Mongol DBQ: Materials and Instructions

Hey guys!

Remember, your DBQ on the Mongols is due at the start of class tomorrow.  It should be:

• Handwritten and legible (skip lines if you need to)
• Written in pen
• Organized and thoughtful
• Fully compliant with the DBQ Rubric Checklist (you got a copy of this in class, but if you’ve lost it, that link will lead you to another copy).

If you’ve misplaced your documents for the DBQ, or just need a clean copy for note-taking, here it is: Mongol Document-Based Question Resources.

You may also find it useful to rewatch the Crash Course video embedded below:

Good luck, and remember that learning to write an effective DBQ is a process which is going to take several tries– so just do your best, and remember that we’ll have lots of chances for you to improve.

 

 

Suggestions for Tomorrow’s CCOT Essay

Don’t forget that you’ll have a CCOT essay tomorrow in class.  If I were you, I would consider the following:

1. Unit Four.
2. Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and one other place I’m not giving away.
3. Trade.

Also, the word “interregional” is interesting, isn’t it?  I wonder what it means.

Homework: CCOT Practice

This evening, you’ll need to complete the CCOT outline we began in class on the following prompt:

Using the music video below, analyze the changes and continuities of Western popular music between the the 11th century CE and the present.

This exercise is primarily designed to help you better understand the format of Change and Continuity essays, so I anticipate you being a little creative with this response.

Homework: Tokugawa Edicts!

Tonight, please read the two selections from the Tokugawa Edicts located below:

• Tokugawa Edicts: Foreigners
• Tokugawa Edicts: Military

You will note that there are four questions following each of the passages; please fully answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper.  They will be due at the start of class tomorrow.

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Additionally, please be aware that you’ve got several things coming due relatively shortly:

• In-class DBQ (Friday, March 11th)
• Source Scavenger Hunt (Thursday, March 24th)
• Black Death DBQ Rewrite (Thursday, March 24th)
• Renaissance and Reformation WebQuest (Friday, March 18th)
• Unit Four Test (Friday, March 18th)
• In-class DBQ (Friday, March 25th)

For your Black Death DBQ rewrite, you will want to use the Black Death DBQ documents.  Remember that you should take the comments you received on your first DBQ to heart, and try to avoid making the same mistakes a second time.

DBQ Prep: Sample Essay Scores!

Hopefully, by this point you have read, annotated, and scored the two sample essays included in the packet you picked up on Friday.  It’s time now to see how accurate you were in your assessment, so get out the essays and your scores, and let’s see what the College Board says:

Sample 1A — Score: 8

The thesis outlines factors shaping the modern Olympics and correctly places them in the relevant historical context of the time period (1 point). There are four groupings: peace, political interests, economic interests (“incentive for sponsoring as well as hosting the games”), and social reform (female athletes) (1 point). The essay demonstrates understanding of all 10 documents (1 point) and correctly uses evidence from 9 documents to answer the question (2 points). Document 5 is inverted, expressing the effects of the Olympics on Japan, and therefore did not count for evidence of factors that affected the Olympics. There is analysis of point of view for three documents (Documents 4, 6, and 10) (1 point). The request for additional documents from people who were not athletes or people from Africa and South America shows awareness of other factors that could have affected the Olympics in the time period (1 point). An expanded core point was earned for additional analysis of documents through groupings and of point of view (1 point).

Sample 1C — Score: 4

The thesis identifies three factors that shaped the modern Olympic movement: “nationalism,” “host country to show off,” and “feminism” (1 point). There are three document groupings: peace (Documents 1 and 6), nationalism (Documents 3, 4, and 10), and feminism (Documents 2 and 8) (1 point). The essay demonstrates understanding of all 10 documents (1 point). No points were awarded for evidence because the documents are used to support the inverse of the question, i.e., how the Olympics had consequences or effects. There is analysis of point of view for three documents (Documents 3, 4, and 7) (1 point). No point was earned for the request of an additional document because the explanation of how the requested documents would help assess a factor that shaped the modern Olympics is incomplete.

So.  How accurate were you?  Don’t forget to quickly explain any discrepancy between your original score and the one assessed by the College Board!

Homework: DBQ Preparation!

Happy Friday, folks!  While I don’t want to rain on your parade, I’m afraid I have to remind you that you have your very first document-based question scheduled for next Monday (February 29th).  We’ll be doing this as a timed essay, so you will not be receiving the prompt in advance– instead, I’m going to ask that you do a different type of preparation in advance of the coming DBQ.

