Final Integration Essay Exam
ONLY USE The Human Journey: Volume 1 (Second Edition) by Kevin Reilly AS A SOURCE.
Based on all the assignments and activities in which we have engaged this month, write a 6-page essay that answers the following questions:
Historians are always trying to understand causes and consequences. Causes tell us how things happened (or changed) and consequences indicate the size and scope of the change. One would expect the biggest changes to have the biggest consequences. What would you say were the three most important changes that occurred from 8000 BCE to 1450 CE? Why were they the most important changes? What were their consequences or effects (up to 1450 CE)? What were their origins or causes?
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Since this exam is meant to show how well you have mastered the course materials, use of or reference to material outside the course is not allowed.
Please note: when you discuss the important consequences or effects of developments you identify or what we can learn from parallel worlds, do not extend your discussion beyond the year 1450. For instance do not discuss their significance for life today. The shape of the current world is beyond the scope of this class. The Final Exam in HIS 233 tests your mastery of course content and this course ends around the year 1450, so your discussion of important consequences or “take-aways” needs to end around that year as well. The nearly 570 years since 1450 (which is the time period covered by HIS 234) have had more impact on the nature of the modern world in any case.
The Integrative Essay does not ask you to do any outside reading. Answer the question using only the materials (textbook, documentaries, primary sources, videos, discussion boards, etc.) that we encountered in class. At the bare minimum, your essay should refer to information from at least three different chapters in the textbook, three different primary sources, and three different documentaries. And the more of that material you cite, the richer, more nuanced, and more complete your essay will be. The point of this essay is to demonstrate your grasp of the materials covered in this course only. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to use outside sources (including websites), you must first contact your instructor to ascertain whether the sources you wish to use are acceptable for a formal history paper of this nature.
Your essay should be at least 1500 words (6 double-spaced typed pages).
