Final Exam Study Guide
Exam: Wednesday, June 17th at 12 pm
Room:
B□:
C□:
E□:
F□:
Purpose
Why is there a final exam? The final is meant to help you:
● Review important ideas and events from the regions of the world we’ve studied
● Bring together ideas from different units in order to better understand the world before 1600
● Demonstrate your ability to use evidence and analysis to answer a question
Format
●
●
80 multiple choice questions
1 open response question
Big Questions/Big Ideas
The World History I Final Exam asks you to bring together ideas from different units to create a
picture of the world before 1600. Use these “Big Questions” as a guide to help you think about the big
ideas that connect the regions of the world we studied this year. You should know how to answer
these questions to be prepared for the final exam.
In what ways did leaders gain and maintain legitimacy?
How did trade networks change societies?
What sparked technological and intellectual innovations, and what changed because of them?
How did religion and philosophy influence government, art, social class and/or gender?
Open Response
For the open response question, you will be asked to write a well-organized answer that includes the
following:
● Idea-driven claim
● 3 pieces of specific evidence--each one from a different unit (3 pieces of evidence total)
● Analysis of each piece of evidence and an explanation of how the evidence helps answer the
question
● Conclude with a sentence that links to the claim
Regions of the World
On the following pages is a list of each region of the world we studied this year and the objectives, or
things you should know about, each region. Keep in mind that the bold terms are vocabulary terms.
Create a study tool that will help you prepare for the exam; that could be a huge stack of flashcards, a
two-column chart, completing the items below, etc. Once you’ve completed that, your work is not over
- you then need to review it, have people quiz you on it...
South Asia (India) (Chapter 3.1 and 3.2, p. 57-61; Chapter 7.1 and 7.2, p. 172-6)
● Describe how Chandragupta Maurya ruled the Mauryan Empire
● Explain Ashoka’s role in spreading Buddhism
● Describe the accomplishments of the Gupta Empire and explain why it was a Golden Age
● Explain the basic beliefs of Hinduism and their relationship to each other (karma, moksha,
reincarnation/samsara, caste)
● Retell the story of the Buddha’s life
● Explain the basic beliefs of Buddhism and their relationship to each other (Four Noble
Truths, Eightfold Path, nirvana, dharma)
● Compare Hinduism and Buddhism
China (Ch. 2.4, p. 46-51; Ch. 4.4, p. 97-101; Ch. 7.3, p. 181-7; Ch. 12.1, 2, and 3, p. 286-302)
● Explain why China described itself as the Middle Kingdom
● Explain how the Mandate of Heaven relates to the Dynastic Cycle
● Describe the main ideas of Confucianism (filial piety, civil service, five relationships)
● Describe the basic ideas of Legalism/Shi Huang Di and Daoism/Lao Tzi
● Describe the accomplishments of the Han Synthesis
● Use the innovations of the Tang and Song Dynasties to describe life in China
● Describe the Mongols’ way of life using the terms pastoral & nomad
● Describe how the Mongols were both a regressive force and agents of cultural diffusion
Rome and Byzantium (Chapter 6.1 through 6.5, p. 141-169; Chapter 11.1, p. 268-273)
● Describe the Roman Republic using the terms consul, patrician, plebeian, senate,
tribune
● Explain the importance of civic virtue to a republic
● Compare and contrast the Roman republic and Roman Empire
● Explain the importance of Pax Romana
● Evaluate the accomplishments of Julius Caesar, Augustus and Constantine
● Explain why the Roman Empire was divided and why the western empire collapsed
● Compare the impact of the Roman Empire on Judaism and Christianity
● Describe the basic beliefs of Judaism and Christianity, their relationship to each other, and
how these religions spread during the Roman Empire (Torah, Abraham, covenant,
Diaspora, Jesus, Bible, Jerusalem)
● Compare the Roman and Byzantine Empires
Islamic Empires (Chapter 10.1 through 10.3, p. 233-249)
● Describe the origins, beliefs and practices of Muslims (Muhammad, Qu’ran, Five Pillars)
● Identify several ways in which Islam is rooted in Judaism and Christianity
● Describe the geographic growth of Islamic Empires
● Describe the role of the “rightly guided” caliphs and explain how differences in later caliphates
led to different beliefs between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims
● Explain why Islamic Empires succeeded militarily, politically, and religiously
