AP European History Course Syllabus North Allegheny Senior High School
Advanced Placement European History Course Information Scope of Course -Students will be expected to display a knowledge of people, events and trends from 1450 (Late Middle Ages / Renaissance) to the present day in both Western and Eastern Europe. -Major areas of study will include politics, economics, diplomacy, and foreign and domestic policy. This course will also place special emphasis on the arts, music, cultural/social topics, and the role of women in history. -In addition to gaining a thorough knowledge of the scope and sequence of events in European history, students will develop the ability to: -use historical facts to draw conclusions -make comparisons and contrasts -identify connections between events, their root causes, and their future effects -Students will frequently analyze and interpret primary and secondary historical sources (documents, speeches, memoirs, poetry, art and music) see syllabus for examples. -Students will develop analytical skills by writing one document-based question (DBQ) essay and one free response essay during each nine-weeks grading period see following pages for instructions for writing these essays. -Students will complete a research project in which they will defend a thesis of their own creation using a variety of primary and secondary sources. Textbooks: A History of the Modern World. Lynn Hunt et al. Bedford / St. Martin s, 2001. The Worldly Philosophers. Robert Heilbroner. Simon and Schuster, 1999. A Preface to History. Carl Gustavson. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955 Course Instructions 1. You will be expected to spend approximately one hour per night in preparation for the next day s class. Periodic special assignments will demand a larger time commitment. 2. All work must be submitted on time. Late work will be penalized one letter grade per day. 3. Students will be expected to keep a notebook containing the notes from the nightly reading assignments. These notebooks will be checked periodically for a 3-point grade. 4. Students will also maintain a three-ring binder to coordinate the large number of handouts and special reading assignments. 5. You may arrange a conference with your instructor at any time to discuss your progress or to resolve any problems you may experience in the course.
Grading Policy 1. All marking period and final course grades in AP European History are weighted. 2. Marking period and final grades will be based on the following distribution: -Tests, Quizzes, Papers, Special Assignments: 70% -Participation: 30% 3. The District grading scale will be used for this course: 90-100% A 80-89% B 70-79% C 60-69% D Below 60 E -All tests will be designed for and evaluated at the college level. -Grades for each exam will be curved. Nine weeks/semester grades will NOT be curved. Students are strongly encouraged to keep track of their own grades. 4. Effort, attitude, participation, and improvement are absolutely essential! In effect, everything you do in this course will be evaluated. 5. Any form of cheating will result in a zero for the assigned work. Note-taking Strategies While there is no one best strategy for taking notes, you will be expected to follow the strategies outlined below to maximize your effectiveness. -Use ink for all notes- pencil will smear and become unreadable over time. -Write the title of the book, the page numbers of the assignment, and the assignment number at the top of the page. -First, quickly flip through the pages in the assignment to get a feel for the reading. -Then, read the pages thoroughly and take running notes as you read. Do not read and then go over the material again for notes. -Finally, reinforce what you have learned. Quickly re-read your notes and underline key names, dates, and terms. Analyze what you have read by asking yourself higher-level historical questions: -What social, political, and economic factors caused this event? -How is this event similar to past and future events? -What caused this leader to succeed or fail? -What makes his/her situation unique or similar to other leaders? -Do not copy the reading! Use bullets instead of complete sentences. You will soon learn to distinguish facts that are note-worthy from those that are not. -During class discussion, you must rely solely on your notes. You are not allowed to have an open textbook on your desk.
