Download Foundations - AP World History

AP World Essay Prompts
Foundations
1. In what ways did geography and climate affect the development of human society?
2. What were the economic and social results of the agricultural revolution?
3. What are the issues involved in using “civilization” as an organizing principle in world
history?
4. What is the most common source of change: connection/diffusion or independent
invention?
5. How do agricultural, pastoral and foraging societies differ? Use evidence from Africa, the
Americas and Southeast Asia.
6. What was the impact of agriculture on the environment?
7. What was the importance of the introduction of bronze and iron?
8. Compare the basic features of two early civilizations? Choose two of the following:
Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Shang, Indus
9. Compare the development of political structures in China with those in India.
10. How did social and gender structures in India differ from the Mediterranean?
11. Which regions were favored as areas of human settlement, given the technology available
during the Classic period?
12. Describe the major classical period trading patters within and among China, India, and the
Mediterranean?
13. What were the scientific and technological contributions of China, India, and the
Mediterranean?
14. What were the artistic contributions of China, India, and the Mediterranean?
15. What were the basic features of the major world belief systems?
Polytheism
Judaism
Hinduism
Christianity
Daoism
Buddhism
16. What were the main emphases and the main changes in organized religion during the
Classic period?
17. What interactions among regions favored changes in human society?
18. What changes in population and culture were brought about by migrations?
19. What were the Greek approaches to science and philosophy? Explain the role of Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle.
20. What led to the diffusion of the major religions?
21. Why was the collapse of empire more severe in western Europe than it was in the eastern
Mediterranean or in China?
600 to 1450
22. Analyze the changes and continuities in the Arabic world’s acceptance of ONE of the
following items between 700 and 1400. Be sure to discuss the causes of the changes as well
as the reasons for the continuities.
 Arts
 Technology
 Sciences
23. Describe and analyze the cultural, economic, and political impact of Islam on ONE of the
following regions between 700 C.E. and 1450 C.E. Be sure to discuss the causes of the
changes as well as the reasons for the continuities.
 West Africa
 South Asia
 Europe
24. Describe the developments and shifts in trade in ONE of the following regions between 600
and 1450 CE. Be sure to discuss the causes of the changes as well as the reasons for the
continuities.
 Indian Ocean
 Trans-Sahara
 Silk Road
25. Compare and contrast the economic and political choices made during the Tang/Song Era
with those made during the first century of the Ming dynasty.
26. Describe and analyze the changing political structure of China between 600 and 1450 CE. Be
sure to discuss the causes of the changes as well as the reasons for the continuities.
27. Compare and contrast the economic and political effects of China on TWO of the following
neighboring regions.
 Korea
 Japan
 Vietnam
28. Compare and contrast the economic and political systems of two of the following regions
between 700 and 1300 CE.
 Russia
 Byzantine Empire
 Western Europe
29. Compare and contrast the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church using
TWO of the following criteria:
 Religious dogma
 Role and responsibilities of clergy
 Organizational structure
 Art used in places of worship
30. Compare and contrast the social, political and economic patterns of the TWO of the
following civilizations
 Mayans
 Aztecs
 Incas
31. Compare and contrast Japanese and European feudalism using TWO of the following
criteria:
 Warrior class
 Architecture
 Role of king/emperor
32.
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Compare and contrast the impact of TWO of the following migrations:
Bantu
Vikings
Aztecs
33.
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Compare and contrast Islam and Christianity using TWO of the following criteria:
Dogma
Relation to the state
Religious prophets
Role of women
34. Describe the developments and shifts in the role of women in TWO of the following regions
between 600 and 1450 CE:
 China
 Dar al-Islam
 Western Europe
35. Compare and contrast the short and long-term effects of the Crusades on Western Europe
and the Middle East.
36.
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Compare and contrast the role and function of cities in TWO of the following regions:
Dar al-Islam
Western Europe
China
37. Compare and contrast European and sub-Saharan contacts with the Islamic world using
TWO of the following criteria:
 Degree of adoption of Islam
 Military conflict
 Economic relationship
 Treatment of minority/indigenous religions
1450-1750
38. Compare and contrast American slavery with one of the following coercive systems of labor
- Russian serfdom or the encomienda system.
39. Describe and analyze the impact of the Columbian Exchange on one of the following regions
between 1400 and 1700. Be sure to discuss the causes of the changes as well as reasons for
the continuities.
40. Compare and contrast the exploration and colonization practices of the Portuguese and
Spanish with one of the following:
French
 British
 Dutch
41. Describe the developments and shifts in thought in Europe between 1450 and 1750. Use
two of the following cultural movements to discuss the causes of the changes as well as the
reasons for the continuities.
 Reformation
 Renaissance
 Enlightenment
 Scientific Revolution
42. How did the international role of Europe change from the Post-Classical Period to the Early
Modern Period?
43.
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Compare Russia’s interaction with the West with the interaction of two of the following:
Ottoman Empire
China
Tokugawa Japan
Mughal India
44. How does the world economic network of 1750 compare with that of 1000?
45.
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Compare the intellectual and artistic developments of Europe to one of the following:
Mughal India
Tokugawa Japan
Ming China
46.
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What were the demographic and environmental changes caused by the following:
diseases
animals
new crops
population trends
47.
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Compare the role of women under the Tokugawa Shogunate with two of the following:
Western Europe
Ottoman Empire
Ming China
48. Compare the Portuguese method of creating and maintaining empire with that of one of the
following land-based empires
 Safavid Persia
 Ottoman Empire
 Mughal India
1450-1750
49. Analyze the changes in global commerce from 1750 to 1914 due to changes in technology,
communication and economic theory.
