Instructors: Mrs. Borman and Ms. Melanson
Phone numbers: 703.212.5140 /Borman = x8206, Melanson = x8225
E-mail: Bormanr@bishopireton.org, melansoc@bishopireton.org
Course Number and Name:
AP European Studies (120/220)
Course Description: COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course is structured around the study of political, intellectual and
socioeconomic themes from the Middle Ages through the present day. The class
will not only focus on the historical narrative of individual time periods
but will also investigate major paradigm shifts and the interrelation of
the themes. Students will learn to analyze primary source material, to weigh
evidence from conflicting sources, and to express ideas clearly and coherently.
Special attention will be paid to the development of reading, writing, research,
and study skills.
In general, the course will take a chronological approach, exploring major
historical events, issues, and themes from each period. This historical
information will be expanded and enhanced by the study of major literary
works from the period and/or works from other periods and cultures that
deal with the same themes. Additional material ranging from music and art
to mathematics and science will be integrated using field trips as well
as both "in-house" and guest speakers.
Prerequisites: A in Honors Freshman English and A in Honors Freshman
History; teacher recommendations; standardized test scores; writing sample
| Instructional Objectives:History & Literature: | Knowledge and Analytical Skills |
| Skill development: | Compostion, Grammer, Study Skills, Oral communication |
| Assessment Techniques: | |
| Syllabus: | Course topics |
| Projects: | Description and assignment sheets |
| Renaissance Faire | Fall |
| Research Paper | Winter - Early spring |
| Video\Oral Project | Late spring |
History/Literature
A. Knowledge/Skills:
The student will develop a
working vocabulary of essential political, socio-economic, cultural, philosophical,
and military vocabulary. (e.g. political ideologies, social classes, artistic
terms)
The student will identify and
explain the major paradigm shifts in Europe from the late middle ages to the
1990's. (e.g. The Renaissance, The Industrial Revolution)
The student will recognize
the impact of the Renaissance and the Reformation in the development of Modern
Europe.
The students will identify
and explain the causes and effects of the social, political, economic, and technological
revolutions that have shaped Modern Europe in the period between 1650 and 1850.
The students will develop an
understanding of the influence of modern Europe on the rest of the world particularly
during the eras of exploration and Imperialism.
The students will identify
and explain the changing boundaries in Europe from the development of nation
states through the changes wrought by world war and those caused by the fall
of Communism.
The students will identify
and explain the major characteristics of the Fin-de-Siecle period and relate
it to the turn of our own century.
The student will identify and
explain the social, political and economic conditions and events in the late
19th and early 20th centuries that led to WWI and how unresolved conflicts,
economic problems, changing philosophical influences and the rise of totalitarianism
led to WWII.
The students will identify
and explain the effects of WWII on Europe and the world in politics, economics
and culture.
The student will describe the
causes and effects of the Cold War and the subsequent fall of Communism in Eastern
Europe.
The student will improve geography
skills through the use of map projects.
The student will identify and
explain the impact of the rapid technological innovations since 1945 and the
effects of this change on contemporary Europe. (e.g. atomic energy, the computer)
The student will read a variety
of works from world literature that will reflect and enrich the study of the
historical period, including individually selected as well as required literature.
The student will recognize
and define literary elements, terms, and devices as applied to selected world
classics. Such terms will include ballad, blank verse, narrative poetry, sonnet,
alliteration, assonance, figurative language, thematic imagery, metaphor, personification,
simile, characterization, climax, conflict, plot structure, irony, flashback,
epic, framework story, satire, Romanticism, Realism, and Humanism
The student will identify author's
point of view and recognize its effects in both a literary and historical framework.
The student will identify themes
in literary works.
B. Analysis\Synthesis\Evaluation:
The student will analyze primary
source material and literary fiction in light of the nature of the material,
its historical background, and point of view.
The students will analyze history
as interpretation and understand historiography.
The student will compare and
contrast primary source material and judge its usefulness in historical study.
The student will analyze artistic
and cultural trends and evaluate them as a reflection of the time period as
well as identify their impact on the time period.
The student will evaluate the
results of the major conflicts in Modern European history (e.g. revolution,
world wars, religious wars, imperialism ) and evaluate their impact.
The student will analyze and
interpret literary works, independently as well as in classroom assignments.
The student will use challenging,
thought-provoking literature to broaden his/her scope of knowledge and to deepen
his/her self understanding.
The student will compare and
contrast literary works and styles within and between literary periods.
The student will begin to recognize
the qualities that distinguish timeless literature.
The student will read and analyze
critical essays.
The student will appreciate
the inter-relatedness of the academic disciplines.
