World History 9B, Assignment One, Exploration and Reformation

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Who and what were major players in the Age of Exploration and the Protestant Reformation?

How did their actions inmpact the world?

Description

Between 1350 and 1550 the world turned upside down. The plague, the power of the Church, exploration, technology, artwork, science - all of it changed in a few generations. It's impossible to determine a single factor in all this. For example, you have the demand for new cloth boosting the Florentine textile trade that in turn expanded the income for the Florentine families that hired the great artists. The great artists inspired changes in studies of the human condition and form. That in turn led to studies in medicine and questions about the nature of disease. That changed how people thought about themselves and God and asking questions about the order of the universe. So, did the Florentine cloth trade create the Reformation. Well, the answer is yes and no, but it was part of the process. For his packet we are going to study that process.

Objectives

Students will identify and explain the effects of the key events and people listed in the assigned packet?

Essential questions

1. How did the voyages of Zheng He show China's importance as a maritime power? How did his voyages differ from those of the Portuguese?
2. What key technologies made the European voyages of discovery so possible? Describe three of them in detail.
3. In what ways did changes the Silk Road trade create a demand for shipping to the Orient?
4. Discuss the voyages of de Gama and Dias. Why were they so important?
5. Both Luther and Henry VIII were important religious reformers, but for very different reasons. Describe their similarities and differences.
6. Briefly describe the conditions of the Latin American empires prior to 1492. What technological advances had they achieved? What were relations between the empires? What factors left the mighty Aztecs vulnerable to Spanish attack?
7. Create a timeline of the following events. It must be proportional. You may use the hard copy template you received in class.
   Black Plague, Avignon Split, The Crusades, Marco Polo, 100 Years War, Zheng He, Henry the Navigator, Columbus, Luther, Henry VII

Special instructions

For this packet you will create a well written answer of about three or four paragraphs to each of the above questions. They will be submitted in printed form. They must include contextual answers to the questions. I will post the rubric for the questions shortly.

Vocabulary

Text

Rubric

Is each answer complete? Is the language use correct and easy to follow?
35 points possible per answer

Are the answers essentially correct, but key points are missing? Is the language use correct and easy to follow?
30 points possible per answer

Do the answers use generic statements without clear conclusions and are the points vague and difficult to understand? Is the language use obscure and does it contain frequent errors?
25 points possible per answer

Are the answers random and vague? Does the language use containg frequent errors? Are the answers pointless statement that could be applied under any set of circumstances?
20 points or less per answer

Read the sad story of the misused words below.

Killing Essays

By Elena

Scene I: Con Text

Characters: You; Text

“Hey, Text, you should steal that,” you said.

It stared at the stake. “Why?”

“C’mon, please? For me?” you said.

It sighed. “Fine. But just this once.”

Scene II: Drive a Stake Through Important’s Heart

Characters: You; Important

“No! Please” Important begged.

You shook your head, lifting the stake. “I’m sorry, but this is necessary. I’ll miss you.”

Important screamed and stared at the blood spilling onto the floor. You had driven the stake into its heart. It had trusted you. But no longer did you hold its trust.

It fell to the floor, dead.

Scene III: Slaughtering Capitalization

Characters: You; Mr. Robbins; Capitalization

Mr. Robbins stared at you, then at the dead body on the ground. “I don’t believe it,” he gasped. “You just slaughtered Capitalization.”

You just shrugged and walked away.

Scene IV: Clause Can Be Independent

Characters: You; Clause

“Listen! Clause!”

“Leave me alone!” It ripped its arm away from you.

“Look, I’m sorry!” you said, unsure why it was mad. “Clause, what did I say?”

It growled and turned so suddenly that you almost bumped into it. “You said no one can be independent!” it shouted. “Do you know how much that hurts me?!”

You stared at it in shock, tears forming in your eyes. You didn’t think it had taken that to heart.

“No. No, Clause, no!” You grabbed its shoulders. “No, even we can’t be completely independent, you can!”

It stared at you, and then it gasped. “I-I think. . . I know how to fulfill it now!”

You smiled, though your eyes betrayed your confusion. “Fulfill what?”

“The sentence!”

Scene V: Comma is Weak

Characters: You; Comma; Semicolon

You pushed Comma against the lockers. “See?” you smirked. “You’re weak. You’re not strong enough for Sentence.”

It gasped, both from your comment and from the lack of breath.

“Your brother is so much stronger than you,” you hissed.

“It’s true, I am,” Semicolon said, pulling you away from its little brother. “But Comma is sometimes necessary.”

You huffed. “I suppose,” you grumbled, turning away and crossing your arms.

Links

Printed files

Click here to view the handout about the overview of the Age of Exploration we used in class.

Media files

To view the PowerPoint file about my essay observations in class, click here.

Online files

Zheng He
1, 2, 3

Technology in the Age of Exploration
1, 2, 3

The Silk Road
1, 2, 3

Portuguese Voyages
1, 2, 3

Latin America Before Columbus
1, 2, 3

Sound files

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