World History Reading Journal

Use this link to have an access for the book: http://yuzu.com/

The name of the book: Bentley, Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, Volume I, Sixth Edition.

Reading Journal for World History (Chapter 11-14)

Your journal includes reflections and observations on the reading. This is an opportunity to share your perspective on the topics you find most interesting. You may also want to share your insights on the type of questions historians address and how we attempt to understand societies.

Put the title of the document in bold so I will know which documents you read. Relate the document to the events in the chapter.

I also encourage you to write about pictures, maps, or other features you find in the reading.

You do not have to write about every chapter. Usually you get the best results if you take on one or two topics each time you turn in the journal. It helps if you label the topics. You may use any style, but please divide your writing into paragraphs.

I need two and a half solid pages (double spaced) of quality writing. You are welcome to write more. I mainly consider how much you have thought about topics in the reading and how you use the documents or other evidence available in the chapters.

Suggested Journal Prompts

Here are some prompts that you might want to use:

• 1.What did you find most interesting or surprising (in a particular section)? How does the material relate to what you learned earlier, perhaps in other classes?
• 2.What trends do you seen in this chapter that have shaped the world we live in today?
• 3.If you did a movie set in the time period of this chapter, what would be the key elements in your movie? Tell how you imagine some of the characters, and what challenges they would face.
• 4.Describe the time span covered in this chapter. How does the span relate to key events? Why do you think the authors chose this span of time? Would you arrange it differently?
• 5.How might we understand the history differently from someone living in the time period? Do you think people will react to this chapter differently, depending on their cultural background?
• 6.When examining a document: What is the historical context? What do we know about the source? How can the document help us understand the society in that time and place?