UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION

• BEFORE YOU CAN WRITE ANYTHING, YOU MUST BE CLEAR ON WHAT THE PROMPT
OR QUESTION IS ASKING YOU TO DO.
• THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF QUESTIONS:
• TO WHAT EXTENT… (WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE TOPIC? HOW MUCH… IS IT
SIMILAR TO THE BEFORE? … IS IT DIFFERENT FROM BEFORE?)
• TO WHAT EXTENT DID THE FRENCH REVOLUTION CHANGE THE MAKE UP OF FRENCH
SOCIETY?
• COMPARE AND CONTRAST…. (WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE TOPIC? HOW ARE THE
TOPICS SIMILAR? HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?)
• COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE USE OF RELIGION AS A MOTIVATION FOR VIOLENCE DURING
THE CRUSADES AND MODERN DAY TERRORISM.
UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION
• EXPLAIN AND ANALYZE… (WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS TOPIC? WHAT WAS
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART?)
• EXPLAIN AND ANALYZE THE CAUSE OF AMERICAN ENTRY INTO WWII.
• EVALUATE THE LASTING IMPACT… (WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS TOPIC?
WHAT EFFECT DID THIS TOPIC HAVE? HOW DID THIS TOPIC CHANGE OVER
TIME?)
• EVALUATE THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE AMERICAN WEST ON THE “AMERICAN
DREAM.”
PLAN YOUR RESPONSE
• BEFORE WRITING YOU SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE QUESTION
IS ASKING YOU TO DO AND PLAN HOW YOU ARE GOING TO RESPOND.
• PLANNING INCLUDES THREE PARTS:
1. LIST ITEMS YOU SHOULD IDENTIFY IN YOUR ANSWER.
a. WHAT DID THE QUESTION ASK YOU TO DO?
b. HOW MANY PARAGRAPHS WILL BE NEEDED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?
2. LIST FACTS AND EXAMPLES TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER.
a. THIS LIST SHOULD INCLUDE FACTUAL EVIDENCE AS WELL AS QUOTES FROM THE PASSAGES IF
PASSAGES OR DOCUMENTS WERE PROVIDED.
3. PLAN YOUR RESPONSE IN OUTLINE FORMAT TO HELP YOU ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS AND
MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LEAVE OUT ANY INFORMATION.
PLAN YOUR RESPONSE
CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
• CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
QUESTIONS ARE SHORTER AND MAY
ONLY HAVE ONE OR TWO
DOCUMENTS.
• THIS RESPONSE IS USUALLY
LIMITED TO ONE TO TWO
PARAGRAPHS.
ESSAY
• ESSAY QUESTIONS ARE LONGER
AND INVOLVE THREE OR MORE
DOCUMENTS.
• THIS RESPONSE IS ALWAYS THREE
OR MORE PARAGRAPHS.
OUTLINE FORMAT
I. INTRODUCTION
a. THESIS: ___________________________ YOU MAY HAVE
II. BODY PARAGRAPH – (INSERT TOPIC ONE HERE) MORE THAN ONE
a. HOOK SENTENCE BODY PARAGRAPH
b. EVIDENCE ONE – __________________________ DEPENDING ON
c. EVIDENCE TWO – __________________________ WHAT THE
QUESTION IS
d. EVIDENCE THREE – __________________________ ASKING YOU TO
III. CONCLUSION DO.
a. RESTATE THESIS: __________________________
A.C.E.S. + C
AFTER YOUR PLAN YOUR ESSAY YOU SHOULD WRITE YOUR ESSAY USING THE
FOLLOWING FORMAT – A.C.E.S. +C
1. A NSWER THE QUESTION
2. C ITE EVIDENCE/EXAMPLES TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER
3. E XPLAIN YOUR EVIDENCE/EXAMPLES.
4. S UMMARIZE YOUR ARGUMENT
5. C ONVENTIONS (SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR)
STEP ONE
ANSWER THE QUESTION
• YOUR RESPONSE SHOULD RESTATE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION. THE
ANSWER CREATES A CLEAR AND CONVINCING ARGUMENT. YOUR ANSWER
WILL BECOME YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.
• EXAMPLE: EVALUATE THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO
POPULATION ON NATIVE AMERICANS.
• REWRITTEN STATEMENT: THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
BUFFALO POPULATION ON NATIVE AMERICANS WAS NEGATIVE BECAUSE THE
NATIVE AMERICANS DEPENDED ON THE BUFFALO FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE.
CITE YOUR EVIDENCE
• YOU SHOULD USE FACTS THAT YOU PREVIOUSLY KNOW, EXAMPLE: THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE
FACTS FROM THE PASSAGE, OR QUOTES FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO POPULATION
PASSAGE TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER OR THESIS
ON NATIVE AMERICANS WAS NEGATIVE
STATEMENT.
BECAUSE THE NATIVE AMERICANS
• FOR A CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE YOU SHOULD USE
DEPENDED ON THE BUFFALO FOR THEIR WAY
THREE PIECES OF EVIDENCE.
• FOR AN ESSAY YOU SHOULD USE THREE PIECES OF OF LIFE. WHEN THE TRANSCONTINENTAL
EVIDENCE PER PARAGRAPH. RAILROAD WAS BUILT WHITE SETTLERS
• YOU SHOULD ALSO PROVIDE CONTEXTUAL EVIDENCE
USING THE RAILROAD WOULD SHOOT THE
THAT EXPLAINS THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE BUFFALO FOR FUN. THE NATIVE AMERICANS
EVIDENCE AND THE CONTEXT OF THE QUESTION. USED THE BUFFALO FOR FOOD, CLOTHING,
• I.E. IF THE QUESTION ASKS ABOUT THE AGE OF AND TOOLS. SOME NATIVE AMERICAN
ENLIGHTENMENT YOU MAY MENTION THE AGE OF TRIBES WERE NOMADIC AND FOLLOWED THE
EXPLORATION TO PROVIDE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN
THE EVIDENCE AND OTHER RELATED EVENTS DURING
BUFFALO.
THE TIME PERIOD.
EXPLAIN THE ANSWER/EVIDENCE
• AFTER YOU CITE YOUR EVIDENCE, YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHAT THAT EVIDENCE
YOU USED MEANS FOR THE READER.
• THE EXPLANATION SHOULD OFFER AN EVALUATION OF THE EVIDENCE THAT CONSIDERS
OBJECTIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE EVIDENCE.
• EXAMPLE: THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO POPULATION ON NATIVE
AMERICANS WAS NEGATIVE BECAUSE THE NATIVE AMERICANS DEPENDED ON THE BUFFALO FOR
THEIR WAY OF LIFE. WHEN THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WAS BUILT WHITE SETTLERS
USING THE RAILROAD WOULD SHOOT THE BUFFALO FOR FUN. THE NATIVE AMERICANS USED THE
BUFFALO FOR FOOD, CLOTHING, AND TOOLS. SOME NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES WERE NOMADIC
AND FOLLOWED THE BUFFALO. WHEN THE BUFFALO WERE KILLED BY THE WHITE SETTLERS THAT
DECREASED THE NUMBER OF BUFFALO AVAILABLE FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS TO USE IN ORDER
TO LIVE.
EXPLAIN THE ANSWER/EVIDENCE

