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World History Honors Mr. Terry 2016-17 Summer Assignment History, Perspective, and Human Societies Hello and welcome to World History Honors! This social studies course is intended to be challenging, but also rewarding for those who truly engage with the questions we will be grappling with both inside and beyond the classroom. To start things off, we would like you to complete the following assignment this summer, and be prepared to turn it in on the first day of school. The assignment will be based around the viewing of two episodes of Guns, Germs, and Steel and ask you to think about the importance of perspective. The videos are from a National Geographic presentation that is based on the bestselling book by Jared Diamond. Directions: 1. View Guns, Germs, and Steel Episode 1, titled “Out of Eden,” and respond to the video questions on the attached worksheet. The video can be accessed on YouTube by typing in this address (https://youtu.be/QwZ4s8Fsv94), or simply by searching for it by typing key words into the YouTube search bar. 2. View Guns, Germs, and Steel Episode 2, titled “Conquest,” and respond to the video questions on the attached worksheet. The video can be accessed on YouTube by typing in this address (https://youtu.be/iR8OaVDB3_E), or simply by searching for it by typing key words into the YouTube search bar. 3. Write a two-page reflection that addresses each of the following questions: a. What is perspective? b. What is Jared Diamond’s perspective about history? What is the big question he is trying to answer and what is his argument? What evidence does he use to support this argument? c. Jared Diamond’s book focuses on human societies in various parts of the world (for example, New Guinea, Europe, and South America). How can our understanding of human societies in history help us understand the perspective of people living in different places around the world today? How has history impacted the way that people live? d. Jared Diamond’s book focuses on the role that geography plays in what makes societies powerful or wealthy. How has this changed your perspective on history and how human societies develop or interact? Cite evidence from the video to support your answer. The reflection should be typed, using formatting according to the Modern Language Association (MLA). Grading on this assignment will not stress formatting. However, this is a skill that will be required for writing in any history course at JTHS, so consider this a good opportunity to practice! Tips on writing using MLA can be found here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. My contact information is listed below if you have any questions or concerns. You are expected to be on your A-game for this course, and I am confident you can do so. Enjoy the summer and this assignment, and I will be looking forward to seeing you in the fall! Mr. Terry: [email protected] World History Honors Mr. Terry World History Honors Mr. Terry Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 1 “Out of Eden” Video Questions: 1. According to Jared Diamond, what are the three major elements that separate the world’s “haves” from the “have nots”? 2. Jared Diamond refers to the people of New Guinea as “among the world’s most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world”, yet they have much less than modern Americans. Diamond has developed a theory about what has caused these huge discrepancies among different countries, and he says it boils down to geographic luck. Give several examples from the film to support Diamond’s theory. 3. For thousands of years, people have been cultivating crops. Describe the process used to domesticate crops and create plants that yielded bigger, tastier harvests. 4. According to Diamond, livestock also plays a significant role in a civilization’s ability to become rich and powerful. How did the domestication of animals help people? Give several examples. World History Honors Mr. Terry 5. List the animals that can be domesticated and where they can be found. 6. Looking at the list of animals and locations from question 5, discuss how Diamond’s theory about geographic luck applies here. 7. How did the movement of the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent (Middle East) further support Diamond’s idea that geography played a key role in the success of a civilization? 8. Do you agree with Jared Diamond when he says of a civilizations ability to gain power, wealth, and strength, “...what’s far more important is the hand that people have been dealt, the raw materials they’ve had at their disposal.” Why or why not? World History Honors Mr. Terry Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 2 “Conquest” Video Questions: 1. At the time that the Spanish conquistador’s invaded the Inca Empire, they were armed with state of the art weaponry. Describe this weaponry. 2. What is Jared Diamond’s explanation for why the Spanish had advanced to steel swords while Inca’s were still making tools and weapons from bronze? 3. How did the battle tactics used by the Spanish conquistadors help the small army defeat the Inca army that outnumbered it by the thousands? 4. According to Jared Diamond, what made the Europeans “accidental conquerors”?