Chapter 3 -8.6.08-

I read the 3rd chapter -Cracking the Essay Questions-. In this chapter it talked about the writing part of the overall test. There are three different essays the test takers have to write, the document-based question (DBQ), the change-over-time, and comparative essay. It tells you that you need a analytical thesis for each essay, an it has examples of what yours should look like. But it also says that each thesis is different but follows the same basic format. The book tells what an 'acceptable' thesis is. Then the next part of the chapter shows different thesis's and how you build on to that, how you lead into the body of your essay while still keeping you theme of your thesis going. In this part it goes by 3 'steps', Give 'Em What They Want, Show 'Em Where you got it, and Help 'Em Get There. The Give 'Em What They Want part is about the specific criteria that the essay reader is looking for, then it tells you all the things you need to meet that criteria. Next the Show 'Em Where you got it part is about the history part of the essay, it must be based on historical fact opposed to your opinion. And the last part Help 'Em Get There is about the last sentence in your thesis, it can be as important as the first because it is the intro to the body of your essay. It states what you should have in each individual essay. The last thing is how long the essay should be and you should use good transitional words in it.