Comparative Practice 2010 WHAP/Napp
The Question:
2010 Comparative Essay from the World History AP
Analyze similarities and differences in methods of political control in TWO of the following empires in the Classical period.
Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.)
Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.)
Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.)
Do Now:
“With Augustus, Rome became an imperial monarchy, a territorial, political, and economic empire ruled by a single military commander, the imperator (from which the term emperor is derived), and his armies. For years generals had wanted this centralized power. Now, in gratitude, the Senate was willing to turn it over to Augustus. Augustus rejected the title of monarch, preferring to be called princeps, or first citizen. This gesture of humility fooled no one. With Augustus’ reign, the imperial form of government begins even though the Senate and the consuls and other magistrates survived. From Augustus on, all real power in the Roman state lay in the hands of the emperor…
The development of international law, the jus gentium, the law of nations, also helped to unite and pacify the empire….Rome interacted more than ever with foreigners and with subjects of Rome who did not have citizenship. To deal with legal cases between Romans and others, a new official, the foreign magistrate, was appointed. The jus gentium evolved from his judgments. Over time, this law was codified, first by Hadrian, and later, in the East, by the Emperor Justinian (r. 527-565)
…In general, Roman rulers were solicitous of the upper classes in the provinces, both because of a shared class position and because they believed that the loyalty of these elites was crucial to maintaining Roman hegemony (influence or control over another group).
To win and secure allies, Rome not only granted citizenship, codified international law, and built a remarkable physical infrastructure of towns and roads for unifying the empire, it also developed a culture that it brought to the people it conquered…
Officially, Rome celebrated a religion centralized on the person of the emperor-god. After the deification of Augustus at his death, the official priesthood offered animal sacrifices to him and later to his successors, adding these to the traditional sacrifices to the major pagan gods, especially Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. People celebrated the birthdays and death anniversaries of the emperors as holidays. Beyond these rituals, however, Roman religious policies allowed a great deal of flexibility. For the most part, as long as people venerated the emperor and did not question the legitimacy of the state, Roman emperors allowed diverse religious practices to flourish…Rome did not, however, tolerate sects that challenged the authority of the empire or the emperor.” ~ The World’s History
· Identify three methods of Roman political control: ______
The Basic Core Rubric:
1. Has an Acceptable Thesis. [1 Point]
2. Addresses all parts of the question, though not necessarily evenly or thoroughly. [2 Points but Partial Credit May Be Given]
3. Substantiates thesis with appropriate historical evidence. [2 Points but Partial Credit May Be Given]
4. Makes at least one relevant, direct comparison between/among societies. [1 Point]
5. Analyzes at least one reason for a similarity or difference identified in a direct comparison. [1 Point]
Remember the Expanded Core Points:
· Expands beyond the basic core of 1 – 7 points
Questions:
1- What must an acceptable thesis for a Comparative essay contain? ______
2- What does it mean that all parts of the question must be addressed although not necessarily evenly or thoroughly? ______
3- What is historical evidence? ______
4- How many direct comparisons must the student make? ______
5- What must the student analyze? ______
6- How might a student “expand” beyond the basic core? ______
Read the following two thesis statements from two different test-takers in 2010:
A- “Han China from 206 BCE to 220 CE and Imperial Rome from 31 B.C.E. to 476 C.E. both had an unstable border situation in terms of politics, emphasized the family unit, and the authority of parents. However, Rome and China had two very different political systems, manners in which they dealt with their invaders, views on society as a whole, and religions.”
B- “Imperial Rome evolved through a political process of a kingdom to a republic to an empire. Han China, however, did not go through the same evolutionary process that Imperial went through. However, both Han China and Imperial Rome lost political control of their empire leading to its division and later decline.”
The better thesis is: ______
The Scores:
Test-taker A received an 8 for the comparative essay.
Why? ______
Test-taker B received a 3 for the comparative essay.
Why? ______
From the College Board regarding the thesis statement for test-taker B:
“There is no valid thesis statement because the essay attempts to show a difference between Han and Rome in terms of the Roman Republic, which is outside of the time period.”
Therefore, what must a test-taker do in order to create a valid thesis?
