DBQ's and Revenue

An assigned DBQ in AP Euro might just send this blog in a different direction.




For those who have yet to take an AP exam (or for those who have successfully repressed all AP-related memories), the AP Euro exam entails multiple choice questions, two essay questions, and a DBQ. DBQ, which stands for Document Based Questions, is a paper written based off a topic and twelve documents lifted from historical reports and letters. However easy this might sound, the process of writing a DBQ is widely considered excruciating and tedious by the students subjected to trial runs prior to the exam day.

So, when we were assigned an in-class DBQ yesterday, the announcement was met with a cry of disgust from the class (I imagine her previous classes had similar reactions). While I too expressed my opposition, it was more out of the boring, painfully time-crunched experience of writing it than the actual writing. However, as I listened to my fellow classmates and discussed the unfairness of it all with them, I learned that it was the writing part that was most dreaded. Kids absolutely loathed writing. I thought it might be because they thought they had no talent (which is a ridiculous personal assessment: there is a kernel of writing ability to be mined from every student), but after a little conversation, it was revealed they didn't know how to write.

This is the time when American education system survivors would be nodding sympathetically.

Writing has, over the years, been sifted out of the general curriculum. In spite of a standardized writing test administered to students in my state from third to eighth grade, we were never taught anything beyond the realm of infrequent writing prompts and halfhearted grammar lessons. As essential as grammar and vocabulary are to the writing process, these tools alone aren't necessarily enough to give students the writing capabilities required for their future careers. We are assigned the occasional essay and DBQ without any background knowledge in writing. This, of course, is a problem.

So why do I and a select few others have a better working knowledge of it than others? Because we're self-taught. We were the readers who, in their unending quest for more books to read (social interaction be damned), realized what it was all about: the patterns, the dialogue, the complex sentences and modifiers. After we took pen to paper ourselves, the rest was history. It was a privilege, of course: I understand that not everyone had the opportunity to read to excess when they were younger or had instead immersed themselves in another activity or suffered from a disorder that made reading exceedingly difficult. These students are the ones who dread DBQ's and essays the most, because they don't know what to do once they have the pencil in their hand.

That's where I, hopefully, make my grand entrance. Instead of a mere dumping ground for condescending soliloquies about writing, I hope to instead make it a little easier for those who struggle. Maybe you're a student hoping to fill in the gaps your teachers never thought to address. Maybe you think you have an untapped potential. Or maybe you're a writer in need of a little inspiration (Heaven knows we all need it).

This is a writing blog. And I intend to make writing enjoyable for everyone.

Until next time, I'll leave you with a tip: If you have an iPhone, use that Notes app. It's one of the few built-in apps that actually serves a useful purpose. If something catches your eye or if you're hit with an idea, type it in. Later, try to write a paragraph or two about it. Even if you think it sounds awful, try it out. You'll never improve if you don't practice. My shelf full of full notebooks can attest to that.