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AP World History: Modern

2023 AP World DBQ (Set 2): Muslim women challenging social norms, c. 1850–1950

The task (paraphrased)

Evaluate how much Muslim women in the Middle East challenged social norms from circa 1850 to 1950.

Exact wording and all 7 documents: official College Board PDF

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The 7 documents

  1. Aisha al-Taymuriyya, Egyptian poet and novelist, essay on girls' education, Al-Adab, 1889
  2. Zaynab Fawwaz, Lebanese writer, “Fair and Equal Treatment,” essay in an Egyptian newspaper, 1891
  3. Doria Shafik, Egyptian feminist, unpublished memoir (1960) describing a childhood event circa 1915
  4. “A Feminist Demonstration against British rule in Egypt,” Le Petit Journal cover, 1922
  5. Anonymous Turkish woman, interview on ballroom dancing, Resimli Ay, Istanbul, 1924
  6. Eastern Women's Congress, Tehran, resolution, 1932
  7. Zaynab al-Ghazali, leader of the Muslim Women's Association, memoir (1986) recalling the 1940s

To earn both document points, use at least 4 of these to support your argument - not just summarize them.

Contextualization ideas

  • Ottoman Tanzimat reforms and Egyptian modernization opened debates about education and the place of women.
  • European imperialism, including Britain's occupation of Egypt from 1882, tied questions of women's status to nationalism.

Describe one of these in 2-3 sentences and connect it to the prompt - a passing mention won't earn the point.

Evidence beyond the documents

  • Qasim Amin's The Liberation of Women (1899)
  • Huda Shaarawi's public unveiling (1923) and the Egyptian Feminist Union
  • Turkish women gaining the national vote under Atatürk (1934)
  • Reza Shah's 1936 unveiling decree in Iran

Pick one, explain it specifically, and use it to support your argument.

A sample defensible thesis

From 1850 to 1950 Muslim women in the Middle East challenged social norms to a significant extent, pressing for education, legal rights and a public political role, but most framed their demands within Islam and nationalism, and some activists defended religious tradition against Western-style reform.

Written by us as an example of the structure that earns the point (a claim plus a line of reasoning) - write your own.

Sourcing (HIPP) example

The 1922 Le Petit Journal cover was made by a French magazine for French readers, so its point of view may present Egyptian women's activism through a European lens - useful evidence of the protest, but filtered by an outside audience.

Do this for at least 2 documents to earn the sourcing point.

A route to the complexity point

Distinguish women-led change from state-imposed reform (Atatürk, Reza Shah), or compare secular feminists like Shaarawi with Islamist activists like al-Ghazali who challenged norms in different directions.

More AP World DBQs

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The 7-point DBQ rubric, explainedAP World History: Modern DBQ grader

The question and documents are published by the College Board. The task above is our paraphrase; the coaching notes are DBQGrader's own. DBQGrader is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.