Apply the method for the Part II CRQ sets: answer the historical context, sourcing, and identify-and-explain questions for Cause-and-Effect, Turning Point, and Similarity and Difference sets (Social Studies Practices A, B, C).

What this topic is asking

Part II of the Global II exam is the Constructed Response Question (CRQ): two sets, each built on two documents, with a short series of scaffolded questions. This page teaches the method that earns every point. The CRQs test Social Studies Practices A (evidence and sourcing), B (causation and turning points), and C (comparison). Knowing the fixed structure is half the battle.

The fixed structure of a CRQ set

Question 1: historical context

The first question asks you to explain the circumstances that led to the development in the document. The key is to give the background or cause, using your own knowledge, not just to summarize the document. For a document about crowded factory towns, the context is that the Industrial Revolution built factories in towns and workers moved off farms, so cities grew faster than housing.

Question 2: sourcing

The sourcing question asks about the source itself: its purpose (to inform, persuade, record), its intended audience, or the author's point of view. A complete answer names one of these and explains how it shapes the document. A government poster made to rally support, for example, will present a one-sided, persuasive view.

Questions 3a and 3b: identify and explain

The set type tells you what to identify and explain:

• Cause-and-Effect set. 3a: identify a cause or effect. 3b: explain how the cause led to the development, or how the development led to the effect.
• Turning Point set. 3a: identify a turning point. 3b: explain how it changed history (the before-and-after).
• Similarity and Difference set. 3a: identify a similarity or difference. 3b: explain it using evidence from both documents.

How much to write

CRQ answers are short, usually one to three sentences each, but they must be complete and specific. A vague sentence earns nothing; a precise one earns the point. Always answer exactly what is asked, and when a question says "and your knowledge of social studies", add a fact from your own learning.

Try this

Q1. In a CRQ set, what does Question 1 always ask you to do? [Recall]

• Cue. Explain the historical (or geographic) context, the circumstances that led to the development in Document 1.

Q2. Explain the difference between a "describe the document" answer and a correct historical-context answer. [Short explanation]

• Cue. Describing only restates what the document says; a context answer explains the background or cause that led to the development, using your own knowledge as well as the document.