AP Euro Study Tips: Essay OR Objective (Also applicable to ANY humanities-type course) 1. In college, make your own ID list- Do it after every class and while you read at night you ll have too much material to do this right before a test. 2. Make notecards or write out key info on another sheet- do NOT write on the ID list. 3. Now study all important concepts in the following manner: Either mentally or in writing, try to remember everything you need to know about the concept BOTH low-level facts AND high-level evaluation-type thoughts: Example: For a historical person, ask yourself: 1. What is this person s family name, number, religion and who are preceding and following rulers? 2. What are the major foreign/domestic accomplishments that this person achieved? Why are these accomplishments important- how did they affect the history of this country or Europe? 3. What other rulers are ruling at the same time? What wars happened during his/her reign? What broad intellectual / social movements are happening at this time? (ie. The Enlightenment) How did all of these events affect this ruler and in what ways? ***4. You must answer the above questions using specific FACTS, EXAMPLES, NAMES, DATES, WARS, BOOKS, TREATIES, CONCEPTS, etc. 3. QUIZ EACH OTHER, or have someone quiz you, or quiz yourself- can you answer the above questions using SPECIFIC DETAILS? (If you jot down the answers on a piece of paper you ll see if you really know it. If you re studying with a friend and they give you a vague, non-specific answer: Peter the Great reformed Russia make them expand on it and give you FACTUAL details) 4. You CANNOT just read over your notes or review sheets for hours and hope that you remember them you must ACTIVELY quiz yourself.
5. In AP or college-level history, you need to remember more than just facts you must also think about the causes, effects, and consequences of people s actions and events. (see above questions) For example: If you need to review Louis XIV, ask yourself: Can I identify four specific actions of Louis XIV / events that occurred during his reign? Then, can I explain whether they were good or bad for France? (You will be covering low AND high-level info this way!) 6. You can t study some things well and neglect others. Many students say I studied the wrong things or I wrote out the whole ID sheet but I couldn t remember a lot of them when I got to the test. You need to know ALL the concepts well! -Many times when you study you ll think I know that one without really going over it and studying the specific details make yourself ACTIVELY state the relevant facts + details 7. AP / college history is not like middle school history you have to remember a lot more and you have to use it by analyzing facts to make evaluations and draw conclusions. This means that you re no longer guaranteed an A just for working hard and spitting back facts. This is a SKILL that you need to develop, which takes time and it isn t easy for everyone. The suggestions above will help you to develop these skills as rapidly as possible, but you ll have to abandon your old study methods. There s no substitute for studying a little bit each night before a test!
How to write a successful AP Euro essay: This way is GUARANTEED to produce a perfect essay, every time! Let s use the following question as an example: What were the responses of the Catholic authorities between 1517 and 1563 to the challenges posed by the Lutheran Reformation? During the Planning Stage (5 Minutes): 1. Read the question carefully CIRCLE all names, dates, or other key info. that must be addressed. -If it mentions the time period 1914-45, you would be expected to address both WWI and WWII- not just one of them. -If it asks for political, social, and economic factors for an event, you must discuss all three. 2. IDENTIFY 3-4 major examples that you will use to answer the essay. -In most cases, using less than three examples won t adequately answer the question. Using more than 4 means that you won t have enough time to explore each example fully + include enough details- NAMES, TERMS, DATES, ETC. 3. WRITE the 3-4 examples on the inside cover of your blue book. Under each example, quickly jot down every relevant detail and fact that you can recall. During the Writing Stage (30 Minutes): Introduction: -Start with one to two sentences of relevant background information, but NOT MORE! (Probably a little background about Martin Luther or corruption in the Church) -Then write the thesis, in one or two sentences, which will simply be the examples that you have already identified Ex. Catholic authorities took the following measures to combat the new Protestant faiths. They were A, B, C and D. -A thesis CANNOT simply restate the question: Catholic authorities had many responses to the Reformation is NOT a thesis. The thesis MUST identify what you plan to discuss- but you ve already identified those examples, so it s easy to have a perfect thesis every time! -The whole introduction should be ½ to ¾ of a page NO LONGER!
