Comparative Practice 2005 WHAP/Napp
The Question:
2005 Comparative Essay from the World History AP
Compare and contrast the political and economic effects of Mongol rule on TWO of the following regions:
China
Middle East
Russia
Do Now:
“By 1260 the Il-khan state, established by Chinggis’s grandson Hülegü, controlled Iran, Azerbaijan, Mesopotamia, and parts of Armenia. North of the Caspian Sea the Mongols who had conquered southern Russia established the capital of their Khanate of the Golden Horde (also called Kipchak Khanate) at Sarai on the Volga River. Like the Il-khans, they ruled an indigenous, mostly Turkic-speaking, Muslim population.
Some members of the Mongol imperial family professed Islam before the Mongol assault on the Middle East, and Turkic Muslims served the family in various capacities. Hülegü himself, though a Buddhist, had a trusted Shi’ite adviser and granted privileges to the Shi’ites. However, the Mongols under Hülegü’s command came only slowly to Islam.
Islamic doctrines clashed with Mongol ways. Muslims abhorred the Mongols’ worship of Buddhist and shamanist idols. Furthermore, Mongol law specified slaughtering animals without spilling blood, which involved opening the chest and stopping the heart. This horrified Muslims, who were forbidden to consumer blood and slaughtered animals by slitting their throats and draining the blood.
Islam became a point of inter-Mongol tension when Batu’s successor as leader of the Golden Horde declared himself a Muslim. He swore to avenge the murder of the Abbasid caliph and laid claim to the Caucasus – the mountains between the Black and Caspian Seas – which the Il-khans also claimed.
Some European leaders believed that if they helped the non-Muslim Il-khans repel the Golden Horde from the Caucasus, the Il-khans would help them relieve Muslim pressure on the Crusader principalities in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. This resulted in a brief correspondence between the Il-khan court and Pope Nicholas IV (r. 1288-1292) and a diplomatic mission that sent two Christian Turks to western Europe as Il-Khan ambassadors in the late 1200s…Before the Europeans’ diplomatic efforts could bear fruit, a new Il-khan ruler, Ghazan (1271-1304), declared himself a Muslim in 1295.”
~ The Earth and Its Peoples
1-Who was Hülegü and what did he do? ______
2-How did Hülegü interact with his Muslim subjects? ______
3-Why did tension sometimes exist between the Mongols and the Muslims? ______
4-Why was Ghazan significant? ______
The Basic Core Rubric:
- Has an Acceptable Thesis. [1 Point]
- Addresses all parts of the question, though not necessarily evenly or thoroughly. [2 Points but Partial Credit May Be Given]
- Substantiates thesis with appropriate historical evidence. [2 Points but Partial Credit May Be Given]
- Makes at least one relevant, direct comparison between/among societies. [1 Point]
- Analyzes at least one reason for a similarity or difference identified in a direct comparison. [1 Point]
Remember the Expanded Core Points:
- Expands beyond the basic core of 1 – 7 points
Questions:
1-What must an acceptable thesis for a Comparative essay contain? ______
2-What does it mean that all parts of the question must be addressed although not necessarily evenly or thoroughly? ______
3-What is historical evidence? ______
4-How many direct comparisons must the student make? ______
5-What must the student analyze? ______
6-How might a student “expand” beyond the basic core? ______
7-Make a list of all of the facts you remember regarding Mongol rule in China:
______
8-Make a list of all of the facts you remember regarding Mongol rule in Middle East: ______
9-Make a list of all of the facts you remember regarding Mongol rule in Russia: ______
Now, sort your facts in the chart below:
Political Effects of Mongol Rule on China: / Political Effects of Mongol Rule on the Middle East: / Political Effects of Mongol Rule on Russia:Economic Effects of Mongol Rule on China: / Economic Effects of Mongol Rule on the Middle East: / Economic Effects of Mongol Rule on Russia:
The Essay’s prompt:
Compare and contrast the political and economic effects of Mongol rule on TWO of the following regions:
China
Middle East
Russia
The Thesis Statement:
______
My specific similarity was: ______
My specific difference was: ______
Write one body paragraph of the essay [Now, it is time to analyze the similarity or the difference – to explain how and why this similarity or difference occurred and how and why it impacted people in the empires]:
______
Checklist for the Essay:
- An acceptable thesis statements needs to be comparative, stating at least one similarity and at least one difference.