The student will develop skills
specific to successful completion of the AP European History Exam, including
critical thinking, addressing document based and thematic essay questions, and
discerning the best answers in multiple choice questions.
Skills
Composition
Knowledge/Skills/Analysis/Synthesis/Evaluation
The student will review one-paragraph
compositions, with emphasis on topic sentence and support.
The student will gain a knowledge
of the definitions of essay and thesis as they apply to academic writing, including
the AP exam.
The student will become proficient
in developing prewriting that includes a thesis statement, support and argument.
The student will write multi-paragraph
essays that present and defend a thesis, with emphasis on using the writing
process to develop papers that reflect clarity, organization, and accuracy.
The student will use standard
essay form appropriately to answer essay questions on tests.
The student will demonstrate
proficiency in synthesizing historical data, analyzing it in light of a document
based question, and expressing that answer is a well-written essay.
The student will understand
that effective written communication depends on adapting language to audience,
occasion, and purpose.
The student will research,
document, and write a multi-page paper that utilizes and cites primary and secondary
sources and that includes a properly organized bibliography.
The student will write and
analyze poetry.
Grammar
Knowledge/Skills/Synthesis
The student will demonstrate
knowledge of the eight parts of speech, complete sentences, subject-verb agreement,
and pronoun cases.
The student will develop a
good command of the uses of phrases and clauses.
The student will apply and
use correctly grammar concepts, especially as demonstrated in test essay answers
and other formal compositions.
Language Study
Knowledge/Skills/Synthesis
The student will recall and
report vocabulary from the vocabulary textbook.
The student will learn and
use new words from the context of the literary works.
The student will reinforce
good spelling practices, especially as demonstrated in formal compositions.
Study Skills
Skills/Analysis/Synthesis/Evaluation
The student will demonstrate
skills in critical listening by note taking in varying academic situations,
such as lecture, discussion, audio-visual media, etc.
The student will demonstrate
ability to take objective and essay tests.
The student will use the library
and available technology resources to develop research skills.
The student will apply techniques
of research through gradual incorporation of the following research skills:
Selecting a topic
Note taking from research sources
Formulating the thesis
Planning through use of outlines
Writing an introduction
Incorporating citations
Preparing a bibliography
Writing a rough draft
Writing a final paper.
Oral Communication
Knowledge/Skill/Synthesis
The student will demonstrate
a sense of responsibility for participating effectively in classroom discussions.
The student will communicate
understanding of prose and/or poetry through oral interpretation that demonstrates
thoughtful preparation and skillful delivery.
The student will develop and
present oral book reviews of individually selected literary works.
The student will (in a group
setting) create a video presenting a case study of a former Soviet block country
The student will role-play
historic events, e.g. a mock trial of Louis XVI.
Assessment Techniques
Quizzes
Tests
Cooperative learning projects, including the Renaissance project/faire
Student writing, including the research paper
Peer evaluations
Self-evaluations
Teacher-student conferencing
Analysis of critical essays
Video
Mock AP Exam
REQUIRED TEXTS
World Masterpieces
Vocabulary for the College Bound Student
The Bishop Ireton Writing Style Book
Write for College
A History of Modern Europe (Merriman)
Perspectives from the Past
Modern European History (Viault) (review guide)
Barron's AP Guide
Supplementary books as assigned
COURSE OUTLINE
UNIT TOPICS\ LITERATURE (click on pictures for useful general links)
_______________________________________________________________________
Middle Ages:
Feudalism :The Decameron 
Manorialism: The Inferno
Medieval Church
Scholasticism
The Plague
The Breakdown of the
Church
_______________________________________________________________________
Renaissance:
Renaissance in Italy: The Merchant of Venice
Humanism and Politics: Selected Humanist works,:The Prince
Art
Northern Renaissance
Consequences
(other web sites)
_______________________________________________________________________
Reformation:
Causes: None (Intensive work on composition)
Luther
Calvin
Counter-reform
Results
_______________________________________________________________________
The Tudors:
War of the Roses Henry VII-VIII 
The Tudor Dynasty
The Stuarts
Glorious Revolution
Spain: Spanish Society
and Empire Ferdinand and Isabella
Inquisition: Don Quixote
________________________________________________________________________
The Ancien Regime:
18th C Social Systems
French Time of Troubles: The Miser
Absolutism: Louis XIV
Frederick Willhelm the Great
Thought in the 16th and 17th Centuries
________________________________________________________________________
Enlightenment:
Thought in the 18th C: A Modest Proposal
The Philosophes
________________________________________________________________________
French Revolution: A Tale of Two Cities
The Structure of French Society
The
Revolution
Terror and Thirmador
Historiography
________________________________________________________________________
The Age of Napoleon:Oedipus, the King (revisited) 
Power and War
Downfall
Principles of War
Congress of Vienna
Concert of Europe
________________________________________________________________________
Reaction, Liberalism: A Christmas Carol
