Daniel Boone High School
AP European History Course Syllabus
Mr. Angle
Course Objective
The principle objective of this course is to foster a deeper understanding of the cultural, diplomatic, economic,
intellectual, political, and social history of the Europe from the High Renaissance (1450) to the present day (2001).
Course Overview
AP European History is a rigorous academic course that furnishes a basic narrative of events and movements in
European History beginning in the 1300’s and continuing to the present. It prepares students for the demands of a college
education by providing experience in college level reading, writing, and responsibility for learning. AP European History
is challenging and stimulating yet requires much more time than other high school courses. Solid reading and writing
skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study, are necessary to succeed. Students
can expect to spend between five and seven hours a week outside of class on coursework.
Students will investigate the broad themes of intellectual, cultural, and political history and will appreciate how
those ideas are reflected in trends of philosophy, popular literature, and the arts. As events in history can only be
understood in terms of their social context, this course will examine demographics and the influences of social classes and
gender roles on history as well. The course will also focus on economic history and the role of industrialization by
reviewing the development of commercial practices and changing economic structures to recognize Europe’s influence on
the world.
In addition to traditional lectures on important themes of history, students are expected to participate in class
through discussions of primary documents and events, debates of key issues, and role playing of historic figures.
Furthermore, students are expected to continually develop their writing skills through regular short essays and essay
exams. The volume of material involved in a survey course covering over five hundred years of history of an entire
continent is immense and therefore organization and the maintenance of a notebook of all class materials is essential.
Students can expect to do a lot of reading not only in the text, but from outside sources and research both in the library
and on the Internet.
AP European History is organized on the assumption that students will take the College Board AP examination,
which allows qualified candidates to receive college credit for the course. Consequently, there will be a focus on
strengthening skills in taking objective exams, in addition to writing clear and compelling expository essays.
Course Themes
The themes below will recur in different contexts throughout the course. Students will find it helpful to use them to
organize their thinking, and refer to them either directly or indirectly in their writing or in discussion.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The growth in power of the state and competition among these nation-states.
Individualism as a force for progress and its conflict with the demands of society.
The impact of economic innovation on the standard of living and traditional ways of life.
Struggle by women, workers/peasants, and ethnic minorities for emancipation and power.
The dynamism and destructiveness resulting from Europe’s quest for mastery of its natural and human
environments.
Required Materials:
1. Binder(s); Options include
a. One
3 inch binder
b. Two 2 inch binders (the course and test is divided into 2 sections)
c. Two A 1 inch binder for class and a 2-3 inch binder for home
2. Dividers: There are 12 units in the course and you will receive general test information (rubrics/guidelines). I
would recommend at a minimum 13 dividers.
3. Paper, Pens, highlighters, and pencils
4. Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Postmodern.
Andrews and McMeel; 1992.
5. Workbook: Forsyth, Louise. Strive for a 5: Preparing for the AP European History Exam. 2014.
Resources used in class and preparation for the Exam:
 Textbook: McKay, John, Bennet D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of Western Society since 1300. 11th ed.
New York. Houghton Mifflin, 2013.
 Workbook: Forsyth, Louise. Strive for a 5: Preparing for the AP European History Exam. 2014.
 A variety of primary and secondary sources, or excerpts from them, will be selected for each unit. In addition to
the internet sources, the following are sources used for the class.
o Sources for Western Society: Since 1300. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014.
o Kishlansky, Mark A., ed. Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New
York: Longman, 2002
o Weisner, Merry E., Julius R. Ruff, and William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A look at
the Evidence. 5th ed. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
Course Outline
Semester 1 (First and Second Quarters)
 Introduction the Later Middle Ages (1 Week)
 Unit 1: The Renaissance- including humanism, the rise of the New Monarchs, and the Age of Exploration (3
weeks)
 Unit 2: The Reformation and Religious Wars (2 weeks)
 Unit 3: The Age of Absolutism and Constitutionalism (2 weeks)
 Unit 4: The Eighteenth Century- including the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and economics and
society (3 weeks)
 Unit 5: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era (1 week)
Semester 2 (3rd Quarter and 4th Quarter until May 8, 2015)
 Unit 6: The Industrial Revolution (1 week)
 Unit 7: Politics from 1815-1848 and Nineteenth-Century Society (3 weeks)
 Unit 8: Unification, the Age of Mass Politics, and Imperialism (3 weeks)
 Unit 9: World War I and the Interwar Period (2 weeks)
 Unit 10: The Rise of Dictatorships and World War II (3 weeks)
 Unit 11: 1945 to the Present (2 weeks)
 Unit 12: AP Exam Review (3 weeks)
AP European History Exam:
Please note that the AP European History Exam is held on May 8, 2015 at 12:00 PM. This is a ½ day for district
students and the day of the HS Prom.