Body: -Simply analyze each of the 3-4 examples in your thesis/on the cover of the blue book. -Refer often to the inside cover to ensure that you utilize all of the examples and the facts, names, etc. that you identified. -The only pitfall here is making sure that you explain how your facts answer the question: EX. Don t just describe the Council of Trent- give details, and then explicitly explain HOW it was an attempt to counter Protestantism. -How do you make sure that you have done this? At the end of each paragraph, make sure that you have explained how the facts and details answer the question/prove the thesis. If you haven t, then simply add a sentence or two of analysis before you move on to the next example! Conclusion: -This is the least important part of the essay. If you have time for one, try to show how the issue in the question relates to events in the future (EX. The Reformation and Counter- Reformation will lead to a century of religious war in Europe). Think about what we learned from Gustavson events in history are part of a continuous chain try to show that you understand that chain. -If you are running short on time, it is more important to adequately describe and analyze the 3-4 examples you have chosen. What is the most important part of this process? -The 5 minute Planning Stage, when you think about what you will write! Do that well, and the 30 minutes of writing will be relaxed and focused, not painful!
How to write a Euro DBQ: - Study the Generic Core-Scoring Guide sheet. This sheet is what the readers use to grade your essay! Essays are graded from 0 to 9 points. - You must do ALL SIX tasks in the Basic Core or you can t earn ANY points in the Expanded Core. So, be sure that you do all six! - Make sure that you discuss ALL of the documents! All are relevant to the question there are no distractor documents. - Make sure that you IDENTIFY the documents: i.e. (#2), (#11) The readers want to be able to refer to the documents that you are using QUICKLY this helps them. - As on a regular essay, your thesis MUST answer the question. o If it asks for political and social factors, NAME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. o Answer all parts of the question i.e. not just political factors. o If the question mentions a specific time period, make sure that your examples do not fall outside of the time period. - Analyze BIAS in at least FOUR documents (see expanded core). What does this mean? Discuss WHY the person wrote the document and what their MOTIVES were. o Example: In Doc #2, the author is Hans, a worker in a factory. From his point of view, workers were underpaid and overworked, so that is why he speaks out against the factory owners in the document. o Be explicit! Actually say point of view so that the reader doesn t miss it and fail to give you credit - Lastly, you must GROUP the documents. Try to include at least two groupings, and explain WHY the documents belong in the group. o Example: Documents 2, 6, and 9 are all criticisms of the industrial revolution and the factory owners. Doc 2 was written by a disgruntled factory worker, while Doc 9 was written a socialist college professor. Both would oppose the current economic structure in which the capitalists control the workers wages and conditions. - Try to bring in outside knowledge wherever possible. It s advisable to include outside knowledge in the opening paragraph so that the reader doesn t miss it. - Don t get upset if you ve never heard of the topic in the question! You will NOT be given the time period for the question, and they often pick a very minor topic on purpose.
