AP World History Summer Assignment

Transcription

1 AP World History Summer Assignment AP World History is the study of global history from 8,000 BCE to roughly 2,000 CE. In this course you will be investigating the social, political, religious, intellectual, technological, and economic aspects of all societies over time. Other than the textbook, you will be analyzing societies from primary source documents and the writings of authors who write a book based on a theme. This will give you the ability to learn history from various points of view which is a major skill you will learn in this course. This summer project is designed to help you come into the classroom with certain analytical skills necessary to be successful in this course. Each characteristic should not be taken lightly. This means, put your best effort into each of these analytical skills. Each skill will help you in other courses, such as English. Skills taught in this lesson 1. Point of View a critical skill to learn regarding the Document-Based-Question essay. 2. The reliability of primary sources a critical skill to learn regarding the Document-Based-Question essay. 3. Visual literacy being able to answer questions utilizing evidence placed in front of you. A critical skill to learn regarding the Document-Based-Question essay. 4. Compare and Contrast the 3 rd FRQ essay in the AP World History exam This assignment will be due on the first day of school. Will be graded as an Assignment = 100 points Students who enroll after July 20 th, will have until September 11, 2015 to complete this assignment Time allotted to this assignment = 2 hours Mr. Bruns Mr. Snyder

2 Name Lunchroom Fight Imagine that you are the principal of a school and you just found out that there was a fight in the lunchroom during lunch. You ve asked many students and teachers who witnessed the fight to write down what they saw and who they think started the fight. Unfortunately, you have received many conflicting accounts that disagree not only as to who started the fight, but also as to who was involved and when the fight even started. It s important to remember that NO ONE is just plain lying. Answer the following questions: Why would there be different stories of the event if no one is just plain lying? What are the different types of people who might have seen this fight? (e.g., friends of those involved; people who don t know the kids who were fighting; those who were fighting; teachers; students) What might make one person s story more believable or plausible than another person s?

3 Evaluating Sources An issue that historians face is the validity or truthfulness of a documents source. As historians we are always asking the question, Who do we trust? In this lesson you must try to determine what makes one account more trustworthy than another. Answer the following

4 Mesopotamia Document 1 Question 1 The building shown above is one of the oldest in the world. It is a ziggurat. Ziggurats first appeared roughly 5,000 years ago (this one was built c BCE) in the ancient Mesopotamian society of Sumer. They were stepped pyramidlike structures with several levels, outside staircases, and a shrine/temple build for a tutelary god/goddess at the top (which this one was destroyed during the 1980 s Seven-Years War between Iran and Iraq). What was the purpose of this structure? Question 2 Many ziggurats were built of sun dried or baked mud bricks. Based on the image above, why do you think this is was the chosen material for this structure? Question 3 Ziggurats were both similar and different from pyramids of Ancient Egypt. From what you know about both structures, can you list 3 similarities and 3 differences?

5 Document 2 Question 1 This map shows the region where Sumer and the other early civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia arose. In what part of the world is this region located? Document 3 Question 1 These statues are known as votive figures. These statues were placed in temples and acted as substitutes for people. All figures are shown to be praying. Heat, drought, sudden floods, and other natural disasters made life uncertain in Sumer, and for all Mesopotamians. Some historians say this affected the way Sumerians viewed their gods. What effect do you think this might have had on Sumerian attitudes toward religion and the gods?

6 Document 4 Question 1 The word cuneiform refers to one of the Sumerians greatest achievements. From what you see here, can you explain what cuneiform was? Question 2 Cuneiform writing began mainly as a way to keep economic records such as sales of land, deliveries of goods to temple, taxes paid, etc. This tablet is a tally of goats and sheep. Why do you think writing began in Mesopotamia as a practical tool of this sort? For what other purposes have people used writing throughout history?

