World History AP West High School 20401 Victor Street Torrance, CA 90503 Stephen A. Martin Room #3201 (310) 533-4299 x7736 smartin@teacher.tusd.org Introduction This class is designed to prepare you for the World History Advanced Placement Exam as well as help you develop a greater understanding of the evolution of global development and contacts over time. The course highlights the nature of changes, their causes and consequences, makes note of important continuities, while directly comparing and contrasting major societies. To help identify and analyze the patterns and developments of history, the class uses the Six AP World History Themes listed below: 1. The relationship of change and continuity from 8000 BCE to the present. 2. The impact of interaction among and within major societies. 3. The impact of technology, economics, and demography on people and the environment. 4. The systems of social structure and gender structure. 5. The cultural, religious, and intellectual developments. 6. The changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and political identities, including the emergence of the nation-state. Textbook and Materials World Civilizations: The Global Experience, AP Edition, by Peter N. Stearns et. al., New York: Pearson Longman; 4th ed., 2005. (In assignments, this book is referred to as your “textbook” or “TB”.) AP Student Review Manual, by Peter N. Stearns et. al., New York: Pearson Longman. (In assignments, this book is referred to as your “workbook” or “WB”.) Summer Assignment Introduction: Welcome to World History Advanced Placement (WHAP) and your summer assignment. The most important advice I can give you at this point is the following: EVERYTHING you do between now and the AP exam (administered in midMay) is preparation for that exam. If you skip a chapter, a section, an assignment, a question, a lecture, then you run the risk of not being fully prepared for the exam in May. Knowledge is power! All of the following assignments (reading and writing) should be completed by Friday, September 5, 2008. All written assignments should be completed in a notebook that is used exclusively for this class. There will be times when I ask you to turn in this notebook so I may comment on your writing. You will also need a separate notebook in which to take notes. I HIGHLY recommend that you do not use loose-leaf notebook paper for any of these assignments. Assignment: Unit I: Foundations; Rise of Agricultural Civilizations (8000 BCE – 1000 BCE) Read the following in the textbook: Preface: pages xvii – xxiii Prologue: pages xxix – xxx (See Note 1) Introduction: pages 2 – 5 Chapter 1: pages 6 – 29 Read the following in the workbook: pages vi – ix and pages 1 – 7 Do the following from the workbook: Prologue (Workbook page 8; Textbook pages xxix – xxx) Section Review: Questions A, B, C (½ page each) Multiple Choice: all (See Note 2 below) Part 1 (WB 9 – 11; TB 2 – 5) Unit Overview: B, D, E (½ page each) Multiple Choice: all Geography: I, II (See Note 3 below) Chapter 1 (WB 12 – 18; TB 6 – 29) Chapter Review: B, C, F, J (½ page each) Map Exercise: A, B, D Multiple Choice: all Essay: Outline B, C, D (See Note 4 below) Consider the following: Can you compare/contrast different river civilizations? Can you compare/contrast the basic criteria for what makes a civilization? Can you trace how daily life changed and remained the same (continuities) from the beginning of this time period to the end? To answer the above, consider the changes and continuities in labor systems, the status of women, poor people (underclass). Note 1: In each chapter in the workbook there is a vocabulary section. You need not write the definition of each word, but it is assumed that you know the definition and can use the word correctly. Every test you take (multiple choice and essay) assumes that you know these words. Note 2: Because nothing is easy, the multiple choice answer keys are at the end of each unit. But wait, you say, that is easy. Well, it has been discovered that some of the answer keys are wrong or mixed up. Check your answers with the answer key; when you think the answer key is wrong, this is a great opportunity to ask a question in class, discuss your reasoning, and otherwise impress you classmates and teacher with your study skills. Note 3: Knowing the geography of the world is CRITICAL to doing well on the exam. To facilitate this knowledge here is what you must do: On a blank, white, 8 ½ x 11, piece of paper, make a freehand map of the following sections of the globe. A freehand map means you look a map and draw (NOT TRACE) what you see. The hard part is keeping the proportions correct. This may take you some time; do not rush yourself. At the back of the workbook there are several maps that you may find useful. You can also use your textbook or an atlas. DO NOT draw in modern borders; you only want landmasses, rivers, and lakes. Draw a freehand map of each section of the globe listed below in PENCIL: Mesopotamia/Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Indian Ocean (from East Africa to Southeast Asia), The Mediterranean Region, Saharan and Trans-Saharan Africa, Tropical Africa, Southern Africa, East Asia, Meso-America, South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Southeast Asia. When you are satisfied with your depiction, ink in the lines in BLACK. Keep these 13 maps in pristine condition; they are your master maps. Make photocopies of the maps to do the various geography assignments during the year. You will discover that while the landmasses and rivers are fairly steadfast, political units come and go. You will use copies of your master maps to draw in the political boundaries of various civilizations, empires, and nations as time marches on. Note 4: The man who is the chief author of your textbook is also a chief writer/designer of the AP exam. Therefore, what he says in the book often appears on the AP exam. Furthermore, the essay questions at the end of each chapter are extremely important. You should not write a full-fledged essay, merely an outline. A sample outline for question A is what follows; you should do your best to emulate this with your outlines. As the year progresses, your outlines will become more sophisticated and detailed. Thesis Statement (T.S.): Because human groups were small and lacked job specialization, gender differences meant little until more complex societies were formed during the Agricultural Revolution. Description of typical Paleolithic society Hunting and gathering Little food surplus Few inter-tribe conflicts Therefore: women have quasiequal status with men Agricultural Revolution Domestication of animals and grains Food surplus → job specialization Increase in inter-tribe conflict Therefore: women have domestic tasks Specific Example: Sumer Prior to AR, women gather food with men After AR, women hidden in house, used in marriage to complete political or financial alliances; divorce becomes taboo, marriage comes with a dowry.