to get the score you're aiming for.

How Can I Rock the DBQ?

Two things will help you crush the DBQ: prepping beforehand, and hitting all the right notes on test day!

Rock the DBQ like Jimi rocked the 1960s.

Preparing for the DBQ

As you might expect, the most important thing you can do to prepare is to practice writing this type of essay.

• Try out the practice DBQs available online at the College Board website: look here for AP US History (and here for a complete APUSH practice test ), here for AP European History , and here for AP World History . You don't necessarily have to write an entire essay every time you practice—it's also helpful to read the question and texts and then create outlines with a thesis.

Ask a trusted teacher or advisor to look over your practice drafts and/or outlines with the rubric and advise what you might be missing.

Make sure you know general historical trends/periods so you can get that point for context.

You can find more prep tips in my article on how to write a DBQ .

During the Test

• Read the question carefully . Make sure you know what is being asked before you start trying to answer.
• While you read the documents, take notes on what they mean, who is writing, etc.
• Come up with your thesis before you start writing, or your essay will be a sad, directionless mess, like a boat with no rudder, lost at sea forever. If you aren't sure of your thesis yet, brainstorm in your notes—not while you are writing.
• Once you have a thesis, stay on topic. If you're writing about how Smaug wrecked the Forbidden Mountain, don't start talking about how amazing and clever Bilbo is, even if it's true.
• Make sure you use all the documents—doing so gets you easy points.
• However, don't simply regurgitate sources with no analysis. If you find yourself doing a lot of "Source A says blah, and Source B says blah, and Source C says blah..." make sure you are using the documents to make a point , and not letting the documents use you.
• A great way to analyze the documents is to make connections between them! Who agrees? Who disagrees? Why?
• Don't forget to provide context, one outside example, and a connection to another period/area/historical theme if you can! That's three points right there.

And there you have it! You are ready to start prepping for success.

Abraham Lincoln believes in you!

Final Thoughts

I know I just threw a lot of information at you. So here are some key takeaway points:

• The document-based question is a way for the AP to test your skills as a historian!
• Don't panic! It doesn't have to be overwhelming, even though you are getting tons of information thrown at you in a short time.
• The DBQ is based on skills that you can learn and practice: writing a strong thesis, using given evidence to support an argument, making connections between different documents and pieces of evidence, placing specific information in a broader context, analyzing an author's intent, bias, audience, etc.

What's Next?

Need more study resources for AP World History ? See our Best AP World History Study Guide or get more practice tests from our complete list.

Need more resources for AP US History ? Try this article on the best notes to use for studying from one of our experts. Also check out her review of the best AP US History textbooks !

Or just looking for general information about your upcoming APs ? See here for instructions on how to register for AP exams , complete AP test dates , and information on how much AP tests cost (and how to get AP financial aid).

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AP U.S. History Document Based Question Example

The DBQ requires you to analyze the documents in addition to bringing outside information to bear on the question. This is a difficult task, and you have only 15 minutes to plan before you begin writing. Don’t panic! Use the same strategies given for the LEQ for document analysis . The more you practice using these strategies, the better you will become at quickly finding significance in the documents.

Use the prompt and documents below to practice writing a DBQ . Either create an outline of key points or time yourself for 55 minutes (15 to prep and 40 to write) to get test day practice. Check your answers against the sample response at the end to see how yours compares!

DBQ Sample Question

Evaluate the extent of change in United States political parties in the period 1791 to 1833.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

Spend the 15-minute reading period analyzing the documents themselves, thinking for each document about its authorship/historical situation, main idea, and why it was written.

Begin grouping the documents into categories that you can use to help organize your essay. The following is a sample high-scoring writer’s notes on the documents:

1.  Hamilton – Fed.: federal implied powers equal with explicit powers in Constitution, bank constitutional 2.  Jefferson – Demo-Rep.: federal government only has powers delegated by Constitution, bank unconstitutional 3.  Jefferson inaugural address: all parties follow same principles 4.  Map of territories, feat. Louisiana Purchase – large territory bought by Jefferson 5.  Hartford Convention – Fed.: want Congress to have high consensus to take action 6.  Jackson – Demo.: veto bank b/c unconstitutional 7.  Nat.-Rep. (Whig) cartoon: Jackson like king trampling Constitution w/ vetoes

• Fed. & Demo.-Rep. initial views: 1 & 2
• Feds. changing view: 5
• Demo.-Rep. changing view: 3, 4
• new parties & new issues: 6, 7

Step 2: Plan Your Response

• Thesis : parties changed ideals & new parties formed w/ new focuses; all devoted to Constitution ( complex understanding : change and continuity)
• Hamilton (Doc. 1): Fed. pro-bank, loose construction, strong central government
• Jefferson (Doc. 2): Demo.-Rep. anti-bank, strict construction, powerful states
• Jefferson (Doc. 3): reconcile w/ Feds. ( sourcing 1 )
• LA Purchase (Doc. 4): shift from strict construction
• Add’l Evidence : Jefferson Embargo Act: shift to strong fed.
• Context : war with Britain, impact on Feds.
• Hartford Convention (Doc. 5): shift from strong fed.
• Add’l Evidence : Era of Good Feelings
• Democrats & Whigs issues: bank, power of president, internal improvements
• Jackson cartoon (Doc. 7) ( sourcing 2 )
• (Doc. 3) “same principle”
• (Docs. 1 & 2) interpretations of Const.
• (Doc. 6) Jackson claim bank unconst. ( sourcing 3 )
• ¶conclusion: parties shifted in ideologies, new parties based on events, still devoted to Const.

