WORLD HISTORY: 2016-2017

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Directions: For each historical event and piece of literature answerin bullet point form. Bring it with you on the day of our Socratic Final so that you may refer to it for information. Finally, you will submit it as part of your Final Exam grade.

Part I- Historical Events

Event / Bulleted Points for Argument
French Revolution
1.What are the strengths and weaknesses of a political system built on the notion that its ruler is sacred?
2.Why did July 14 become France’s national holiday? What does this choice suggest about the Revolution and their history?
3.Was it necessary for the French to execute their King? Why or why not?
4.Why did Marie Antoinette come to represent such an evil force? What do you think of her as a historical figure?
5.What is your view of Robespierre? What made him tick?
Napoleon
  1. What does Napoleon’s usurpation of power tell you about peoples’ willingness to accept a dictator after a period of instability?
  2. Identify the reasons for Napoleon’s Rise to Power.
  3. Identify the reasons for Napoleon’s fall from Power.
  4. What is the Legacy of Napoleon?

Industrialization/Imperialism
  1. Did the Industrial Revolution expand the importance of the individual or expand it?
  2. What is progress in society?
  1. What specifics definea civilization?
  2. What were the main reasons for the appeal of imperialism among Europeans?
  3. What were the immediate and long term impacts of colonialism on indigenous peoples?
  4. Does Western society continue to view others as less worthy due to its technological superiority?

WWI
1)How did technology help turn World War 1 into a total war?
2)What motivated the soldiers of the Great War to keep on fighting, in spite of the horrors they experienced?
3)What specific types of propaganda influenced countries, soldiers and individuals during WW1?
4)What (if anything) could have been done to effectively restrain theescalation of total war?
5)Given that many Germans were not reconciled to defeat, would a milder Versailles Treaty have averted new conflict or brought it onsooner?
Rise of Communism- Russian Revolution
  1. What means did the Bolsheviks use to argue for the popularity and legitimacy of their seizure of power?
  2. What is the reality of communism vs. the idea of communism?
  3. Why would communism be so appealing to a nation?
  4. What factors were most important in Stalin’s rise to power?
  5. Where did Stalin go wrong?

Rise of Nazism/WWII
  1. Which Nazi promises were most appealing to ordinary Germans?
  2. What aspects of Hitler’s background and youth might be useful to thecult of the leader, and which ones might need to be hidden?
  3. What was the effect of nationalism in Germany, Italy, and Japan?
  4. What was the effect of dropping the Atomic Bombs on soldiers and society?

Nazism/Holocaust
  1. What were the crucial milestones on the Nazis’ road to genocide?
  2. Was world domination a logically implicit aim in Nazi ideology, orwere more limited goals likelier?

Cold War
  1. What were the keys to Mao’s success in coming to power and keeping
Power?
  1. What is mutually assured destruction (MAD) and how did this change warfare?

Terrorism and the Future…
  1. Why did suicide attacks become much more frequent as forms of terrorism in the last 10 years?
  2. Does an essential human nature exist, or is humanity a material that can be formed and shaped?

Part II- Literature

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
  1. What affects the way you think and behave? In other words, what are the influences that have informed you of who you are and how you act on a daily basis?
  2. What is Plato’s overall message? What is the essential insight you take-away from this message?
  3. Why can’t the chained prisoners hear or understand the released individual? Why is this important to your own view of reality: to your own existence?
  4. In what ways can you relate Allegory of the Cave to your life?

Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities
  1. How did Dickens use characters to reflect the various views of revolutionaries and reactionaries?
  2. Why did Dickens use resurrection in the form of Sidney Carton?
  3. What is the significance of Mme and M Defarge?

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
  1. What are some of the positive features of Ibo people that the colonists destroyed? Likewise, what are some of the negative aspects of the Ibo people that the British helped end?
  2. In what ways has colonialism helped and debilitated other cultures?

Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front
  1. Does All Quiet on the Western Front do a better job of showing humans at their best or at their worst?
  2. Consider the different characters: Paul, Kat, Himmelstoss, Kantorek, etc. and think of several scenes that show people acting heroically or cruelly.
  3. What does this say about what war does to human nature?
  4. Remarque wanted to show the reality of war. Did people learn any lessons from his novel or do we continue to romanticize the idea of war in the modern world?

George Orwell’s Animal Farm
  1. At the end of the novel, Clover stares in disbelief at how Napoleon and the other pigs look exactly like the humans. Do you agree with Orwell’s point about how absolute power corrupts absolutely? Have you seen any counter examples? Be specific.
  2. How has this novel added to your understanding of communism, revolutions, and human nature?

Elie Wiesel’s Night
  1. Elie Wiesel’s account of human nature tells a powerful account of his experience in the Holocaust.He looks at himself as both a messenger and a survivor. Did he succeed as messenger? Why or why not?
  2. Do you think that a Holocaust could happen again? Why or why not?

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
1)In what ways does Bradbury depict a society that is completely disconnected from each other and consumed with superficial desires?
2)Describe how burning books is a form of censorship and relate this to the burning of All Quiet on the Western Front by the Nazis and to Kurt Vonnegut, jr’s “You Have Insulted Me”: A Letter.
3)To this extent, who decides what to censor? How does this impact our view of a society that chooses not to read? What then are the dangers to freedom and democracy as we know it?

Use the space below to answer the following prompt:

Is the world steadily improving? Generally the same? Or getting worse?

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