AP European History
Course Syllabus
Textbook
Kagan, Donald M., Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage: Since 1300, AP Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Course Objectives
Although the purpose of this course is designed to prepare students for a college level curriculum at the high school level, it also will seek to expand their intellectual horizons. Following the state guidelines in history, geography, civics, and economics as well as the guidelines set forth each year by the AP European History Guide this course will:
· Work on expanding the students ability to analyze primary source documents and make conclusions based on available information
· Examine competing narratives from primary and secondary sources, allowing students to recognize a historical argument from both points of view
· Study the flow of history by studying the cause and effect of various events from cultural, social and political standpoints
· Build research skills to create depth beyond textbook or classroom learning
· Expand debate, reasoning (deductive and inductive), and analytical skills that can bring the topics discussed into context of the modern world.
· Recognize the difference between knowledge to know and trivia, particularly when dealing with the text
· Prepare students for college level research papers, essays, and workload while also providing supports to “scaffold” their evolution from high school to college.
· Make history come alive by involving students in the learning process through oral reports, historical readings, research projects, and constructing their own exam
I. Course Purpose
The study of European history since 1450 introduces students to cultural, economic, political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world in which they live. Without this knowledge, we would lack the context for understanding the development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in present-day society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and intellectual discourse. The goals of the Advanced Placement European History program are to develop: (a) an understanding of some of the principal themes in modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze historical evidence and historical interpretation, and (c) an ability to express historical understanding in writing. This class will be taught on an alternating block schedule, meeting no less than two times a week but no more than three times a week and fulfills the state and district requirements for Social Studies at the 11th grade level. (Taken from the school course catalog)
II. Course Description and Theme
This class will be divided into six distinct units of roughly five weeks each (roughly two units a marking period). Questions dealing with the time period 1450 to 1789 (Units I and II) represent 50% of the exam while 1789 to the present (Units III thru VI) represent the remaining 50%. During each unit, students will examine in class (through teacher instruction) and on their own (through assignments and readings) Intellectual and Cultural History, Political and Diplomatic History, and Social and Economic History for the time period. Each "theme" is reflected as one third of the questions found on the AP exam.
From now until the beginning of May this class will be involved in “learning” the material in each of the six units, with exams, assignments, readings, and projects. Those units are outlined in the AP “Acorn” Book (the Course Guide) on AP European History, which can be found online at www.apcentral.com. The six units prior to the exam are as follows:
· Unit I: 1450 to 1648 – The Renaissance, Reformation and the Wars of Religion
· Unit II: 1648 to 1789 – Bourbon, Baroque, and the Enlightenment
· Unit III: 1789 to 1848 – Revolution and the New European Order
· Unit IV: 1848 to 1914 – Realism and Materialism
· Unit V: 1914 to 1935 – World War I and Europe in Crisis
· Unit VI: 1935 to 2001 – World War II, the Cold War, and the New World Order
III. Readings, Projects, and Exams
Readings
Each unit will feature anywhere from three to five chapters from The Western Heritage. Students are to complete the chapter assigned at intervals that match the classroom lesson of the teacher designated “important material/concepts” from the chapter. Therefore, students will start reading the Renaissance chapter prior to the first classroom lesson on the subject and finish the chapter by the last classroom lesson (roughly one calendar week per chapter).
To prove the assigned readings are being completed in-step with the lessons being taught in the classroom, students will be assigned to take notes on each chapter. These notes can be done in various styles, including but not limited to SQ4R and Cornell Notes, but need to be done at a 5:1 ratio (for each five textbook pages, students should have notes filling at least one side of a sheet of college ruled paper). Since most chapters are between 25 and 30 pages long, students need about three full sheets of paper (both sides) of notes in order to receive full credit.
The chapters from The Western Heritage match this course’s units as follows:
· Unit I – Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12
· Unit II – Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18
· Unit III – Chapters 17, 19, 20, and 21
· Unit IV – Chapters 22, 23, 24 and 25
· Unit V – Chapters 26, 27 and 28
· Unit VI – Chapters 29, 30, and 31
In addition, during each unit students will be asked for homework to read selections of primary (and in some cases secondary) source documents and answer questions about their formulation and interpret them. The works selected are found in each unit plan and often the students have the ability to pick amongst a few possible “selections” within the work.
Projects
In addition to the work required to follow the chronological flow of the class, students will also have a project for each marking period that represents continual learning. Those projects include writing a research paper, reading and analyzing a historical reading, constructing and giving an oral presentation, and the construction of an “AP Style” exam. The goal of all projects is to promote not just growth in an individual student but also growth that expands the dialog and learning within the classroom.
· Marking Period 1 project – Reading and Analyzing a historical reading
o Students will be given a choice of reading various historical works available for free on Project Guttenberg (such as Machiavelli’s The Prince, Dante’s Inferno, Voltaire’s Candide, Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, and Locke’s Two Treatises of Government). Students will then be asked to analyze the purpose behind the writing of the book, its impact on past and present society, and to use sections of the reading to underscore those purposes. This type of writing is intended to prepare students for using primary source documents to make a point – exactly like the DBQ on the exam. The final product should be no less than five pages double spaced.
