Download AP Europe Syllabus

AP European History
Leigh Munley
Career Center High School, 2011-2012
Course Description and Objectives
This survey course will cover European history from 1450 to the present. Students will acquire a knowledge and
understanding of the general narrative of European history during that time period, and they will develop the ability to
see the facts of history in context, trace the course of movements or trends, recognize causes and results, and
determine significances. They will gain an appreciation for the rich cultural contributions made by those who created
the Western heritage, as well as an awareness of the consequences of European contacts with other areas of the world.
They will achieve the ability to read historical materials in a discriminating way; to weigh evidence and reach
conclusions on the basis of fact, rather than prejudice; and effectively express their understanding in writing and oral
presentation.
Course Themes
Students will be able to relate these themes horizontally--to show change and progress--and vertically--to get a total
picture of European society at any given period.
Government & Politics – changing role of government, wars & foreign policy, rise of nationalism, progress toward
European unity
Economic – from an Agrarian, to an Industrial, to a post-Industrial economy. Changing economic systems: mercantilism,
capitalism, socialism
Social -from a very fixed, stratified structure to a more mobile, egalitarian one. Changing gender roles and the family,
the rise of the middle class.
Intellectual & Cultural – Major artistic periods; increasing secularism in the West; faith in science; philosophies
Methodology
Students will be expected to read, understand, and evaluate a large amount of material from their textbook, as well as
additional primary sources and secondary sources by modern academic historians. The teacher’s lectures will
supplement and re-enforce these readings. Each student will be called upon to contribute to the class discussions on a
regular basis. While lectures and discussions form the basis of most classes, there will also be video and student
presentations from time to time.
Document-Based Question (DBQ) and thematic Free Response Question (FRQ) essays will be introduced in the first
quarter. Throughout the year, students will work to perfect their writing skills in various exercises. Most prompts and
documents will be derived from prior AP exams. The documents will include works of art, maps, and tables as well as
written sources.
In addition to formal essays, students will often write brief reactions to questions, issues, or readings in the midst of,
or at the beginning of a class lecture. These will generally serve to generate discussion or form the basis of later
classroom activities, and will be kept in a writing notebook/journal. Timelines (teacher-, textbook/resource-, and
student-generated) will be used in conjunction with each unit.
Student Evaluation
Unit tests will be given every two-three weeks. All tests will combine multiple choice questions, which require critical
thinking, and thematic essays and documents, which require analysis and synthesis. Each quarter, other grades will be
derived from DBQ and free response (FRQ) essays, student presentations, and a major student research paper or
project. Reading and art quizzes, map completions and quizzes, writing notebooks, and class discussions will also
contribute to the students’ quarter grades.
The first semester exam will include material from the Renaissance through Napoleon. It will made up of
comprehensive multiple choice questions, FR questions from released Advanced Placement exams, and a DocumentBased Question regarding the views on slavery during the Enlightenment and French Revolution and their effects on
French political, economic and social order (see 1991 released AP exam) . The exam will count as two test grades on
the 2nd quarter grade, according to school-wide year-long course guidelines.
The second semester exam will include material from post-Napoleon to the present and will be similar to the 1st
semester exam in format, including free response and DBQ essays. It may be exempted by students who meet the
school’s attendance requirements and take the Advanced Placement Exam.
*Within each Unit of Study, DBQ and/or Free Response practice will be provided. Based upon data analysis of
individual and class progress, additional DBQ and FR practice opportunities will be assigned. There will be a total of at
least 5 DBQs and 5 FRQs throughout the course of year.
Textbook
Kagan, Ozment, and Turner, The Western Heritage, 9th ed. New York: Prentice-Hall, 2007.
AP Europe Syllabus
Leigh Booth Munley
2010-2011
Welcome to AP European History. This course is designed as a broad, high-paced study of modern European
history, and is meant to challenge and prepare you for the AP European History Exam. The focus of the course
will be establishing and analyzing Europe’s historical, political, social, economic, cultural and intellectual
trends from 1450 to the present.
You will be assigned frequent readings from our text, The Western Heritage, by Kagan, Ozment, and Turner.
These readings will serve as the basis of the course, to be supplemented by class lectures, activities, and
discussion; additional readings; and outside research and writing.
Performance assessment will be as follows:


Tests (2-4 per quarter) & research project
Quizzes (4+ per quarter), Class/Homework
& class participation
average = 60% of quarter grade
average = 40% of quarter grade
Tests will be a combination of objective and essay questions. For each test, as well as the semester exams,
you will be responsible for class lectures and activities, homework, and the readings, whether discussed in
class or not. Quizzes will be short and usually designed to insure the completion of the readings. Tests and
quizzes must be made up within one week of and excused absence. I will take work late, however, for each
day late, 10 points will be subtracted. Cheating on any assignment or test will not be tolerated and will result
in an automatic zero.
As per school policy, each quarter will count as 50% of the semester average (with the mid-term exam being
included in the 2nd quarter average). Each semester average will then count as 37.5%, and the final exam will
constitute 25% of the final course grade.
You are required to bring to class daily each of the following: a writing utensil and paper, your textbook, an
organized notebook (whatever type you’d like, as long as it can accommodate numerous handouts), and your
writing notebook (composition, not spiral). You may want to invest in a set of colored pencils for map work.
I hope to be at school by 8:30 each morning. I will be leaving by 2:00 most days. If you have any concerns
about your performance, the class, or a classmate please come see me in my office (in Rm. 2092) or in the
classroom between classes or at lunch. Additionally, you may reach me via email at
[email protected] . Class assignments and updates will be posted on my website.
The Course of Study
FIRST SEMESTER
INTRODUCTION - August
Europe Before 1300 ( pages lx – lxxvii of Western Heritage textbook)