Today in class you should have picked up the annotated rubric for the 2008 released DBQ from the College Board exam, as well as two sample student essays.  (This is the same essay which you outlined for me on Wednesday night.)  You’ll need your DBQ documents out in order to complete this assignment– if you’ve lost them, you can download another copy from the link in the post from Wednesday, February 24th.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Carefully read over the annotated rubric.  Make sure you fully understand what you can and can’t give points for before you start reading the essays.
2. Read and annotate each essay.  You may find it useful to highlight or underline the thesis, POV analysis, additional documents, grouping, and evidence.
3. Use the rubric to decide on a score, from 1 to 9, for both essays.
4. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, briefly write an explanation for your score for each essay.  What points did each earn? Why didn’t you give them certain points?  (Bullet points are fine for this.)
5. Check the class blog on Sunday afternoon.  I will schedule a post to go live at 12:00 PM with the information on how each essay was actually scored.  Compare your score to the official score and write a brief statement explaining why your score differed (if it did) from the official score.
6. Be prepared to turn in your score analysis sheet at the start of class on Monday!

NOTE: First and second periods, I told you that you would also need to analyze your own DBQ outline and give it a grade– and you’re still welcome to do so!– however, I forgot to give third period back their outlines, so that part of the assignment will not be required. 🙂

Have a good weekend, guys, and I’ll see you on Monday!

Homework: Russian Empire Work (Also, DBQ Rewrite Information)!

Apologies for not being terribly entertaining today, guys.  I’m feeling pretty rotten.  And alas, that means you’ve going to be responsible for this information through independent work.  Tonight, you need to finish up the following assignments using your textbooks (if you didn’t finish them in class):

1. Imperial Russia Organizer— Please complete a PERSIA analysis of both the reigns of Ivan IV (the Terrible) and Peter the Great.  Be sure to note the causes of change or continuity in the arrows between each ruler.
2. Caribbean Slavery vs Serfdom— Coercive and forced labor forms become increasingly important during this unit, so you’ll need to complete this compare-and-contrast worksheet to help you understand the similarities and differences in labor systems.  Don’t forget to write a comparative thesis statement as part of this assignment.  (Also: I won’t say anything in class, but this would make a really great comparative essay topic.  Gosh.)
3. Peter the Great: Correspondence with His Son— And finally, please read the associated letter from Peter the Great to his son, Alexei, on the topic of absolutism and power.  There’s one analytical question on this exchange which you will need to answer on a separate sheet of paper.

If you need further information on Ivan IV and Peter the Great, or if you’re just fascinated by Imperial Russia in general, you might consider watching the documentary below:

Now!  As to your DBQ rewrite.  Remember, you are not required to rewrite your Black Death DBQ– but many of you probably would like.  If you would, your rewrite will be due at the start of class on October 29th.  If you have lost your documents for this DBQ, you can download another copy here: Black Death DBQ.

Homework: Final Paper Topic Selection!

As we discussed in class today, we’re going to begin working on a final research project which will require you to do a significant about of work with primary sources in order to get a better feel for the historical position of someone involved in a significant event or moment of human history.  You received the handout describing the process we’ll be going through for the rest of the semester, and you should read it carefully.  If you’ve misplaced yours, you can download a new copy here (Final Research Project: Topics and Instructions).  You can also find a full description of the project on the Talking About History: Final Research Project page on this website.

(In order to get to the Talking About History page, look at the drop-down menu at the top of this page.  Hover over “AP World History WebQuests and Projects” and you’ll see the page and all of it’s related materials at the bottom of the drop-down menu.  It wouldn’t be a bad idea to peruse all of the pages associated with the assignment in order to get a feel for how this project will progress.)

For homework this weekend you will choose topics you would be interested in selecting for your research project.  I suggest you review the available topics on the instruction sheet and do some quick Googling to see what your options and preferences might be.  You will make your selections via a Google form which you can access on the Topic Selection page.

The Topic Selection form will go live at 12:00 PM EST (noon) on Saturday, October 10th.  You MUST have completed your selections by 8:00 AM EST on Monday, October 8th.

Remember, topics will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.  I want you all doing unique projects, so if you really have your heart set on a particular topic, make sure you fill out the form early!  If you fail to complete the form, I will assign you whatever topics are left.

Announcements and Essay Practice

Breaking news for first period!  Mr. Revard has just announced that, as the largest provider of cans/non-perishables in the main building, we WILL be getting a Chic-fil-A breakfast on Friday morning!  Excellent work, guys.

