This quick skill-building activity is intended to help you understand what is being asked of you when you’re presented with historical prompts, particularly those you’ll encounter in assessment prompts such as document-based questions (DBQs) and long essay questions (LEQs).

In this activity, you will revisit the process of how to parse a prompt. Remember, parsing a prompt is the process of analyzing a string of words—that is, trying to figure out what something is saying and asking!

Take out the Question Parsing Tool and write down the following prompt at the top of the tool:

“In the period 600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E., different factors led to the emergence and spread of new religions and belief systems, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. Develop an argument that evaluates how such factors led to the emergence or spread of one or more religions in this time period.”

Now, follow the tool directions. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class!

In this activity, you will be comparing across time and place to find similarities and differences between empires. From a broader perspective, empires may all seem the same; however, by comparing and contrasting, we’re able to see the differences between similar concepts. You will also continue to evaluate how historical events and processes relate to the AP themes, deepening your understanding of how the themes can be used to make sense of large periods of time.

Reading, writing
You will use your close-reading skills to pull out information from the articles to complete the Comparison Tool, which is included in the worksheet. Comparison provides structure and organization to idea development and writing. In addition, you will be writing thesis statements in response to two comparison prompts.

In this lesson, you’ve read a number of articles about empires. Now, you’ll take what you’ve learned, categorize that information, and focus on the similarities and differences between these empires. This will help you understand how early empires functioned and will also help you identify the common threads that led to these empires’ successes and failures.

Your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Comparison – Empires worksheet, and will then break up the class into small groups and assign two articles to each group.

Read your assigned articles on your own. Then, complete Part 1: Identifying and Describing of the Comparison Tool individually for your group’s assigned articles. Next, discuss your answers with your group members.

Once all groups have discussed Part 1 of the tool for their assigned articles, each group will share their similarities and differences by writing them on the chart your teacher creates on the board. Take a few minutes to read what the other groups found and look for similarities and differences across all of the empires.

Finally, return to your group and use these similarities and differences to develop two thesis statements in response to the following prompts:

• To what extent were these empires politically, economically, and socially similar?
• To what extent were these empires politically, economically, and socially different?

As an extension, your teacher may ask you to individually write a one-paragraph introduction to an essay for the prompt: To what extent were these empires politically similar and different? At this point, your teacher will review the elements of how to write an introduction for an essay. The introduction should briefly preview the topic—in this case the comparison of empires—and introduce your thesis statement or the claim you’re making that answers the comparison prompt. The thesis could be the first or last sentence of your paragraph. However, you must fully address the question and explain how these empires were politically similar and different. Note that your teacher may extend this by asking you to answer the same question for different themes such as economy or social.

Your teacher will collect your worksheets and responses at the end of the activity to assess your understanding of the topic and this historical reasoning process.

For six centuries, the Ottoman Empire controlled one of the world’s great empires. At one point stretching from the borders of Morocco to the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire was one of the vast Afro-Eurasian gunpowder empires of the age. Its use of gunpowder weapons combined with control of trade routes and effective political organization to make the Ottomans the dominant force in the Mediterranean Sea for most of the period from 1450 to 1750.

Unit 3 focuses on the emergence and expansion of the great land-based empires of Afro-Eurasia. The Ottoman Empire contained many different ethnic and religious communities. By exploring the political organization of the Ottoman Empire, this article provides evidence to respond to the question of how these empires governed diverse communities. It will prepare you to compare the Ottoman example against other land-based empires in this unit and with the sea-based empires you will encounter in the next unit.

Think about the following question as you read the article: What similarities and differences do you see between the Ottoman Empire and other empires you have encountered in previous units? Remember to write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You’ll be asked to respond to this question again in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why does the author argue that the story of Master Orban is problematic?
2. What factors are listed in this article as contributing to Ottoman success?
3. Why was the lack of a permanent aristocracy an advantage?
4. What was the devshirme?
5. What other title did the sultans claim? Why was this important?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. What similarities and differences do you see between the Ottoman Empire and other empires you have encountered in previous units?
2. The author describes several different factors that contributed to the Ottoman Empire’s success during this period. Which factor do you think was most important? Would you place this factor under the category of governance, cultural developments and interactions, or economic systems? Why?