Step 3: Action! Write Your Response

Step 4: proofread, sample high-scoring document-based question response.

The first two parties emerged from disagreements about forming a Bank of the United States. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton developed a loose construction view of the Constitution, using the implied powers of the federal government in the Constitution to justify his support for a bank (Document 1). Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson argued for a strict construction view, opposing the Bank since it was not explicitly permitted by the Constitution and, he claimed, therefore unconstitutional (Document 2). These philosophies became the foundation of the first two political parties. Hamilton led the Federalists, who championed a strong federal government. Jefferson and James Madison led the Democratic-Republicans, who believed power rested with the states.

However, over time it became clear that the unwavering views of the two political parties needed to moderate if the country were to grow. Jefferson made the first step toward moderation of his political philosophy and reconciliation with the Federalists in his First Inaugural Address (Document 3), stating “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” As the newly elected president, perhaps Jefferson felt required to placate his political opponents and didn’t fully believe this sentiment, but his time in office would prove that more moderate views were politically expedient. Jefferson and his party had to further adjust their ideals when the opportunity to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France arose in 1803 (Document 4). There was no provision in the Constitution for a president to buy more territory. However, Jefferson moderated his own strict construction views and made the purchase. Later, when American shipping was disrupted during the Napoleonic Wars, Jefferson again showed a shift from his original pro-state view and took the strong federal action of supporting the Embargo Act.

The Federalists also modified their views after war broke out with Great Britain. The Federalists, many of whom were merchants negatively impacted by the war’s impact on trade, protested America’s involvement. Federalists formulated a set of demands in Hartford, Connecticut (Document 5). By proposing that some government actions require a full two-thirds approval of the states, they were essentially challenging the authority of the federal government and seeking a way for their minority party to gain a greater say in decisions. Thus, the party that had favored a strong central government had now adopted an opposite view based on their circumstances. Both the initial parties changed their ideals when faced with events while governing.

As time went on, new parties emerged that were centered around the new concerns of their times. During the one-party Era of Good Feelings, the Federalist Party essentially ceased to exist, showing that political parties can disappear if their particular focuses are no longer relevant. The Democratic-Republican Party eventually split into two new parties: the Democrats and the Whigs. Although the National Bank was still a divisive issue, these new parties now focused on the issues of the power of the presidency and the role of the national government in modernization. The political cartoon in Document 7, created by a member of the Whigs, demonstrates the Whig view of opposing a strong executive by depicting the Democrat Jackson as a king who literally is trampling the Constitution under his feet. The intent of the cartoon is to mock Jackson as acting more like a king than a president by his excessive use of the veto. That a major facet of the Whig party was its opposing a particular president demonstrates the tendency of early political parties to form and dissolve as issues changed over time.

Despite the changes, all the early parties remained devoted to the principles of the Constitution. As Jefferson indicates in his address (Document 3), the parties have “different names” but are “brethren of the same principle”—the republican form of their government. Likewise, the debates between Federalists and Democratic- Republicans often hinged on how to interpret the Constitution, as shown in both Hamilton’s and Jefferson’s explanations of the Constitution in Documents 1 and 2. Later, Jackson also based his decision in Document 6 with “solemn regard to the principles of the Constitution.” While it is possible that Jackson was merely appealing to the Constitution as an excuse to veto the bank, which he was known to dislike, his words at least show the importance of appearing to honor constitutional principles across party lines.

American political parties developed soon after the Constitution took effect and went through shifts in ideologies and concerns over time. Sometimes changing their views based on what was politically expedient, early parties came in and out of existence based on their particular focuses and current events. Still, their devotion to constitutional principles showed their faith in the new form of government and ensured that the new government would endure and adapt, even when facing political disagreement.

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• How to write an essay outline | Guidelines & examples

How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples

Published on August 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph , giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold.

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Table of contents

Organizing your material, presentation of the outline, examples of essay outlines, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay outlines.

At the stage where you’re writing an essay outline, your ideas are probably still not fully formed. You should know your topic  and have already done some preliminary research to find relevant sources , but now you need to shape your ideas into a structured argument.

Creating categories

Look over any information, quotes and ideas you’ve noted down from your research and consider the central point you want to make in the essay—this will be the basis of your thesis statement . Once you have an idea of your overall argument, you can begin to organize your material in a way that serves that argument.

Try to arrange your material into categories related to different aspects of your argument. If you’re writing about a literary text, you might group your ideas into themes; in a history essay, it might be several key trends or turning points from the period you’re discussing.

Three main themes or subjects is a common structure for essays. Depending on the length of the essay, you could split the themes into three body paragraphs, or three longer sections with several paragraphs covering each theme.

As you create the outline, look critically at your categories and points: Are any of them irrelevant or redundant? Make sure every topic you cover is clearly related to your thesis statement.

Order of information

When you have your material organized into several categories, consider what order they should appear in.

Your essay will always begin and end with an introduction and conclusion , but the organization of the body is up to you.

Consider these questions to order your material:

• Is there an obvious starting point for your argument?
• Is there one subject that provides an easy transition into another?
• Do some points need to be set up by discussing other points first?

