Reference no: EM132306072

Assignment: Instructions: Answer the mandatory question, and then onequestion from section II. Each answer should be should be 750-1000 words. These are essay questions. You should write an essay that answers the question (s) asked completely, and support your answer with evidence from the textbook, the sourcebook reader, the various power point presentations, the films, and the discussion forum.You should look at the maps and timelines in the textbook so that you can ground your responses in time and place, and offer solid evidence in the form of historical examples to support your answers.

Your answers should be essay arguments with an introduction, body of evidence and explanation, and conclusion.Proofread your writing carefully! None of your answers should contain more than 100 words of quoted material. Your answers should be substantially in your own words. If you do quote, you must cite the source of your quote in either an in-text note or a footnote. Put your word count for each answer at the beginning or end of each answer, and do not count the question itself as part of the word count (I can check on this using turnitin.com). When you have completed your exam, you must do three things to receive your grade:

1. Fold your answers in a single Word or pdf. document;

Section I: Answer the question below (750-1000 words, 50% of your grade).

Jerry Brotton says in his introduction to A History of the World in Twelve Maps that "mapmakers do not just reproduce the world, they construct it." (p. 7). After reading the material from Brotton carefully, choose the Kangnido map from 1402 or the Waldseemüller World Map from 1507 and use it as evidence to discuss Brotton's assertion. Does the map you have chosen support Brotton's point? Why or why not?

What does studying this map tell you about what types of texts and/or artifacts historians use as evidence to construct their interpretations? What does it tell you about how modern conceptions regarding the purpose and meaning of maps have changed compared to those of earlier societies? Why are images such as the map you have chosen useful as historical evidence? How can historians use them to understand the world view of the society that created it? What do these (and all maps) suggest about the ways in which maps, like other sorts of primary sources, are subjective rather than wholly objective texts/artifacts?

Section II: Answer one of the questions below (750-1000 words, 50% of your grade).

1. Define a "universal religion" and using as examples at least two DIFFERENT religions, discuss how universal religions brought worlds together and/or pushed them apart. How did religions create new cultural boundaries and rivalries in Afro-Eurasia? Explain the nature of the relationship between empires and universal religions during the period 300-600 CE.

2. Discuss the development of European Christendom from 600 to 1300 CE. What political and social divisions arose within Christendom? Why? How did developments such as manorialism, universities, and the Crusades (define each) contribute to Europe's identity as a fragmented yet distinctive cultural sphere? Use evidence and examples from your readings and other class materials to support your answer.