A document has been placed in front of you. In order to
properly weigh it as evidence to answer a larger historical
question, you must follow certain steps...
before reading/examining
What kind of document is it? (political cartoon, testimony,
letter, etc...)
q Who said/drew/wrote this document?
q When and where was it composed?
q What was the intended audience? Who was being ìaimedî at?
q Could there be any bias in this document?
after reading/examining
What is being said or described? (note the topic and basic
ideas)
q What position/point is being made? (this is your
interpretation of the document.)**
q What conclusions can you draw? Do you agree or
disagree? Do you think itís a valid position or not? How
does it answer the question and support/oppose your
argument? (jot down these conclusions - keep in mind what
outside references you are using to assist you.)
**Please note: It is your interpretation of documents that is
needed to answer a document-based question. AP exam
readers will not want to see how you describe what you
read/see nor will they wish you to merely restate or quote
what you read. They are only looking for you to apply your
interpretation of documents to your arguments.