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See an example

Within each paragraph, you’ll discuss a single idea related to your overall topic or argument, using several points of evidence or analysis to do so.

In your outline, you present these points as a few short numbered sentences or phrases.They can be split into sub-points when more detail is needed.

The template below shows how you might structure an outline for a five-paragraph essay.

• Thesis statement
• First piece of evidence
• Second piece of evidence
• Summary/synthesis
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement

You can choose whether to write your outline in full sentences or short phrases. Be consistent in your choice; don’t randomly write some points as full sentences and others as short phrases.

Examples of outlines for different types of essays are presented below: an argumentative, expository, and literary analysis essay.

Argumentative essay outline

This outline is for a short argumentative essay evaluating the internet’s impact on education. It uses short phrases to summarize each point.

Its body is split into three paragraphs, each presenting arguments about a different aspect of the internet’s effects on education.

• Importance of the internet
• Concerns about internet use
• Thesis statement: Internet use a net positive
• Data exploring this effect
• Analysis indicating it is overstated
• Students’ reading levels over time
• Why this data is questionable
• Video media
• Interactive media
• Speed and simplicity of online research
• Questions about reliability (transitioning into next topic)
• Evidence indicating its ubiquity
• Claims that it discourages engagement with academic writing
• Evidence that Wikipedia warns students not to cite it
• Argument that it introduces students to citation
• Summary of key points
• Value of digital education for students
• Need for optimism to embrace advantages of the internet

Expository essay outline

This is the outline for an expository essay describing how the invention of the printing press affected life and politics in Europe.

The paragraphs are still summarized in short phrases here, but individual points are described with full sentences.

• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages.
• Provide background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press.
• Present the thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation.
• Discuss the very high levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe.
• Describe how literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites.
• Indicate how this discouraged political and religious change.
• Describe the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg.
• Show the implications of the new technology for book production.
• Describe the rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible.
• Link to the Reformation.
• Discuss the trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention.
• Describe Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation.
• Sketch out the large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics.
• Summarize the history described.
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period.

Literary analysis essay outline

The literary analysis essay outlined below discusses the role of theater in Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park .

The body of the essay is divided into three different themes, each of which is explored through examples from the book.

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question : How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

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You will sometimes be asked to hand in an essay outline before you start writing your essay . Your supervisor wants to see that you have a clear idea of your structure so that writing will go smoothly.

Even when you do not have to hand it in, writing an essay outline is an important part of the writing process . It’s a good idea to write one (as informally as you like) to clarify your structure for yourself whenever you are working on an essay.

If you have to hand in your essay outline , you may be given specific guidelines stating whether you have to use full sentences. If you’re not sure, ask your supervisor.

When writing an essay outline for yourself, the choice is yours. Some students find it helpful to write out their ideas in full sentences, while others prefer to summarize them in short phrases.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/essay-outline/

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Developing a Strong Thesis Statement for Your English Essay

How to build customized Power BI dashboards with user insights data in External ID

Sharon Rutto

August 27th, 2024 0 1

The user insights feature is generally available (GA) in Microsoft Entra External ID external tenants. It is accessible via Microsoft Graph APIs, which are currently in beta, or through prebuilt dashboards in the Microsoft Entra admin center. User insights dashboards provide organizations with valuable insights into user behavior and patterns within customer-facing applications. You can query and analyze user metrics such as total user count, monthly active users (MAU), daily active users (DAU), newly added users, authentications, and multifactor authentication (MFA) usage.

Custom dashboards with Microsoft Graph API

The out-of-the box dashboards in the Microsoft Entra admin center provide easy-to-digest graphs and charts but have limited customization options. Microsoft Graph APIs enable you to build powerful, customized dashboards with data tailored to your specific needs and preferences. This has some advantages:

• Flexibility: You can integrate with other data sources to present your data in a way that aligns more with your business objectives.
• Enhanced visualization: You can have richer and more interactive visual representations of your data.
• Complex query handling: You can apply advanced filters, aggregations, and calculations to your user insights data and get more granular and accurate results.

User insights APIs are summarized into daily and monthly data, offering varied insights tailored to different needs:

• Daily APIs: Monitor daily fluctuations in user activity; perfect for recognizing immediate changes, tracking sudden spikes in requests and authentications, or evaluating the impact of daily marketing campaigns and product updates.
• Monthly APIs: Gain a broader understanding of user behavior trends and retention across extended intervals, beneficial for gauging the success of long-term strategies and initiatives.

Example dashboards you can build

• Seasonal trends: Visualizing seasonal trends can help in strategic planning and forecasting. For example, heatmaps showing user activity, sign-ups, or authentications by day of the week or month, can help identify high-traffic periods. This dashboard can help identify patterns and trends in user activity, enabling more effective resource allocation.
• Anomaly detection: This dashboard can show the number and frequency of unusual or suspicious events in your applications, such as failed sign-ins, sign-ups from unknown locations, or spikes in user activity. You can use this dashboard to monitor application security, troubleshoot issues, and respond to incidents.

Build your own user insights dashboard

Let’s explore how to build a customized Power BI dashboard using user insights Microsoft Graph APIs.