Reform, Revolutions of 1830: Faust (Goethe)
Revolution Opposition to Liberalism: Selected Romantic poetry
Marxism
Romanticism
Industrialism : Selected Realist works
Technology
Social changes
Romanticism
Revolutions
of 1848
Pattern
Revolutions
Historiography
Second French Empire
_______________________________________________________________________
Nation States
Italian Unification: A Doll's House 
German Unification
_______________________________________________________________________
Russia in the Life in Russia: Selected works
by Gogol, Dostoyevsky,Tolstoy, Chekhov
19th C Tsars and Leaders
Political Changes
Russian Culture:"The Name Day Party"
_______________________________________________________________________
Fin-de-Siecle:
Culture/Society: "The Infant Prodigy"(Mann)
European Politics
Philosophy: Metamorphosis
(Kafka)
Technology
Vienna: A Case Study
England
France
Germany
_______________________________________________________________________
Imperialism
Case Studies: "Snapshot of a Wedding"(Bessie
Head)
India
North Africa: "No Witchcraft for Sale"(Doris Lessing)
South Africa:Cry the Beloved Country
_______________________________________________________________________
World War I:
Causes: All Quiet on the Western Front 
Fighting
Treaty of Versailles
________________________________________________________________________
Russian Revolution
The Last Tsar: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Lenin and Revolution
Civil War
Stalin
________________________________________________________________________
The Interwar period
Weimar Germany: Selected modernist works,
The 1920's
The Depression (to include Hart Crane's The
Bridge)
________________________________________________________________________
World War II
Fascism:
Fascism Mussolini:)
Rise of Hitler
Prewar Crisis:
Night
War
Defeat and Peace
_"No Exit" (Sartre)___
"The Myth of Sisyphus"(Camus)________________________________________________________________
The Cold War
Post War Europe: "My Melancholy Face"
(Boll)
The Cold War
Heating Up
Detente
______________________________________________________________________
Modern Europe Eastern Europe: "The Handsomest
DrownedMan in the World" (Garcia Marquez)
Modern "Isms"
______________________________________________________________________
Current issues: Selected 20th Century works
The Infromation Age
SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES/TOPICS
In addition to the course work listed above, this class will include field
trips, guest lecturers, and special projects. Topics to be covered include
music, science, art, architecture, drama, mathematics, and sports. Speakers
might include a specialist on the new Russian Republics, a Holocaust survivor,
or a Vietnam veteran.
Grading in this class will be based on a point system. In other words, each
assignment, test, composition, etc. will be worth a certain number of points.
The points will vary, but students will be told what each assignment is
worth when the assignment is made. At the end of the quarter, the number
of possible points for the quarter will be totaled. Grade for the quarter
will be based on the percentage arrived at by dividing the number of points
earned by the number of possible points for that quarter. That percentage
will determine the grade according to the school grading policy, found in
the student handbook.
The semester exam will count 20% of the semester grade.
SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS
1. Loose leaf binder in which to place materials and to take notes. Please
do not use a spiral notebook.
2. Wide-lined theme paper of regulation size (8 1/2 by 11). Assignments
on paper ripped out of a spiral notebook will not be accepted.
3. Either a blue or a black pen. Papers in other colored inks or in pencil
will not be accepted.
4. Two-pocket folder for handouts.
5. Students should bring required materials--notebooks, pens, and books--to
class everyday.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ordinarily, late work will not be accepted. Occasionally, if the assignment
involved constitutes a major part of the grade, exceptions will be made
on an individual basis. Anything not turned in when collected will be considered
late. An assignment that is not turned in will result in zero points for
that assignment. If absent, students will be given one day for each day's
absence to complete work missed. Except for extended absences, tests must
be made up on the day the student returns to school.
Please note that much of the work in this course deals with long-term assignments.
Therefore, on days when a light assignment or no specific work is assigned,
students are expected to spend time working on upcoming and/or long-term
assignments.
Students in this course are held responsible for the school honor code and
testing policies.
SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT LITERATURE
"Read for escape, read for adventure, read for romance, but read the
great writers. You will find to your delight that they are easier and more
joy to read than the second-rate ones. They touch your imagination and your
deepest yearnings, and when your imagination is stirred it can lead you
down paths you never dreamed you would travel. If you read great language
you will develop, without realizing it, an appreciation of excellence that
can shape your life.
If you read, you may want to write. Great painters learned to paint by copying
Old Masters in museums. You can learn to write by trying to copy the writers
you like. Writing helps you to express your deepest feelings. Once you can
express yourself you can tell the world what you want from it or how you
would like to change it. All the changes in the world, for good or evil,
were first brought about by words."