It’s easy to see political relations between Muslim and Christian states in the early modern period as a history of conflict and religious division. But the reign of Moroccan Sultan Mawläy ‘Abd al-Mälik complicates that over-simplified story. In his short time as Sultan, he had to defend against a rival Muslim who claimed the throne and then enlisted the Christian Portuguese as allies. This led to the Battle of the Three Kings, in which ‘Abd al-Mälik managed to keep Morocco independent, but at the cost of his life.

The early modern era was a time of great conflict among growing states. Whether vast empires, kingdoms, or even smaller principalities, large areas of Afro-Eurasia saw states both growing in size and becoming more centralized. In the Mediterranean, the conflict between these states is often depicted as Muslim vs. Christian. Reality was more complex, however. Political and economic realities were often more important than ideological or religious differences in determining who fought whom, and who allied with each other. This biography demonstrates the kinds of calculations leaders had to make.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Which countries were the main threats to Morocco during the period of Sa’âdi rule, and what were the religions of their leaders?
2. Who was Mawläy ‘Abd al-Mälik’s main rival for the Moroccan throne, and to whom did this competitor turn for support?
3. In your own words, what was in Mawläy ‘Abd al-Mälik’s letter to Don Sebastián I?
4. What was the outcome of the Battle of the Three Kings?
5. Why do you think the artist drew the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea criss-crossed by lines in the top panel?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. How does this graphic biography help you understand the connection between belief systems and empires of this era?
2. How does this biography of Mawläy ‘Abd al-Mälik support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about international relations and conflict in this period?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

This article introduces the Persian Safavid empire (1501–1736), how it was founded, how it functioned, and finally, how conflict with its neighbors, especially the Ottomans, led to its collapse. Environmental, political, and economic factors made the Safavid empire a diverse society. Shi’ite Islam, within a diverse Islamic culture, was essential to the history of the Safavids, and an important factor in the Safavids’ conflicts with their Sunni Ottoman neighbors.

This article will help you understand how the land-based empire of Safavid Persia was founded, expanded, and interacted with its neighbors, including the Ottomans and the Mughals. You should consider the historical importance of religious diversity within the Islamic tradition. As with other articles in this unit, you should also keep track of the ways in which this state was governed and how its economy functioned. Consider how the Safavids compared with its neighboring states as well as other contemporary empires and states around Afro-Eurasia.

Think about the following question as you read the article: What were the tools the Safavid rulers used to govern this large and diverse state? How effective were those strategies? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What type of Islam was practiced by the founders and the majority of the people in the Persian Safavid empire, and what about most of their neighbors?
2. According to the article, why was the region of Persia (modern-day Iran) so diverse at the time of the founding of the Safavid empire?
3. What was the Mahdi within the Safavid Islamic tradition?
4. How was marriage strategic and political among the Safavid Qezilbash (“Red Turban”) ruling elite?
5. According to this article, what neighboring state fought with the Safavids the most and why?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. What were the tools the Safavid rulers used to govern this large and diverse state? How effective were those strategies?
2. The Islamic tradition is very diverse, with many different groups practicing Islam in different ways. How important do you think religious diversity within the Islamic world was in the history of the Safavid empire?

The time period of this unit, 1450 to 1750, isn’t a great fit for Chinese history. During this time, China was divided into the rule of two dynasties—the Ming who ruled from 1368 to 1640 and the Qing who ruled from about 1640 to 1912. But within the period 1450 to 1750, we can see an important change in Chinese policy under both dynasties. This was the turn inland, a perfectly logical decision to focus on agriculture and relations with Central and Northern Asian peoples, rather than trade across the ocean.

