<p>I got a 5 on the exam back in 2012, so hopefully this will be of some help.</p>
<p>I’d recommend structuring your comparative by first describing one of the societies in one paragraph, then doing the same for the other society. Then contrast them in another paragraph or two. Finally add a conclusion.</p>
<p>Keep your thesis short and to the point. I’d have an introductory sentence that set the historical context of the essay followed by a one or two sentence thesis statement.</p>
<p>If the prompt is “How did China and Japan react to Buddhism in ___ years?”, my first paragraph would be (note, I have no idea if the information is actually correct):
Both Japan and China saw a large migration of Buddhist missionaries during this century. Japan reacted positively, welcoming the Buddhists and encouraging them to join Japanese society with Zen Buddhism, while China persecuted them by massacring them, burning their temples and riding them from Chinese society.</p>
<p>2nd paragraph: The first sentence should be like a mini thesis that introduces this paragraph. “Japan saw its first migration of Buddhism in ____ BCE.” Then you’d describe how Japan reacted to Buddhism.</p>
<p>3rd-4th paragraphs: Do the same as the 2nd paragraph but for China. Start contrasting here. “Unlike Japan, China didn’t welcome the Buddhists” and comparing “Like Japan, China eventually was influenced by Buddhism in the following ways.” EXPLICITLY say how they are different/similar.</p>
<p>Last paragraph: conclusion.</p>
<p><em>**Include at least 5 ways the two societies were different/similar
*</em>*Include a sentence somewhere in the 3rd-4th questions about global context i.e. how the prompt relates to societies that are NOT China or Japan, like “China’s persecution of Buddhists caused them to travel to Vietnam, where they established a major religious and political presence as hierarchical monks that can be seen today in modern-day Vietnam.”</p>
<p>For the DBQ, I structured my essay around document groups. So if the prompt was “How did China respond to technology?” I would look for the documents that said China responded positively and group those together; then I’d look for the documents that said China responded negatively and group those together, and then I would do the same for the documents that said China was indifferent to new technology.Or I would look at how tech affected China politically, socially, and economically and group them by that.</p>
<p>Structure:
1st paragraph: intro sentence/thesis statement </p>
<p>2nd paragraph: first group. First sentence might be, “New technology caused the Chinese economy to enter a new era marked by efficiency and modernization.” Then I would go into describing the documents. Throw in a POV here like, “Document 2, from a member of the Communist Party, describes new mowing tools. The speaker says the tools are very useful and are the future for Chinese farmers, but this should be taken with a grain of salt as the dominant political party of the time was Mao Zedong’s Community Party, and as a member of said party, the speaker wouldn’t want to risk his life by defying the party.” End the paragraph with a concluding sentence that re-states your introductory sentence.</p>
<p>3rd paragraph: second group. Do the same thing you did in the 2nd paragraph, and this includes adding in a POV.</p>
<p>4th paragraph: third group. Repeat 2nd and 3rd paragraph, again adding in a POV.</p>
<p>Add as many paragraphs for the amount of groups you have.</p>
<p>Second-to-last paragraph: additional document</p>
<p>Last paragraph: conclusion.</p>
<p><em>**Have at least three POVs in your essay, just in case one might be wrong.
*</em>*Include a global context sentence in here as well.</p>
<p>I’d recommend structuring CCOTs by dividing the time period you’re given into three smaller time periods. So if the time period they gave you was 1750–1940, your first paragraph would be your intro/thesis sentence, then the second would be stating changes and continuities from 1750-1860 (I would talk about the American, Haitian, French Revolutions). The third paragraph would be from 1860-1900 (talk about Industrial Revolution, more revolutions) and the fourth would be from 1900–1940 (Henry Ford, WWI, Great Depression, etc.). </p>
<p>On review books: BUY 5 STEPS TO A 5! It’s a thin, but great, review book! It summarizes everything really well. Also get Princeton Review. These are the two I used.</p>