Prerequisites

• External tenant – To access user insights data, you must have an external tenant. If you already have an Azure subscription, use this quickstart to create an external tenant. If not, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial here .
• Registered app(s) – User insights collects and aggregates data from your customer-facing applications. Ensure you have at least one registered app with sign-in and/or sign-up activity.
• Power BI – For the purposes of the example in this blog post, we will use Power BI to visualize the data. You can use Power BI desktop or Power BI service . Alternatively, you can choose any other analytical tool you prefer.

Setting up External ID

• Confirm you’re in your external tenant – In Microsoft admin center , go to Identity > Overview > Manage tenants . Confirm your external tenant is the current tenant you’re in.

Register an app for authorization – To securely access Microsoft Graph APIs, you need to register an app that will be used to generate access tokens for authorization. Go to Identity > Applications > App registrations to create one as outlined here .

Configure API permissions for Microsoft Graph – Add the necessary API permission Insights-UserMetric.Read.All to the registered app from step 2. Follow the instructions provided here . Keep in mind that the access token you generate will only be valid for one hour. To manage this, you can create a function in Power Query to check for token expiration and automatically refresh it.

Creating a Power BI report

Once you have successfully set up your tenant, you can now create a Power BI report using custom connectors to fetch user insights data. Here’s how you can connect Power BI to Microsoft Graph and build your report .

Transforming and visualizing data

Power BI comes with Power Query Editor that can help you clean and shape your data. You can remove unnecessary columns, handle missing values, and apply transformations such as merging, grouping, filtering, and many more.

• Transform and model your data – Once you have pulled all the data you need from the user insights APIs, transform and model your data to suit your needs. Go to Home > Transform data to use Power Query Editor.

• Visualize your data – Build engaging reports and dashboards once your data is ready for use. Power BI offers a range of visual elements to help you represent your data effectively. The example below shows a summary of user activity with daily and monthly growth trends.

Let’s recap

In this blog post, we explored how to build customized Power BI dashboards using user insights data in Microsoft Entra External ID. We went through accessing user insights data via Microsoft Graph APIs, setting up an external tenant and registered app, and using Power BI to connect to Microsoft Graph and build a report. We covered how to transform and visualize data in Power BI, enabling you to create insightful dashboards that can improve decision-making and security monitoring in customer-facing applications.

To test out other features in the Microsoft Entra portfolio, visit our developer center . Sign up for email updates on the Identity developer blog for more insights and to keep up with the latest on all things Identity, and follow us on YouTube for video overviews, tutorials, and deep dives.

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MIT study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style

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Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable?

MIT cognitive scientists believe they have uncovered the answer to that question. Just as “magic spells” use special rhymes and archaic terms to signal their power, the convoluted language of legalese acts to convey a sense of authority, they conclude.

In a study appearing this week in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers found that even non-lawyers use this type of language when asked to write laws.

“People seem to understand that there’s an implicit rule that this is how laws should sound, and they write them that way,” says Edward Gibson, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences and the senior author of the study.

Eric Martinez PhD ’24 is the lead author of the study. Francis Mollica, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, is also an author of the paper .

Casting a legal spell

Gibson’s research group has been studying the unique characteristics of legalese since 2020, when Martinez came to MIT after earning a law degree from Harvard Law School. In a 2022 study , Gibson, Martinez, and Mollica analyzed legal contracts totaling about 3.5 million words, comparing them with other types of writing, including movie scripts, newspaper articles, and academic papers.

That analysis revealed that legal documents frequently have long definitions inserted in the middle of sentences — a feature known as “center-embedding.” Linguists have previously found that this kind of structure can make text much more difficult to understand.

“Legalese somehow has developed this tendency to put structures inside other structures, in a way which is not typical of human languages,” Gibson says.

In a follow-up study published in 2023, the researchers found that legalese also makes documents more difficult for lawyers to understand. Lawyers tended to prefer plain English versions of documents, and they rated those versions to be just as enforceable as traditional legal documents.

“Lawyers also find legalese to be unwieldy and complicated,” Gibson says. “Lawyers don’t like it, laypeople don’t like it, so the point of this current paper was to try and figure out why they write documents this way.”

The researchers had a couple of hypotheses for why legalese is so prevalent. One was the “copy and edit hypothesis,” which suggests that legal documents begin with a simple premise, and then additional information and definitions are inserted into already existing sentences, creating complex center-embedded clauses.

“We thought it was plausible that what happens is you start with an initial draft that’s simple, and then later you think of all these other conditions that you want to include. And the idea is that once you’ve started, it’s much easier to center-embed that into the existing provision,” says Martinez, who is now a fellow and instructor at the University of Chicago Law School.

However, the findings ended up pointing toward a different hypothesis, the so-called “magic spell hypothesis.” Just as magic spells are written with a distinctive style that sets them apart from everyday language, the convoluted style of legal language appears to signal a special kind of authority, the researchers say.

“In English culture, if you want to write something that’s a magic spell, people know that the way to do that is you put a lot of old-fashioned rhymes in there. We think maybe center-embedding is signaling legalese in the same way,” Gibson says.

In this study, the researchers asked about 200 non-lawyers (native speakers of English living in the United States, who were recruited through a crowdsourcing site called Prolific), to write two types of texts. In the first task, people were told to write laws prohibiting crimes such as drunk driving, burglary, arson, and drug trafficking. In the second task, they were asked to write stories about those crimes.