Homework:
Homework will be a variety of tasks including the following:
1. Textbook Readings, Notes and/or questions
2. Primary Source Readings and Analysis
3. Practice Examinations
4. Additional research or projects as assigned in class
Due to the pace and demands of the AP Course, falling behind on homework can have serious consequences on quizzes
and exams.
Assessments:
1. MC Tests will be given with each unit.
2. Free Response Questions will be given at the end of each unit.
3. Document Based Question writing exams will be given for at least four units but only after we have discussed and
practiced this process.
4. All exam writing will be done in class. (Practice writings will be done at home.)
5. Quizzes will be given periodically to check student progress on the readings. The format will generally be short
answer questions.
Grading:
1. MC Unit Exams and Projects: 40%
2. In Class Essays (DBQ and FR): 40%
3. Quizzes:
20%
(Readings, Primary Documents, etc.)
Grading Scale:
A
90-100%
B
80-89%
C
70-79%
D
60-69%
F
0-59%
Participation and Organization:
Participation and organization are key skills that will bring success in this class. Participation and organization
will not be graded; however, they may be used to help a student’s grade.
Extra Credit:
No extra credit or bonus points will be given in this class.
Redoing Assignments:
All major assignments may be redone in order to demonstrate improved mastery of the content given the follow
conditions:
1. All work is redone at the discretion of the teacher.
2. The format for all redone work and assessments may be changed at the discretion of the teacher.
3. Students must work with the teacher to create a timeline for when work will be redone.
4. No redone work may be submitted during the last week of the quarter.
Procedures for Make-Up or Late Work:
All late work will be accepted and there will be no reduction in grade or penalty given the following conditions:
1. If a deadline is missed a student must immediately discuss the situation with the teacher in order to make
arrangements regarding late work.
2. Late work must be submitted in a timely and appropriate manner. (For example, work submitted seven
weeks and two units past the deadline is not timely.) What defines “timely and appropriate” is
determined by the teacher and can be discussed individually if a deadline is missed.
3. No late work will be accepted during the last week of the marking period.
Classroom Rules:
1. All school rules will be enforced.
2. Students will arrive to class on time. Given the amount of material we must cover, this is imperative.
3. Respect for everyone. We (students and teacher) must collaborate and work together in an environment
in which we all feel safe to express ideas.
4. Cell phones and other electronic devices will only be used at the teacher’s discretion. Unauthorized
usage will result in a device being confiscated and given to the principal.
5. Federal laws and the School Board policy governing plagiarism will be followed. Any instance of
plagiarism will result in a “zero” being given for an assignment and a disciplinary referral to the
principal’s office.
6. Check the homework board daily for any updates to the homework assignments.
Textbook:
Each student is responsible for reading the textbook chapters as class progresses through each unit. You are
required to complete a study-guide worksheet for each chapter. The study guide will be handed to you on the
first day of each unit and will be collected on the day of the test.
Primary Sources:
A primary task of this course is to learn how to become ‘young historians’. That means that each of you
must learn how to evaluate primary documents. These primary sources give the historian the data needed to
discern the course of history. It allows us to acquire some grasp on an era’s political, economic, social, cultural,
and religious perspectives. To this end, every unit will have primary documents that will be evaluated. With
each document there will be a set of questions for you to answer. In addition, on the due date of an assignment
we will spend a few minutes discussing what information each of you gleaned from the document.
FRQ and DBQ:
These are the two basic essays that you will be required to write on the AP European History Exam and
throughout the class. The FRQ (Free-Response Question) is your basic expository essay. You will be given
three questions and you will choose one to answer. For this essay you will include all the facts that you can
recall from the class instruction, textbook, research, and primary sources. Expect your first essay (FRQ) to be
given with the Unit 1 test.
The DBQ (Document Based Question) is an essay that must be answered by evaluating a series of
primary sources in order to derive an answer. The DBQ is predominately written only using the sources given
to the student on the examination. Expect training in the DBQ essay to happen in early November.
Both the FRQ and the DBQ will be written in the 5-paragraph format. We will spend a lot of time on
how to properly analyze the question, the content data, and the writing skills necessary for a high quality paper.
Parent-Teacher Communication:
I welcome your calls and messages. Anytime you have something to discuss, I can be contacted by phone, 610582-6100, ext. 2224. I can also be reached through e-mail, angle@dboone.org. I will respond as quickly as possible.
Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation. I look forward to working with your child and you. I
hope to have opportunity to meet you at the Open House.
Sincerely,
Mr. J. Angle
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