The “Sparked Debates” Strategy
A Sure-Fire Way to Earn the Thesis Point When Confronted with a DBQ/LEQ Prompt Containing the Words “United States Society”
In most years, the APUSH exam, including the 2024 exam, calls on students to respond to various DBQ and LEQ prompts that include the words “United States society.” Over the years, I’ve learned that one effective way for students to tackle these prompts and secure the thesis point is the “Sparking Debates” strategy. This approach encourages students to incorporate the phrase “sparked a debate” into their thesis.
Example #1: The 2024 Released DBQ (Set-1)
The prompt asked students to “Evaluate the extent to which the institution of slavery shaped United States society between 1783 and 1840.” A thesis employing the “sparking a debate strategy” is likely to read as follows:
In the period from 1783 to 1840, the institution of slavery sparked debates in United States society over economic dependence on slave labor, moral and ethical considerations, and states’ rights.
Example #2: The 2024 Released DBQ (Set-2)
The prompt asked students to “Evaluate the extent to which beliefs about threats to the United States shaped society from 1917 to 1945.” A thesis employing the “sparking a debate strategy” is likely to read as follows:
In the period from 1917 to 1945, beliefs about threats to the United States sparked debates in United States society over national security, civil liberties, and the role of government.
Example #3: The 2024 Released LEQ (Set-2)
The prompt asked students to “Evaluate the extent to which migration influenced United States society from 1932 to 2000.” A thesis employing the “sparking a debate strategy” is likely to read as follows:
In the period from 1932 to 2000, migration sparked debates in United States society over cultural assimilation, economic impact, and social services.
Sidenote #1
To help my students prepare for these kinds of prompts, I’ve produced the document “The Thirty-Five Great Debates in American History (1492–2015),” which you can find here.
Warning: It’s a long read—about an hour—so it’s probably best suited for more serious students.
For those looking for a concise version, I suggest either:
- Plugging and pasting the entire document into ChatGPT and asking it to simplify the content.
- Prompting ChatGPT to “make a table that summarizes debates #1–10 found in Peter Paccone’s blog post: The Thirty-Five Great Debates in American History (1492–2015).”
Note: To create a table like the one appearing above, the student will need ChatGPT 4 and to copy and paste Debates 1–10 into it.
Sidenote #2
The “sparking a debate” strategy could be put to use with prompts that imply the word “society,” as two other LEQ prompts in Set 2 did this year:
- Evaluate the extent to which migration influenced the western United States (society) from 1820 to 1898.
- Evaluate the extent to which settler expansion influenced North America (society) from 1754 to 1800.
