SAMPLE COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUESTIONS
BOLD = STRONG ESSAY QUESTION & WORDING
ITALICS = QUESTION TOPIC PREVIOUSLY ASKED ON EXAM IN SOME FORM
FOUNDATIONS C. 8000 BCE TO 600 CE
1. Compare nomadic societies with the newly formed agricultural societies circa 8000
BCE.
2. Compare two of the following early civilizations’ economic, political and
social structures:
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Indus Valley
Shang China
Americas
3. Compare the spread of Buddhism and Christianity during the classical
period.
4. Compare the role of two of the following civilizations in the development
of enduring cultural traditions and institutions:
Han China
Gupta India
Mediterranean
5. Compare the role of technology in Chinese and Mediterranean civilization.
6. Compare the social structures of two of the following societies:
China
India
Mediterranean
7. Compare the administration of government in Han China and the Roman Empire.
8. Compare the decline of two of the following civilizations:
Han China
Gupta India
Roman Mediterranean
9. Compare two of the following labor systems:
Slavery
Caste system
Free peasantry
Serfdom
10. Compare the role of women in two of the following civilizations:
Han China
Gupta India
Roman Mediterranean
POSTCLASSICAL 600 CE TO 1450 CE
1. Compare the role that two of the following belief systems played in
promoting or impeding societal change between 600 and 1450.
Christianity
Buddhism
Hinduism
Islam
Confucianism
2. Compare the Silk Road trade network and the trans-Saharan trade
network.
3. Compare the influence of China on two of the following societies:
Korea
Japan
Vietnam
4. Compare Western Europe between 500-1000 with Western Europe between 10001300.
5. Compare the effect of the Mongols on China and Russia.
6. Compare the societies of West Africa and East Africa.
7. Compare Byzantium and Tang-Song China.
8. Compare feudalism in Western European with that in Japan.
9. Compare the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphate.
10. Compare the role of women in two of the following societies of Dar alIslam:
West Africa
East Africa
Middle East
South Asia
11. Compare the rise and spread of Islam during the postclassical period to
the rise and spread of one of the following belief systems during the
classical period:
Christianity
Buddhism
12. Compare the role of missionary activity during the postclassical period in
Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
13. Compare the Aztecs and Incas.
14. Compare the impact of two of the following migratory peoples:
Bantu
Vikings
Arabs
Mongols
Turks
15. Compare the role of cities in two of the following regions:
Western Europe
China
Middle East
RISE OF GLOBAL INTERACTION 1450 CE TO 1750 CE
1. Compare the effects of the bubonic plague on late medieval Europe with
the effects of the small pox on the New World.
2. Compare the Indian Ocean trade network to the Atlantic trade network
between 1400 and 1750.
3. Compare the consolidation of Japan society with the consolidation of
Russian society in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
4. Compare the empire building Western Europe with one of following societies
between 1450 and 1750:
Ottomans
Chinese
Mughals
5. Compare the process of empire building in Spanish America and Brazil between
1450 and 1750.
6. Compare the demographic and environmental effects on the Columbian Exchange
on the Americas with one of the following between 1492 and 1750:
Africa
Asia
Europe
7. Compare Russian and Japanese interactions and attitudes toward the West
between 1450 and 1750.
8. Compare the impact of two of the following commodities between 1400
and 1900:
Silver
Coffee
Sugar
9. Compare the impact of slavery on Latin America and Africa.
10. Compare the impact of two of following cultural movements in European society
between 1400 and 1800:
Renaissance
Reformation
Scientific Revolution
Enlightenment
THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY 1750 CE TO 1914 CE
1. Compare the impact of French Revolution and Haitian Revolution.
2. Compare the reaction to growing Western hegemony in two of the
following:
Ottoman Empire
Qing China
Russia
Japan
3. Compare European imperialism prior to 1850 with European colonization after 1850.
4. Compare the decline of the Qing with the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
5. Compare the role of elite and bourgeoisie women with lower class women in Europe.
6. Compare the processes of industrialization and colonization by Europe and Japan.
7. Compare Chinese and Japanese nationalism between 1750 and 1914.
8. Compare the influence of Europe in Latin America and Africa during
between 1750 and 1914.
