Updated World History Summer Reading Assignment
I am altering the previously assigned summer assignment so that we are all on the same page when school
starts. If you have already started the assignment given by Mr. Meidell using a different book, you will be
able to use the work you've done on an assignment that will be given during the school year. In order to
prepare for AP World History, you are to read assigned chapters (as the summer is partially over, I am not
going to make you read the whole book).
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond ($3-$13)
ISBN: 0-0393-31755-2
Publisher: W.W. Norton
A copy of this book can be found at the public library, major book-selling websites like Amazon or major
book stores. If you unable to purchase/find a copy, please let me know right away so I can help you
locate one.
Assignment: Read the chapters below and answer the questions given on the next page
- Prologue, Chapters 1-3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and epilogue are all required
-Chapter 15, 16, 18 or 19 - choose whichever one interests you most
If you find the book interesting, feel free to read more, but be sure that you complete the assignment first.
Why Summer Reading?
1. For most of you, this will be your first experience with an Advanced Placement Course. The volume of
reading you will be doing this year is quite significant. AP World History is a 10th grade class, but it is
taught as a college-level introductory course to world history. The curriculum, expectations and reading
difficulty are similar to what is expected for freshmen in college.
2. We will be discussing 10,000 years of history this year. Reading this book will provide a framework for
answering some of history's greatest questions and examine of geography's impacted human development
on civilizations.
Instructions:
1. Read the chapters in their entirety. Please use resources/skills to help you understand the reading such as a
dictionary for words you don't understand. Take notes in the margins or on sticky notes as you read, if it’s not a
library book.
2. Type the questions above your answers. To answer the questions, just give me short answers unless otherwise
instructed. You will have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate your writing skills this year.
3. Use font size 12, Times New Roman. Staple your papers in the upper left hand corner - no need for a cover sheet
or binder. Please do not forget your name and period on the paper.
4. Please do not cheat (if any part of assignment is plagiarized, copied from a friend, copied from online, etc.) you
will not receive any credit. Please also do not procrastinate as this assignment can not be completed the week
before school starts. Divide the sections up so that you can do one or two a week. Complete the written portion
immediately after you finish reading as it will be fresh in your mind.
Due Date: the first day of school- it is worth the same as major test, so it will greatly impacted your first semester
grade if you do not have it ready to go on the first day of school.
I look forward to meeting you and discussing the book in September. If you have any questions about the
assignment, please feel free to e-mail me as I will be checking my school e-mail throughout the summer.
Sincerely,
Katie Crabtree
crabtreek@psd401.net
Guns, Germs, and Steel –Guided Reading Questions
Prologue: Yali’s Question
1. What is Yali’s Question?
2. What are three considerations Diamond discusses as he ponders Yali’s question?
Chapter 1: Up to the Starting Line
1. What was the “Great Leap Forward?”
Chapter 2: A Natural Experiment of History
1. What were the six environmental factors that contribute to the difference among Polynesian Societies?
Chapter 3: Collision at Cajamarca
1. Describe the event at Cajamarca.
2. Why was Atahuallpa at Cajamarca?
3. If Pizarro came to conquer the Incas, why didn't Atahualpa try to conquer Spain?
Chapter 4: Farmer Power
1. Write a paragraph explaining the chart. Do you agree with the author's conclusion? Why or why not?
2. What advantages are gained by being the first to domesticate animals?
Chapter 8: Apples and Indians
1. List four advantages of the Fertile Crescent when considering food production.
2. What are New Guinea’s three severe limitations when considering food production?
3. Compare the three regions (Eastern US, New Guinea and the Fertile Crescent) and describe
why there is such a great difference in food production.
4. What two conclusions does Diamond want to emphasize?
Chapter 9: Zebras, Unhappy Marriages, and the Anna Karenina Principle
1. What is the Anna Karenina Principle?
2. List the five major domestic mammals, the nine minor ones, and describe why the “big wild
terrestrial herbivores” cannot be domesticated.
Chapter 10: Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes
1. Compare the spread of east/west axes in Eurasia to the north/south axes of the Americas.
Epilogue
1. Describe Diamond's explanation for why Europe rose to be a global leader instead of China or
the Fertile Crescent. (In paragraph form)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 11: Lethal Gift of Livestock
1. What are two historically famous epidemics?
2. What are the four common characteristics shared by lethal epidemics?
3. Why did the rise of agriculture launch the evolution of infectious diseases? (In complete sentences) (page 205)
4. List four diseases that are contracted from an animal.
Chapter 15: Yali’s People
1. Why didn’t Australia develop metal tools and writing?
2. Why didn’t advanced technology from other places reach Australia?
Chapter 16: How China Became Chinese
1. Define Sinification.
2. What are some characteristics and accomplishments of Chinese civilization?
Chapter 18: Hemispheres Colliding
1. Using pages 354-357, make a chart that compares and contrasts Eurasian and Native American society prior to 1492.
2. Describe the five areas of technology that were contributing factors to Europe’s conquest of the Americas.
3. Referencing Table18.1; Which is the earliest developing society? Second earliest? Third?
Which societies never developed writing systems? Which never developed iron tools?
4. What had the Native American population been reduced by (%) since 1492
Chapter 19: How Africa Became Black
1. Why does the author think that Madagascar (the island, not the move) is the single most astonishing fact of human
history?
2. Where did agriculture first arise in Africa?