Homework Syllabus for the 2016-2017 School Year
WHAP Ms. Napp
The World History Advanced Placementcurriculum is a cross-cultural and chronological examination of the connections and encounters between the world’s diverse peoples and the development of individual cultures within diverse regions. Students of World History AP are encouraged to interact with information on many levels. From the gathering of facts concerning when and how events happened to the greater complexities of how circumstances impacted different groups within societies and between societies, students examine world history from a multiplicity of perspectives.
Of course, a history of the world is a daunting undertaking and to ensure that information is understood and remembered, the homework syllabus is designed to provide students opportunities to analyze and synthesize information, to practice concepts and skills, and to reinforce critical information. Therefore, the completion of a weekly homework assignment is a required component of the course. In thispacket, students will find the assignments for the entire year.
Ultimately, all students can achieve academic success in the Advanced PlacementWorld History classroom. The homework syllabus is designed to help students achieve academic mastery.
Required Materials for the Completion of the Homework Syllabus:
1-The Textbook (All students will be issued a copy of Robert W. Strayer’s Ways of the World: A Global History)
Note: The Textbook Companion Website is available at the following link:
2-Ms. Napp’s Social Studies Webpage
Note: Ms. Napp’s Social Studies Webpage is available at the following link:
Optional Materials but Highly Recommended:
- A Box Set of World History AP Flashcards
- A Review Book for World History AP
Note: Many publishers such as Barron’s, Kaplan’s, and 5 Steps to a 5 offer World History AP Flashcards
“Patience can cook a stone.”
~ African proverb
A Note about Ms. Napp’s Homework Philosophy:
Homework is an opportunity for reflection and analysis of the key concepts, events, and themes of world history. Homework is an opportunity to practice essential skills such as analytical reading and writing. Homework is also a vehicle to practice and acquire mastery of facts. Finally, the completion of homework will lead to the creation of a superb review document for the Advanced Placement World History examination. As such, all students are encouraged to maintain neat and accurate homework assignments and to preserve assignments in preparation for exams.
“To enjoy a grander sight, climb to a greater height.”
~ Chinese Proverb
“Walking slowly, even the donkey will reach Lhasa.”
~ Indian Proverb
The Assignments:
Strayer: / Questions: / Date:pp. 3-20 / 1-According to archaeologists, what is the evolutionary line of descent?
2-Where did this evolutionary line of descent occur?
3-What characteristic is shared by all hominids?
4-Define bipedalism.
5-What did archaeologist Mary Leakey uncover in 1976?
6-What did Homo habilis begin to make?
7-What is Homo erectus associated with?
8-When did Homo sapiens probably emerge?
9-When did Homo sapiens begin to migrate out of Africa?
10-Describe the way of life during the Paleolithic era.
11-What percentage of time does the Paleolithic era represent of the total time humans inhabited the earth?
12-What was the single most significant and enduring transformation of the human condition?
13-Define pastoralists.
14-Why were the Americas at a distinct disadvantage in terms of animal husbandry?
15-What were “civilizations” based on?
16-When did the first cities emerge in world history?
17-Why have people living in state- and city-based societies or civilizations long constituted the most powerful and innovative human communities?
18-Identify six places where the earliest civilizations emerged.
19-What does B.C.E. mean?
20-What does C.E. mean?
21-What event marks Year 1 in the Muslim calendar?
22-What do the ways we measure time reflect?
23-Define foragers.
24-What achievements of Paleolithic people deserve our attention?
25-Why was the first 150,000 years of human experience an exclusively African story?
26-Define culture.
27-Draw a smaller version of the global dispersion of humankind map to the best of your ability.
28-What advantage did the last Ice Age give outward-bound human beings?
29-Identify several new technologies that emerged across the vast plains of Central Europe, Ukraine, and Russia as a result of Paleolithic adaptations to Ice Age conditions.
30-How did early human migration to Australia occur?
31-What did the Australian Dreamtime recount?
32-Why did the earliest settlement of the Western Hemisphere occur much later than that of Australia?
