Textbook Focus Questions, Semester Two
Topic One Focus Question: What changes defined Western Europe during the High Middle Ages?
Ch. 7.4: Economic Expansion and Change: The Crusades and After (pages 211-219)
Ch. 7.4: Economic Expansion and Change: The Crusades and After (pages 211-219)
- Why did agricultural production improve?
- How and why did medieval towns and cities grow?
- Describe three economic changes in medieval Europe.
- What was a guild? What is an apprentice? How were women impacted by the rise of guilds?
- What were the Crusades? What incentives drove people (besides the pope) to participate in the Crusades?
- Were the Crusades ultimately successful in conquering the Holy Land? What overall economic impact did the Crusades have on Western Europe? Ch. 7.6: Learning, Literature, and the Arts of the Middle Ages (pages 231-236)
- What factors contributed to the rise of the first European universities?
- What general sources of knowledge influenced Western Europe in the High Middle Ages?
- What is meant by vernacular literature?
- List the key features that differentiated Gothic cathedrals from Romanesque buildings. Topic Two Focus Question: Why did both Western Europe and Japan adopt feudalism during the postclassical era?
Ch. 9.5 The Island Kingdom of Japan (pages 332-337) - List three ways Japan’s geography influenced its developments.
- Describe the Shinto religion. What other religion influenced Japan?
- What sorts of cultural influences did Japan borrow from China?
- What was the title of Murasaki’s book? Why is it noteworthy?
- Draw the social hierarchy that emerged during Japan’s feudal age.
- What was bushido? How did it treat women? Topic Three Focus Question: What was the Mongol’s impact on history?
Ch. 9.3 The Mongol Empire and Ming China (pages 321-323) - What lifeway did the Mongols adopt before the rise of the Mongol empire? What other civilization have we studied that resembled the Mongols (including this lifeway)?
- What techniques did Genghis Khan use to achieve success in battle?
- Briefly describe the Mongol ruling style.
- What was the Pax Mongolica? What was its impact?
- Which Mongol leader defeated China? What key Chinese technology diffused to Western Europe during this time? Topic Four Focus Question: What fundamental similarities and differences defined the postclassical Aztecs versus the Incas?
Ch. 4.1: Civilizations of Middle America: Aztecs (pages 108-110) - List some of the systems adopted by the Aztecs that contributed to their success.
- Describe the main aspects of the Aztec religion.
- List the fields in which the Aztecs advanced knowledge (don’t worry about the specifics). Ch. 4.2: The World of the Incas (pages 111-115)
- In what ways did the Chavin and the Moche influence later Andean cultures?
- Describe the role and power of the Inca emperor.
- What is quipu?
- What systems did the Inca adopt to unify their empire?
- List the building/engineering projects overseen by the Incas.
- For what crafts are the Inca remembered? What animals provided raw materials for their crafts?
- What medical advancements did the Incas make? What other American civilization had advanced medical knowledge?
- How was the Inca religion similar to the Aztec religion?
- In what other ways were the Aztecs and Incas similar? Topic Five Focus Question: In what ways was the Renaissance a “rebirth?”
Ch. 10.1: The Italian Renaissance (pages 350-354, 360) - List the values and attitudes that defined the Renaissance.
- Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy?
- What new styles and techniques did Renaissance artists introduce?
- How did Renaissance architecture differ from medieval architecture? (go to page 360)
- In what ways did Gutenberg’s printing press influence Western Europe? 10.3: The Protestant Reformation (pages 362-365)
- What were indulgences?
- What were Martin Luther’s main issues with the practice of indulgences?
- How did the Church respond to Luther’s 95 Theses?
- What were Luther’s three main teachings? 10.5: The Scientific Revolution (pages 374-376)
- Before the Renaissance, what two key sources shaped European scholars’ understanding of the natural world?
- List the key steps of the scientific method. 11.1: Europeans Explore Overseas (pages 384-389)
- What were the major causes of European exploration?
- How did the Portuguese create a trading empire stretching from Africa through the Indian Ocean to India?
- What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
- What was the significance of Ferdinand Magellan’s journey?
- Why did the European presence in Africa expand? 11.2: Europeans Gain Footholds in Asia (pages 390-394, 396)
- Which European power gained a foothold in Asian trade in the 1500s? Why was their success limited?
- What European powers became more dominant in Asian trade in the 1600s?
- What were the most valuable exports from India? What European power colonized India by the end of this era?
- What goods did Europe want from China? What was China’s attitude toward the Europeans and their goods? (then go to page 396)
- How did Japan’s reaction to Europeans differ from China’s? How was it similar? Topic Six Focus Question: Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Britain, and what was its impact? 13.1 The Industrial Revolution Begins: Britain (pages 499-503)
- Make a web showing the key factors that triggered industrialization in Britain and how each played a role.
- What was the putting-out system, and how did factories make it obsolete?
- List the transportation developments that arose alongside industrialization.
- What factors allowed other nations to industrialize after Britain?