Bertolt Brecht
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“Because things
are the way they
are, things will
not stay the way
they are. ”
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE OVER TIME
The Continuity and Change Over Time (CCOT)
essay question tests the student’s ability to trace
a broad trend or development over a long period
of time
 The CCOT lends itself to a topical approach
 Topics may include cultural interchange, global
trade, the movement and migration of peoples,
the role of minorities in a given society, the
status of women, environmental issues, biological
developments, changes in technology, artistic and
cultural attitudes, and scientific innovations
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GENERAL TIPS FOR WRITING A CCOT
Students should take 40 minutes to complete the
CCOT essay
 Students should spend 5 of the 40 minutes
reading the question, reflecting on the question,
and organizing thoughts concerning the essay
 The CCOT will request that students analyze the
evolution of a trend or phenomenon over a long
period of time
 Students will be asked to focus on a particular
nation or geographical region and may be given a
choice regarding which nation or region must be
included in the essay
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The requirements for the CCOT are more
straightforward than those for the DBQ.
However, students must concentrate on showing
what changed and how it changed as well as
what remained the same.
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THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE
WRITING
What were things like at the beginning of the
assigned period?
 What changed?
 How and why did it change?
 What were things like at the end of the assigned
period?
 What differences did those changes make?
 What remained the same?
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Definition: Change
To make different in some particular
~Merriam-Webster dictionary
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Definition: Continuity
Uninterrupted connection, succession, or union
~Merriam-Webster dictionary
SO, WAIT A MINUTE

It’s not just about change but about what
remained the same
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
Don’t forget the continuity part of the Continuity
and Change Over Time Essay
Let’s Practice!
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FROM THE 2005 WORLD HISTORY AP
EXAMINATION (COURTESY OF COLLEGE
ENTRANCE EXAMINATION BOARD):
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Analyze the social and economic transformations
that occurred in the Atlantic world as a result of
new contacts among Western Europe, Africa, and
the Americas from 1492 to 1750.
READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY
Analyze social and economic transformations
 But also analyze continuities
 As a result of new contacts among Western
Europe, Africa, and the Americas
 From 1492 to 1750

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FACTS ABOUT 1492
The Spanish, distracted by the Reconquista, were
not as quick as the Portuguese to start exploring
 Falling behind meant that, if the Spanish wanted
their own sea route to Asia, they would have to
try something different
 The result was the famous voyage of the Italian
captain Christopher Columbus in 1492,
sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
 What Columbus proposed was to sail west to
reach China and India
 What made his proposal striking was his belief
that the world was small enough that an
expedition would be able to sail from Spain to
Asia without getting lost or running out of food
and water
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Columbus set sail in August 1492, and his ships
reached the islands of the Caribbean on October
12
 Columbus was convinced that he had found the
Indies, but the Spanish and Portuguese realized
quickly that what he had found were lands
completely unknown to them
 The two countries turned to the pope to
determine who would be allowed to claim which
parts of the New World
 In lines of demarcation agreed to in 1494 and
1529, the pope gave jurisdiction over most of
South America and all of North America to the
Spanish
 The Portuguese received Brazil
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So, the year 1492 was a significant turning point
in world history. It brought the largely isolated
Americas into permanent contact with Europe
and Africa
 It led to the destruction of autonomous and
independent civilizations and societies in the
Americas
 It led to the encomienda system of Indian slavery
and the deaths of large numbers of Native
American Indians due to conquest and disease
 It led to the importation of African slaves to
replace a dying Native American Indian
population
 It led to the enrichment of Western European
nations as silver and cash crops like sugar and
cotton benefitted Europeans through their
mercantilist practices

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And after 1750, the Industrial Revolution will
begin in England and spread to Western Europe
and the Americas
 Therefore, this CCOT essay’s time period is from
the arrival of Columbus in the Americas until
just before the Industrial Revolution begins
 It is an essay about the conquest and colonization
of the Americas, primarily by Spain and
Portugal, and the tragedy of the Atlantic Slave
Trade and Triangular Trade as well as
mercantilism
 It is an essay about the consequences of the
Columbian Exchange and the intensification of
global trade
 It is a time period long before the independence
movements of the 1800s

