A BEGINNING STUDENT'S GUIDE TO WRITING

THE PLAGUE DBQ

THE QUESTION:

Analyze the various responses to the outbreak of plague from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Discuss the beliefs and concerns that these responses express.

THE TASKS REQUIRED:

The question requires that you address the boldfaced items above. You must address all three items.

Additionally, you must take into account both the sources of the documents and the authors' points of view.

THE PROCEDURE:

The first thing you must do is craft an accurate thesis statement which addresses the question and breaks your answer into categories. For the purpose of this essay YOU WILL USE THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

FEAR SUPERSTITION (ie. Religion) EXPLOITATION

Begin by going through the documents and mark each document as to which category it belongs. (Fear, Superstition, Exploitation)

The first paragraph of the body will analyze beliefs and concerns about the FEAR caused by the plague. The paragraph will begin with a general statement about how the plague caused fear which can be supported from the documents. This statement should show the commonality of all the fear related documents.

Next will come a statement which denotes a belief and/or concern about fear as demonstrated by a particular group of individuals (rich, poor, educated, etc.). You will indicate who this group is by stating something to the effect "the concerns of the rich regarding the plague are best demonstrated by __________ who declared (you may substitute for declared a verb of your choice) that___________________. If you are clever, you might find two or three individuals who think or respond in the same manner and mention them together.

If most people in a particular category react the same, and one individual reacts differently, you should indicate this by stating "while most of the aristocracy (rich) believed _______, some, such as _________ , held an opposite 'point of view'" when he declared _______.

After finishing the first paragraph you will repeat the same format substituting Superstition in the second paragraph and Exploitation in the third.

This essay also contains a change over time. For the purpose of this essay only you will write a fourth body paragraph in which you will indicate what change occurred.

"During the course of the plague common beliefs and/or concerns underwent a dramatic change. During the early years of the plague outbreak the prevelent belief was _________.

This can be seen in the commnets of ___________ a ___________ who stated. As time went on beliefs changed from _________ to ______________ as can be seen in the writings of ____________ a ________________ who declared ________________.