The Fall of Rome; Medieval Europe; Christianity’s European Dominance
UNIT 1 – August/September
Europe, From the Late Middle Ages to Renaissance and Discovery (Chapters 9 & 10)

Social and Political Breakdown; Italian and Northern Renaissance; Rise of Monarchies;
New Empires in the East and West
UNIT 2 – September/October
The Protestant Reformation and the Age of Religious Wars (Chapters 11 & 12)

Corruption in the Late Medieval Church; Luther, Calvin and the English Reformation;
The Counterreformation; French Wars of Religion; The 30 Years War
UNIT 3 – October/November
Political Consolidation and Intellectual Development in 16 th, 17th, and 18th Century Western Europe
(Chapters 13 & 14)

The Rise of Parliamentary England vs. Absolute Monarchy in France; Central and Eastern Europe: the
Hapsburgs and the Hohenzollerns; The Rise of Russia; The Ottoman Empire; The Scientific Revolution
and the Religious Response
UNIT 4 – November
18th Century Europe: The Old Regime, Colonialism, and Colonial Rebellion (Chapters 15 & 16)

Social and Economic Hierarchy and Privilege in the Old Regime; The Agricultural Revolution; The Early
Industrial Revolution and Growth of Cities; The Transatlantic Economy; Colonial Systems; Trade Wars
and Colonial Revolutions
UNIT 5 – November/December
The Age of Enlightenment and The French Revolution (Chapters 17 & 18)

18th Century Political, Social and Religious Thought; The Philosophes; Enlightened Absolutism; The
Phases of the French Revolution; European Reaction to the Revolution
UNIT 6 – January
The Age of Napoleon (Chapter 19)

Napoleon’s Rise, Conquests and Empire; The Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna; The Rise of
Romanticism
SECOND SEMESTER
Unit 7 – January/February
Early 19th Century Europe: The Conservative Order & Its Challenges ; The Industrial Revolution; and Social
Unrest (Chapters 20 & 21)

Conservatism, Nationalism and Liberalism; Wars of Independence in Latin America; Revolution and
Reform in France and Britain; Industrialization and Its Socio-Economic Impact; Early Socialism; 1848: A
Year of Revolution
UNIT 8 – February
The Age of Nation States (Chapter 22)

The Crimean War; German Unification; Italian Unification; The Emergence of a French Republic; The
Hapsburg Dual Empire; Revolutionary Stirrings in Russia; Britain’s Continued March Toward Democracy
UNIT 9 – February/March
The Building of European Supremacy and The Birth of Modern European Thought (Chapters 23 & 24)

The Second Industrial Revolution and the Emergence of the Middle Class; The Birth of the Modern City;
Labor, Socialism and Politics to WWI; The Rising Dominance of Science, and Christianity Under Siege;
Toward a 20th Century Frame of Mind
UNIT 10 – March
Imperialism, Alliances, and World War I (Chapter25)

The New Imperialism; The Emergence of the German Empire; The Alliance System and the Road to
War; World War I and the Settlement at Paris; The Russian Revolution
UNIT 11 – March /April
Between the Wars (Chapters 26 & 27)

Post WWI political and Economic Aftermath; Political Experiments in the 1920’s; The Successor States
of Eastern Europe; The Great Depression; The Weimar Republic and Nazi Seizure of Power in Germany;
Stalin’s Soviet Union
UNIT 12 – April
World War II (Chapter 28)

The Origins and Course of the War; Racism and the Holocaust; The Domestic Fronts; The Atomic Bomb
and Preparations for the Coming Peace
UNIT 13 – April/May
Post WWII: Cold War and the Emergence of a New Europe (Chapters 29 & 30)

The Emergence of the Cold War; The Decline of the Soviet Union, from Khrushchev to Brezhnev;
Gorbachev and the Collapse of European Communism; European Decolonization; The Rise of Radical
Islam; Migration and Technological/Cultural Transformations in 20th Century Europe; The European
Union
About the AP Exam…
The AP European History Exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes long and will test the breadth and scope of this
course. Section I is 55 minutes long and consists of 80 multiple-choice questions. Approximately half the
questions test knowledge from 1450 to The French Revolution/Napoleonic Era, and the other half tests from
Napoleon to the present. About 20-30% of the multiple choice questions will cover cultural/intellectual
themes; 30-40% cover political/diplomatic themes; and 30-40% cover social/economic themes.
Section II of the Exam is a 130-minute free response section, which begins with a mandatory 15-minute
reading period. This is followed by Part A, the Document-Based essay Question (DBQ), which is 45 minutes
long and based on the documents read, analyzed, and organized during the 15-minute reading period. The
DBQ evaluates a student’s ability to formulate and support a thesis, based on the documents provided, rather
than on previous knowledge. The DBQ is weighted as 45% of the free response section.
Section II, Parts B and C consist of two thematic essay questions to be answered in 70 minutes (It is suggested
that 35 minutes are spent on each question – 5 minutes of planning, 30 minutes of writing). Students have
the opportunity to choose one essay from three choices in Part B and one essay from three choices in Part C.
Time may be spent during the 15-minute reading period considering Part B and C choices. Here students will
provide a thesis, as well as the evidence to support the thesis, based upon their individual previous knowledge
of the topic. Together, the two thematic essays are weighted as 55% of the free response section.
The multiple-choice and free response sections are weighted equally in the total exam score.