Syllabus for World History Advanced Placement
Textbook: Traditions & Encounters – A Global Perspective on the Past
By Jerry H. Bentley & Herbert F. Ziegler c. 2000
CD-ROM that comes with book is used for each chapter
Students use it to study vocabulary, significant individuals and take practice quizzes.
Chapter outlines are used to aid in lecture note taking
Readers: I. Personalities & Problems: Interpretive Essays in World Civilizations Second
Edition by Ken Wolf II. The Human Record Fourth Edition by Andrea Overfield
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution
of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This
understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate
analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and
their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. It emphasizes
relevant factual knowledge used in conjunction with leading interpretive issues and types of
historical evidence. The course builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional, and
technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage. Periodization, forms
an organizing principle for dealing with change and continuity throughout the course. Specific
themes provide further organization to the course, along with the consistent attention to contacts
among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study.
Time periods covered:
This course covers the history of the world from around 8000 B.C.E to the present. The course
itself is separated into five eras:
a. Foundations: circa 8000 B.C.E.-600 B.C.E.
b. 600 C.E.-1000 C.E.
c. 1000 C.E.-1450.
d. 1450-1750
e. 1750-1914
1914-the present.
World History Themes:
This AP course highlights six overarching themes which will be organizing strands:
1. The dynamics of Change and continuity across the world history periods covered in this
course and the causes and processes involved in major changes of these dynamics.
2. Patterns and effects of interaction among societies and regions: trade, war, diplomacy,
and international organizations.
3. The effects of technology, economics, and demography on people and the environment
(population growth and decline, disease, labor systems, manufacturing, migrations,
agriculture, weaponry).
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure (comparing major features within and
among societies, and assessing change and continuity.
5. Cultural, intellectual, and religious developments, including interactions among and
within societies.
6. Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and political
identities (political culture), including the emergence of the nation-state (types of political
organization).
World History Habits of Mind:
The AP World History course addresses habits of mind or skills in two categories: 1) those
addressed by any rigorous history course, and 2) those addressed by a world history course.
Four Habits of Mind are in the first category:
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Construction and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments.
Using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze point
of view and to interpret information.
Developing the ability to assess issues of change and continuity over time.
Enhancing the capacity to handle diversity of interpretations through analysis of context,
bias, and frame of reference.
Three Habits of Mind are in the second category:
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Seeing global processes over time and space while also acquiring the ability to connect
local developments to global ones and to move through levels of generalizations from
the global to the particular.
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Developing the ability to compare within and among societies, including comparing
societies' reactions to global processes.
Developing the ability to assess claims of universal standards yet remaining aware of human
commonalities and differences; putting culturally diverse ideas and values in historical context,
not suspending judgment but developing understanding.
As Burns Crookston (1972) wrote, "The student should not be a passive receptacle of
knowledge, but should share responsibility for learning with the teacher." In fact, I can
teach you almost nothing that you do not choose to learn. In this course you will be
required to participate actively through your writing assignments and class discussions.
Class discussions, including my lectures and comments, will assume that you have done
the assigned readings; if you do not keep up with them, it will be very difficult to get very
much from the course. Reading the text is essential.
REQUIREMENTS 1. Read Bentley chapters/text as assigned. 2. You may be quizzed at
anytime over the readings, quizzes and tests will alternate between multiple choice and
essays. These essays will include change over time and comparative essays. 3. Must read
supplemental readings that are assigned. 4. Documents: A considerable amount of time in
AP World History will be devoted to the study and analysis of documents. This is
essential to the study of history, which by nature is highly interpretive. Along with our
readers we will use web sites to locate Primary Source Documents such as:
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listdocumentpa.html, (each of you has been
issued a computer and you will be instructed which days it must be brought to class for
research on Primary Source Documents) 5. Exams: Exams will be based in part upon
documents. These are called Document Based Essay Questions, and are a part of the AP
College Board Exam. Exams will also feature multiple-choice questions as found on the
AP exam. 6. Current Events. A portion of the class will be devoted to discussion of
current issues around the world.
Individual Study Time:
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Your individual study time is independent, but it is imperative that you use it
wisely. Some suggestions:
Read and take notes on the text
Work on the study packets
Outline responses to the possible test essay questions
Review in class notes
Work on additional assignments given in class
Week1.
Review Acorn Book and have students sign up at A.P. Central and visit the site regularly
Review the Peterson Study Guide and textbook. Summarize Motel of the Mysteries by
David Macaulay. Introduce Important Word Meanings for future vocabulary test. These
are the directive words frequently used in essay examination.
Week 2.
