Page 20 - Demo

xviiiNEW! Part-Closing Skills Workshops Scaffold Essential Historical Thinking and Writing Skills 454 In this workshop, you will learn about the AP%u00ae Historical Reasoning Process of Comparison. Like the Part 2 Skills Workshop , which dealt with causation, the reasoning process of comparison represents how historians and scholars think, and what they think about, in the study of history. Understanding Comparison Let%u2019s start with a definition of the skill of comparison. COMPARISON: Identifying and categorizing the similarities and differences in two or more things. In plain terms, comparison is simply asking you, %u201cHow and why are two things similar and different from each other?%u201d Since elementary school, you have almost certainly come across this reasoning process expressed as %u201ccompare and contrast.%u201d Remember when we discussed causation back in the Part 2 Skills Workshop, how it was spelled out that more complex thinking and argument on your part involve you addressing causes AND effects? Similarly for this workshop, more complex thinking and argument using the skill of comparison will lead you to address both similarities AND differences. This too is one of the most foundational and most important skills that historians and scholars (and YOU!) will deal with almost daily. You should intentionally try to view historical events, developments, and processes through this lens, among others. Your ability to do so will separate you on the exam from students whose analysis may not be as nuanced and sophisticated as yours. At the base or entry level, you need to be able to DESCRIBE similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes (see the Part 1 Skills Workshop for a quick refresher on developments and processes). However, you need to be prepared to move beyond mere description. Higher-level thinking that will demonstrate your ability to apply comparison in a sophisticated manner will require you also to EXPLAIN relevant similarities or differences OR EXPLAIN the relative significance of those similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes. OK, so that sounds like a lot. Let%u2019s make it simpler, and less intimidating, by translating that language into four basic questions for you to consider, one pair for similarities and one pair for differences: %u2022 How and why was %u201cthing 1%u201d similar to %u201cthing 2%u201d? (Similarity) %u2022 To what extent was %u201cthing 1%u201d the same as %u201cthing 2%u201d? (Similarity) %u2022 How and why was %u201cthing 1%u201d different from %u201cthing 2%u201d? (Difference) %u2022 To what extent did %u201cthing 1%u201d differ from %u201cthing 2%u201d? (Difference) To EXPLAIN is, as mentioned in earlier skills workshops, simply to ask yourself, for any development, trend, process, or event, %u201cSo what?%u201d and then answer that question. Let%u2019s look at an example of how the authors of this book explain comparison. In this example from %u201cSummary%u201d in Chapter 8 , the authors compare the impacts of the Market Revolution between 1800 and 1850: The Market Revolution enabled long-distance travel, trade, and communication, while a revolution in productivity %u2014 the Industrial Revolution in the North and the expansion of cotton production in the South %u2014 dramatically increased economic output . Water, steam, and minerals such as coal and iron were essential to this transformation; so, too, were technological innovation and labor discipline. Together they helped the United States to master and exploit its vast new territory. Comparison Skills Workshop PART 4 Comparison claim To EXPLAIN is, as mentioned in earlier skills workshops, simply to ask yourself, for any development, trend, process, or event, %u201cSo what?%u201d and then answer that question. Let%u2019s look at an example of how the authors of this book explain comparison. In this example from %u201cSummary%u201d in Chapter 8 , the authors compare the impacts of the Market Revolution between 1800 and 1850: AP%u00ae SKILLS WORKSHOP 455 The chapter went on to explore the consequences of that transformation. In the South, the institution of slavery expanded its geographical reach, with millions of new laborers exploited more intensively than ever before. In the North, where new urban centers developed and older cities grew, workers struggled to control the terms of their employment. The Northeast and Midwest shared importantcultural affinities, while the resurgence of slavery in the South set it apart, but in every region the social order was growing more divided by race and class. Comparison on the AP%u00ae U.S. History Exam There are several ways in which the AP%u00ae U.S. History Exam tests the AP%u00ae Historical Thinking Skill of Comparison. In the Multiple-Choice portion of the exam, you may be asked how one event/pattern/region was similar to another event/pattern/region. Often, these questions will go across periods: for instance, the similarities between the British struggles to win the Revolutionary War and the American struggles to win the Vietnam War. In the Short-Answer portion of the exam, either with or without a stimulus present, you may be called upon to IDENTIFY and EXPLAIN a difference between two trends, factors, or points of view. And for Long Essay and DocumentBased Question responses, it is very common for you to build a part or all of your positional argument on a question around comparing the similarities or differences in various developments and processes, such as the success of reforms in the Progressive Era versus the New Deal. Building AP%u00ae Skills 1. ACTIVITY: Identifying a Comparison. Re-read two sections of Chapter 9, %u201cJackson in Power, 1829%u20131837,%u201d pages 359%u2013368 , and %u201cClass, Culture, and the Second Party System,%u201d pages 368%u2013373 , and create a T-chart that describes the differences between the Democrats and the Whigs. You can further enrich this activity by attempting to create a T-chart that describes the similarities between the two groups. 2. ACTIVITY: Working with Comparison. Build a comparison-based thesis in response to the following prompt: Compare the relative influence of various reform movements upon American life and society between 1820 and 1850. 3. ACTIVITY: Creating a Comparison. Using information from Part 4, write an introductory comparison paragraph that responds to the following prompt: Compare the lives and experiences of free and enslaved African Americans in the United States between 1800 and 1850. Make sure that you create an evaluative thesis or claim that clearly lays out both similarity and difference, while ALSO indicating which you think is more significant %u2014 the similarity or difference. Make an effort to compartmentalize or subdivide your comparison argument using specific social, political, or economic categories. Evidence supporting comparison: similarity Evidence supporting comparison: difference Similarity Evidence supporting comparison: difference Skills Workshop From sourcing a primary document to developing a continuity and change argument, the new AP %u00ae Skills Workshops introduce, and help develop, essential AP %u00ae %u00a0skills in context. Appearing at the end of each of the book%u2019s nine parts, there is a workshop for each of the AP %u00ae Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes in the College Board%u2019s Course and Exam Description. Each workshop includes a practical explanation, models from real historians, insider info on how the skill will be tested on the exam, and scaffolded practice exercises to build the skill. %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.