This document
will present one method you might pursue in answering Question Three
Because
other homework questions in the future will require what Question Three required
you to do ("synthesize material
from multiple parts of the reading as well as analyze what you have read"),
you might want to pay close attention to this time-saving method of
organizing information presented here.
Indeed, this is a useful way of organizing any
kind information -- which makes it a powerful tool for both the workplace
and (more immediately) the CPE exam.
Let's look
closely at the Question Three again:
| How and why did African empires emerge where they did? How and why were decentralized social groupings more common in other areas? |
Right away, then, you know the question will require that you extract and
organize information from the reading in the textbook (pp. 9 - 13) regarding
two types of regions: (1) regions with empires and (2) regions with smaller
social groupings
Next, let's
look closely at the hint I provided:
| |
This hint
tells you that information (A), (B), (C) will be important in recognizing and
understanding patterns in the information you gather about the types of regions
(1) and (2).
So, since
you know in advance what sort of information you need to extract from the
text, a good method to help organize the information you find (and remind
you what to look for) is to create a chart.
Here's
what the chart might look like:
| What they had in common: Geography |
What they had in common: Religion and society |
What trade |
|
| (1)
Regions With Empires |
(hint: think about what has broader appeal and encouragse links to elsewhere: the ancestor worship common in the forest regions, or the Christianity and Islam that marked the empires?) |
||
| (2)
Regions with Smaller Groupings |
Once armed with chart, you can quickly identify relevant evidence from the reading on pp 9 - 13 as well as organize it in a way that will help you see patterns that will be useful for answering the questions.