Summer Reading Bulliet, The Earth and Its Peoples,

Download the following: 1. “How to Take Cornell Notes.”

2. SPRITE
3. Chapters 1, 2, & 3 of our text (PDF file)
4. Mandate of Heaven
5. Guns, Germs and Steel interview

Our Textbook and work routine is often challenging for incoming sophomores. In order to introduce
you to both we want you to do the first three chapters of our text as you would do as typical
homework. You need to read 7-10 pages each night. This is difficult at first but it is necessary for
each student to read good historical writing. Each section of every chapter is a mini-essay and
therefore you will be practicing for the exams every page you read. “You cannot cheat the reading.”

As you read the chapters, take notes using the Cornell method (see handout from class website). This
is just one style of note taking but it is consistent with what you will be expected to do in college. Do
not try to write everything down, just explants the main ideas of each section. An example would be
beginning on page 23, take note on the section entitled: “Egypt.” Write w brief summary of what the
author is saying about Egypt. Explain how Egypt is the “Gift of the Nile” and what is Divine
Kingship? Be careful to look for key points and define important words. Be sure to leave room to add
notes later and a section for summary at the bottom.

Chapter 1, Neolithic Era

Begin Reading: Text pp. 5-14 outline using Cornell Notes
Humans Migrate and Produce Food
Domestication of Animals
Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Paleolithic/Neolithic change
Essential Questions:
1. How did plant and animal domestication set the scene for the emergence of civilization?
2. How did the earliest societies create art, religion, and technology?
3. Where did hominids first arise and how did the continents become populated?
Essay Assignment: Compare and contrast Paleolithic and Neolithic societies. 250 word minimum,
hand written in blue or black ink, and be sure to include your sources even if it is just the textbook
(always use proper citation; i.e. author, title, publisher, date, etc.).

Early River Valley Civilizations Chapter Objectives

Reading: Text pp. 14-34 outlining using Cornell Notes format

Learn to use your SPRITE chart on the River Valley Civilizations

Essential Questions
What are the characteristics of a civilization?
How do religious beliefs reflect interaction with the environment?
How did the organization of labor shape political and social structures?
Essay assignment: Compare/Contrast Mesopotamia/Egypt societies (250 word min., hand written in
blue or black ink plus sources).

Chapter 2, Early China

Reading: Text pp. 37-48 outline using Cornell Notes

Essential Questions
Be sure to define key terms as you read. These are essential to understanding the key concepts. You
might wish to make flash cards as you go and use them continuously. SPRITE Early China.

Essay assignment: The Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China remained distant from the cosmopolitan
Middle East during the late Bronze Age. This allowed the Chinese to develop many important
traditions that remained strong throughout Chinese history, even during periods of sustained contact
with other cultures and civilizations. One of these traditions was the Mandate of Heaven or T'ien Ming.
Review this concept at T'ien Ming: The Mandate of Heaven (download Mandate of Heaven file from
the class webpage). How did this belief help the Zhou dynasty enforce its rule during the late Bronze
Age in China? How did it promote stability and continuity in China's political system? (@ 250 words,
hand written in blue or black ink plus sources).

Nubia, and Early Americas

Reading: Text pp. 48-57 outline using Cornell Notes

Essential Questions
What was the basis of the status, power, and wealth of elite groups in each society and how did they
dominate the rest of the population? Why did societies in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
acquire complex organizations and potent technologies at different times and in different sequences?

Essay assignment:
Read Pages 46 & 47, “Hierarchy and Conduct in the Analects of Confucius.” Answer the four
questions in full complete answers, (hand written in blue or black ink).

Chapter 3, The Cosmopolitan Middle East and the Aegean World

Reading: Text pp. 60-71 outline using Cornell Notes

Essential Questions
In what ways were the societies of this era more interconnected and interdependent than before, and
what were the consequences—positive and negative—of these connections?

The Assyrian Empire, Israel, Phoenicia and the Mediterranean

Reading: Text pp. 71-86 outline using Cornell Notes

Essential Questions
What were the causes and consequences of large scale movements of peoples to new homes during this
era? Why were certain cultures destroyed or assimilated while others survived?
Essay assignment:
Jared Diamond offers an explanation as to why civilizations appeared in the Western Hemisphere
much later than in the Eastern Hemisphere in his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human
Societies, which appeared in 1997. For an interview with Diamond about his work, go to Newshour:
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" (downloaded from website). Explain Diamond's argument on why
civilizations emerged in Eurasia earlier than the Americas, and why they evolved at a more rapid pace.
What role did geography (particularly the East-West axis of Eurasia and the North-South axis of the
Americas) play? What about plant and animal evolution in each region? Why does he argue that it was
impossible for an indigenous civilization to emerge in places such as Australia? (@ 250 words, hand
written in blue or black ink plus sources).

Now that you have finished you reading and written assignments, go back to the website and click on
the AP World textbook site (Big Blue Earth Marble). This will give you the main page for our text.
Find the tab that says ACE Practice tests
(http://college.cengage.com/history/world/bulliet/earth_peoples/3e/students/ace/index.html). You will
need to complete two of the first four chapter tests (chapter 1 is split into two chapter tests) and attach
the print outs to your summer reading packet.

The entire packet will be due the first day of class. It is essential that students learn to create new
study habits in order to systematically devour 10,000 years of history throughout the entire world.