LEQ Tips

Thesis/Claim - Make a historically defensible thesis or claim that establishes a clear line of reasoning and connects to the prompt. The essay makes a specific and historically defensible claim that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning. The thesis must consist of one or more sentences, located in the introduction or conclusion.

Contextualization - Describe the broader historical context relevant to the prompt. The essay describes a broader historical context relevant to the prompt. This must relate the topic of the prompt to broader historical events, developments, or processes that occur before, during, or continue after the time frame of the prompt. This requires more than merely a phrase or reference.

Evidence - Use historical evidence that is specific and relevant to both the argument and the prompt. The essay cites at least two pieces of specific and appropriate examples of evidence to support its claim, and supports an argument relevant to the prompt.

Analysis and Historical Reasoning - The essay successfully uses the correct historical reasoning (such as causation ,comparison, or CCOT) to frame or structure and develop an argument that is relevant to the prompt.

Analysis and Complexity - Demonstrate a complex understanding of the historical event or process that is the focus of the prompt by using advanced argumentation and/or effective use of evidence. Complexity can be demonstrated in a number of ways: Explaining nuance of an issue by analyzing multiple themes or perspectives. Explaining both similarity and difference, or change and continuity, or cause and effect, or explaining multiple similarities and differences, or changes and continuities, or causes and effects. Explaining relevant and insightful connections within and across periods or geographic areas that relate directly to an argument that responds to the prompt. Effectively explaining how at least four specific and relevant pieces of evidence support a complex argument in response to the prompt, or effectively using evidence to demonstrate an advanced understanding of different perspectives related to the prompt. This understanding must be part of the argument, not merely a phrase or reference.