Readings. Assignments

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Juliet Blankenship
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1 Readings Suggested Reading: (If you are serious about doing well in this course, the following texts will greatly help you on your way to a 5!) 1. 6 Edition Documents in World History Book Chapters: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 2. Jared Diamond s Guns, Germs, and Steel 3. Jack Weatherford s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Required Reading: (Assignment information below) 1. Chapters 1 10 in World Civilizations Global Experience 2. Collapse by Jared Diamond Assignments Chapters 1 10 in World Civilizations Global Experience It is essential that you complete these assignments to the best of your ability. These chapters will be covered less in class to make room for the other 26 chapters we must get through. If you do not take this work seriously you will not be prepared for the start of the year and will fall behind in a class that moves at a VERY fast pace. YOU MUST TYPE all answers to response questions. completed assignments to: karmstrong@rvilleschools.org Due Dates Chapters 1 5 will be due August 1 Chapters 6 10 will be due first day of class You must your assignments before 8:00 p.m. EST. on those dates. You will get a response that your work was received. If you do not get an , that means we did not receive it. THERE WILL BE A TEST on the first day of class. I will create questions from any content found within Chapters 1 10 of the text. This will be a challenging assessment and only students who have seriously prepared will succeed. If you are looking to get through your summer work as quickly/easily as possible, you have the wrong attitude, and should probably remove yourself from this course. AP World History is a demanding class that will require the time commitment of an honors level college student. Each chapter should be read at least 2 3 times to fully prepare for the rigor of exams in this course. Note - This is an AP course; you must abide by the school s academic integrity policy at all times= You MAY NOT work with anyone on this assignment, nor may you copy words/ideas from other sources without proper documentation. This assignment should be completed in your words.

2 World Civilizations Global Experience Response Questions Chapter 1 From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilization - Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. Discuss the concept of civilization. What enabled civilizations to develop? What characteristics are critical for a society to become a civilization? How would you define uncivilized? 2. Discuss the nature and organization of human societies. Compared to noncivilized societies, what are the major drawbacks of civilization? 3. What advantages does an agriculturally based society have over a hunter/gatherer based society? 4. Why was Jewish monotheism a significant development in the religious history of early civilization? 5. Compare the main features of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. What did the two civilizations have in common as early civilizations? What were their main differences in values and organizations? 6. Why is the development of writing important in the history of the river valley civilizations? Chapter 2 Classical Civilization: China - Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. What caused the development and rise of Confucianism? Which two causes do you feel are the most important? 2. What subsequent developments did Confucianism cause? 3. How did Chinese culture, particularly Confucian philosophy, support the political structure of the Empire? 4. What kinds of political problems was the development of bureaucracy in Han China meant to solve? 5. Why was China able to accept two different basic belief systems, Confucianism and Daoism? 6. Aside from periods of outright political decline, what were the chief tensions in Chinese society and culture? How were they handled? Chapter 3 Classical Civilization: India Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. Why do we know and understand more about early China than we do about early India?

3 2. Why did the caste system develop and how was it perpetuated? 3. What were the chief differences between Buddhism and the developing Hindu tradition? 4. What differences between Indian and Chinese geography help explain differences in social and cultural patterns? 5. Which society, Gupta India or Han China, was more successful? 6. On the basis of some additional reading, have students explore the life and significance of one of the following: Chandragupta, Asoka, or Gautama Buddha. 7. How did the Indian caste system differ from the organization of Chinese society? Compare the political implications of Hinduism and Confucianism. How does each belief system help explain the political history of its native society in the classical period? Compare the social and family structures of India and China in the classical period. What are the main differences? The main similarities? Chapter 4 Classical Civilizations In the Mediterranean and Middle East Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. Discuss the effects of cultural diffusion in the Mediterranean. 2. What were the main similarities and differences between Greek and Roman political structures?. What is the significance of the Hellenistic period in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean history? 3. Compare the main features of the social structure of the classical civilizations in the Mediterranean, China, and India. 4. In which society, India, China, or the Mediterranean, would you have wanted to be a merchant in the classical period? Explain your choice. 5. What were the main similarities and differences between the empires of Rome and Han China? Why did Rome's empire prove less durable? 6. Early in the classical period, both Greece and India exhibited religions with many gods and goddesses. Why and how did India go on to form a major, durable religion around such a phenomenon while Greece did not? 7. Compare the scientific achievements and approaches of classical India,China, and the Mediterranean. 8. Compare Greek, Roman, and Confucian ideals.

