MARPLE NEWTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
HONORS WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURES I
Course overview and summer reading assignment
Thank you for your interest in MNHS’s ninth grade Honors World Civilizations and
Cultures I course. We are excited to have you in class and are looking forward to an
enjoyable, challenging and rewarding experience in the 2015-2016 school year.
This course will offer a perspective on the craft of history that is most likely very
different from anything that you have previously experienced. The summer assignment will
provide a glimpse of what this study involves, and will allow you to utilize some of the tools
required for success in the year ahead. This assignment will require you not just to read, but
also to think critically and to arrive at your own conclusions about the questions and issues
raised in the material.
The Honors World curriculum is designed to accomplish three objectives:
-
Provide intensive study in the analytical framework of World History. While
most social studies courses focus on a single geographical or cultural region,
World History provides a single focus on the historical development of the world
as a whole.
-
Prepare students for our department’s tenth grade Advanced Placement offerings
in World or Modern European History. This preparation involves independent
reading exercises from an AP-level course textbook and frequent AP-style
writing assignments.
-
Engage students with hands-on historical research projects. Each student will
complete a required performance assessment based in the guidelines of the
National History Day (www.nhd.org) competition. Working individually or in
groups, students will research and present their original findings on a topic
within the 2015-16 NHD theme: “Exploration, Encounter and Exchange.”
Honors students are also expected to compete at the regional NHD competition,
which is traditionally hosted in March by the Chester County Historical Society.
The NHD theme overview and suggested topics are available through the NHD
website: http://www.nhd.org/
If you have any questions about the course or the summer reading assignments,
please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Karpyn (mkarpyn@mnsd.org) or Mr. Isselmann
(bisselmann@mnsd.org).
The summer reading assignment (over) is your first graded assignment, and is due in
class on September 8th, 2015. We will not accept late assignments for any reason.
You are welcome to submit your work before September 8th, either in hard copy or
via email.
Over ->
The reading selections are in print and widely available through both traditional and online
books sellers. We encourage you to look online – such as amazon.com or bn.com - for the
best prices.
Assigned book:
1. Christian, David This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity (Great
Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2007) ISBN: 978-1933782041
Assignment:
Though not required, it is highly recommended that you answer the questions in the
attached reading guide to assist your comprehension and understanding of This Fleeting
World.
Your assignment, due on the first day of school, is to respond to each of the
questions below with three separate one to two page essays. Please use one-inch margins,
double spaced lines and twelve-point font. Please limit your font selection to Times New
Roman, Garamond or Courier and submit your three essays bound together with a single
staple. Do not hand in a binder, clear report cover, or other type of folder.
Use parenthetical citations with an author’s last name and page number to cite
direct quotes or ideas taken from the book, as demonstrated below:
Essay questions:
(Christian, 33)
1. How is the perspective of World History both similar and different from the history
that you have previously studied? Why?
For the next questions, please point a web browser to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/
Please consider object numbers one through 75 from the list.
2. Select two of the themes (“Beginnings,” “Accelerations” and “Our World”) found in
This Fleeting World and identify and describe two objects from 100 Objects that
best reflects each of the two themes. Explain in detail why you chose those objects
and why they were the best examples of those two themes.
3. Select two other objects from the list of 75 that you find interesting, intriguing or
historically significant. What do those objects tell you about the time period in which
they were created? Do they tell you everything? Do they provide you with a complete
picture of that time period? What is still missing and incomplete?
**Remember, the reading guide is optional, but the above essay questions must be
answered and handed in on the first day of school.**