33-Describe Clovis culture.
34-How did Austronesian migrations differ from other early patterns of human migration?
35-Describe the first human societies. / 9/16
pp. 25-48 / 1-What did the Bantu-speaking peoples bring to southern Africa?
2-Describe the technique known as “insulting the meat.”
3-How did the Chumash differ from the San?
4-How have a growing number of people disillusioned with modernity come to look at the Paleolithic era differently?
5-What was the chief feature of the long Paleolithic era?
6-What second global pattern began to unfold around 12,000 years ago?
7-Describe the revolutionary transformation that occurred as a result of the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution.
8-Why did domestication create a new kind of mutual dependence?
9-What was the most extraordinary feature of the Agricultural or Neolithic Revolution?
10-Identify the locations were agriculture occurred independently.
11-Why is it no accident that the Agricultural Revolution coincided with the end of the last Ice Age?
12-Why do most scholars believe that women were the likely innovators who led the way to deliberate farming?
13-What was the first location of an area that experienced a full Agricultural Revolution?
14-What was domesticated in this first area to experience a full Agricultural Revolution?
15-Draw a smaller version of the Fertile Crescent map.
16-Provide specific examples of environmental deterioration in economically fragile regions that experienced this new way of life as a result of an Agricultural Revolution.
17-What preceded the domestication of plants in Africa and how did Africa differ from other regions that experienced an agricultural revolution?
18-Describe teff.
19-What was the most distinctive feature of the Agricultural Revolution in the Americas?
20-How many of the fourteen major species of large mammals that have been brought under human control existed in the Western Hemisphere?
21-How did the lack of domesticated animals impact the peoples of the Americas?
22-Why was the domestication of corn in the Americas, according to one geneticist, “arguably man’s first, and perhaps his greatest, feat of genetic engineering”?
23-Compare corn to cereal grains of the Fertile Crescent.
24-How did the north/south orientation of the Americas affect the spread of agriculture in the Americas?
25-How did the east/west axis of Eurasia affect the spread of agriculture in Eurasia?
26-Identify three candidates for domestication in the Andean highlands that never reached Mesoamerica.
27-Where did the Indo-European languages probably originate and how did these languages spread?
28-Draw a smaller version of the Global Spread of Agriculture map.
29-Identify significant facts about the Bantu migration.
30-Provide evidence that the agricultural revolution in New Guinea did not spread much beyond its core region.
31-Why did the Agricultural Revolution lead to an increase in human population?
32-Provide evidence that farming did not necessarily mean an improved life for ordinary people.
33-What is metallurgy?
34-What was the “secondary products revolution”?
35-What factors gave rise to distinct kinds of societies early on in the age of agriculture?
/ 9/23
pp. 49-68 / 1-Where did herders, pastoralists, or nomads emerge?
2-Describe the complicated relationship between nomadic herders and their farming neighbors.
3-Describe life in Çatalhöyük, a very early agricultural village in southern Turkey.
4-Describe the “title societies” of the Igbo of southern Nigeria.
5-When did Cahokia flourish; where was Cahokia located; and what distinction began to take root in chiefdoms like Cahokia that would be replicated elsewhere?
6-What did the ancient Chinese teachers of Daoism urge their followers to abandon?
7-What is the strange paradox of civilization?
8-Describe the new and particular type of human society commonly referred to as civilization.
9-When did the earliest civilizations emerge?
10-Where did the earliest civilizations emerge?
11-Describe the civilization of Norte Chico.
12-Define quipu.
13-Describe the civilization that developed in the Indus River Valley.
14-Draw a smaller version of the First Civilizations map.
15-What has the lack of palaces, temples, elaborate graves, kings or warrior classes sent scholars scrambling to provide an explanation for in the Indus Valley?
16-How did the environmental impact of the Indus Valley civilization eventually undermine its ecological foundations?
17-How did the early civilization of China differ from the early civilization of the Indus Valley?
18-Identify facts about the Xia dynasty.
19-How did the subsequent dynasties of the Shang and Zhou change the Chinese state?