Lecture over Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Students will discuss
charts from the book and use these as a framework to see how systems of social and
gender structure were set up for comparison among later societies to determine
change and continuity.
Lecture and quiz (remember quizzes alternate between multiple choice and essays
after week 3) over Chapter 1: Before History. Lecture and Quiz over Chapter 2: Early
Societies in Southwest Asia and North Africa. Chapter 1 & 2 Test. Introduce map
packet to be used throughout the year.
Week 3.
Teach the writing process. Begin on Current Events, then the Short Response and
Expository essays. Teach writing for the Change Over Time Essay and the Comparison
Essay and finish with DBQ techniques. Go over questions from previous years and
deconstruct questions.
Week 4.
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 3: Early Societies in South Asia and the Indo-European
Migrations. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 4: Early Society in East Asia. Introduce
World Religions. Watch Videos: Faith & Belief: Five Major World Religions, The World
Religions 600 B.C.E – C.E. 500, Biography of the Millennium 100 People – 1,000 Years
and biographies on religion founders (example Confucius).
Week 5.
First classroom discussion and write up by students of Current Events of the last week.
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 5: Early Societies in the Americas and Oceania
Week 6
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 6: The Empires of Persia, Lecture and quiz over Chapter
7: The Unification of China. Comprehensive Test over Chapters 1-5. Introduce Create
Your Own Religion Project
Week 7
Discuss first five readings: Hammurabi and Moses: Law as a Mirror of Civilization,
Zoroaster and Buddha: Explaining Suffering, Confucius and Plato: A Few Really Good
People, Mahavira and Diogenes: Unconventional Men, Thucydides and Sima Qian:
Learning From the Past. Test on the first five readings. In class comparative essay and
Peer Evaluation of Essay.
Week 8
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 8: State, Society, and the Quest for Salvation in India.
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 9: Mediterranean Society: The Greek Phase.
Week 9
View videos on Greece and Rome. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 10: Mediterranean
Society: The Roman Phase. In class comparative essay between Greece and Rome.
Week 10
Vocabulary Test over Chapters 1-10. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 11: Cross-Cultural
Exchanges on the Silk Road. Video: Byzantium
Week 11
In class Essay based on Readings. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 12: A survivor Society
Byzantium. Lecture Chapter 13: A New Society: The Realm of Islam.
Week 12
Quiz Chapter 13. In class essay based on readings 6-13: Asoka and Shi Huangdi: Honey
and Vinegar, Irene and Wu Zhao: Two Iconoclasts, Genghis Khan: Incomparable Nomad
Conqueror, Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta: The Merchant and the Pilgram, Mansa Musa and
Louis IX: Pilgrams and state Builders, Prince Henry and Zheng He: Sailing South,
Erasmus and Luther: The Reformer’s Dilemma, Elizabeth and Akbar: The Religion of the
Ruler. Lecture and quiz Chapter 14: The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia. Change
over Time essay in class.
Week 13
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 15: India and The Indian Ocean Basin. Vocabulary Test
over Chapters 11-15.
Week 14
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 16: The Foundations of Christian Society in Western
Europe. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 17: Nomadic Empires and Eurasian Integration.
Discuss readings Chapters 14: Kangxi and Louis XIV: Dynastic Rulers, East and West.
Lecture Chapter 18: States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa. In Class DBQ essay.
Week 15
Quiz Chapter 18. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 19: Western Europe During the High
Middle Ages. Prep and Test over14-19.
Week 16
Work in Peterson Study Guide Chapters 6-8 quizzes over each. Prepare report on World
Holiday Traditions.
Week 17
Lecture and Quiz over Chapter 20: Worlds Apart: The Americas and Oceania. Lecture
and quiz over Chapter 21: Reaching Out: Cross Cultural Interaction. Assign readings
from Volume II of Reader Chapters 5-9: Bacon and Galileo: The New Science, Burke
and Condorcet: Are People Perfectible?, Toussaint and Tecumseh: Resisting the Odds,
George Sand and Harriet Beecher Stowe: Exploring “Woman’s Sphere, Bismarck and
Ito: Conservatives and Constitutions. Comparative essay in class.
Week 18
Final Week - Review Final is a DBQ
Week 19
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 22: Transoceanic Encounters and Global Connections.
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 23: The Transformation of Europe.
Week 20
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 24: New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania. Lecture and
quiz over Chapter 25: Africa and the Atlantic World. Lecture over Chapter 26:
Traditions and Changer in East Asia.
Week 21
Quiz Chapter 26. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 27: The Islamic Empires. Lecture over
chapter 28: The Russian Empire in Europe and Asia. Current Event due.