This unit focuses on the emergence and expansion of land-based empires in Afro-Eurasia. China was a key land-based empire. Ming and Qing emperors focused on the interior of Asia as a place of both threat and opportunity. This article provides evidence to respond to the question of how these dynasties governed the massive, densely-populated Chinese state. It will prepare you to compare the Chinese example against other land-based empires in this unit. It will also help you understand why Chinese rulers after 1433 focused on land, rather than becoming sea-based empires like those you will encounter in the next unit.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What were the two dynasties that ruled China from 1450 to 1750, and what were their periods of rule?
2. What was the “turn inland” after 1433, and why did it happen according to the author?
3. What was the focus of the Yongle Emperor (1402–1424) according to the article?
4. What caused the fall of the Ming dynasty and the rise of the Qing dynasty around 1640?
5. What policies did the Kangzi Emperor (1661–1772) pursue?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. To what extent does this article explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750?
2. For many decades, world historians saw China’s turn “inward” (or “inland”) as a mistake, because it slowly allowed Europeans to dominate global trade. Many historians now argue, however, that it was a logical decision given China’s needs in the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Do you think these policies were a mistake? Why or why not? What evidence from this article supports or challenges your argument?

Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Guangzhou was an important center for global trade. Qing Shih entered this city as one of hundreds of thousands of poor workers. She rose to become a leader of the pirates who grew to take advantage of this rising trade and the increasing weakness of the Qing Dynasty that ruled China. She helped build a vast pirate confederacy that threatened the Chinese state, and eventually negotiated a wealthy retirement.

The story of Qing Shih, a pirate queen, will provide an individual lens through you can think about exchange networks and power of empires in this era. Qing Shih’s biography will also help you evaluate the themes of social interactions and organization, governance, and economic systems. The story also features China as a central point for thinking about these issues of connection and experience.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How and why did Qing Shih get to Guangzhou?
2. What was Guangzhou like in 1775, according to the author?
3. How did Qing Shih become a pirate queen?
4. How did Qing Shih strengthen the pirate confederacy? What policies did she pursue?
5. The artist shows Qing Shih at the edge or towards the back of panels at the beginning of the biography, but by the end she is in the middle and front of each panel. What message is she giving through this placement?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. How does this graphic biography challenge the information you’ve learned thus far about the expansion and power of land-based empires from c. 1450 to 1750?
2. How does this biography of Khanzada Begum support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the “gunpowder empires,” and government generally, in this era?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

This article introduces the cultural, social, and political worlds of Muscovy beginning with the defeat of the Mongols, and then the Russian Empire in the early rule of the Romanovs. The northern Eurasian land-based Russian Empire expanded under the Romanovs to the west, south, and east. Socially, the empire relied on boyars (nobles) and serfs. Culturally, the Orthodox Church reinforced the political and social order.

This article will help you understand Muscovy and the Russian Empire under early Romanov rule. Pay attention to how this society developed as it emerged from Mongol rule, through its governance by the Grand Dukes of Muscovy, and then the Russian Empire under the Romanovs. Consider how these northern Eurasian societies developed and interacted with surrounding regions, and be prepared to compare their system of government and social and economic organization with other large states and empires of this period.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why have historians generally paid more attention to southern Eurasia than northern Eurasia?
2. According to this essay, what northern Eurasian group had a huge impact on the entire region in the thirteenth century?
3. Who drove the Mongol “Golden Horde” out of Muscovy, the region around today’s Moscow?
4. How long did the Romanovs rule the Russian Empire?
5. Who were the serfs and who were the boyars in imperial Russia? What were their roles?
6. How and where did the Russian Empire expand under the Romanovs?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. To what extent does this article explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750?
2. How did the role of the Orthodox Church in Muscovy/Russia compare with the role of religions in other Eurasian land-based empires?

In this word relay activity, you’ll practice matching definitions to words. This is a fun, active way to reinforce unit vocabulary, and it will help you become even more familiar with the words you need to know to engage with the content in Unit 3.

You’re going to play a word relay game with the vocab from Unit 3. You’ll get one vocab card and two blank index cards. Here’s how you’ll play the two-part game:

Part 1

1. On one of the blank cards, write the definition of the word on your vocab card.
2. Once everyone is ready, swap words with another student.
3. Write a definition for your new word on your remaining blank card.

Part 2

1. Your teacher will split you into teams of four or five. Once you’re in your team, line up single file.
2. Now, you’re going to have a relay race to see which team can match the most cards to the most definitions. Your teacher will have set up vocab cards in one part of the room and definitions cards in another.
3. The first student in line will pick up a vocab card, then move as quickly as possible to find the definition of that word. Remember, there are two definitions for each word, but you only need one.