AP European History - Fall Semester Syllabus Unit One: The Crisis Of Late Medieval Society 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 Gustavson: Palmer: The Novice Historian pp.1-11 (Students create political maps of Europe: 1500 and present-day ) High Middle Ages: Secular Civ. pp.26-35 (Primary source: Bayeux tapestry slides) Conclusion pp.486-487 The Plague and Society pp.468-474 (Primary source: Boccaccio s Decameron) Challenges to Spiritual Authority pp.474-479 Joan Of Arc pp.458-460 (Video Vatican, Renaissance Lives: Jan Hus ) Social Order and Cultural Change pp.479-483 (Primary Source: Medieval Art Power Point: du Berry s Book of Hours, Gothic cathedrals, stained glass windows) Unit Two: Renaissance Europe 2,1 2,2 The Flourishing of Vernacular Literature pp.483-486 Widening Intellectual Horizons pp.489-495 (Primary Sources: Mirandola - Manifesto of the Renaissance, Petrarch s Sonnets) Revolution in the Arts pp.495-501 (Primary Source: Renaissance Art Power Point- Michelangelo, DaVinci, Van Eyck, Piero della Francesca )
2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6 Michelangelo Booklet: Read text and examine artworks thoroughly (Primary Source: Vasari - Lives of the Artist) Intersection of Private and Public Lives pp.501-505 (Primary Source: Renaissance courtly music and dance) Renaissance State and the Art of Politics pp.505-508 (Primary Source: Machiavelli- The Prince) Monarchies and Empires pp.508-514 (Stories- Wives of Henry VIII) 2,7 Threshold of World History: Widening Geographic Horizons pp.514-522 (Secondary Source: Columbus- Lies My Teacher Told Me ) Unit Three: The Struggle for Reformation Europe 3,1 3,2 3,3 Conclusion p.559 A New Heaven and Earth pp.525-530 (Primary Source: Power Point Albrecht Durer engravings) Gustavson: Protestant Reformers p.530-537 (Primary Source Power Point Photos of Martin Luther s Germany) Causation pp.53-64 (Primary Source: 95 Theses) 3,4 Reshaping Society through Religion pp.538-546
3,5 3,6 3,7 Continuing Reformation pp.554-559 (Primary Source: writings of Bartholomew de las Casas) Struggle for Mastery pp.546-548 (Primary Source Castiglione s Courtier) Wars among Hapsburgs, Valois, and Ottomans pp. 549-554 Unit Four: Wars Over Beliefs 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 Reading: Conclusion pp.599-601 Wars over Beliefs pp.563-569 (Primary Source Cromwell s speech on the scaffold) Challenges to Spanish Power pp.569-575 (Power Point: Defeat of the Armada) Elizabethan England (Primary Source Elizabeth s speech to her troops on the eve of the Armada) Thirty Years War pp.575-581 (Renaissance Lives: Albrecht von Wallenstein) Economic Crisis and Realignment pp.581-589 4,6 Clash of Worldviews pp.589-592 The Variety of Artistic Styles pp. 635-637 (Primary Source Power Point: Baroque Art - Gentileschi, Caravaggio, Rubens, Velasquez, Rembrandt and Vermeer )
Unit Five: State Building and the Search for Order 5,1 5,2 5,3 Conclusion pp.641-42 Louis XIV: Model of Absolutism pp.603-612 Absolutism in Central Europe pp.612-618 (Stories: Frederick William I) Constitutionalism in England pp.618-625 (Reading: Guy Fawkes Day) 5,4 The Glorious Revolution pp. 625-627 5,5 5,6 5,7 5,8 5,9 Constitutionalism: Dutch Republic pp.627-32 (Secondary Source Reading: Girl With the Pearl Earring ) Women and Manners pp.637-640 Social Life in the Cities pp. 658-661 Atlantic System pp.645-656 (Primary Source Power Point Images of the Slave trade) Consolidation of the State System pp.663-67 (Power Point- Hanover Dynasty) Russia s Emergence pp.667-673 (Stories: Peter the Great)