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Topic Sheet
Name________________________________
Parent Signature_______________________________
The following sheet is designed to help you develop a workable topic for your
thesis paper. Follow the guidelines and advice of both your History and English
teachers. If you meet the deadlines on this sheet writing your paper will be
much easier.
A. TOPIC CHOICE: List six topics that interest you. Use your notes or the index
and table of contents in your text for inspiration. The library also has some
things that can help you. The topic must be from the late middle ages to the
present day and in European history. This will be reviewed with your history
teacher.
1. ________________ 4. _________________
2. ________________ 5. _________________
3. ________________ 6. _________________
(Examples from American history)
Vietnam War
General Grant
The Continental Congress
World War I
The New Deal
The Civil War
Due:
. B NARROW TOPIC: Choose one topic. What is the issue or debate surrounding
that topic? This requires research. Write it in question form. This will be
reviewed with your history teacher.
Topic: ________________________________________
Inquiry: _______________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Example:
Topic: The Civil War
Inquiry: Was the Union occupation of Norfolk really a great Federal victory?
Due: (depending on cycle)
____________________________________________________________________________
Due:
C. DEVELOP THESIS WITH PROS AND CONS: Write a tentative thesis statement. This
is the answer to your inquiry. You must do some good research in order to do
this but remember the thesis is not set in stone. This will be reviewed with
your history teacher.
Thesis: _____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(see example on next page)
Example: The evacuation and subsequent occupation of Norfolk was the result
of a Confederate strategic decision and therefore not a Federal victory.
PROS AND CONS: Make a list of facts which support your thesis (pros) and which
attack your thesis (cons). These facts should clearly prove or disprove your
argument and connect to the thesis. Pros and Cons should be complete sentences
as they may eventually be used to form your topic sentences and help with organizing
your note cards. Six is just a guide. You may have a few less or a few more.
If you need more room use a separate sheet and attach it to this packet.
PROS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
CONS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Example:
Pros:
1. The occupation of the city postdates the evacuation by five days.
2. General Johnson developed a long-standing and well-documented strategy for
defending Richmond and the evacuation of Norfolk was part of that plan.
3. Local newspapers, correspondence and personal diaries all refer to the move
as an "evacuation not as a surrender.
4. General Huger was committed to Johnson's plan of defense.
Cons:
1. General Wood received a commendation for his "taking" of Norfolk.
2. Lincoln and Sec. Stanton both refer to the surrender of Norfolk, as do the
Northern papers.
3. The Confederates abandoned a great deal of important supplies as well as
the Merimac with apparent haste indicating this was not a planned evacuation.
D.THESIS EVALUATION: Do your pro statements support your thesis or are your
cons stronger? Do you need to rewrite your thesis or do more research?
YES my pro arguments are clear and support my thesis. (Explain why)________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
NO my pro arguments are not strong enough to argue my thesis and I need to do
more research or change my thesis. (Explain why)_____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
All of section C/D is due:
E. FULL AND FINAL THESIS: Write out your full and final thesis that includes
your thesis statement and all of your pros and cons. Use a separate sheet and
attach it if necessary.
Thesis: _________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Pros:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Cons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Honor code (write out):
Teacher Final Approval______________________________________________
Due:
Other Dates
Working Bibliography:
Note Cards:
Outline:
Rough Draft:
Final Paper
EUROPEAN HISTORY SPRING ORAL REPORTS
THE FALL OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE
MELANSON/BORMAN
SUBJECT: Eastern Europe
LENGTH: No less than 15 minutes, no more than 20
GROUP SIZE: No more than three ( exceptions made by teacher only)
TOPICS: First come, first serve for each class
· Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia)
· Czechoslovakia
· Bulgaria
· Rumania
· Hungary
· East Germany (including reunification)
· USSR (the new Russian Republics)
· Poland
· Yugoslavia (Bosnian Crisis)
POINTS: 75
INCLUDE:
· Brief 20th century history
· Major events since 1970
· The events leading to and including the fall of Communism (from
1989)
· What does the future hold?
The presentation can be oral or video but it
must include visuals such as maps , pictures, or charts. Research should
be current, complete and accurate.
Since the purpose of the report is to teach the class about the information
the report should be clear and in your own words. Do not just read information
from a book or use words and terms you do not understand. Break down the
material into a simple understandable presentation. Plagiarism is a danger
here. Be careful.
Date Due: Beginning the week of (insert date)
A quiz on the presentations will follow.
Please see me if you need help on what to focus on or where to go for information.
TURN THIS SLIP INTO TEACHER
GROUP TOPIC: __________________________________________
GROUP MEMBERS: _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