20-Describe the concept of the Mandate of Heaven that developed during the Zhou dynasty.
21-What were oracle bones?
22-Describe Olmec civilization.
23-Why is Olmec civilization regarded as the “mother civilization” of Mesoamerica?
24-What did civilization have its roots in?
25-What is the one of the most distinctive features of the First Civilizations?
26-Describe the city of Uruk, ancient Mesopotamia’s largest city.
27-How did the Epic of Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia’s ancient epic poem, describe the city of Uruk?
28-Describe the city of Mohenjo-Daro.
29-Describe the city of Teotihuacán.
30-Why was urban society impersonal?
31-Describe the inequality and hierarchies of the First Civilizations.
32-How did the practice of slavery in ancient times vary considerably from place to place?
33-How and why did the introduction of animal-drawn plows affect the role of women?
34-Define patriarchy.
35-Why did women in Egyptian civilization, although patriarchal, have greater opportunities than most other First Civilizations? / 9/30
pp. 69-84 / 1-What held ancient civilizations together despite the many tensions and complexities of urban living and the vast inequalities of civilized societies?
2-Why was the state more useful for some people than for others?
3-Why were ancient Chinese kings known as the Son of Heaven?
4-What remarkable invention was a further support of state authority and how was this invention viewed?
5-Draw a smaller version of the Writing in Ancient Civilizations snapshot but only include location, type, and example for each region and writing system.
6-Why did Qin Shihuangdi allegedly bury alive some 460 scholars and burned their books?
7-Describe the Olmec stone heads.
8-What were common features of the First Civilizations?
9-How did an open environment without serious obstacles to travel affect Mesopotamia?
10-What geographic features protected Egypt?
11-How did the environment of Mesopotamia affect the Mesopotamian outlook on life?
12-Identify several important details about the story recounted in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia’s most famous literary work.
13-Draw a smaller version of the map titled Mesopotamia.
14-How did the geographic setting of the elite literature culture in Egypt affect the outlook of Egyptians?
15-What did the amazing pyramids, constructed during Egypt’s Old Kingdom, reflect a firm belief in?
16-What change occurred regarding the Egyptian view on gaining access to the afterlife by the New Kingdom?
17-Describe the “negative confession” that one text used in burial ceremonies required.
18-Describe environmental problems experienced in Sumer as a result of the Sumerian impact on the environment.
19-Why did a more sustainable agricultural system last in Egypt compared to Mesopotamia?
20-What allowed a degree of stability and continuity to occur in Egypt as compared to Sumer?
21-Describe the city-states in Sumer.
22-Why was Mesopotamia the most thoroughly urbanized society of ancient times?
23-What was the chief reason for massive urbanization in Sumerian city-states?
24-How did a poet lament the destruction of the city of Ur?
25-What did the Akkadians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians create in Mesopotamia?
26-How many years did Egypt maintain unity and independence, though with occasional interruptions?
27-Where did most people live in Egypt? Why?
28-Describe the role of the pharaoh in Egypt.
29-How did the role of the pharaoh change over time in Egypt?
30-Where had Sumerian merchants established seaborne contact with?
31-Identify significant facts about the Hebrews.
32-Identify significant facts about the Phoenicians.
33-How was Nubia influenced by Egypt and yet how did Nubia remain a distinct civilization?
34-What did historian Martin Bernal claim in his book, Black Athena?
35-Why do scholars have reservations about the term “civilization”? / 10/7
pp.
87-101 / 1-Why did the Indus Valley civilization decline?
2-Why does the end of Olmec civilization around 400 B.C.E. puzzle historians?
3-How did the second and third waves of civilization differ from the First Civilizations?
4-Why did landowning elites have little incentive to innovate?
5-Draw a smaller version of the Roman Empire map.
6-What did the Roman conquerors allegedly do to Carthage?
7-What have scholars estimated about the population of Mayan civilization as the civilization dissolved?
8-What “wisdom traditions” developed in the second- and third-wave civilizations?
9-What did the Chinese invent during the second- and third waves of agrarian civilizations?