To test the copy and edit hypothesis, half of the participants were asked to add additional information after they wrote their initial law or story. The researchers found that all of the subjects wrote laws with center-embedded clauses, regardless of whether they wrote the law all at once or were told to write a draft and then add to it later. And, when they wrote stories related to those laws, they wrote in much plainer English, regardless of whether they had to add information later.

“When writing laws, they did a lot of center-embedding regardless of whether or not they had to edit it or write it from scratch. And in that narrative text, they did not use center-embedding in either case,” Martinez says.

In another set of experiments, about 80 participants were asked to write laws, as well as descriptions that would explain those laws to visitors from another country. In these experiments, participants again used center-embedding for their laws, but not for the descriptions of those laws.

The origins of legalese

Gibson’s lab is now investigating the origins of center-embedding in legal documents. Early American laws were based on British law, so the researchers plan to analyze British laws to see if they feature the same kind of grammatical construction. And going back much farther, they plan to analyze whether center-embedding is found in the Hammurabi Code, the earliest known set of laws, which dates to around 1750 BC.

“There may be just a stylistic way of writing from back then, and if it was seen as successful, people would use that style in other languages,” Gibson says. “I would guess that it’s an accidental property of how the laws were written the first time, but we don’t know that yet.”

The researchers hope that their work, which has identified specific aspects of legal language that make it more difficult to understand, will motivate lawmakers to try to make laws more comprehensible. Efforts to write legal documents in plainer language date to at least the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon declared that federal regulations should be written in “layman’s terms.” However, legal language has changed very little since that time.

“We have learned only very recently what it is that makes legal language so complicated, and therefore I am optimistic about being able to change it,” Gibson says. 

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Researchers at MIT have uncovered a possible reason why legal documents can be so difficult to read, finding that “convoluted legalese often acts as a way to convey authority,” reports Joe Berkowitz for Fast Company . The researchers “tested whether nonlawyers would end up using legalese if asked to write legal document,” explains Berkowitz. “In the end, all subjects wrote their laws with complex, center-embedded clauses.”

Researchers at MIT have found that the use of legalese in writing “to assert authority over those less versed in such language,” reports Noor Al-Sibai for Futurism . “By studying this cryptic take on the English language, the researchers are hoping to make legal documents much easier to read in the future,” explains Al-Sibai.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-warnings-from-democrats-about-project-2025-and-donald-trump

Fact-checking warnings from Democrats about Project 2025 and Donald Trump

This fact check originally appeared on PolitiFact .

Project 2025 has a starring role in this week’s Democratic National Convention.

And it was front and center on Night 1.

WATCH: Hauling large copy of Project 2025, Michigan state Sen. McMorrow speaks at 2024 DNC

“This is Project 2025,” Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said as she laid a hardbound copy of the 900-page document on the lectern. “Over the next four nights, you are going to hear a lot about what is in this 900-page document. Why? Because this is the Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has warned Americans about “Trump’s Project 2025” agenda — even though former President Donald Trump doesn’t claim the conservative presidential transition document.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Harris said July 23 in Milwaukee. “He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda will weaken the middle class. Like, we know we got to take this seriously, and can you believe they put that thing in writing?”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, has joined in on the talking point.

“Don’t believe (Trump) when he’s playing dumb about this Project 2025. He knows exactly what it’ll do,” Walz said Aug. 9 in Glendale, Arizona.

Trump’s campaign has worked to build distance from the project, which the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, led with contributions from dozens of conservative groups.

Much of the plan calls for extensive executive-branch overhauls and draws on both long-standing conservative principles, such as tax cuts, and more recent culture war issues. It lays out recommendations for disbanding the Commerce and Education departments, eliminating certain climate protections and consolidating more power to the president.

Project 2025 offers a sweeping vision for a Republican-led executive branch, and some of its policies mirror Trump’s 2024 agenda, But Harris and her presidential campaign have at times gone too far in describing what the project calls for and how closely the plans overlap with Trump’s campaign.

PolitiFact researched Harris’ warnings about how the plan would affect reproductive rights, federal entitlement programs and education, just as we did for President Joe Biden’s Project 2025 rhetoric. Here’s what the project does and doesn’t call for, and how it squares with Trump’s positions.

Are Trump and Project 2025 connected?

To distance himself from Project 2025 amid the Democratic attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he “knows nothing” about it and has “no idea” who is in charge of it. (CNN identified at least 140 former advisers from the Trump administration who have been involved.)

The Heritage Foundation sought contributions from more than 100 conservative organizations for its policy vision for the next Republican presidency, which was published in 2023.

Project 2025 is now winding down some of its policy operations, and director Paul Dans, a former Trump administration official, is stepping down, The Washington Post reported July 30. Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita denounced the document.

WATCH: A look at the Project 2025 plan to reshape government and Trump’s links to its authors

However, Project 2025 contributors include a number of high-ranking officials from Trump’s first administration, including former White House adviser Peter Navarro and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

A recently released recording of Russell Vought, a Project 2025 author and the former director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, showed Vought saying Trump’s “very supportive of what we do.” He said Trump was only distancing himself because Democrats were making a bogeyman out of the document.

Project 2025 wouldn’t ban abortion outright, but would curtail access

The Harris campaign shared a graphic on X that claimed “Trump’s Project 2025 plan for workers” would “go after birth control and ban abortion nationwide.”

The plan doesn’t call to ban abortion nationwide, though its recommendations could curtail some contraceptives and limit abortion access.

