How to WRITE a THESIS for a DBQ & LEQ [AP World, APUSH, AP Euro]

Well, hey there and welcome back to Heimler's history. In this video,

I'm gonna be teaching you how to write a banger thesis for your DBQs and LEQs.

So, if your brain gals need to be milked with an established line of reasoning,

then baby,

this is the video for you.

And just so, you know,

the following video is part of a whole course that I've released called the APSA

cram course.

And it goes into all the points for all the rubrics,

for all the writing that you'll have to do in AP US, AP Euro, and AP world.

So, if you want to check that out,

link the description below. And as somebody who reads

these and scores these on a national level,

I've packed every trick and every tip I know into that course to help you do.

(MUSIC)

Let's talk about your thesis.

Now,

arguably this is one of the most important things you're going to

do in the whole essay because if you have a good thesis,

it's almost guaranteed that you'll have a good essay.

I say almost because, you know, as I'm fond of saying,

"When you're actually writing this thing,

you're under pressure and when you're under pressure,

you are dumber than you think so."

Yeah, I mean,

technically you could still mess it up if you had a good thesis but not you, baby,

not you.

You are going to learn to write the most magnificent thesis in this fairyland.

And this works for the LEQ and for the DBQ.

Now, first of all,

let's look at what the rubric says about what an acceptable thesis is.

It says, "Responds to the prompt with a historically

defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning."

To earn this point,

the thesis must make a claim that responds to

the prompt rather than restating or rephrasing the prompt.

The thesis must consist of one or more sentences located

in one place, either in the introduction or the conclusion.

If you do all of that, then you will earn yourself one point on the rubric.

All right, as is our custom, let's break down all that language.

Basically, it boils down to this. Your thesis must be your argument in miniature.

It's only going to be one sentence or at most two, and the

most important thing to notice and they're basically doing everything they can to

throw you a bone here is that this is one or two sentences

and it must make a claim and it must be an argument.

It must be something that someone can agree with or disagree with.

They tell you right there.

Don't just restate the prompt.

Like,

do you remember back in fourth grade when you

were first learning how to write an essay,

and they told you just to start it by restating the question as a sentence.

Like if the question was, why did the raising of taxes cause the American revolution?

Then you would start your essay like this.

The raising of taxes caused the American revolution.

And your teacher would pat you on the head and say, "Well done! Remy. Gold star."

Well in AP World, if Remy does that,

then the person who reads his essay will take that gold star,

burn it, and then dance upon its ashes with exceeding delight because

you can't just restate the prompt and call it a thesis.

Your thesis is a response to the prompt.

And as such, it must make an argument. In a DBQ or LEQ,

you're more likely to see something like this.

"Evaluate the extent to which the raising of taxes caused the American revolution."

You know, it'd probably be more elegant than that, but you get the idea.

So, in this case,

if I decide to invoke my fourth-grade self and

say the raising of taxes caused the American revolution,

no point for you.

That is what the prompt is asking.

The prompt is asking out of all the potential causes for the revolution.

How much of a cause is the raising of taxes? So, if you just read the prompt

you can see that it's forcing you into an argument.

Either raising taxes was a significant cause

or it's an insignificant cause and something else was the main cause.

So, that's the first thing your thesis must make an argument. Second,

your thesis must be specific. I see a lot of folks missed the point here too.

Like, have you ever seen Haggis?

It

is like a Scottish delicacy in which ground sheep meat is crammed into

the sheep's stomach until it's about to burst and then it's cooked.

That's what your thesis needs to look like.

You want to pack that sentence so full of evidence that it's about to burst.

Like actually name the evidence that you're going to use in your essence.

For example,

don't just say, "The raising of taxes was a significant cause

of the American revolution." Instead say, "The imposition of taxes like the

Stamp Act and the Sugar Act threatened the colonists' notion of

self-rule, and therefore was a significant cause of the American Revolution."

Specific. Be specific. Name your evidence in your thesis.

Now,

what I just gave you is still a little simplistic because you're

actually going to be using more than one piece of evidence.

So for that,

make sure you check the examples in the notes about what kind

of thesis will get the point and what kind will not.

Now,

the last thing I wanna mention is how you should structure your thesis,

and notice that the rubric doesn't confine you to a specific structure.

So, you know, do whatever you want.

But since the thesis is so important to the construction of your essay,

let me show you how I think you should do it.

The formula goes like this, "Despite

counterargument, because evidence one and evidence two,

my argument." Now notice this formula does three things.

It starts with a counterargument. Every issue in history has at least two sides.

And for your argument, you're going to present one side.

But here in the thesis,

you're going to acknowledge that there is another possible

reading of the evidence that could be argued,

but you're just not as convinced that this is the best reading of the evidence.

This isn't strictly necessary for you to earn the thesis point,

but it will set you up later to earn the complexity point,

so do your best to begin with a counterargument.

The second thing it does is it forces you to name your evidence,

which you will need to earn the point.

And the third thing it does is it forces you into

an argument which you also need to earn the point.

So, let me show you an example of how this might look in practice and

just for poops and giggles and I have already used an American history example,

let's use an example that could apply to both World history and Euro history.

The prompt from the 2019 AP World Exam was as follows,

"Evaluate the extent to which the Portuguese transformed maritime

trade in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century."

Now, here's the thesis that would earn the point.

"Although some understand the arrival of the Portuguese as a fundamental

change in Indian Ocean maritime trade in the 16th century,

there's my counterargument, because the Portuguese never

extended their political control beyond a few ports,

there's evidence,

number one and had to compete with Indian merchants

and regional states such as the Ottoman Empire,

there's evidence two,

their arrival made a modest change at best, and that is my argument."

Now, that is a complex haggis-like thesis that is about to burst.

It makes a counterargument.

It uses specific historical evidence and it establishes a

line of reasoning. And that ladies and gentlemen,

here's how you write a thesis.

All right, I hope that helped. Right here is the link to the essay course

if you're into that kind of thing.

If you were helped by this video and want me to keep making them,

then go ahead and subscribe and I shall oblige. Heimler out.