Welcome to AP World History aka WHAP!
I am excited to have you join this class on what will prove to be an exhilarating academic adventure!
Please be aware that this class requires you to keep up with reading, and that you will need to read each
night if you would like to do well in this course. As such, we start out with Summer Readings &
Assignments which are listed below and can be accessed on my website,
http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/DRuane/, under the “AP World History” tab located on
the left side of the page. It will be updated as of June 1st.
You will need to join the AP World History edmodo class. Please email me by June 1st to get the code.
The text, The Earth and Its Peoples, 3rd edition is hyperlinked both in this document and on my website,
although there are no pictures in the online version. We will also be using Ethel Wood’s AP World
History: An Essential Course Book, which you will need to get a copy from
http://www.woodyardpublications.com/ap_world_history . Please note: I have spoken with Ms. Wood,
and if you contact her on email (use the link) and let her know you are my student at Starr’s Mill High
School, she will give you the reduced price plus shipping & handling. (If a group of you get together, the
shipping will be less per person.) If there is a financial issue, please discuss with me, and we can make
arrangements. If you are not sure why we are going to also use this text, please compare the Earth and
Its Peoples link with
http://www.lvwildcats.com/apps/download/v3s3Vs32TDKxwoonYeVkxHlOD4NjoX1yQRAp0FGjclsl0Wfp.
pdf/world%20unit%201.pdf , which is a pdf version posted by another teacher of the first unit.
PART I:
This portion is optional:
Read the introduction in the Ethel Wood text to get an understanding for what AP World History is and
is not.
Part II:
From the Wood AP World History: An Essential Course Book :
All on pages assigned, make sure you read the grey shaded boxes! These
are important concepts/ essays information/ or primary sources. You
should have your terms done on separate sheets of paper. These are due
the first day of class for a grade.
Read pp. 21-25 and do all the terms (handwritten only) on p. 25.
Read pp. 26-34 and do all the terms (handwritten only) on p. 34.
Read pp. 35-55 and do the terms (handwritten only) below (they are in alphabetical order) :
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Akkadian Empire
Amon Re
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Amulets
Aryans
Assyrians
Babylonians
Book of the Dead
Cataracts
City-state
Civilization (7 characteristics)
Cultural diffusion
Cultural hearths
Cuneiform
Dravidian
Dynasty (dynastic cycles)
Epic of Gilgamesh
Ferticle Crescent
Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s Code
Harappa
Hatshepsut
Hittites
Horus
Hyksos
Isis
Labor systems
Law code
Ma’at
Menes
Mesopotamia
Middle Kingdom
Mohenjo-Daro
Monsoon rains
New Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Papyrus
Patriarchy
Pharaoh
Pictographs
Rosetta Stone
Semitic
Sumerians
Systems failure
Theocracy
ziggurats
You will need to complete the following by the first day of school in your own
handwriting, and there will be a quiz on this summer reading as soon as the first
day of school—but definitely within the first week.
PART II: REQUIRED BOOKS: These books will be used later in the course as well so it is highly
recommended that students purchase a copy. If there is a financial issue, please contact me.
Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 in A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage.
Use Cornell Notes format and directions (both below) to take notes on this book.
A. On the left side of the notebook, you are to take reading notes on each chapter. For each chapter,
these must include: the main ideas of each chapter, an explanation of what the author is discussing and
specific examples. These may be in bulleted form.
B. On the right side, you are to write your thoughts about what you are reading, in context to history
and geography, and you are to write the key vocabulary words (with definitions), and the key people in
each chapter ( with a brief explanation of who they are). For the right side, you will need to create a
specific pattern that you want to follow as you read each chapter.
LEFT SIDE
Cornell-style Notes: Chapter 1: Title
Your reading notes will go on these pages.
You should have the one or two main ideas of
each
chapter, an explanation of what the author is
discussing and specific examples from the
reading.
RIGHT SIDE Thoughts and Reflections on Ch.
One: Title
1. Your thoughts based on the context of
world
history and geography.
2. Vocabulary with definitions
3. Key individuals with explanations
4. Any things you did not understand in the
chapter.
Chapter 1 on Xuanzang and Chapter 10 in When Asia was the World, by Stewart Gordon.
Take notes on each chapter as you see fit, but no more than one page for each
chapter, and they must be HANDWRITTEN. Especially important to note are the
following themes:
1) Religion
2) commodities – books, silk (robes!), spices, etc.
3) communication between people of different languages and cultures
You will turn in notes on these books for a grade the first day of school.
One of the biggest things you can do over the summer (and it is true for the rest of the year in AP World
History) is do not get behind. There is too much information to read, so I recommend you start with the
study guides first, and then go on to the excerpts from A History of the World in 6 Glasses and When
Asia was the World.
Join the AP World History edmodo group by the June 1st. This is a primary means of communication for
me to my students, and for you to use with your classmates. You will need to email me for the edmodo code (each
one is different) at ruane.diane@mail.fcboe.org.
-Mrs. Ruane