7 Document 5 Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept. His tears flowed down his cheeks. He took the hand of Urshanabi, the Boatman: For whom have my hands labored Urshanabi? For whom has my heart s blood been spent? I have not obtained any advantage to myself. I have only obtained an advantage for the earth-lion*. * = The earth-lion is a snake that eats a magic plant given to Gilgamesh to make him young again. Question 1 Writing began as a way to keep practical records. But in time, Sumerians began to use it in other ways. For example, they created what may have been the first epic. What is an epic? Can you name the hero of this famous Sumerian epic? Document 6 If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off. If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be knocked out If he has knocked out the eye of a patrician's servant, or broken the limb of a patrician's servant, he shall pay half his value. If a man has married a wife, and she has borne him children, and that woman has gone to her fate, her father shall lay no claim to her marriage-portion. Her marriage-portion is her children's only. If a fire has broken out in a man's house and one who has come to put it out has coveted the property of the householder and appropriated any of it, that man shall be cast into the self-same fire. Source: Code of Hammurabi Question 1 Writing in Mesopotamia was also used to record laws. The most famous of these law codes was set down by a Babylonian king who died in 1750 BCE. Can you name this king?

8 Question 2 Of the laws listed here, which seem most fair and wise to you? Which seem least fair and wise? Why? Question 3 Some historians feel that no matter what you think of the particular laws, this code was a great step forward for civilization. Do you agree? Why or why not? Egypt Document 1 Question 1. This photo shows a series of very old pyramids. These pyramids are shown along the banks of a famous river. Why were the pyramids constructed? What is the famous river is shown in the photo? Question 2. Why do you suppose so many early civilizations grew up along rivers?

9 Document 2 Question 1. This is part of a wall painting in the tomb of a wealthy Egyptian. The top part, or register, shows this Egyptian and his wife harvesting wheat. Wheat and barley were Egypt s two most important crops. Discuss some of the important uses of these two crops in ancient Egypt. Question 2. The bottom part of the painting shows the couple pulling up reeds. Various reeds and grasses growing naturally along the Nile were important in Egypt. They could be used to make baskets, rope, mats, and other goods. But papyrus reeds were the most important of all. What key product was made from them, and why was it so important? Question 3. What do these scenes show about daily life in Egypt? What do they show about family life and the roles men and women played in it?

10 Document 4 Question 1. The rich soils left each year by the flood were not that hard to plow and seed. So Egypt s farmers usually could produce more wheat and barley than they and their own families needed. Can you tell from this drawing what happened to the extra grain? Question 2. What do you think the man seated in the center is doing? Why? Document 5 Question 1. Egypt s food surpluses meant that many laborers could be put to work on huge building projects such as the one shown here. What project are these men working on?

11 Question 2. Egyptians build many of these huge structures, which were tombs, for the pharaohs. Who were the pharaohs? Document 6 Question 1. Egypt had a very powerful central government. The main reason for this had to do with the pharaoh. This photo shows the huge statues created for the pharaoh Ramesses II. What ideas or feeling about the pharaohs do these statues give you? Why? Question 2. The Pharaoh was the head of the government. He was also the top religious figure in ancient Egypt. But this still does not give you a compete idea of how great his power was thought to be. The pharaohs were often called god kings What do you think the Egyptians meant in calling the pharaoh a god king? Document 7

12 Question 1. The illustration shows another important Egyptian belief about life after death. In it, a person who just died is to be judged to see if he has led a good or a bad life. That person on the left (outlined area) is being led into the hall by the god Anubis. How can you tell that Anubis is a god, not a human? Question 2. The Judgment ceremony is called the weighting of the heart. Egyptians believed the heart was where a person s thought, feelings, and memories were located. Why do you think Egyptians believed this? How does this belief differ from what people today commonly believe? Compare and Contrast Look back at all of the documents analyzing the Mesopotamian s and Egyptians. Complete the following. Identify three similarities between Mesopotamia and Egypt. Example: The Egyptians and Mesopotamian societies developed along rivers Identify three differences between Mesopotamia and Egypt. Example: Even though the Egyptians developed along rivers, those rivers had different names. Egypt developed along the Nile and the Mesopotamians developed along the Tigris and Euphrates. Another difference, the Tigris and Euphrates flow north to south, whereas the Nile flows north