Advanced Placement World History
Summer Reading Assignment
Mr. Beck, Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. Villareal, Mrs. Warner
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is a history book of BIG IDEAS; large-scale questions and
themes inform the author’s perspective. Since the concept of World History is to focus on the big ideas,
concepts, themes, and trends of history, this book is an entry into the course of studies in A.P. World
History. Guns, Germs, and Steel is available in paperback at major bookstores and online, as well as at
branches of the public library.
You must read the following chapters of the book:
Prologue: Yali’s Question
Ch. 1: Up to the Starting Line
Ch. 2: A Natural Experiment of History
Ch. 4: Farmer Power
Ch. 6: To Farm or Not to Farm
Ch. 9: Zebras, Unhappy Marriages, and the Anna Karenina Principle
Ch. 10: Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes
Ch. 11: Lethal Gift of Livestock
Ch. 12: Blueprints and Borrowed Letters
Ch. 13: Necessity’s Mother
Ch. 14: From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy
Epilogue: The Future of Human History as Science
(Feel free to read additional chapters in the book, but you are not required to do summaries for those
extra chapters.)
Remember that reading and reflecting on one chapter at a time will help you “digest” the concepts of
this book more easily.
Written Assignment
For each assigned chapter, including the prologue and epilogue, summarize AND illustrate the “big
ideas”. You could use your own artwork if you are artistic, or use a collage-type method. One page per
chapter is sufficient. The summaries need to be typed.
Focus on the big ideas and don’t get bogged down in the science, unless you are really interested in that
aspect of it.
Make sure the words you use for your summary are exclusively your own. Any evidence of plagiarism
will result in a grade of Zero for this project.
You will turn in only 12 pages, stapled in the left hand corner. NO FOLDERS!!!!!!!!
Due Date:
Your assignment is due at the beginning of the second week of school. We will spend time in class
discussing and reviewing the book.
Questions
If you have any questions about the assignment, you can e-mail Mrs. Warner at jwarner@aisd.net
GOOD LUCK AND SEE YOU IN AUGUST!