--- title: "AP African American Studies DBQ Practice" description: "42 Document-Based Questions written in the AP format, each scored part by part." canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/frqs/dbq" type: "frq-type-practice" subject: "AP African American Studies" --- # AP African American Studies DBQ Practice ## What the DBQ asks The Document-Based Question is the essay in Section II of the AP African American Studies exam. You get five sources, such as speeches, letters, photographs, or artwork, and write an argument that uses them and your own knowledge. - **45 min**: to read the sources and write - **7 points**: across rows A to D - **12%**: of your exam score | Part | What it asks | Points | | --- | --- | --- | | A: Thesis | A defensible claim that sets up a line of reasoning | 1 | | B: Contextualization | A broader historical or disciplinary context for the prompt | 1 | | C: Evidence | Three sources used to support the argument, plus one example beyond them | 3 | | D: Analysis and reasoning | Why two sources’ perspective or purpose matters, and reasoning that frames the argument | 2 | ## How DBQ practice works 1. **Read the prompt and sources.** The prompt and all five sources, laid out the way the exam shows them. 2. **Write on a 45-minute timer.** The time to plan for on exam day. Pause it or turn it off, and your response saves as you go. 3. **Submit for a score out of 7.** Your response is scored against the scoring guidelines written for that question. Your first score is included. ## All 42 questions ### Unit 1: Origins of the African Diaspora (1) - [Develop an argument that compares social and political organization in African societies during the period circa 1250–1550.](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=96659923-c272-4e13-985e-162629e00157&type=document-based-question-dbq) ### Unit 2: Freedom, Enslavement and Resistance (4) - [Enslaved and free African experiences shaping Atlantic freedom discourse](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=36b70474-0c0f-4591-867f-93538fbc3fce&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [African American cultural identity and social consciousness redefinition](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=4353c02a-e4f5-42bf-a735-7c70b21e4f9f&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [Revolutionary ideologies and legal frameworks, African American status](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=800d55c2-9536-4314-a768-7930ac094c49&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [African American legal and social status transformation efforts](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=fc043301-0aea-4363-9bb5-1d9325e1c933&type=document-based-question-dbq) ### Unit 3: The Practice of Freedom (4) - [Legal, economic, and social status transformations post-slavery](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=01deb2ee-49a7-48af-924b-4ce538675056&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [African American intellectual and activist strategies against racial inequality](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=07e0b043-8ba5-4db7-b78c-545c6545be10&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [African American resistance, institutional barriers, social advancement pathways](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=27a582ad-1a58-41cf-a88d-440035d4e2eb&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [African American resistance and self-expression strategies, 1831-1895](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=cecf2707-45f5-497f-9e87-6842054b8faa&type=document-based-question-dbq) ### Unit 4: Movements and Debates (2) - [African American strategies for equality, 1924-1964](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=253f3da1-c862-4752-a738-046d06a6e269&type=document-based-question-dbq) - [Transnational movements and ideologies for racial equality](/ap-african-american-studies/frq-practice?id=fb47cb89-bc4f-4e5a-8301-26589e1962f8&type=document-based-question-dbq) ## Sample question **African American cultural production, identity, institutional development** Evaluate the extent to which African American cultural production during the Harlem Renaissance era (1915-1940) served as a foundation for both immediate community identity formation and long-term institutional development in African American Studies and political consciousness through the 1970s. Task Instructions: - Respond to the prompt with a defensible thesis or claim that establishes a line of reasoning. - Describe a broader historical or disciplinary context relevant to the topic of the prompt. - Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least three of the sources. - Use at least one additional piece of specific evidence (beyond that found in the sources) relevant to your argument. - For at least two sources, explain how or why the perspective, purpose, context, and/or audience for each source is relevant to your argument. - Reference or cite the sources you use in your argument. You can