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Shanah Tovah to those of you celebrating, and to everyone else, happy Monday!  You’ve got four more school days to make it through before Fall Break.  Hang in there, guys– you can do this.

You don’t have any formal homework this evening, but don’t forget that your Unit Three reading should be complete by Friday (when you have a reading quiz), and your Unit Three vocabulary assignment is due at the same time.  (If you’ve lost your original handout, please check the Unit Three Materials page and download another copy.)  So while you don’t need to do any extra work this evening, you DO need to make sure that you’re keeping up with your reading and vocabulary.

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Just a few school announcements:

• If you’ve expressed interest in applying for the Governor’s Honors Program in Social Studies, you will need to turn your COMPLETED application in to me (Ms. Galloway) by 3:40 on Wednesday afternoon (9/16).  We will be contacting students regarding their interview times over the next few days.  We can only nominate five students as a department, so make sure your application is stellar.
• Don’t forget: Picture Day is during first period on Wednesday (9/16).  Yes, that’s the same day as your in-class essay.  It’ll be fine.  You’re still going to write.  You’ll just look fancy doing it.

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Additionally, I know some of you were interested in doing some additional practice work on comparative essays in advance of your in-class essay on Wednesday.  To that end, here are a couple of additional essay prompts you could use to work on your own dehydrated essays if you feel like yours wasn’t particularly strong today:

Analyze the similarities and differences in the political and economic systems of TWO of the following Chinese dynasties in the Post-Classical period:

• Tang Dynasty
• Song Dynasty
• Yuan Dynasty

Or

Compare and contrast the role of syncretism and cultural borrowing in the practice of TWO of the following belief systems in Asia during the Post-Classical period:

• Buddhism
• Islam
• Confucianism

Remember to make sure that your direct comparisons are clear, and don’t forget to explain WHY and HOW things happen.

Post-Classical China and Dehydrated Essays

Classwork for Friday, September 11th:

Using your textbook, the Southernization article from yesterday, and the PowerPoint on Post-Classical China, please complete the charts you received in class today on the Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties.  (If you have lost the charts, you may download a new copy here: Post-Classical China Charts.)

If you do not finish your work on Post-Classical China today during class, you will need to complete it for homework this weekend, in addition to the assignment below.

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Homework for Friday, September 11th:

This weekend, you are to complete the following assignment as practice for your upcoming in-class comparative essay on Wednesday, September 16th.  You should have received your first comparative essay back in class today– please use  it as a guide to help you determine what areas you need to work on for this assignment.

On a six by four inch index card (like the one you got today in class), you will write a “dehydrated essay.”  That is, you will respond to the comparative essay prompt below in an abbreviated form.

On the front of your index card, please write your thesis statement.  Put your name in the bottom right hand corner of the card.  It should look like this:

On the back of the index card, you will will create a 3 by 3 grid.  Here’s how it should look:

The first row of the grid will be where you will identify the direct comparisons of similarities and differences which you would address in a full essay.  You need to write your direct comparison as a complete sentence.

The second row of the grid is where you should write three specific pieces of evidence you could use to support each direct comparison.  Bullet points are fine for this part.

The third row of the grid is where you will write an analysis (a statement explaining WHY or HOW a direct comparison exists) of the direct comparison in each column.  This should be a complete sentence.

Your essay prompt is as follows:

Compare and contrast the religious and cultural transformations of the post-Classical age in TWO of the following regions:

• East Asia
• Southeast Asia
• South Asia

You may use your textbook, notes, and all other (academic) sources in order to complete your dehydrated essay.  We will be using these cards on Monday for an activity in class, so PLEASE make sure you have yours completed, or else things will be slightly awkward.

In-Class Comparative Essay TOMORROW!

Don’t forget that you need to outline your essay tonight!  We’ll be writing our essay during the first forty minutes of class tomorrow, so make sure to review the instructions on comparative essay writing and the rubric on the Writing Materials tab at the top of the page.

Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Happy Friday!

That’s two weeks down, and sixteen to go!

You don’t have any assigned homework this weekend, but do remember that:

• The Unit Two reading guide and vocabulary assignment is already up on the Unit Two materials page, and
• Your Unit One reading quiz corrections are due on Monday, August 17th at 4:30 PM.

Also, if you’re confused about the process for writing the comparative essay we discussed today in class, please check the Writing Materials tab, and look in the section under Comparative Essay.  There are a few video resources as well as a copy of the generic rubric and the PowerPoint we used today in class.