9. Compare Russia and Japan between 1750 and 1914.
THE POST-MODERN ERA 1914 CE TO PRESENT
1. Compare the impact of the Industrial Revolution and globalization.
2. Compare the effects (domestically) of two of the following revolutions:
French
Chinese
Mexican
Russian
3. Compare the patterns and results of decolonization in two of the regions below:
Africa
South Asia
Middle East
4. Compare the decolonization/independence movements in two of the countries below:
India
Vietnam
Algeria
Ghana
5. Compare the patterns and results of the decolonization movements in Asia, Africa,
and the Middle East in the twentieth century with earlier independence movements
in Latin America.
6. Compare a command economy and a free-market economy. Be sure to explain the
characteristics of each as well as to cite its strengths and weaknesses. Use an example
for each of the economies mentioned.
7. Compare the role of women in two of the following regions:
China
Japan
India
Egypt
Iran
Vietnam
8. Compare the cultural development of Europe in the 19th century with the West’s
cultural development during the 20th century.
9. Compare the role of women in the United States and Soviet Union.
10. Compare the causes of World War I and World War II.
11. Compare the effects of World War I and World War II on regions outside of Europe.
12. Compare the effects of World War I on TWO of the following regions:
Middle East
Sub-Saharan Africa
Southeast Asia
East Asia
South Asia
13. Compare the effects of World War II on TWO of the following regions:
Middle East
Sub-Saharan Africa
Southeast Asia
South Asia
East Asia
14. Compare and contrast the effects of the Cold War on TWO of the
following regions:
Middle East
Eastern Europe
Southeast Asia
East Asia
Latin America
EXTRAS
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Compare and contrast the structures of the following societies: Han China, Romans,
Greeks, European Middle Ages, African "stateless societies". Explain how different
societies mobilized labor. Who accomplished most of what needed to be done? How was
society divided? How were these divisions enforced?
How was slavery different from the caste system, from early feudalism? How much
mobility was there?
Compare and contrast the effect of Confucianism versus Christianity on
political developments in the empires of Rome and China.
Compare the status of women in Han China, Rome, and India. (Documents provided -see Peter Stearns' documents reader)
Compare the politics, social structure, religion(s), and economy of Han China and Rome.
Compare and contrast the economic causes underlying the Chinese emphasis on
technological innovation in agriculture vs. Roman emphasis on military matters.
Compare and contrast the development of Buddhism in China versus India. Consider the
impact of different social and political climates.
Compare the role that tolerance -- religious or otherwise -- play in two ancient
societies? (Suggestions: Rome, India, Byzantium, China, etc.)
Compare the role of Buddhism in Tang China and 11th c. Japan, Christianity in
Byzantium, Islam in 8th c. Iran.
Compare and contrast the development of African and New World societies: Ghana,
Songhay, and Mali, with Toltec, Inca, and Aztec. Consider reasons for growth, trade
patterns, social structures, role of religion, role of women, contacts with other cultures,
and reasons for decline.
Contrast the economic, social, cultural, and political role of cities such as Guangzhou
(Canton), Samarkand, Timbuktu, Cairo, and Venice played vital roles in the development
of in the period 1100-1368. Choose two the urban centers and analyze how their location,
and other factors, contributed to their role as a member of the interregional networks of
this era.
Compare and contrast the role and treatment of women in two of the following during
the postclassical era.
East Asia
Americas
Western Europe
Sub-Saharan Africa
Compare and contrast the developments in political and social institutions in eastern
and western Europe from 600 to 1450.
Compare and contrast European and sub-Saharan African contacts with the
Islamic world
Compare and contrast patterns of resistance to European/Western dominance in two of
the following regions during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
China Japan Argentina Ottoman Empire Mexico
India South Africa
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Compare the relationship between ideas of the nation state, sovereignty, and democracy
in two of the following regions from l700 to 2000.
France
US
China
Nigeria
Russia.
During the twentieth century, considerable effort was expended by Western nations to
support democratic and western-friendly governments in developing nations. Select
TWO of the nations below and compare the success of such efforts.
Iran Vietnam Nicaragua Chile Congo
Iran South Africa Egypt
Pick two of the following revolutions and compare their effects on the roles
of women.
Russian Chinese Cuban
Iranian
Compare the legacies of colonialism and patterns of economic development
in two areas:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle East
Southeast Asia Latin America
Compare the impacts of Western consumer society on two civilizations outside of Europe
Compare high tech warfare with guerrilla warfare.
Compare and contrast the different proposals (or models) for third world
economic development and their social and political consequences.