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SO, CONSIDER THE COLONIAL SOCIAL
CLASS HIERARCHY WHEN WRITING
Peninsulares
 Creoles
 Mestizos
 Indians
 Africans

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CONSIDER THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE
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CONSIDER THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE
TRADE
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CONSIDER MERCANTILISM
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CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF DISEASE
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CONSIDER TRIANGULAR TRADE
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CONSIDER RELIGIOUS CONVERSION
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YES, THESE ARE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
BUT THERE ARE CONTINUITIES
Cultures do not simply cease to exist because of
conquest and forced conversion
 Cultural syncretism can and does occur

the fusion of two or more originally different
inflectional forms
~Merriam-Webster Dictionary
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Definition: Syncretism
CONSIDER RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM
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BUT DO NOT CONSIDER EVENTS AFTER
1750
This time period does not include the Scramble
for Africa, the Berlin Conference,
Industrialization, and the New Imperialism
 Therefore, particularly regarding Africa,
remember that African merchants participated in
the Atlantic Slave Trade in exchange for
European goods
 Dates are important and this time period from
1492 until 1750 is the time of the conquest and
colonization of the Americas, the Transatlantic
Slave Trade, the Age of Mercantilism, and the
beginning of colonial aspirations of several
European nations

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BEFORE WRITING, LET’S REVIEW THE
SCORING GUIDE
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Basic Core (For a possible total of 7 points)
-Acceptable Thesis (1 point)
-Deals with all parts of the question, though not
necessarily evenly or completely (2 points –
partial credit can be given)
-Backs up thesis with appropriate historical
evidence (2 points – partial credit can be given)
- Uses historical context to illustrate continuity
and change over time (1 point)
-Analyzes the process of change and continuity (1
point)
THE EXPANDED CORE FOR CCOT

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A score of 7 must be earned before a student can
gain expanded-core points (Total of 2 points)
Examples of Expanded Core:
-Begins with an explicit, analytical, and
comprehensive thesis
-Deals with all aspects of the question
-Gives ample historical evidence to back up
thesis
-Creatively links topic to relevant ideas, trends,
and events
KEY INGREDIENTS
Thesis
 Addressing all parts of the question
 Historical evidence to support thesis
 Using historical context to illustrate continuity
and change over time
 Analyzing the process of continuity and change
 And for expanded core points: Analytical,
Comprehensive, Ample Evidence, Creative

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TAKE A MOMENT TO ORGANIZE YOUR
THOUGHTS AND THEN BEGIN WRITING!
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HOW MANY FACTS CAN BE RECALLED?
Facts will provide the evidence needed to support
the thesis
 So, ultimately, it is important to recall as many
facts as possible that will support the thesis
 It is also important to recall facts for all regions
listed in the question: Western Europe, Africa,
and the Americas
 Points count
 Choose to win

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SAMPLE THESIS PARAGRAPH
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The year 1492 was a significant turning point in the
Atlantic World and world history. The unexpected
arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas
eventually led to profound social and economic
transformations that greatly altered societies in
Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas. As a
result of new contacts in the Atlantic World, some
societies benefitted economically and socially
while others were greatly weakened, damaged, or
even destroyed. Yet in the midst of these
significant changes lingered aspects of earlier
cultural realities. While it was predominantly a
period of great change, certain realities from
earlier days remained.
FACTS MATTER
To write a Continuity and Change Over Time
essay, facts are critical
 Unlike the DBQ, the only information the
student has to answer the question is the
information the student has remembered
 And the best way to remember information is to
practice and interact with it regularly

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Aristotle
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“Excellence is an art won by
training and habituation.
We do not act rightly
because we have virtue or
excellence, but we rather
have those because we have
acted rightly. We are what
we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an
act but a habit.”