Skill Building

FRE Issues 1. Reading the question and understanding what they are asking Circle Key Words—which you do Understanding the Key Words—which many of you don’t Some of you wrote about social “labor” systems! If the question asks for political and cultural changes/continuities you’ve got a problem

2. Creating Groups You need to make sure your groups are clear AND respond to the question If the question ask for demographic and environmental changes why are you talking about labor systems or government (unless its explaining a grouping in which case it should be a GROUPING it should be in the body or Reason Why section

3. Not knowing (or not following) the format for each essay! Start body paragraphs with a claim sentence that expresses your GROUPING and includes the KEY WORDS of the question (places/time period/limitations) CCOT—Must address both the beginning and end of time period BY DATE explicitly. In 200 CE Rome had formed a centralized gov’t By 600 CE the Western RE had collapsed and lacked a centralized gov’t.

3. Leaving Out Points! DBQ: Extra Document—must explain why its need to answer the question. Must include the word BECAUSE CCOT: Reason Why—explanations must include the word BECAUSE CCOT: Context—must be right before or after, not 1000 years later…draw a direct connection!

DBQ—For EVERY document you must summarize, explain how it connects/proves your grouping, and give evidence. You also most analyze POV (explain) The global flow of silver had a negative impact on the economies of many countries, including China and Spain. According to _____ the decrease in the price of silver led to a decrease in the price of grain in China. As a result farmers received lower returns on their labor and thus less land was cultivated. This illustrates the negative impact on the Chinese economy BECAUSE peasants are not going to be able to sell their grain for enough silver to pay their bills or their taxes to the gov’t. However, the fact that the author is a court official makes this document less reliable BECAUSE he gov’t official (very high social class) he might not truly understand the plight of the peasant farmers. One wonders how many peasants he actually interacted. He is mostly likely relying on reports from an unknown person, which makes his account less reliable.

4. Increasing actual understanding Don’t copy sentences out of the textbook! Even if it doesn’t show up highlighted…I will notice and mark you accordingly!