FORMAT: Day one is essay & dates and day two is multiple choice.
ESSAY: Expect a few shorter, one to two paragraph essays that will be taken from the golden list of 48 questions--or at least be similar to those questions. The long essay will be a reflective essay encompassing one or more of the four themes of Era II that we discussed on Tuesday. (With a little thought, you can probably predict the questions.) The key to success on the long essay is the ability to use evidence to show these themes in action. HOWEVER, make sure you also have examples that challenge and contradict the general themes, and then be able to provide more evidence that shows the theme still works as a generalization, if not an absolute rule.
PREPARATION: First, break up the unit into chapters that go together, such as 6-8 since they involve the birth and spread of Islam. Next, within those divisions, PERSIA, PERSIA, PERSIA. The more PERSIAs you can do of a chapter and within the chapter, with the terms and concepts unique to that particular civilization/society included in the PERSIA, the easier it is going to be for you to write an essay or recall specific objective information for the multiple choice. When done PERSIAing, make comparisons between different civilizations existing at the same time (Yuan vs. Tatar) and comparisons between the same civilizations over the course of time (Sui and Tang). Finally, use the golden list of 48 to run through possible answers and evidence you would give. DON'T DO THIS ALL ON SUNDAY NIGHT!
DATES: You should know all dates listed from 8000 BCE to 1453 CE, plus 1215 as the signing of the Magna Carta.
TIMELINES: To access the timelines that you reviewed in class two weeks ago as a helpful resources, go to http://fc.ljcds.org/~jshulman/timeline/timelinehome.htm. The timelines are not complete, but they are a great start for you. Try them all.
Good luck! Call me if you have any questions.