reference or cite the source letter, title, or author. DBQ Documents: Document Number: 1 Title: Mary Schmidt Campbell on the Harlem Renaissance Author: Mary Schmidt Campbell Date: 1987 Source: Mary Schmidt Campbell, author, published in Renaissance Art of Black America, 1987 Content: Driven by the charismatic zeal of Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican who had migrated to New York, the Harlem-based UNIA [Universal Negro Improvement Association] captured the grass-roots sensibility of the New Negro [and]…the fervent belief in the beauty and nobility of an African homeland, and the deep cultural cleft between Black and White America. If Garvey's movement was evidence of a breach between the races in the promised land of the North, art was the hope for a reconciliation. For intellectuals like [Alain] Locke and W.E.B. Du Bois…art could bridge the gap between the Black and the White worlds if only the Black artist was allowed the opportunity to hone his talents. Given his rich folk background, his African heritage, and his ethnic pride, the Black artist had an aesthetic and a message to impart. Art, the essence of the civilized man, would be final proof that the New Negro not only had something positive to contribute to American life but had, indeed, ascended to new cultural heights. Harlem, the center of the New Negro Movement and the capital of Black America during the 1920s, was naturally the center of the artistic movement as well. Format: text Document 2: Document Number: 2 Date: 1938 Source: Les Fétiches by Loïs Mailou Jones, 1938 Format: image Image: https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/b87c87ed-f47d-497e-a2a7-bdb41940ecfa/66bfdc15bcf7648dce13cf2b_142.jpg Document 3: Document Number: 3 Date: 1940 Source: Katherine Dunham, Cabin in the Sky, 1940 Format: image Image: https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/96726647-b4fe-48e4-9b3f-29fd1b1957d8/66bfdc1433b1179c1402f460_131.png Document 4: Document Number: 4 Date: 19195 Source: Miss Suzie Porter, "Harlem," 1915 Format: image Image: https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/89636086-d226-4070-989f-8701f37502c0/66bfdc14ab1539cf97fe628f_124.jpg Document 5: Document Number: 5 Date: 1975 Source: Program for the First National Council for Black Studies Annual Conference, 1975 Format: image Image: https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/caeaa07b-6e1c-45b3-ae64-6dca9e1deb22/66bf8a9b5fbe0c3a2c912f4f_3.jpg Image URLs (4): - https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/b87c87ed-f47d-497e-a2a7-bdb41940ecfa/66bfdc15bcf7648dce13cf2b_142.jpg - https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/96726647-b4fe-48e4-9b3f-29fd1b1957d8/66bfdc1433b1179c1402f460_131.png - https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/89636086-d226-4070-989f-8701f37502c0/66bfdc14ab1539cf97fe628f_124.jpg - https://kcbwzropdukwhmmvdylp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/frq/stimuli/caeaa07b-6e1c-45b3-ae64-6dca9e1deb22/66bf8a9b5fbe0c3a2c912f4f_3.jpg ## Questions **How many responses can I get scored?** You can read every question without a plan. Your first scored response is included. A plan unlocks unlimited scoring. **How many sources do I need to use?** Three of the five, used to support your argument and cited by letter, title, or author. Explaining the perspective, purpose, context, or audience of two of them earns a separate point. **How is this DBQ different from the history DBQs?** It has five sources instead of seven, and using three of them as support earns full document credit. The exam gives it 45 minutes instead of 60. **Are these real College Board questions?** No. We wrote them in the AP format, with five sources each, and wrote scoring guidelines for each one. **Can I write my answer by hand?** Yes. The exam is typed, so typing is the closest practice. You can also switch the editor to handwrite, write on paper, and add a photo of your page. ## Related - [DBQ exam guide](/ap-african-american-studies/ap-african-american-studies-exam/ap-african-american-studies-dbq/study-guide/ap-african-american-studies-dbq) - [AP African American Studies No-Source SAQ practice](/ap-african-american-studies/frqs/no-source-saq) - [AP African American Studies FRQs](/ap-african-american-studies/frqs) - Any question by id: the `get_frq` tool on the [Fiveable MCP server](/mcp/docs) ## About This Document Canonical Fiveable pages are available as Markdown at the same path plus `.md`. - [llms.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms.txt): index of Fiveable's sections and URL patterns - [llms-full.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms-full.txt): complete subject and unit listing - [MCP server](https://fiveable.me/mcp): call Fiveable as tools instead of fetching pages (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp`) - [MCP server for AP teachers](https://fiveable.me/mcp/teachers): a teacher's classes, assignments and AP-rubric grading (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp/teacher`)