• BELOW ARE SOME SENTENCE STEMS YOU CAN USE TO EXPLAIN YOUR
ANSWER/EVIDENCE.

• THE EVIDENCE EXPLAINS THAT…

• THIS EVIDENCE MEANS…
• FROM THIS EVIDENCE IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT…
SUMMARIZE YOUR ARGUMENT
• ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED WRITING YOU SHOULD SUMMARIZE YOUR ARGUMENT TO CLOSE OUT
YOUR ANSWER.
• YOUR SUMMARY SHOULD RESTATE YOUR ARGUMENT AND PROVIDE COMMENTARY THAT INTERPRETS
EVIDENCE AND CONNECTS TO THE ARGUMENT.
• EXAMPLE: THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO POPULATION ON NATIVE
AMERICANS WAS NEGATIVE BECAUSE THE NATIVE AMERICANS DEPENDED ON THE BUFFALO FOR THEIR
WAY OF LIFE. WHEN THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WAS BUILT WHITE SETTLERS USING THE
RAILROAD WOULD SHOOT THE BUFFALO FOR FUN. THE NATIVE AMERICANS USED THE BUFFALO FOR FOOD,
CLOTHING, AND TOOLS. SOME NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES WERE NOMADIC AND FOLLOWED THE BUFFALO.
WHEN THE BUFFALO WERE KILLED BY THE WHITE SETTLERS THAT DECREASED THE NUMBER OF BUFFALO
AVAILABLE FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS TO USE IN ORDER TO LIVE. IN CONCLUSION, THE LASTING
IMPACT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO POPULATION ON NATIVE AMERICANS WAS NEGATIVE
BECAUSE THE NATIVE AMERICANS DEPENDED ON THEM FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE.
CONVENTIONS