A- ______
B- ______
C- ______
Reading Passages:
“The Maurya dynasty created an imperial government that ruled over or displaced earlier political structures based only on family lineage…The state helped to enforce rules of behavior between males and females. This relationship charged men with power over women and the responsibility for protecting them, while women were expected to run the household in accordance with the wishes of men and to be available for the pleasure of men…The state also regulated the behavior of its subjects in terms of the rules of the caste. In Hindu belief each person has a social, economic, and ritual position, which was inherited at birth directly from his or her parents…Caste status not only governs private behavior, it also gives people different, unequal status under law…It was the task of the state to enforce these caste distinctions…The state also regulated religious establishments…The state also enforced rules developed by India’s guilds, associations of businessmen and producers. Closely associated with the jati, or subcastes, these mostly urban groups convened to set work rules, prices, and weights and measures, and to enforce quality control. Independent of the state, the guilds could nevertheless call on the state to enforce the regulations they had agreed upon…
In 260 B.C.E. Asoka defeated Kalinga (now Orissa), incorporating this eastern kingdom into his empire. The killing and chaos required to win the victory soured his heart, and he determined to become a different person and a different ruler. He converted to Buddhism, a religion firmly committed to nonviolence, and began to dispatch missionaries throughout his realm as well as to parts of south India beyond his borders…
In 320 C.E., a new dynasty began its rise to power in the Ganges valley, apparently through a fortunate marriage…Reflecting a deep sense of history and a desire to gain legitimacy, the founder deliberately named himself after the founder of the Mauryan Empire and became Chandra Gupta I (r.320-c.330). Gupta rule was often indirect. Following many of their distant military victories, the Gupta emperors abdicated the tasks of administration and withdrew, demanding only tribute payments…The Guptas presided over a resurgence of Sanskrit literature and Hindu philosophy…This was especially an age of resurgence of Hindu religious authority.” ~ The World’s History
Identify methods of political control in Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.):
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
“When Liu Bang (r. 206-195 B.C.E.) prevailed in the warfare that ended the Qin dynasty, the empire remained intact…Change came in the leadership style of the new dynasty. Liu Bang was himself a commoner and a soldier, perhaps illiterate, with many years of warfare ahead of him…but as his ministers, he chose educated men with Confucian principles. Slowly, a new social and political hierarchy emerged, with scholars at the top, followed by farmers, artisans, and merchants. Legalism still influenced the administrative systems, and Daoism’s emphasis on nature and emotion continued to be attractive, but Confucius’ ethical teachings captured the imagination of the court…
In 124 B.C.E. the most powerful and longest lived of the Han rulers, Wudi or Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 B.C.E.), the Martial Emperor, established an elite imperial academy to teach specially selected scholar-bureaucrats the wisdom of Confucius and the applicability to problems of governance. The emperor also declared that knowledge of the Confucian classics would be a basis for promotion in the imperial civil service…
The Han emperors were no less militaristic than the Qin. Confucian principles of moral rectitude held sway among the educated elites, but the government did not dispense with formal legal systems nor did it forsake offensive or defensive warfare. The standing army numbered between 300,000 and 1,000,000, and all able-bodied men between the ages of about twenty and fifty-six were conscripted, serving for one year of training and one year of duty in the capital or in battle on the frontiers. They could be recalled in case of warfare.
…Han rulers also encouraged the expansion of China’s iron industry. They developed the technique of liquefying iron and pouring it into molds to produce cast iron and later steel…New inventions in mining (including salt mining), paper production, the compass, the breaststrap harness for horses, a redesigned plowshare, hydraulic engineering, and the tapping of natural gas increased wealth and productivity…The cost of military expeditions and garrisons, and the expenses of the self-aggrandizing court ate up the gains, however. Having dramatically lowered the land revenues when they first took office, the Han emperors began to raise them again. They also began to nationalize private enterprise by bringing it under state control, not in order to promote efficiency or honesty but to gain the profits of the state.” ~ The World’s History
Identify methods of political control in Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.):
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
Preparation for Free Response Writing:
Create quick lists of facts using the table below:
Methods of Political Control
Han China(206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) / Mauryan/Gupta India
(320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.) / Imperial Rome
(31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.)
It is important to remember that you need only select two empires in the classical period.
- Circle the similarities
- Check the differences
Write a valid thesis statement
[Be sure to include part of the essay’s prompt and include a specific similarity and a specific difference.]
The Essay’s prompt:
Analyze similarities and differences in methods of political control in TWO of the following empires in the Classical period.
Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.)
Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.)
Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.)
The Thesis Statement:
______
My specific similarity was: ______
My specific difference was: ______
Write one body paragraph of the essay [Now, it is time to analyze the similarity or the difference – to explain how and why this similarity or difference occurred and how and why it impacted people in the empires]:
______
Checklist for the Essay:
· An acceptable thesis statements needs to be comparative, stating at least one similarity and at least one difference.
· Acceptable thesis statements also need to be explicit, not simply restatements of the question or vague statements such as “there were more similarities than differences.” They also need to be relevant to the time period.
· A good response provides valid similarities and differences, substantiated by specific pieces of evidence from within the time period.
· Good essays do not include evidence that is outside the time period or any of the stipulated regions.
· Students should be told to make their connections clear, because readers will not infer that a particular essay demonstrates content knowledge that is not present in the plain language of the student response.
· Every paragraph must be comparative.
· A good response provides analysis and uses this analysis as an explanation of a reason for a similarity or difference.
· A good essay could consistently analyze cause and effect for the noted similarities and differences.