2010 AP Free Response-DBQ

The 2010 DBQ was regarding Daylight Savings Time (DST) and the benefits (or lack of benefits) associated with it.

 The first paper I read did a great job of analyzing three sources and taking his arguments to the next level. He went beyond what was given to him by the documents and truly synthesized them into his essay to SUPPORT his argument rather than letting the sources BE his arguments. He took an opposing stance to DST which seemed more challenging to me, but made an extremely convincing argument.

The second response was good, but did not stand out. The author had good arguments for DST and used the sources appropriately. It was a standard response. The sources backed up the arguments, which were good, but not stellar. I thought had the student perhaps taken the arguments a step further and really gotten in to the essay it would have gotten a higher score. One aspect that I did not like was the structure. The essay was very formulaic, but did have am intriguing introduction.

The third response began poorly. Within the first few sentences the student had derailed from the question and somehow correlated DST with global warming and went on a paragraph or two rant about the effects of global warming and how we need to change. Finally around 2/3's of the way through the first page the student returned to the prompt. Overall however, the student simply restated what the sources had been saying rather than using original arguments and backing them up with sources. At one point there was not even an argument but rather a summary of all of the times DST had been changed. It was clear that the student was not sure how to write about this subject and misused the sources.

I think this would have been an essay where it would take me a little to get into it and figure out what I wanted to write. It probably would have been rather slow moving until about the second paragraph when I found a groove. Overall, I think this essay would have been challenging to really pull my own arguments and take them to the next level as in the first essay response I read.