50.
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Analyze the demographic changes between 1750 and 1914 due to three of the following:
industrialization
food supply
immigration
birth rate patterns
health
slave trade
51. Analyze the social, economic and political changes and continuities facing women between
1750 and 1914 in the industrialized world.
52. Choose TWO of the areas listed below and analyze how each area’s relationship to global
trade patterns changed from 1750 to the present. Be sure to describe each area’s
involvement in global patterns around 1750 as your starting point.
 Latin America
 East Asia
 Sub-Saharan Africa
 The Middle East
 Eastern Europe
 North America
 South and Southeast Asia
53.
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Compare and contrast the causes and results of two of the following revolutions?
Haitian Revolution
French Revolution
American Revolution
54. Compare and contrast the causes and results of two of the following independence
movements?
 Latin American
 Chinese
 Egyptian
55. Analyze the changes and continuities in labor systems between 1750 and 1914 in ONE of the
following areas. In your analysis, be sure to discuss the causes of the changes and the
reasons for the continuities.
 Latin America and the Caribbean
 Russia
 Sub-Saharan Africa
56. Compare and contrast the economic, political and social impact of Western imperialism on
TWO of the following regions:
 India
 China
 Sub-Saharan Africa
57. Compare and contrast the cultural and political reactions to Western imperialism in TWO of
the following regions:
 Ottoman Empire
 China
 India
 Japan
58. Compare the causes and early phases of the Industrial Revolution in TWO of the following
regions:
 Japan
 Western Europe
 India
59. Compare and contrast the role of nationalism in both creating nation-states and defining
foreign policy in TWO of the following regions
 Germany
 China
 Japan
 Egypt
60.
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Compare and contrast forms of Western intervention in TWO of the following regions:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Latin America
Northern Africa
China
61. Compare and contrast the roles and conditions of women in the upper/middle classes with
the peasantry/working class in western Europe.
62. Analyze changes and continuities in the environment due to the Industrial Revolution.
63. Compare and contrast the debates over the utility of modernization theory as a framework
for interpreting events in this period and the next?
1914-Present
64. Compare and contrast the causes of World War I and World War II?
65. Compare and contrast the resolutions of World War I and World War II. Consider the
following:
 Peace agreements – major players, ideology, geographic boundaries
 Economic/political effects
 Role in creating future confrontation
66. Analyze the impact of war on civilians. Choose either World War I or World War II and
compare it with one of the following conflicts:
 Korean War
Vietnam War
 Biafra War
Angola War
 Nicaragua War
Bosnia/Kosovo War
 Cambodia
67. Compare and contrast European nationalism during the Interwar Period with that of the
independence movements in those nations that decolonized following World War II.
68. Analyze the changing role of the United States in the twentieth century. Consider its role
economically, diplomatically and militarily.
69. Compare and contrast the impact of globalization in the 21st century with that of European
colonialism in the 19th century.
70. Compare and contrast the patterns and results of decolonization in Africa and South Asia.
71.
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Compare and contrast two of the following revolutions’ effects on the roles of women:
Russian Revolution 1917
Chinese Revolution 1949
Cuban Revolution 1959
Iranian Revolution 1979
72.
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Compare the effects of the World Wars on two of the following regions:
India
Asia
Africa
Latin America
73. Compare and contrast why developing nations chose to align with either the USSR or the
United States during the Cold War.
74. Compare the legacies of colonialism and the patterns of economic development in two of
the three areas below:
 Latin America
 Africa
 Asia
75. Compare and contrast the independence struggles of Africa. Why were some nations more
successful than others in diversifying their economies, developing a stable political system,
and social equality?
76. Compare and contrast the methods and effectiveness of guerilla warfare with that of hightech warfare. Use specific examples from two of the following military conflicts of the 20th
century.
 Israel-Palestine
 Vietnam War
 The Iraq War
77. Compare and contrast the methods and results of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the
Cuban Revolution of Fidel Castro.
78.
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Analyze the demographic changes of 20th century considering three of the following:
Migration
Birth rates
Urbanization
Death rates
79. Analyze the changes and continuities in threats to the environment and resulting
environmental movements in the 20th century.
80. Is cultural convergence or diversity the best model for understanding increased intercultural
contact in the 20th century?
81. Analyze the impact of economic philosophy on both the Cold War and on the decolonization
movement.
82. Analyze the political and social changes and continuities in one of the following nations
during the twentieth century:
 Russia
 Mexico
 Japan
 South Africa
83. Analyze the role of religious belief and secular ideologies in the contemporary world.
Misc
84. Compare and contrast the political, social, and economic effects of Mongol rule on TWO of
the following regions (choose only two).
China
Middle East
Russia
85. Compare and contrast the impact of Buddhism on India and China from the Mauryan Empire
through the Song Dynasty with the impact of Catholicism on Western Europe from the
Decline of the Roman Empire through the Renaissance
86. Compare and contrast the political economic and social systems of the Aztecs and the Inca.
87. Compare and contrast the impact of the spread of Islam into the Middle East, Africa, and
Asia with the impact of the spread of Orthodox Christianity into Russia and Eastern Europe.
88. Compare and contrast the social, political, and economic impact of Confucianism in China
with the Brahmin Caste System in India through the Post-Classical Period.