The first team that has a word and definition matched for each team member wins!

The Omani Empire was not a typical empire. It was not something you could easily see on the map. It didn’t have an army or typical bureaucracy. In the corner of Arabia, on the Indian Ocean coast, the Omani rulers looked away from the land and outward to the sea, ultimately controlling many important sea lanes. This so-called empire was a loose web of ports connected through trade relations. Over time, it became a powerful economic, political, and cultural force that reshaped the Indian Ocean world, from Oman to Zanzibar and beyond.

In this video, you’ll learn about the formation, history, and legacy of the Omani Empire. The Omani Empire is an interesting case study for world history, as it wasn’t a typical empire. This will make it useful for comparing to other Afro-Eurasian empires or empires in the Americas like the Comanche Empire. The example of Oman highlights the importance of Indian Ocean trade for political power, which will help you test claims about how we organize the regions we use in world history.

Think about the following question as you watch the video: To what extent does this video explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750? You will be asked to respond to this question again at the end of the video.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video.

1. What makes the Omani Empire different from other Islamic empires?
2. What areas did the Omani Empire cover at its peak?
3. How did the Omani Empire come to be an empire?
4. What are two key differences between the Omani Empire and most other Empires?
5. How did the Omani Empire change East Africa in the long term?
6. What lasting impact did the Omani Empire have on Oman today?
7. According to Kamala Russell, what makes the Omani Empire interesting from the perspective of global history?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. To what extent does this video explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750?
2. Do you think the Omani Empire was actually an empire? Why or why not?

South Asia was a vast region with a mosaic of religious and cultural identities, making it an area not easily simplified. Many of its states during this period, including the large Mughal Empire, found ways to appeal to and manage people of many religions. In general, wealth flowed into South Asia in the form of silver, which allowed rulers to sponsor art and culture. Yet most of that wealth remained in the hands of local groups, and eventually this helped lead to the downfall of the Mughals and the fragmentation of that empire at a critical time.

This survey of South Asia c. 1400 to 1750 CE will introduce you the Mughal Empire in the context of the wider region. You will be able to use this information for comparison with other large land-based empires of this period. It will also help you to establish background knowledge within the cultural developments and interactions theme.

Think about the following question as you read the article: Using evidence from the article, describe how this article extends your understanding of how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750. Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. The author suggests that we generally perceive South Asia as having a timeless conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities. To what degree is this an accurate depiction of the region in this period?
2. What were some factors in the success of the Mughal Empire?
3. Was Aurangzeb a tolerant or intolerant ruler? How do we know?
4. Why, according to the author, did the Mughal Empire fragment in the eighteenth century?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. Using evidence from the article, describe how this article extends your understanding of how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750.
2. What factors stand out to you as particularly distinct and important in how the Mughal Empire was ruled and organized? How does this compare to other regions you have studied for this era?

There is an assumption that, in the early modern Islamic world, the two spheres of household and politics were separate. But the household often played a key role in governance and diplomacy. Understanding these connections can help us to more deeply understand how the state worked. It also reveals the role women often played in government and politics. The career of Timurid (Mughal) noblewoman Khanzada Begum is one example of how the lines between politics and the household often blurred.

For the era c. 1450 to 1750, we see the expansion of states—both in terms of geographic size and how much the government tried to control people’s lives. But what did these governments look like? You might think of them as being separate from the life of the household, but were they? You may also have been introduced to many, many male rulers and members of royal families. But what were the roles of their female family members? This biography is one example that may complicate the way you think about these states.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How was Khanzada Begum related to the first Mughal Emperors, Babur and Humayun?
2. Why did Khanzada Begum marry Muhammad Shaybani Khan, and why were they divorced?
3. How did Khanzada Begum help her brother in his conflict with the Uzbeks after her divorce?
4. How did Khanzada Begum help her nephew rule?
5. How does the artist use art and design to demonstrate the power and authority of Khanzada Begum?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Using evidence from this article, explain how and why various land-based empires developed and expanded from 1450 to 1750.
2. How does this biography of Khanzada Begum support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the “gunpowder empires,” and government generally, in this era?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

