IB History Year II- Summer Homework:

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of the vacation and I hope that I don’t spoil it with notices of summer studies for IB History. I was impressed with many of the exam papers and with the progress that you are all making. During the first week of school we will go over your mock exams so that you can see how they were scored and so that you can make plans for improvement.

Please complete the following before we return to school in September:

  1. SL / HL- History Internal Investigation- Parts A-F must be completed for your personal investigation. Make sure to follow the models that I gave you in class as well as the descriptions and check-lists. If you have misplaced them, I will also email them to you. I have also attached a copy of the assessment criteria for the internal, a self-evaluation, a checklist, and the citation format that you must use when completing your internal. All sources must be cited using footnotes, with the MLA format found on You can also set you Microsoft Word 2009-> to footnotes and MLA citations. Follow the format that is found on the handout that is attached to this sheet. We will not use ibid or opcit for repeated sources.
  1. SL / HL- CNN Cold War Series: Make sure to pick up part II of the Cold War Series before school is out. I have them in my classroom. The DVD that I gave you with part one contains all of the DVD series. I would like for you to watch the following episodes in the Cold War series and to make careful annotations in the margins of the transcript. As well, make sure to answer the questions that appear at the end of the episodes. 25 points each section.

Standard Level- Cold War episode #s to complete this summer: #11, #12, #14, #17, and #21.

Higher Level- Cold War episode #s to complete this summer: #11, #12, #13, #14, #17, #18 and #21.

  1. SL/ HL- IB History Guide: Obtain your copy of the IB History Guide for first examinations 2010. (I’ll attach a copy of the guide in case you don’t have it.) Make sure that you have a printed copy of the Guide on the first day of school. If you don’t have the one I gave you, make sure to print one from Moodle.
  1. SL/ HL Rise of Single Party States: Purchase your choice of biographies for one of the dictators on our syllabus. You should carefully read and annotate the biography. You may also choose to take notes or choose selected quotes from the text to record in your binder. You must show evidence of your reading and studying the biography. Be prepared to share with the class specific examples of unique viewpoints expressed by the historian and or controversial interpretations. You will share your findings in the first few weeks of school. Please refer to the end of this paper for a list of possible biographies or history books. You will also find a detailed list of possible biographies at 100 points.
  1. Higher Level Only: Individual Study for Paper III Preparation- Refer to pages 44-51 in the IB History Guide for first examinations 2010. You will notice that we have studied the following sections in the ACS Syllabus:
  2. #7- The Great Depression and the Americas 1929-39
  3. #8- The Second World War and the Americas 1933-45
  4. #10- The Cold War and the Americas 1945-1981

The topics listed on pages 44-51 will be used to create your paper III for your final IB History exam. You will have to write on three questions on the exam, so you must know the sections that we have studied very well. Over the summer you must complete an individual study of one other area of the Americas syllabus:

Please note: Your independent study will have a large impact on your IB prediction for Paper III.

  1. Choose another section from pages 44-51 to complete as an individualized study.
  2. I suggest #9, #11, or #12, although any of the other sections will work. If you have some specific background in any of the other sections, choose that one.
  3. Carefully type the bullets from the syllabus that are found under the section that you choose.
  4. Identify readings and outside sources from the American Odysseyas well as other outside sources.
  5. You must ultimately create a binder with notes, information and sources that pertain to each of the bullets found within the syllabus. (The IBO will create questions for the Paper III based on these bullets, so if you prepare carefully for those bullets, you will be prepared for the exam.
  6. Complete a study plan for each of the bullets. Record the page #s from the American Odyssey where you will find the specific background information.
  7. Locate additional resources on-line that help you to study the material.
  8. Read from the American Odyssey and take careful notes for your binder.
  9. Include all of your sources and material in your binder.
  10. Bring your completed binder for your individual study of your section to class with you when we return to school in September.

Grade for your HL independent study:

100 Points Possible- Notes from the American Odyssey pertaining to each of the bullets.: completeness, accuracy, & usefulness for final review.

100 Points Possible- Outside resources pertaining to the bullets from the internet, outside books or other sources: you should have at least eight outside sources included in your binder.

50 Points Possible- Effort and care for detail

250 Total Points Possible for HL/ Individual study binder

Recommended Biographies and other historical sources: All SL and HL candidates must choose one biography or historical book to read over the summer.

Stalin:

Conquest, Robert. Stalin: Breaker of Nations. 1991.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. 2003

Radzinsky, Edvard. Stalin: The first in-depth biography based on explosive new documents from Russia’s Secret Archives. 1996.

Service, Robert. Stalin: A Biography. 2005.

Hitler:

Evans, Richard. The Third Reich in Power. 2005.

Fuchs, Thomas. A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler. 2000.

Giblin, James Cross. The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. 2002

Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris. 1998.

Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography. 2008.

Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. 1998.

Mao:

Chang, Jung and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story.

Lynch, Michael. Mao (Routledge Historical Biographies). 2004.

Spence, Jonathan. Mao Zedong: A Life. 1999.

Terrill, Ross. Mao: A Biography: Revised and Expanded Edition. 1999.

Castro:

Fuentes, Norberto. The Autobiography of Fidel Castro. (Make sure to get the English edition.) 2007.

Quirk, Robert E. Fidel Castro. 1993.

Ramonet, Ignacio & Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography. 2006.

Schwartz, Joyce R. and Ellen R. Butts. Fidel Castro (Biography). 2005.

Skierka, Volker. Patrick Camiler (Translator). Fidel Castro: A Biography. 2004.

Cold War (General):

Ambrose, Stephen and Caleb Carr. The Cold War: A Military History. 2006.

Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. 2005. [A post-revisionist view of the Cold War]

Zubok, Vladislay. A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (New Cold War History). 2007.