Successful Strategies forPre-AP Social Studies

Essay Writing

Successful Strategies:

Analyzing Primary Source Documents: SOAPS and APPARTS

Analyzing Primary Source Documents: Using the Critical Analysis Organizer

Argumentation and Contrasting Views: Yes, But…….

Analyzing Data: The Mini DBQ Categorization: Examining Culture Areas

and Empires - PERSIA

SOAPS

Provides students with a strategy that will allow them to practice and develop intellectual skills by which they will be able to make meaning from text that may at first appear difficult or irrelevant

Encourages the critical thinking that leads to writing whose purpose is to argue or evaluate.

SOAPS

Are there ways that you can integrate the following situations into the subject matter that you teach?

Primary Sources An article whose purpose and meaning

changes with context A topic presented from different points of

view The interpretation of two poems

SOAPS

What is the Subject?The subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

SOAPS

What is the Subject?The subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

SOAPS

Who is the Audience?The author writes for a certain audience. They audience may be one person, a small group or a large group, a certain person, or a certain people.

SOAPS

What is the Purpose?The purpose is the reason the text is written. In order to be able to examine the argument or the logic of the text, students must understand the purpose of the text.

SOAPS

Who is the Speaker?The speaker is the voice that tells the story. In a piece of fiction, the author may tell the story from any different points of view. Students need to understand the differences between the author and the speaker in a piece of fiction.

SOAPS

Subject The subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

Occasion The occasion is the time and place or the current situation that encourage a piece of writing to happen.

Audience The author writes for a certain audience. They audience may be one person, a small group or a large group, a certain person, or a certain people.

Purpose The purpose is the reason the text is written. In order to be able to examine the argument or the logic of the text, students must understand the purpose of the text.

Speaker The speaker is the voice that tells the story. In a piece of fiction, the author may tell the story from any different points of view. Students need to understand the differences between the author and the speaker in a piece of fiction.

APPARTS What does the source say? Who was the author and why did he or

she create this piece? When and where was the primary

source created? For whom was it created or performed?

APPARTS

AuthorPlace and TimePrior KnowledgeAudienceReasonThe Main IdeaSignificance

APPARTS

Author Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author’s point of view?

Place and Time Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?

Prior Knowledge Beyond information about the author and the context of its created, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?

Audience For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source?

Reason Why was this source produced at the time it was produced?

The Main Idea What point is the source trying to convey?

Significance Why is this source important? What inferences can you draw from this document? As yourself, “So what?” in relation to the question asked.

Critical Analysis Organizer

Title of Subject

What do you infer from the details?

What prior knowledge do

you bring?What are the

details?

What is your conclusion? Explain

Title of Subject

What do you infer from the details?

What prior knowledge do

you bring?What are the

details?

What is your conclusion? Explain

The good thinker:

Welcomes problematic situations and is tolerant of ambiguity

Looks for alternate possibilities; seeks evidence on both sides

Is reflective and deliberate Is open to multiple possibilities Revises goals when necessary

Looking at the Whole Picture - Developing the Big Question

The best questions center on issues: Compare/Contrast Illustrate similarities and differences Illustrate bias or point of view Describe change over time Discuss issues categorically: socially,

economically, politically Explain causes and effects of historic events Examine contending perspectives on an issue

Sample Big Questions: Describe the conditions in _________

that led to ___________. Discuss the effects of _____________

on ______________ . Evaluate the problems/difficulties

that led to __________. What were the consequences of

__________?

Sample Big Questions: Describe the conditions in _________

that led to ___________. Discuss the effects of _____________

on ______________ . Evaluate the problems/difficulties

that led to __________. What were the consequences of

__________?

PERSIA

Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Intellectual and Area/Geographic Connections

World Geography – Characteristics of Culture Areas

World History – Characteristics of Empires and Significant Eras

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Economic InfluencesSocial Influences

Intellectual Influences – The Arts Religious Influences

Political Influences Economic Influences Religious Influences

Governmental Structure, War, Treaties, Courts/Laws, Leaders, Popular Participation, Loyalty to Leader

State Control of Trade/Industry, Agriculture, Industry, Labor Systems, Levels of Technology, Levels of International Trade, Gender, Slavery, Money System

Importance on Societal Interaction, Holy Books, Beliefs/Teachings, Conversion, Role of Missionaries, Sin/Salvation, Deities

Social Influences Intellectual Influences Area/Geographic Influences

Family Order, Patriarchal, Matriarchal, Gender Relations, Role of Women and Children, Social Classes, Slavery, Entertainment, Lifestyles

Art, Music, Writing, Literature, Philosophy, Math, Science, Education, Inventions, Technology

Location, Physical Geography, Human Geography, Movement, Spatial Diffusion, Urbanization, Globalization

PERSIA