Unit Six: The Promise of Enlightenment 6,1 6,2 6,3 The Natural Law of Politics pp.592-99 (Primary Source: Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy ) Social Contract Theory pp.632-34 Birth of the Enlightenment pp.675-679 (Reading: Enlightenment ) Enlightenment pp.683-692 6,4 Adam Smith p.693 Heilbroner: Wonderful World of Adam Smith pp.40-72 6,5 6,6 Rosseau pp.693-700 State Power pp.707-715 (Power Point: Enlightened Despots) The Enlightenment Roundtable You will use the internet and the library to research the key beliefs and accomplishments of your philosophe-use the following list of topics as a guide. Some philosophes, like Voltaire and Rousseau, thought and wrote about MOST of these topics. Others, such as Beccaria, focused on only ONE topic. Use your judgment and focus ONLY on the RELEVANT AREAS in which the work of your philosophe helped to shape the thought of the Enlightenment. -NATURE OF MAN -PROGRESS AUTHORITY -MORALITY -LAWS AND PUNISHMENT CAPITALIST -NATURAL LAW AND RIGHTS -CRIME/PUNISHMENT -SOCIETY AND CLASSES -RELIGION AND GOD -POLITICS: INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY OR COLLECTIVE -EDUCATION -ECONOMICS: MERCANTILIST OR FREE MARKET -ROLE OF SCIENCE -REASON: DEDUCTIVE OR INDUCTIVE -ROLE OF REASON: INDUCTIVE OR DEDUCTIVE
Participants in the Roundtable: 1. Voltaire* 16. Rural Peasant X* 2. Rousseau* 17. Frederick II the Great* 3. Montesquieu* 18. Catherine II the Great* 4. Adam Smith* 19. Joseph II* 5. Beccaria 20. Napoleon 6. Locke* 21. Alexander I 7. Hobbes* Critics: 8. Newton 22. Bishop Bossuet* 9. Alex. Pope 23. Louis XV* 10. Bentham 24. a mercantilist X* 11. Paine 25. a cardinal from the Church X* 12. Jefferson 26. an unenlightened aristocrat-x* 13. Hume 14. Kant 15. Urban Middle Class X* X= Create your own character name, home location, scenario + beliefs of their class *= Key participant Assignments to complete: 1. You will have two research days 2. Prepare a written statement summarizing the key beliefs of your philosophe. -This MUST fit onto the FRONT of one page include as much QUALITY info. as possible -Use a BULLET format (not paragraphs) -Make sure your information is CLEAR, PRECISE, and UNDERSTANDABLE -Examples are available for you to view -Each student will receive a packet with ALL of the summaries 3. Prepare a list of 5 questions that YOU will ask other philosophes (most likely, your personal philosophe nemesis Example: Voltaire and the Cardinal would prepare questions for each other). 4. Participate in the Roundtable! Period One: 1. The philosophes will then discuss the moderator s questions -You must know your beliefs and get excited about them! Be animated! -Respond in first person I believe that... not Rousseau would have said that... -If time and ability permit, prepare a COSTUME and the appropriate ACCENT based on your philosophe s origin. Period Two: 1. The philosophes will question EACH OTHER. Again, be ready to question your nemesis and be prepared for their attacks
Unit Seven The Cataclysm of Revolution 7,1 7,2 7,3 7,4 7,5 The Beginning of the French Rev. pp. 723-726 and 730-734 (Primary Source: La Marseillaise) From Monarchy to Republic pp. 734-740 (Primary Source: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) The Terror pp. 740-748 (Primary Source Power Point: Neoclassical / Rococco Art: Boucher, Fragonard, Ingres, David ) Revolution on the March pp. 748-750, 752-754. (Primary Source: Cahiers de Doleance from town of Carcasonne) Revolution in the Colonies pp. 755-760 Unit Eight Napoleon and the Revolutionary Legacy 8,1 8,2 8,3 From Consulate to Empire pp. 763-771 (Readings: The Grand Army) Europe Was At My Feet pp. 772-776 (Video: Napoleon) From Russia to Defeat pp. 777-785 (Primary Sources: Napoleon s letters to Josephine, Napoleon s speech to the troops upon his return from Elba) End of First Semester and Midterm Exam
