H3A-Final_Study_Guide

History 3A: Final Exam Study Questions

Essay Instructions: You will be given one of these three questions on which to write an essay. You will not have a choice. Worth 20 points.

1. What led to the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West? What advantages did the eastern half of the Roman Empire have over the western half that allowed it to survive?

2. Using specific examples, discuss and compare how Muslim and Christian rulers treated religious minorities in their territories around 1000 C.E.

3. What role did trade and commerce play in the development of states across Eurasia compared with similar developments in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa?

4. Women have represented roughly fifty percent of the population since the beginning of human existence, yet rarely appear in the historical record prior to the modern era. In the period of the third to the tenth century, however, women are far more visible in religious, political, and economic documents across the globe. Analyze the role of women in several societies, and discuss how understanding the position of women in each society offers crucial insight into that culture. Some examples include:

•

• Theodora (Byzantine Empire) – Chapter 8 (p. 252--205)

• Early Islamic women’s rights – Chapter 8 (p. 255--209)

• Empress Wu (Tang dynasty) – Chapter 8 (p. 260--214)

• Japanese royalty allowing women to rule – Chapter 8 (p. 263--219)

• Buddhist nun (visual source p. 289) – Chapter 9

Buddhist nun. In this painting of 910 from the Buddhist shrines at Dunhuang, the learned nun Yanhui and her brother, an imperial Chinese chamberlain, offer lotus flowers and incense to Avalokitesvara, the Buddhist personification of compassion, “in the hope,” says the inscription, “that the empire may be peaceful and that the wheel of the law may continually turn therein.” © The Trustees of the British Museum

• “Religious Women” – Chapter 9 (p. 291--244)

Multiple Choice Questions—Worth 10 points

You will answer 20 multiple-choice questions relating to chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Felipe Fernandez-Armesto’s textbook The World. Worth 10 points.