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How to Earn the Contextualization Point on the APUSH DBQ

1 point

Contextualization means describing a broader historical process connected to the prompt - either the lead-up before the time period, or how its themes continued beyond it. Both directions count fully.

Earns the point

The response describes events or processes BEFORE the prompt's time period (lead-up background).

OR the response describes events or processes AFTER or CONTINUING BEYOND the time period (how the topic's themes extended into a later era) - this counts fully, not as a lesser case.

Doesn't earn the point

It's merely a passing phrase or a single-word reference to the era.

It's a simple restatement of the prompt's own timeframe without describing an actual broader historical process.

Real example

Point missed

"In the decades following the Revolution, slavery shaped nearly every dimension of American life..."

This doesn't earn the point - "in the decades following the Revolution" is a passing reference to the timeframe, not a description of a broader historical process. Adding 2-3 sentences on how Revolutionary-era ideals of liberty conflicted with the continued expansion of slavery would earn it.

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Other rubric points

Thesis / Claim Evidence from Documents Evidence Beyond the Documents Sourcing / HIPP Complexity