Unit Nine: Advance of Industrialization / Urbanization 9,1 9,2 9,3 Heilbroner: Agricultural Revolution pp.656-658, Roots of Industrialization pp.705-06 Industrial and Urban Growth pp.786-788 Industrialization pp.803-16 (Primary Source: House of Commons interview of industrial workers) Malthus and Ricardo pp.73-101 9,4 9,5 The New Ideologies pp. 788-794 (Primary Source: Romantic Art Power Point: Delacroix, Gericault, Goya, Turner) Heilbroner: Utopian Socialists pp.102-132 9,6 Explosion of Culture pp.818-24 Read brown pages: Opium Addiction (Primary Source: Romantic Poetry Blake and Coleridge) Unit Ten: Revolution and Political Change, 1814-48 10,1 Political Challenges pp.795-801 10,2 10,3 10,4 British Reform Movements Reform Bill of 1832 pp. 799-800 Working-Class Organization pp. 830-31 Political Stability pp.864-865 British Political Reforms pp. 922-923 Revolutions of 1848 France pp.832-836 (Primary Source- Romantic Music: Beethoven, Chopin, and Grieg) Revolutions of 1848 Elsewhere pp.836-844
Unit Eleven: Politics and Culture of the Nation-State 11,1 11,2 11,3 11,4 11,5 11,6 11,7 11,8 11,9 Heilbroner: Napoleon III pp.847-851 Crimean War pp.851-856 (Primary Source Poem: Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred Lord Tennyson) Italian Unification pp.856-858 (Primary Source: Garibaldi s speech to the Red Shirts) Bismarck and German Unification pp.858-862 (Primary Source: Bismarck s memoirs the Ems Dispatch ) Austria - Hungary pp.862-864 Instituting Social Order pp.867-876 Religion and Secular Order pp.880-882 Contesting the Political Order pp.883-888 Marxism pp.133-167 (Primary Source: The Communist Manifesto) Unit Twelve: Industry, Empire and Everyday Life 12,1 The New Imperialism pp.900-908, 960-962 (Primary Source Poem: White Man s Burden Kipling) 12,2 Private Life pp.933-939
12,3 12,4 12,5 12,6 Making of the West Transformation of Culture pp.897-899, 908-917 Science of the Modern Mind pp.941-49 (Primary Source: Freud s description of Anna O ) Power Politics in Central and Eastern Europe pp.924-930 (Primary Source: German political cartoons - Bismarck and Socialism) Politics in a New Key pp.951-953 Anti-Semitism pp.956-61 Unit Thirteen: World War I 13,1 13,2 13,3 13,4 Roads to War pp.967-74 The Great War pp.977-984 (Primary Source Power Point Photos of the War: Weapons, Men and Destruction) The Great War pp.984-988 (Primary Source WWI Poems Sassoon and Owen) Protest, Revolution, War s End pp.988 989, 994-1001 (Primary Source Versailles Treaty) Unit Fourteen Russian Revolution 14,1 14,2 Japan Victorious pp. 963-967 Revolution in Russia pp. 989-994 (Primary Source: Lenin s Testament against Stalin)
14,3 Communist Utopia pp. 1013-1015 (Primary Source Power Point Soviet Propaganda / Socialist Realism ) Unit Fifteen March of the Dictators 15,1 15,2 15,3 15,4 15,5 Mussolini pp. 1015-1018 (Primary Source: Video of Mussolini addressing the Italian nation) Stalin pp. 1028-1033 Focus on Totalitarianism pp. 1030-1031 Great Depression pp. 1021-1028 Germany pp. 1004-1005 Hitler pp. 1033-1037 (Primary Source: Leni Riefenstahl Triumph of the Will ) Democracies Threatened pp. 1039-1042 (Primary Source: Chamberlain s speech upon his return from Munich) Unit Sixteen World War II 16,1 16,2 16,3 World War II pp. 1043-1050 (Primary Source: Excerpts from Churchill s speeches to the British people) World War II pp. 1050-1063 Post War Settlement pp. 1063-1066 (Primary Source: Yalta Treaty)
Unit Seventeen The Cold War and Collapse of Communism 17,1 17,2 17,3 17,4 17,5 Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Tito, Germany, and the Common Market pp. 1075-1086 (Primary Source Power Point Photos of Berlin airlift and Berlin Wall) Stalin and Khrushchev pp. 1088-1090, 1106, 1137-1139 (Primary Source Khrushchev / Nixon Kitchen Debate ) Western European Government and Society -French 5 th Republic/Algeria pp. 1096-1097 -Existentialism/deBeauvior p. 1098 -German Government pp. 1130-1131 -Welfare State/Thatcher pp. 1162-1164 -Alternatives to Thatcher p. 1165 only Collapse of Communism pp. 1166-1176 (Primary Sources Accounts of the Chernobyl disaster, Music Winds of Change - Scorpions) Special Reading: European Union Packet Preparation for the Final and the AP Test Begins