4 Chapter 5 The Classical Period; Directions, Diversities, and Declines by Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. Explore the differences in the Eastern and Western portions of the Roman Empire. How did these differences arise? In what ways can it be argued that the Roman Empire survived in the Eastern Mediterranean even after it collapsed in the West? 2. What were the main factors in Rome's decline? Which do you judge most important? Why? 3. Why did the results of Han China's decline differ from those of the Roman Empire's decline? 4. Taking into account both Egypt and Kush, what were the main features of civilization in Africa prior to the first century C.E.? Chapter 6 The Rise and Spread of Islam Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs each minimum) 1. What was the nature of bedouin society before Muhammad received his revelations? 2. How did Islam address the fundamental problems in Arabian society? 3. How was the succession dispute over the office of caliph finally settled? 4. What was the nature and extent of the Umayyad Empire? What events led to the fall of the Umayyads? 7. How did the Abbasid Empire differ from the Umayyad Empire? 8. What were the achievements of the Arab phase of Islamic development ending in 750? 9. Did women in the Islamic world have more or less freedom than women in other contemporary societies? Chapter 7 Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization - Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs each minimum) 1. What were the causes for the weaknesses of the later Abbasid Empire? 2. What was the position of women in the Abbasid Empire? 3. Describe the economy of the later Abbasid Empire. 4. Discuss theological developments within Islam during the Abbasid Empire. 5. Discuss the stages of Islamic incursion into India. 6. To what extent were Muslims successful in converting Indians to Islam?

5 Chapter 8 African Civilization and the Spread of Islam Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs each minimum) 1. What do the authors describe as the "common elements" in African societies? 2. How did Islam originally enter Africa? 3. What were the Sudanic states and how were they organized? 4. How did Islam and the beliefs of indigenous societies fuse among African peoples? 5. What was the connection between East Africa and Islam? 6. Where did cultures in Africa develop that were not impacted by Islam? What was the nature of their organization? 7. Why do the authors spend more time talking about cultures introduced into Africa than indigenous African cultures? CHAPTER 9 Civilization in Eastern Europe: Byzantium and Orthodox Europe Response Questions (2-3 paragraphs minimum each) 1. What is the significance of the Byzantine Empire to the civilization of Europe? 2. Compare and contrast the development of civilization in eastern and western Europe. 3. How does Orthodox Christianity differ from Roman Catholicism? 4. Discuss the similarities in Byzantine and Chinese political organization. 5. What are the reasons for the decline of the Byzantine Empire? 6. How did the Byzantine Empire influence the development of Russia? 7. How did Eastern Europe fall behind Western Europe in terms of political development? CHAPTER 10 A New Civilization Emerges in Western Europe Response Questions (2-3 paragraph minimum each) 1. What defines the postclassical period in Western Europe? 2. What were the signs of vitality in Western Europe? 3. Define manorialism and feudalism. 4. What developments in ninth and tenth-century Western Europe pointed the way to political and economic recovery? 5. Describe the various political units of Western Europe between 1000 and How was theology linked to classical rationalism during the Middle Ages? 7. What were the signs of economic prosperity after 1000? 8. What were the political values of the Middle Ages? 9. What were the crises of the later Middle Ages?

6 Collapse by Jared Diamond AP World History Summer Work Due Date - print out and bring with you to the first day of class DIRECTIONS: After reading each assigned section of Jared Diamond s book COLLAPSE, completely answer the following response questions individually and in your own words (type your responses). 1. Diamond s Thesis: Read p and answer the following. a. Briefly explain Diamond s thesis presented in the book. b. What are the five points in Diamond s Five-Point Framework? 2. The Maya Collapse: Read p and answer the following. a. Where were the ancient Maya located? Briefly describe their geography. b. If the Maya were culturally the most advanced society (or among the most advanced ones) in the pre-columbian New World then why, according to Diamond, did they fall? (how does it fit into his Five-Point Framework?) 3. Opposite Paths to Success: Read p and then p on Tokugawa Japan and answer the following. a. How did the Tokugawa Shogunate use the top-down approach to solve their environmental problems in Japan in the s? b. Why were they so successful? 4. Malthus in Africa: Rwanda s Genocide: Read p and answer the following. a. Why has Africa s population continued to grow despite its geography? b. Outline the major events of the Rwandan Genocide. c. What evidence does Diamond present to support Thomas Malthus economic theory in Rwanda? d. According to Diamond, why did the Rwandan Genocide take place?

AP World History Mid-Term Exam

AP World History Mid-Term Exam 1) Why did the original inhabitants of Australia not develop agriculture? 2) Know why metal tools were preferred over stone tools? 3) Know how the earliest civilizations