What’s known about Trump’s abortion agenda neither lines up with Harris’ description nor Project 2025’s wish list.

Project 2025 says the Department of Health and Human Services Department should “return to being known as the Department of Life by explicitly rejecting the notion that abortion is health care.”

It recommends that the Food and Drug Administration reverse its 2000 approval of mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion. Medication is the most common form of abortion in the U.S. — accounting for around 63 percent in 2023.

If mifepristone were to remain approved, Project 2025 recommends new rules, such as cutting its use from 10 weeks into pregnancy to seven. It would have to be provided to patients in person — part of the group’s efforts to limit access to the drug by mail. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to mifepristone’s FDA approval over procedural grounds.

WATCH: Trump’s plans for health care and reproductive rights if he returns to White House The manual also calls for the Justice Department to enforce the 1873 Comstock Act on mifepristone, which bans the mailing of “obscene” materials. Abortion access supporters fear that a strict interpretation of the law could go further to ban mailing the materials used in procedural abortions, such as surgical instruments and equipment.

The plan proposes withholding federal money from states that don’t report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention how many abortions take place within their borders. The plan also would prohibit abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds. It also calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the training of medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, omits abortion training.

The document says some forms of emergency contraception — particularly Ella, a pill that can be taken within five days of unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy — should be excluded from no-cost coverage. The Affordable Care Act requires most private health insurers to cover recommended preventive services, which involves a range of birth control methods, including emergency contraception.

Trump has recently said states should decide abortion regulations and that he wouldn’t block access to contraceptives. Trump said during his June 27 debate with Biden that he wouldn’t ban mifepristone after the Supreme Court “approved” it. But the court rejected the lawsuit based on standing, not the case’s merits. He has not weighed in on the Comstock Act or said whether he supports it being used to block abortion medication, or other kinds of abortions.

Project 2025 doesn’t call for cutting Social Security, but proposes some changes to Medicare

“When you read (Project 2025),” Harris told a crowd July 23 in Wisconsin, “you will see, Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

The Project 2025 document does not call for Social Security cuts. None of its 10 references to Social Security addresses plans for cutting the program.

Harris also misleads about Trump’s Social Security views.

In his earlier campaigns and before he was a politician, Trump said about a half-dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization. More recently, in a March 2024 CNBC interview, Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, “There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.” However, he quickly walked that statement back, and his CNBC comment stands at odds with essentially everything else Trump has said during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump’s campaign website says that not “a single penny” should be cut from Social Security. We rated Harris’ claim that Trump intends to cut Social Security Mostly False.

Project 2025 does propose changes to Medicare, including making Medicare Advantage, the private insurance offering in Medicare, the “default” enrollment option. Unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans have provider networks and can also require prior authorization, meaning that the plan can approve or deny certain services. Original Medicare plans don’t have prior authorization requirements.

The manual also calls for repealing health policies enacted under Biden, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. The law enabled Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers for the first time in history, and recently resulted in an agreement with drug companies to lower the prices of 10 expensive prescriptions for Medicare enrollees.

Trump, however, has said repeatedly during the 2024 presidential campaign that he will not cut Medicare.

Project 2025 would eliminate the Education Department, which Trump supports

The Harris campaign said Project 2025 would “eliminate the U.S. Department of Education” — and that’s accurate. Project 2025 says federal education policy “should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” The plan scales back the federal government’s role in education policy and devolves the functions that remain to other agencies.

Aside from eliminating the department, the project also proposes scrapping the Biden administration’s Title IX revision, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also would let states opt out of federal education programs and calls for passing a federal parents’ bill of rights similar to ones passed in some Republican-led state legislatures.

Republicans, including Trump, have pledged to close the department, which gained its status in 1979 within Democratic President Jimmy Carter’s presidential Cabinet.

In one of his Agenda 47 policy videos, Trump promised to close the department and “to send all education work and needs back to the states.” Eliminating the department would have to go through Congress.

What Project 2025, Trump would do on overtime pay

In the graphic, the Harris campaign says Project 2025 allows “employers to stop paying workers for overtime work.”

The plan doesn’t call for banning overtime wages. It recommends changes to some Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulations and to overtime rules. Some changes, if enacted, could result in some people losing overtime protections, experts told us.

The document proposes that the Labor Department maintain an overtime threshold “that does not punish businesses in lower-cost regions (e.g., the southeast United States).” This threshold is the amount of money executive, administrative or professional employees need to make for an employer to exempt them from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In 2019, the Trump’s administration finalized a rule that expanded overtime pay eligibility to most salaried workers earning less than about $35,568, which it said made about 1.3 million more workers eligible for overtime pay. The Trump-era threshold is high enough to cover most line workers in lower-cost regions, Project 2025 said.

The Biden administration raised that threshold to $43,888 beginning July 1, and that will rise to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. That would grant overtime eligibility to about 4 million workers, the Labor Department said.

It’s unclear how many workers Project 2025’s proposal to return to the Trump-era overtime threshold in some parts of the country would affect, but experts said some would presumably lose the right to overtime wages.

Other overtime proposals in Project 2025’s plan include allowing some workers to choose to accumulate paid time off instead of overtime pay, or to work more hours in one week and fewer in the next, rather than receive overtime.