• WRITING CONVENTIONS ARE THINGS SUCH AS SPELLING, PUNCTUATION,

CAPITALIZATION, AND GRAMMAR THAT HELP MAKE A STUDENT'S ESSAY CLEAR
AND UNDERSTANDABLE.
• CONVENTIONS ALSO INCLUDE CITATIONS.
• WHEN YOU FINISH WRITING YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHECK YOUR WRITING
FOR PROPER CONVENTIONS (SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, CAPITALIZATION, AND
GRAMMAR) TO BE SURE THAT IT IS EASY TO READ AND CLEAR.
 Criteria 1 2
The question is not restated.
Answer the Question There is no answer or the answer
has nothing to do with the question.
There is no context to support a
deeper historical understanding of
the topic.
Cite Evidence
There is no evidence to support the
answer.
No attempts to explain how the
Explain evidence answers the question have
been made.
No attempts to summarize the
Summarize information have been made.
Many grammatical errors exist.
Conventions
Citations are missing for evidence.
There is an attempt to restate or
the question is restated partially,
but it’s not clear.
The answer is partially correct,
incomplete, or student does not
formulate a clear argument.
There is limited contextual
information that does little to make
connections between the argument
and the context.
Only piece of good evidence is
provided or multiple pieces of
evidence are provided but to not
support the answer in each
paragraph.
The attempts to explain how the
evidence answers the question are
unclear or insufficient.
The explanation offers a simplistic
evaluation of the evidence.
The summary is unclear or
insufficient.
The summary does not provide
commentary about connections
between evidence or offers general
commentary.
No more than 5 errors exist in
grammar, syntax or punctuation.
There are no more than two
citations missing.
3 4
The question is clearly restated. The question is clearly restated.
The question is answered fully and The question is answered correctly
correctly, showing that the writer and with sophistication and deep
has attempted to formulate a clear understanding. Argument is clear
argument. and convincing.
Two or more pieces of evidence are
Two or more pieces of insightful
provided, are relevant to the
evidence are provided and exceed a
question and support the answer in
basic level of support in each
each paragraph.
paragraph.
There is simplistic or generalized
There is significant contextual
statements about the context of the
information that explains the
research question and few
connections between the research
connections between the argument
question and the larger context.
and the context.
The explanation of the evidence is
The explanation of the evidence is
insightful and sophisticated.
clear and sufficient.
The explanation offers an
The explanation offers an
evaluation of the evidence that
evaluation of the evidence that is
considers objections, limitations,
partially supported by the evidence.
and implications.
The summary is clear and sufficient. The summary is clear and insightful.
The summary provides limited The summary provides commentary
commentary about connections that interprets evidence and
between evidence. connects it to the argument.
There are no more than 2 errors in
spelling, grammar, punctuation and
No grammatical errors exist.
capitalization.
No citations are missing.
There is no more than one citation
HISTORICAL WRITERS…
• HISTORICAL WRITERS… DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS.
• DO NOT: CAN’T, WON’T, DON’T, THEY’RE, YOU’RE, WE’RE…
• DO: CAN NOT, WILL NOT, DO NOT.
• HISTORICAL WRITERS… ARE SPECIFIC.
• DO NOT: THING, THAT, VERY, REALLY…
• DO: EXTREMELY, EVENT, IDEA, REPEATEDLY.
• HISTORICAL WRITERS… DON’T USE PASSIVE VOICE.
• DO NOT: “PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WAS APPROVED TO GET OUT OF HIS WHEEL CHAIR.”
• DO: “DOCTOR’S APPROVED PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO GET OUT OF HIS WHEEL CHAIR.”
HISTORICAL WRITERS…
• HISTORICAL WRITERS… WRITE ABOUT HISTORY IN THE PAST TENSE.
• DO NOT: “GEORGE WASHINGTON WILL CROSS THE DELAWARE RIVER.”
• DO: “GEORGE WASHINGTON CROSSED THE DELAWARE RIVER.”

• HISTORICAL WRITERS… DO NOT USE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

• DO NOT: “I AM GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT THIS PAPER IS ABOUT…”
• DO: “THE FEDERALISTS AND THE ANTI-FEDERALISTS…”

• HISTORICAL WRITERS… DO NOT START SENTENCES WITH “AND”, “BUT”, “SO”, OR

“BECAUSE.”
• DO NOT: “BUT THE EGYPTIANS…”
• DO “IN ADDITION, THE EGYPTIANS…”