Ms. Weir’s Contact Information – do not hesitate to contact me!!
Email – mbw4291@lausd.net
Blog – www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/mbweir
AP US History Summer Assignment 2009
Supplies:
100 page composition notebook or spiral notebook
American Pageant – check out by June 20 – return the first day of school
“Black Like Me”
by John Howard Griffin
“People’s History of US” by Howard Zinn – Optional - Highly recommended1
AP Test Review Book or Flash Cards– Optional – Highly recommended2
Due Date = Wednesday September 9th . You will also have a test on Chapters 1 – 4 during that week and write an
essay about “ Black Like Me”. Do NOT put this assignment off, get it done early and then the summer is yours!!
Assignments
1. Check-in by June 31 on the class Blog at http://visitmyclass.com/blogs/mbweir/ and then check periodically
throughout the summer.
“Black Like Me”
a. In a composition book or spiral notebook complete the assignments in the following order:
i. Write a reflection about your thoughts on race / ethnicity in the United States. Include any
experiences in which your race / ethnicity has been celebrated as well as times when you felt or
witnessed negativity toward your race ethnicity.
ii. Read Black Like Me by John Howard Griffith (it is available at local bookstores, online, at the
library as well former students) ISBN-10: 0451208641 all the through, then read it again and
complete the following
iii. Double Entry (Dialectical) Journal
iv. Answer the following questions
1. Is it possible to actually understand other peoples experiences just by becoming them for
a short time period?
2. Study historical events that occurred in the south during this time period (both in the
north and the south). Does this help you understand the powerfulness of this book? In
what way?
3. If you could meet Mr. Griffith what would you ask him? Why?
4. If you could only choose one word to describe this book what would it be and why?
5. Look back on your earlier reflection – after reading the book have your ideas changed /
remained the same / enhanced what you wrote? Why / Why not?
3. Read Chapters 1 -4 of American Pageant
a. Go to this link, http://college.cengage.com/history/us/kennedy/am_pageant/13e/student_home.html which
is the student guide for your textbook, use it to help you but don’t just cut and paste information. The
easiest way to navigate is by clicking on “navigate by chapter”. This link is for the 13th edition so it
varies a little from the edition you have this summer (11th).
b. Read each chapter all the way through once, be sure and write down vocabulary you did not know and
find the definitions. (I highly recommend you do this each time you read anything for my class)
c. During the second reading complete the Reading Strategy PIRATES, this is a way to understand each
chapter more clearly.
d. Create a timeline that uses PIRATES as a guide – the book is NOT in chronological order, you might
want to create a color code or key for each aspect of PIRATES, I also recommend adding pictures /
illustrations. You will add to this timeline throughout the year and will be turned in with each notebook
check.
2.
1
I will provide Chapter 1 for this assignment. The main purpose of Zinn next year will be for classroom reading but it will be helpful
to have at home for further reading, review and research.
2
This help you further your study and you should start reading and reviewing right away.
Ms. Weir’s Contact Information – do not hesitate to contact me!!
Email – mbw4291@lausd.net
Blog – www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/mbweir
e. Makers of America – Conquistadors
i. Should the Spanish conquistadores be especially blamed for the cruelties and deaths (including
those by disease) inflicted on the original Indian populations of the Americas? Is it possible to
make such criticisms without falling into the traditional English fallacies of the “black legend”?
ii. What is the long-term significance for Latin America of the “immortality” achieved by the
conquistadores through intermarriage with Indian women?
f. Makers of America – The Iroquois
i. It is sometimes suggested that the Iroquois Confederacy may have provided a model for the union
of states into the United States of America. What similarities and differences are there between
the two confederations?
ii. What role did the Iroquois play in the politics and warfare of British North America? Was the
decision of most Iroquois to side with the British in the Revolutionary War the most decisive
moment in their history? Why or why not?
g. Makers of America – The English
i. In what areas of their lives did the Puritans seem to draw on their old local English traditions, and
in what areas did they draw on their religion? In what ways did the two conflict, and in what ways
did they support one another?
ii. How does this material fit with the idea of America as a “new world” different from England?
Was there a fundamental difference between those Englishmen who essentially tried to re-create
their old way of life and those who saw life in America as a radical departure? What tensions
might have resulted between these two groups?
h. Varying Viewpoints Chapter 3 - How is our view of subsequent American history altered if one adopts
the “diversity” rather than the “Europeanist” perspective?
i. Makers of America – From African to African American
i. How did African Americans work to adapt their native traditions under the conditions of New
World slavery? What kinds of traditions were most successfully preserved?
ii. What enabled African Americans in the Chesapeake region to develop societies where—
unusually for the history of slavery—the population reproduced and grew through natural
increase? What does this suggest about the nature of families under slavery? How might these
circumstances have affected the relationship between slaves and slaveholders?
4. Read Chapter 1 of Zinn’s “The People History” complete the following assignment and be prepared to discuss:
a. Before reading write down all that you think you know about Columbus, including myth as well as realty.
After reading the chapter how is this different than what Zinn has written?
b. Read the article all the way through once and then re-read when answering the questions below:
i. Write down the five (5) most important things Zinn says about Columbus (include page
numbers). Write down the two (2) most important things he says about the writing of history
(include page numbers). Do you agree or disagree with Zinn.
ii. Based on the reading choose 2 adjectives that describe: Columbus
The Spanish
The English
The Arawaks
The Powhatans
iii. Compare Columbus’s log entries with Las Casa’s journal entries – Can be a Venn diagram.
iv. Identify differences and similarities (e.g. how does each describe the Arawaks).
v. Identify topics the other did not discuss.
vi. What accounts for the differences? The similarities (their personalities, their goals, their job
functions, their status in relation to the other Spaniards)?
5. Optional but encouraged
a. Read the paper, watch the news, listen to the radio!
b. Summer Adventure list posted on the blog
Used copies of the books are for sale by this year’s students. There is a list posted in my room H-4 – these
transactions are between you and the seller.