Trump’s past with overtime pay is complicated. In 2016, the Obama administration said it would raise the overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,476 a year, about double the exemption level set in 2004 of $23,660 a year.

But when a judge blocked the Obama rule, the Trump administration didn’t challenge the court ruling. Instead it set its own overtime threshold, which raised the amount, but by less than Obama.

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Awesome work!

gave paper on time, but needs more relevance to the topic

The writer follow direction. I was very happy with the result

WritingExcellent job

He’s very professional, the paper have a lot detailed on it. He is the best highly ...

QuestionsFollowed instructions and did great work, only thing I had an issue with was cutting it close to ...

I am very happy about the paper. Thank you so much.

Write my paper of any type

• Editing and Proofreading
• Admission Essay
• Annotated Bibliography
• Article Review
• Book Review
• Business Plan
• Creative Writing
• Critical Review
• Critical Thinking
• Dissertation
• Literature Review
• Movie Review
• Presentation
• Reflective Writing
• Research Paper
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• Engineering
• Multiple Choice Questions
• Short Answer Questions
• Word Problems

How our wordsmiths do your essay

01. checking your requirements.

Your writer reviews your instructions before getting started. We encourage you to submit detailed and clear guidelines for the best possible outcome.

02. Adapting your style

When tackling your paper, our experts focus on tailoring the content to your specific requirements. We welcome any samples to better understand your needs and write your essay to exceed your expectations as much as possible.

03. Conducting research

Once your writer is familiar with your instructions, they diligently study your topic. Our pros conduct in-depth research using only credible and up-to-date sources.

04. Refining your order

While working on your paper, your writer will contact you through our encrypted one-on-one chat for clarifications. You can also reach out to your pro to request drafts, updates, and edits.

05. Checking for plagiarism

Before handing out your paper, we scan it for plagiarism to ensure a high level of uniqueness. If you still have doubts, you can ask your writer for a free plagiarism report.

06. Implementing your edits

When we write an essay for you, we want to make sure you're 100% happy with the final product. So, feel free to ask for revisions as many times as you want

Can you work on a tight deadline?

Can i directly connect with my writer, does your company have a refund policy, in what formatting style can you write an essay for me, free features offered by domyessay, why should i trust you to write my essay.

Students often turn to academic services for a variety of reasons. Essays are a staple in the academic journey, from high school to university. Despite their ubiquity, many students find them challenging and time-consuming. Have you ever wondered if you can "pay someone to write my essay?" You're not alone—we are here for that very reason.

Reaching out to professionals with a "write essay for me" request offers several advantages:

• ‍ Time-saving: Handing over complex, time-intensive assignments to expert writers frees up your schedule. This extra time can be spent on work, study, or simply taking a well-deserved break.
• ‍ Access to expertise: If you're struggling with the subject matter or how to articulate your thoughts on paper, a professional service connects you with experts who have the knowledge and skills to ace your assignment.
• ‍ High-quality results: Opting for a reputable service means you can expect on-time delivery, original content, and top-notch quality.

Simply request, "write my essay online" and ease your mind

If you’re up late, worrying about essays and deadlines, we know exactly what that’s like. Thinking, "can someone write my essay paper?" Whether it’s a simple book review or a complicated research paper, we’ve got you covered. If you're not sure which writer fits your needs, our 24/7 support team is here to help you pick the right one.

Once you get started with a writer, feel free to reach out directly to them. This keeps everyone on the same page and allows you to tweak things as your essay takes shape. If things aren’t looking as you need during the initial draft, don’t worry — we’re here to edit it until it meets your standards.

Plus, you get some nice freebies with every order. We check all papers for originality and include title and reference pages for free. Not to mention, you can request as many edits as you need. Just shoot us a quick message saying “write my essay paper” or fill out our easy form and we'll jump right in to help.

What can I expect when you help write my essay?

Here’s what you get with DoMyEssay:

• Direct essay crafting : From brainstorming sessions to the final polish, we handle every part of the essay-writing process.
• Thorough research : Need sources? We dig deep into academic databases, libraries, and credible websites to gather the most relevant info for your paper.
• Editing and proofreading : Our editors jump in to tweak and refine your essay, ensuring it flows smoothly and is free of pesky typos and grammar slips.
• Custom formatting : Whatever format you require — APA, MLA, Chicago — we’ve got you covered, ensuring each essay aligns with the customer's instructions.
• Free edits : Not quite right on the first go? No problem. Request as many edits as you need.
• Original content commitment : Searching for someone to "write my essay for me no plagiarism?" You're in the right place. We guarantee a high level of originality and run every paper through plagiarism and AI checks to ensure it’s authenticity.

With us, you’re not just getting an essay, you’re getting peace of mind and the freedom to focus on other things, knowing your assignment is in good hands.

How can I get the most out of my order?

Deciding to ask our team, "do my paper for me" is a fantastic first move towards nailing your assignment. But to make sure you're setting yourself up for the best possible results, there's a bit more you can do.

Kicking things off early is a great strategy. We can whip up quality papers in just 3 hours thanks to our urgent order option. However, giving us a bit more time means we can dive deeper into your request to ensure everything's just right. So, aim to get your order in sooner rather than later.

When filling out our order form, the more details, the better. You'll cover the basics like topic, page count, deadline, and citation style. But don't stop there – the more instructions and materials you provide, the closer we can get to matching your vision.