Week 22
Quiz Chapter 28. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 29: Revolutions and National States in
the Atlantic World. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 30: The Making of Industrial Society
Week 23
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 31: The Americas in the Age of Independence. Students
continue to study in Peterson Study Guide. Vocabulary and Test on People this week.
Week 24
Catch up week, get all grades in, Students prep or take TAKS Test. Lecture chapter 32:
Societies at the Crossroads.
Week 25
Quiz Chapter 32. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 33: The Building of Global Empires.
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 34: The Great War: The world in Upheaval.
Week 26
Lecture and quiz over Chapter 35: The Age of Anxiety, 1919-1939. Lecture and quiz
over Chapter 36: New Conflagrations: World War II and The Early Cold War. Lecture
Chapter 37: The Retreat from Empire in a Bipolar World. Assign Readings 10-14:
Chimwerre and York: Heroes in Two Worlds, Hitler and Stalin: Ideas or Personality, Eva
Peron and Golda Meir: Helping the Dispossessed – Two Models, M.K. Gandhi and Ho
Chi Minh: Paths to Independence, Teller and Sakharov: Scientists in Politics.
Week 27
Quiz Chapter 38. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 38: Transformation and Crisis in the
Contemporary World. Lecture and quiz over Chapter 39: A World Without Borders.
Week 28
Prepare and quiz from the Peterson Study Guide Chapters 6-8. Test on Readings 10-14.
Week 29
Prepare and quiz from Peterson Study Guide Chapters 9-10.
Week 30
Practice A.P. Exams given this week.
Week 31
Review for A.P. Exam… Practice essays
Week 32
Practice tests for A.P. Exam
Week 33
Finish Review: A.P. Exam Week
Week 34
Currents Event Due. Write a letter to next years World A.P. students. Describe the class
and what you would do differently.
Week 35- 37
View Videos: (examples) The First Emperor, Osama, Rabbit Proof Fence, Hotel Rwanda,
etc. Possible quizzes.
Read and discuss articles: (example) Does the future belong to China? TIME magazine or
India Awakens, TIME magazine. Possible quizzes.
Prepare for final: Assign students to create a DBQ with a Prompt. Bring in Documents.
Create essay for exam grade.
DBQ Essays/projects to be worked on:
Imperialism/Colonization Journal
Comparing European and Japanese Feudalism
Absolutism – States and Empires
Revolution – A Comparison
War and War Strategy
The Influence of Religion on China
Museum Exhibit
Create Your Own Religion
The CD-ROM that comes with the book is to be used for every chapter. Introduction and
Learning Objectives, Chapter Outline, Significant Individuals, Glossary, Interactive Map,
Self Test, Textual Questions, Questions for Analysis and a Power Point Presentation is
available for each chapter.
SUGGESTED SUMMER READING LIST FOR WORLD A.P. STUDENTS
Notes from these books will be added to chapter lectures
THE PRINCE (1513)………………………………………. NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
MARCO POLO
THE TRAVELS……………………….RONALD LATHAM
THE ART OF WAR……..SUN TZU……………THOMAS CLEARY TRANSLATION
GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL………………………………………..JARED
DIAMOND
COLLASPE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED…………..
…………………………………………………………………….JARAD DIAMOND
CARNAGE AND CULTURE………………………..…..VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
A WORLD LIT ONLY BY FIRE…………………………....WILLIAM MANCHESTER
THE NEW WORLD HISTORY………………………………………….ROSS E. DUNN
1421 THE YEAR CHINA DISCOVERED AMERICA…………..….GAVIN MANZIES
THE HANDY HISTORY ANSWER BOOK………….....REBECCA NELSON EDITOR
(THIS IS A GOOD COMPREHENSIVE STUDY TOOL)
THE HANDY RELIGION ANSWER BOOK……………..JOHN RENARD
GOD’S CHINESE SON: THE TAIPING HEAVENLY KINGDOM OF XIUQUAN BY:
JONATHAN SPENCE
COD: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FISH THAT SAVED THE WORLD BY ALSO SALT:
MARK KURLANSKY
THE KITE RUNNER……………………………………………...KHALED HOSSEINE
SEDUCTION OF SCILENCE……………………………………..BEM LE HAUNTE
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA …………………………………….…ARTHUR GOLDEN
MOVIES:
TO LIVE……..A FILM BY ZHANG YIMOU SET AGAINST FOUR DECADES OF
CHINESE POLITICAL TURMOIL
OSAMA………INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY, AFGHANISTAN AFTER THE
FALL OF THE TALIBAN