- Acceptable thesis statements also need to be explicit, not simply restatements of the question or vague statements such as “there were more similarities than differences.” They also need to be relevant to the time period.
- A good response provides valid similarities and differences, substantiated by specific pieces of evidence from within the time period.
- Good essays do not include evidence that is outside the time period or any of the stipulated regions.
- Students should be told to make their connections clear, because readers will not infer that a particular essay demonstrates content knowledge that is not present in the plain language of the student response.
- Every paragraph must be comparative.
- A good response provides analysis and uses this analysis as an explanation of a reason for a similarity or difference.
- A good essay could consistently analyze cause and effect for the noted similarities and differences.
Questions:
1-What must an acceptable thesis statement for a comparative essay have? ______
2-What makes a thesis statement explicit? ______
3-What is not included in a good essay? ______
4-Why must students make their connections clear? ______
5-What must every paragraph be? ______
6-Why must students analyze? ______
Rate Thesis Statement A:
“The Mongols had significant political and economic impact on both Russia and China during their rule, but China was affected more, being ruled directly by the Mongols, whereas Russia was largely left to its own devices under independent princedoms and felt Mongol influence largely via taxes.”
My Grade for this Thesis Statement: ______
Why? ______
Rate Thesis Statement B:
“The Mongols had a large impact on many countries in the western world. The Mongols had a long reign of power but were eventually brought down by technologically advanced weapons but not before their impressions upon China and Russia. The Mongols had an everlasting impact on China’s and Russia’s political and economic systems and are still seen in present times of each country.”
My Grade for this Thesis Statement: ______
Why? ______
Write a paragraph explaining why Thesis Statement A is better than Thesis Statement B:
______
Multiple-Choice Questions:
(A) Was swallowed up in the growth of Novgorod, the only city to avoid conquest.
(B) Was moved 200 miles to the west.
(C) Allied itself with the Mongols and resolutely crushed Russian resistance movements to the Golden Horde.
(D) Only recovered from its sack and burning in the seventeenth century.
(E) Used its position as collector of tribute for the Mongols and the seat of Russian Orthodoxy to emerge as the political leader of Russia.
3. The establishment of the Mongol Empire had all of the following consequences EXCEPT:
(A) The reopening and extension of the Silk Road
(B) The strengthening of maritime trade in the South China Sea
(C) The diffusion of gunpowder technology
(D) The increase in the demand for European products such as wool, porcelain, sugar, spices and coffee
4. A result of the Mongol invasion, Moscow
(A) Was swallowed up in the growth of Novgorod, the only city to avoid conquest.
(B) Was moved 200 miles to the west.
(C) Allied itself with the Mongols and resolutely crushed Russian resistance movements to the Golden Horde.
(D) Only recovered from its sack and burning in the seventeenth century.
(E) Used its position as collector of tribute for the Mongols and the seat of Russian Orthodoxy to emerge as the political leader of Russia.
5. The Mongol conquests of much of Eurasia in the thirteenth century tended to encourage trade along the Silk Roads primarily by
(A) opening large new markets for both European and East Asian goods in Central Asia
(B) increasing the demand for military supplies needed by the Mongol armies that occupied various regions
(C) decreasing the risk of bandit attacks and reducing the number of local rulers collecting tribute from trade caravans
(D) discouraging seaborne trade along the Indian Ocean routes that competed with the Silk Roads / 2. The rise of the Mongol Empire contributed to all of the following EXCEPT
(A) The spread of Christianity
(B) An empire that extended across parts of Europe and Asia
(C) An unsuccessful attempt to conquer Japan
(D) The spread of the plague
(E) The growth of trade across Central Asia
- Which Mongol leader won the civil war of the 1260s and went on to conquer China?
(B)Batu
(C)Subudei
(D)Genghis
(E)Khubilai
- Why did the Mongol Empire break up?
(B)They failed to administer such a large territory effectively.
(C)After Genghis Khan died, his successors were too incompetent to rule.
(D)Russia conquered Mongolia.
(E)None of the above.
- Which of the following territories did the Mongols NOT conquer?
(B)Ukraine
(C)Bulgaria
(D)Romania
(E)France
- The reign of Khubilai Khan in China was marked by all but one of the following:
(B)Effective bureaucracy
(C)Economic malaise
(D)Renewed trade with the West
(E)The repairing of roads and canals