● Explain the importance of trade in the growth of the Islamic Empires
● Explain how the scientific, artistic and intellectual accomplishments of the Islamic Golden Age
were influenced by religion and trade
Africa (Chapter 8.3, p. 203-5; Chapter 15.2 and 15.3, p. 371-381)
● Compare and contrast the trans-Saharan and Swahili Coast trading networks
● Explain the political and economic reasons East and West Africans converted to Islam
● Explain how Mansa Musa influenced the culture and economy of West Africa
Middle Ages (Chapter 13 and 14, p. 314-362)
● Describe the role of vassals, lords, knights and manors in a feudal system
● Provide examples that show how religious and secular leaders interacted during the Middle
Ages (Charlemagne, Pope, Henry IV)
● Explain how monasteries helped increase the legitimacy of the Church
● Explain how life changed after the Crusades
● Identify the causes and consequences of the Crusades
● Explain the causes and consequences of the Schism of 1054
● Explain how the plague spread and contributed to the chaos of the late Middle Ages
Reformation & Renaissance (Chapter 17, p. 415-432)
● Explain the importance of the printing press
● Describe the reasons for the Reformation and the changes that resulted
● Describe the Renaissance, explain why it took place, and identify the values of humanism
(secularism, individualism, classicism)
● Compare the Renaissance to the Middle Ages
Cross-Unit (ideas, events and people that come up in more than one unit)
● Compare pastoral nomads and settled people
● List the goods, ideas, and aspects of culture traded along the Silk Road
● Explain the accomplishments of ibn Battuta and their significance to historians today
● Describe the role of Hajj in linking societies across Afroeurasia
● Compare Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
Key Vocabulary
In addition to the bolded words above, knowing the words below will help you answer multiple-choice
questions and write a more sophisticated open response. You should know the definition and how it
applies to what you have learned.
Vocab Term
Definition
aristocracy
autocracy
bureaucracy
commercialization
cosmopolitan
infrastructure
legitimacy
monotheism
pagan
peasant
pluralism
polytheism
urbanization
Mapping
Use the blank map (hard copy) to identify the following empires and cities.
●
●
●
Locate the following cities on a map of Afroeuraisa
Timbuktu
Mecca
Jerusalem
Rome
Constantinople
Locate the following physical features on a map of Afroeurasia
Arabian Peninsula
Indian Ocean
Ganges River
Mediterranean Sea
Himalayas
Sahara Desert
Gobi Desert
Yangtze River
Yellow River
Identify the following empires when shaded on a map
Byzantine Empire
Golden Age of Islamic Empires
Swahili Coast
Gupta Empire
Mongol Empire
West African Empires
Han Dynasty
Roman Empire
(Ghana, Mali, Songhai)
Materials to Review:
During the year you should have been cleaning out your binder and keeping only materials helpful for
studying.
Helpful documents to review:
●
●
●
●
●
Study guides from each unit
Your vocabulary words defined from each unit
Study guide questions you answered
Whatever study materials you put together for unit tests
Unit Tests
You do NOT want:
●
●
Each individual reading and everything from the year
All of your notes/classwork
The following ACTIVE STUDYING methods will help you prepare:
●
●
●
●
●
●
Make notecards to test yourself
Create a quizlet (Don’t just do someone else’s)
Fill out the study guide (bullets)
Prepare claims, evidence, and analysis for four essays
Create a timeline of major events
Print a blank world map of Afroeurasia and label cities, features and empires
Use the key vocabulary (bolded words from units and page 3 chart) to study:
●
●
●
●
Define each vocabulary term (IN YOUR OWN WORDS)
Contextualize the vocabulary (When do you see this word? What PERSIA GEM? What
essential questions does it help answer? What other words does it connect to?)
Identify examples of this vocabulary from different units (How have you seen legitimacy
gained and maintained? What places have been cosmopolitan? Who is an aristocrat?)
Apply this vocabulary to one of the essential questions (Could you explain a specific example
of this idea as evidence for one of the open response prompts?)
MOST IMPORTANT…recognize how much you’ve learned, how much you’ve
improved, and how intelligent you are:
●
●
●
●
●
You can do this. It is one test. It does not define you as a student.
Get a good night’s sleep on Tuesday night.
Trust your gut on Wednesday afternoon.
Stop thinking about the test once you’ve handed it in…you’re done!
I am very proud of you.