Download To Write the Thematic Essay Mongols

To Write the Thematic Essay – The Mongol Empire
E. Napp
Objective: To create an outline for a thematic essay and to write a thematic essay on the
Mongol Empire
Do Now: What are two benefits of creating an outline before writing?
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A Practice Thematic Essay
Theme: Empire
Task: The Mongols created a vast empire that
changed world history.
 How and why were the Mongols able to
conquer a vast empire?
 How did the Mongols rule their empire?
 How and why did the Mongol Empire
affect world history?
Suggestion: It may be useful to identify aspects of
the Mongol Empire that were similar to other
successful empires and aspects of the Mongol
Empire that differed from other empires.
Analyzing the Directions So That You Think About Something to Write About:
 What is the essay’s theme?
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 Define the essay’s theme.
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 What is the first question students must address in the essay?
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 What is the second question students must address in the essay?
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 What is the third question students must address in the essay?
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 What is the suggested advice for the essay?
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 Prior Knowledge: Who were the Mongols?
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 Prior Knowledge: Where was the Mongol Empire located?
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 Prior Knowledge: Why did the Mongol use psychological warfare?
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 Prior Knowledge: Why were the Mongols considered religiously tolerant?
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Unlike a DBQ essay, a thematic essay does not have documents to help the test taker. As
such, the test taker must have information from the class to help answer the question. The
thematic essay reminds learners that some information must be memorized in order to
excel on an examination. Of course, the best way to memorize information is to practice.
Of course, as the Taoists say, “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.” So, let’s
take that step and outline the essay before writing.
Since writing a thematic essay may be a new experience, let’s take a small step towards
understanding what this essay question is asking. See if you can complete the following
sentences below using the Word Bank:
Word Bank:
Travel
Warriors
Kublai
Marco
Black
Asia
Religiously
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Steppes
Discipline
Examination
Psychological
Vast
Yuan
Nomads
Chinggis
Fearless
The Mongols lived on the ____________ or dry, treeless grasslands of Central Asia.
The Mongols were _________, moving from place to place and herding animals.
The Mongols developed superior skills as ___________ and excelled at
horsemanship.
__________ Khan united the Mongols.
Loyalty and ____________ were expected of Mongol soldiers.
Mongol soldiers could ________ for days on a few grains of rice and a cup of milk.
Mongol soldiers were trained to be tough and __________.
The Mongols conquered a _________ empire.
The Mongol Empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the ________ Sea.
Mongol armies swept over _________ and Europe.
The Mongols were ___________ tolerant; they allowed conquered people to practice
their own traditions.
The Mongols used __________ warfare; people who resisted or fought the Mongols
were killed or slaughtered.
The Mongols did not allow the conquered Chinese to work in high levels of
government; they did not use the ____________ system.
___________ Khan was the Mongol emperor of China.
_______ Polo visited China during the Mongol rule of China.
The __________ Dynasty was the Mongol Dynasty of China.
Now that we have an understanding of the theme and the task, let’s complete the outline
below for our essay:
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The Mongol Empire
How and why were the Mongols able to conquer a vast empire?
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How did the Mongols rule their empire?
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How and why did the Mongol Empire affect world history?
An outline provides a map for the writing of the essay. In the space below, write the essay:
The Essay:
Introduction:
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Paragraph #1:
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Paragraph #2:
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Paragraph 3:
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Conclusion:
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