You will be practicing claim testing throughout the course—and in everyday life. At times, you’ll find that using one claim tester will be sufficient for determining a claim’s validity. In other instances, you will need to use multiple claim testers. Thus far, you’ve learned about the claim testers in general, and you’ve learned specifically about authority. As you develop as writers, readers, and speakers, you will need to be able to use evidence to prove your claims and assertions. Evidence is often considered the most important claim tester because it relies largely on factual information, research, and data. Not only will using evidence help you prove your own claims, it will also help you determine what to believe in the writing of others. By applying multiple claim testers at the same time, you’ll be able to determine if evidence is being proposed by a credible authority and use it to further your claims.

Reading, writing
In this activity, you will read the article “Europe: Exception or Variety?” closely to better understand the claims and evidence in the content. You will analyze the strength of evidence proposed in the article, which will increase your awareness of how to incorporate strong evidence in your own writing.

Evidence is information that we can gather to understand the world around us—specifically things that we can see and observe. You’re going to read the article “Europe: Exception or Variety?” to see how the author used evidence to support his claims.

Before you start reading, think about how WHP evaluates evidence as part of writing. Take out the WHP LEQ Writing Rubric and review the Evidence row to remind yourself what evidence looks like when it’s being used to support a claim. Remember, evidence doesn’t mean a lot if you don’t have the claim it supports (or refutes) in mind, so as you read, focus on the main claim that Trevor Getz uses to answer the title question about whether Europe was an exception or a variety.

Once you’ve completed a first read/skim, shift to reading the article as a class. You’ll take turns reading each paragraph aloud. After each paragraph, you’ll stop and reflect, and try to pick out any claims that may have been made. As you identify claims, be ready to share why you identified those particular statements as claims. As you work through this with your class, highlight the claims you can find.

Now that you’ve found the claims, it’s time to think about evidence. Is all evidence the same? Are some types of evidence better than others? As a class, brainstorm as many types of evidence people use when studying history as you can.

Now, read the article again on your own, this time looking for and underlining the supporting statements or evidence being used to support the claims.

Then, look for and circle any counterclaims you see in the article. Be prepared to share your findings with the class.

Finally, respond to the prompts below to submit as an exit ticket:

• Write a claim about which piece of evidence is strongest in supporting its claim and why.
• Write a claim about which piece of evidence would be easiest to refute and why.

This article considers whether the European continent is exceptional (different) compared to its neighbors in Asia in not coming together as a large, single, land-based empire. In early modern history Europe developed maritime networks and expansion by sea, led by several powerful but relatively small European states. This looks very different from the land empires of Ottoman Turkey and Qing China. But a closer look reveals other regions that also did not follow this land-empire model, as in South and Southeast Asia. The resulting picture is one of rich variation.

This article helps you consider complex ways historians think about patterns of change and development on a large scale. You should see there is great variation in the different choices and different courses of history of regions across Europe and Asia. This article helps to challenge and break down the simple idea of European development as exceptional compared to the land-based Asian empires. Like Asian empires, there were many attempts at establishing a unified land-based empire in Europe. And around the margins of Asian empires, as in Europe, there were maritime powers without huge land-based empires.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article help to explain continuity and change within the various belief systems during the period from 1450 to 1750? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How do the size of Europe and Asia compare?
2. Did Europe ever fully come together as a single large land-based empire? How do the Habsburgs compare to the Asian empires of this early modern period?
3. How did the rise of Protestantism challenge Habsburg domination of Europe?
4. In this early modern period (1450–1750) was Europe alone as a maritime or sea-faring region?
5. How did the end of the early modern period shape the story we are challenging here about European uniqueness?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. To what extent does this article help to explain continuity and change within the various belief systems during the period from 1450 to 1750?
2. Why does it matter whether Europe was an “exception” or “unique” in Eurasia during this period? Why is this debate important for understanding this era in world history?
3. Why do you think the idea of European exceptionalism or uniqueness developed, and what can we learn from it? Do you think this type of exceptionalism might also exist in the schoolbook histories of other regions like Turkey (formerly the Ottoman) and China (formerly the Qing)?