· Marking Period 2 project – Constructing and giving an oral presentation
o As a way of preparing for the midterm exam, students will be assigned to four teams who will select 16 important figures from the period 1450-1848 (for a total of 64). The four teams will select their figures from the following categories: Kings and Queens, Scientists and Philosophers, Artists and Writers, and Explorers, Power players and Religious leaders. Based on their selections, students will be placed in brackets (similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament) and compete against others in their class. Each individual student will be given four figures to present, two from their team and two from another team. For the two figures picked from their team they will provide the class with positive reasons why that figure should advance. For the two figures picked from another team they will provide the class with negative reasons to prevent that figure from advancing. Students will then weigh not only a comparison between two different figures but also two narratives for each as well (popular vote will determine who advances). The grade will be determined by a rubric provided for the presentations as a whole AND based around advancement in the “tournament.”
· Marking Period 3 project – Writing a research paper
o Students will be asked to pick a particular historical event or topic to write about (specific like the “Tennis Court Oath”, not broad like the “French Revolution”). Students are to use no less than five secondary sources and two primary sources in researching their chosen topic. The final paper itself should be no less than eight pages long and give a “well-rounded” view of the topic from multiple perspectives in order to meet state and AP guidelines on multiple perspectives.
· Marking Period 4 project – Construction of an “AP style” exam
o Students will be assigned into groups and be asked to construct their own AP Exam, featuring 80 multiple choice questions, seven essays, and one DBQ. Once completing their final product, the exams will be given in class and students will take other constructed exams as a group (so they can share knowledge and correct misconceptions). Students will be graded on how their group does collectively on the exams AND on how well constructed their exam was.
Exams
Each marking period, students will take two unit exams. Those exams will focus ONLY on the unit just completed and include 80 Multiple Choice questions and either a DBQ or a choice of three essays (in which the students will have to answer just one). The multiple choice questions will be taken from actual questions released by the AP Board and from the textbook test bank for the chapters covered. The DBQ and the essay choices will be also taken directly from the released essay/DBQ questions found at apcentral.com in order to acclimate the students to the AP Testing rubric, timing, and style of questioning. Students will be timed on the two sections just as they will see when taking the AP Exam (55 minutes for the multiple choice about 25 minutes for the essay).
IV. Unit Guide (add one additional day per unit for testing)
Unit I – Twelve 90-minute class periods (MP#1 – late August/September)
DBQ Questions from previous AP Exams: 2004 DBQ, 2004 DBQ (Test B)
· Unit I course pack featuring AP Essay questions from 1999 to present
Primary Source Readings for Unit:
· Divine Comedy by Dante
· The Decameron by Boccaccio
· In Praise of Folly by Erasmus
· Utopia by Thomas More
· The Prince by Machiavelli
· 95 Theses by Martin Luther
· Act of Supremacy by Henry VIII
Audio-visual assistance for the Unit:
· CNN’s Millennium (Episode 4)
o Segments on Episode 4 on the Bubonic Plague
· The History Channel’s Elizabeth I (Episode 1)
o Segments on Elizabeth’s childhood
· PowerCD Presentation The Renaissance – The Age and It’s Art (digital filmstrip)
· Powerpoint presentation (constructed by the teacher) on Protestant Reformation
Chapter 9 (pages 290-315)
· The Hundred Years’ War between England and France.
· The effects of the bubonic plague on society.
· The growing power of secular rulers over the Church.
· Schism, heresy, and conciliar reform in the Church.
Chapter 10 (pages 316-351) – four days
· Renaissance politics, culture, and art in Italy.
· The northern Renaissance that followed that in Italy.
· Italian politics, wars, and foreign intervention in Italy by France and Spain.
· Powerful new monarchies of Spain, France, and England.
Chapter 11 (pages 352-387) – four days
· The social and religious origins of the Reformation.
· Martin Luther’s role in the German Reformation.
· The course of the Reformation in Switzerland, France, and England.
· The Catholic Counter-Reformation’s achievements.
· The social impact of the Reformation in western and central Europe.
Chapter 12 (pages 388-415) – four days
· The French wars of religion between Catholics and Calvinists.
· Spanish struggle against Dutch independence in the Netherlands.
· The struggle between Catholic Spain and Protestant England.
· The course of the Thirty Years’ War and the devastation of central Europe.
Unit II – Eleven 90-minute class periods (MP#1 – October)
DBQ Questions from previous AP Exams: 2005 DBQ (Test B)
· Unit II course pack featuring AP Essay questions from 1999 to present
Primary Source Readings for Unit (one is read in its entirety for the MP#1 Project):
· Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World by Galileo
· Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
· Two Treaties of Government by John Locke
· Candide by Voltaire
· Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
· English Bill of Rights
Audio-visual assistance for the Unit:
· The History Channel’s Elizabeth I (Episode 2 and 3)
o Spanish Intrigue and Elizabethan Age
· Nova: Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens
· Russia: Land of the Tsars
o Segment covering the czars from Ivan IV to Peter I
· Wiki-research assignments (constructed by the teacher) on The English Civil War and Louis XIV/Versailles Palace