And remember, we're here to help every step of the way. Our customer service team is always on standby to assist you 24/7. Need a hand getting your order set up? Just drop them a message saying "please, write my essays" and they'll guide you through the process, ensuring it's smooth sailing from start to finish.

Let DoMyEssay handle your essays with professional care

We're ready to tackle that essay you've been stressing over. Whether you're thinking, “can someone write my essay?" or just need a bit of assistance to finish up your work, we're here for you.

Why choose DoMyEssay?

• On-the-go access : Manage everything from your phone. Just say, “help write my essay” and track your order or communicate with your writer as easily as scrolling through your feeds.
• Free extras included : Our services come packed with extras at no additional cost. This includes thorough checks for originality, proper formatting, and all the necessary pages — title, reference, and outline, all included in the price.
• Customer-focused approach : Concerned about the outcome? Don’t be. We offer edits and a money-back guarantee according to our Refund Policy.
• Direct writer contact : Have a last-minute request or need clarification? Message your writer directly for quick responses.
• Use it to learn : We encourage you to use our work as a study aid. It's a great way to get a deeper understanding of your topic or perfect your own writing skills.

Drop us a line saying, “please, write essay paper for me online” and we'll get started on your paper today.

Wait no more! Order now and relieve your academic burden

Why wait to make your academic life easier? Make your assignments a breeze with our essay writing service. Imagine submitting essays that stand out for their quality and coherence, all with minimal stress. Our team is dedicated to providing thorough research, clear writing, and precise formatting to meet your needs. This is your opportunity to improve your academic performance with the support of experts. So, if you're ready to up your game and make your academic life a little less overwhelming, let's kick things off. Your top-notch essay is just around the corner.

How do you ensure quality when you write my essay for me?

DoMyEssay has been in the game for years, guiding students through tricky assignments and helping them keep their academic journey on track. Just drop us a line saying, “do my essay,” and watch us work our magic on your paper, ensuring top-notch quality every time.

Wondering how we make sure your essays come out great every time? It's pretty simple, but super effective! Here’s the lowdown:

• ‍ We’re picky about our writers. Only the cream of the crop gets to work with us. They're not just smart; they’ve got the degrees, the language skills, and a whole bunch of writing experience.
• ‍ Tailor-made just for you. When you tell us what you need, we listen – really listen. Every essay is built from the ground up to fit what you're looking for, right down to matching your requirements.
• ‍ Checking it once, checking it twice. No essay leaves our hands without a thorough check-up. Grammar, style, originality? We've got it covered to make sure you're getting nothing but the best.

Discover your ideal essay writer online with us and sail smoothly to the result you deserve!

Can I be sure the essay writer online I choose is professional?

When you're at the point of thinking, "I need someone to write my essay online," it's crucial to know who's actually going to pen your paper. The quality of your essay and its outcome depend so much on your writer's chops. So, when you're on the hunt for a reliable service, the skill and professionalism of a writer should be at the top of your checklist. The good news is, with DoMyEssay, you're in safe hands!

We're all about pushing you towards success, which means we're super careful about who we bring into our team. Our writers? They're the best of the best:

• ‍ They're native English speakers , so the wording in your essay will be spot-on.
• ‍ They've got degrees up to their eyeballs - From Bachelor’s to Ph.D.s, you name it, in their specific fields.
• ‍ They're not newbies. With years of writing experience, they know how to tackle an academic paper.
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But that's not all. When you throw your "write my paper" request our way, you get to see who you're working with. We give you the lowdown on each writer, so you can pick the one that vibes with what you need.

What kind of essay can you help me with?

If you've been thinking "I need to have someone write my essay," you've landed in the perfect spot!

Our services include:

• Descriptive essays : Capturing the essence of any subject.
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• Persuasive essays : Arguing points persuasively.
• Argumentative essays : Debating issues with robust evidence.
• Compare and contrast essays : Juxtaposing two themes or ideas.
• Analytical essays : Offering deep insights into topics.
• Process essays : Outlining steps to accomplish a task.
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If the type of essay you need isn't listed, no worries — our experts are ready to address your essay writing challenge. Let DoMyEssay handle the stress of your assignments when all you can think is "I need someone to write my essay for me."

Can you do my essay on any subject?

Looking for a trusty sidekick to ease your academic life? DoMyEssay is at your service, offering an array of academic assistance, from writing and rewriting to proofreading and editing. Whether you need a paper built from the ground up or just a bit of help with a tricky section, we're here for you.

Our expertise doesn't stop with essays. We handle a variety of tasks across all sorts of subjects. So, if you're wondering, "who can write a paper for me?" you're in the right place. Our team is ready and able to take on whatever you throw at us!

And we're not just talking about a narrow field here. Our experts span a wide range of subjects, ensuring your bases are covered, no matter the topic:

• Literature;
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I need someone to write my essay for me

Ever asked yourself, "can someone write my essay?" Check out DoMyEssay. Between classes, studying, and trying to have a social life, the last thing you need is to stress over the cost of help when you have to write an essay. That’s why we offer flexible pricing — to make sure you can get expert help without stressing over your budget.

Here’s what we promise: every paper you get from us is crafted from scratch and tailored to your specific instructions. We're serious about crafting work that's not only highly unique but delivers high quality — because our reputation hinges on your satisfaction.

Trust us to take care of your essays while you live your best student life.