10-What did India pioneer?
11-Why do historians frequently refer to the period between 500 B.C.E. and 500 C.E. as the “classical era”?
12-What is an empire?
13-Identify the Eurasian empires of the classical era.
14-Why did imperial states stimulate the exchange of ideas, cultures, and values?
15-How did the Roman Empire transform Christianity?
16-Why did the Persian Empire and Greek civilization experience a centuries-long interaction and clash?
17-What earlier empires did the Persians draw upon?
18-When did the famous Persian monarch Cyrus and Darius rule?
19-Where did Persian conquests quickly reach from?
20-Describe the elaborate cult of kingship in the Persian Empire.
21-What happened when the Persian king died?
22-By whose power did the Persian king rule?
23-What happened to one high-ranking nobleman who interrupted the king while the king was with his wife?
24-What was the official title of Persian monarchs?
25-How did Darius best express the authority of the Persian ruler?
26-Draw a smaller version of the Persian Empire map.
27-Describe the effective administrative system in the Persian Empire.
28-Define satraps.
29-Who were the “eyes and ears of the King”?
30-Why did Cyrus win the gratitude of the Jews?
31-What aspects of the Persian Empire provided a model for all subsequent regimes in the region, including, later, those of the Islamic world?
32-Describe the infrastructure of the Persian Empire.
33-Describe the “royal road.”
34-What did Herodotus write about the imperial courier service?
35-Describe the Persian city of Persepolis. / 10/14
pp.
101-121 / 1-How did classical Greece differ from the Persian Empire and what did the Greeks call themselves?
2-How did the geography of Greece contribute to the political shape of Greek civilization?
3-How did Greek expansion differ from Persian expansion and what factors stimulated Greek emigration?
4-What was the broadening of political rights in Greek history in part associated with?
5-Define hoplites.
6-What was Sparta famous for and describe Sparta’s Council of Elders?
7-Identify significant facts about Solon, Cleisthenes and Pericles.
8-What happened in Ionia that fueled confrontation?
9-Why did the Greek victory over the Persians radicalize Athenian democracy?
10-What happened in the fifty years or so after the Greco-Persian Wars or the Golden Age of Greek culture?
11-What factors led to a bitter civil war in classical Greece and what was the outcome of the Peloponnesian War?
12-Draw a smaller version of the Alexander’s Empire and Successor States map.
13-What was the chief significance of Alexander’s amazing conquests?
14-What similarities did the Roman Empire and China’s imperial state share?
15-What happened in Rome around 509 B.C.E.?
16-Define patricians, plebeians, and tribune.
17-How did the Punic Wars with Carthage (between 264 and 146 B.C.E.) change Rome?
18-How were the Romans brutal in their wars with Carthage yet generous to other former enemies?
19-What question did Roman expansion raise?
20-How did Caesar Augustus change Rome and what was the Pax Romana?
21-Identify many significant facts about Shihuangdi.
22-Define legalism.
23-How did Shihuangdi unify China?
24-How was the Han dynasty similar to Shihuangdi’s creation yet different?
25-Identify the many similarities between the Roman and Chinese empires.
26-Define the Mandate of Heaven and how it justified rebellions.
27-How did Christianity become a significant religion in the Roman Empire and Buddhism a significant religion in China?
28-How were the Roman and Chinese empires different?
29-Describe the imperial academy established by Han emperor Wudi as well as the civil service system.
30-Compare the collapse of the Roman Empire and the collapse of the Han dynasty.
31-Identify significant facts about the Aryans.
32-Identify significant facts about the Mauryan Empire.
33-Why did the battle against the state of Kalinga mark a turning point in Ashoka’s reign?
34-What changes occurred as a result of Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism?
35-What happened after the collapse of the Mauryan Empire? / 10/21
Review / Using either Ms. Napp’s Review Packet titled “The 300 – Give or Take a Few” or a box of World History AP flashcards; review the following terms and then select thirty-five terms that you wish to highlight by creating a visual summary of the terms through a creative medium – mural or video or cartoon