What a Good Passage Identification looks like: These will be roughly 3-5 paragraph answers. A proper identification will include the name of the author and the title of the work. It will also locate the work in space, using one or more of the map terms, and in time using one or more of the dates from the list below. A good passage identification will discuss the work’s importance for its own civilization, using at least one of the terms from the list below. You should also discuss the work’s impact on later civilizations that draw upon it. Finally, you should compare the passage to other works and civilizations that we have discussed in this class.
You will need to use three dates, three terms, and three geographic terms in your essay.
Taking the Passage Identification Section
1) The first thing to do when faced with a selection of passages to identify is to pick the ones that you can most easily identify. Do these first! Then move to the harder ones.
2) Always write in complete sentences and paragraphs! Your identifications should be coherent and read like a short essay.
3) The first paragraph should identify the passage in simplest terms: which work is it from? Who wrote it? Which civilization does it belong to? Can you identify them more specifically within that civilization?
4) The second paragraph should describe the ideas that the passage contains. Simply, what does it say and how does it fit in with the rest of the work of which it is a part?
5) Depending on how long the second paragraph is, you will want to include in it an interpretation of the passage. What does the passage mean to the person writing it and his audience? Why are the ideas it contains important to that civilization? How does it compare to other ideas in that same civilization? If your second paragraph is long, you will want to put this in a separate paragraph.
6) The third paragraph should put the passage in a larger context. How does it compare to other works we have read and to ideas from other civilizations? How is it similar or different? How is it influenced by other groups? How does it influence other writings?
7) Be as specific as possible throughout these identifications! Names, dates, geographic terms, and specific examples all help to show that you know what you are talking about.
Studying for the Passage Identification Section:
1) Remember: most of your work is already done. You have done the reading, attended lecture, done homework, and written essays where you discuss the importance of these works. Therefore your studying will mostly consist of organizing the information so that you can access it easily on the exam. This of course is the hard part.
2) Clearly you will need to know the works themselves well. Make sure you have read them! Pick what you think are the most important passages and be sure that you understand and can identify them in the manner described above. You should check your discussion notes and look at the passages that we discussed in class, as these are good candidates for inclusion.
3) Look at your lecture notes for help in identifying the various works. Most of these works came up in lectures and you should be able to use what you learned in lecture to help place them geographically and temporally.
4) Make sure that you are aware of comparisons between the different works. Look at your study questions and discussion notes to remind yourself of the kinds of connections that we came up with in class. Lastly, look at your lecture notes for more comparisons.
5) One strategy that works well is to organize your thoughts along themes. Think about each civilization that we have discussed: what are the major ideas we discussed with regard to each one? How are these represented in the works that we have read?
6) We have looked at several different themes in class lectures this semester: what various cultures thought about government, religion, and society, and their interaction with other cultures. Select passages within each work that show these major themes.
7) Pick nice examples of events, people, etc. that might be important in identifying or comparing these works to others.
8) Connect the terms, dates, and geographic terms to the various works that we have read.
9) Try a few sample identifications. Practice on some passages you suspect might get included.
10) Remember that we have covered roughly 3200 years of history- so you are not expected to remember every detail, BUT
i. You should know SOME details
ii. You should have a good sense of the “big picture.”
iii. The idea is to show me that you have been doing the reading, paying attention in class, and learning something!
Dates:
These dates you MUST know. You should also know why they are important so that you can use them in your passage identifications. There is no way to study for this except to memorize them!
~10,000BCE- Agricultural Revolution
3100 BCE- Unification of the Nile Valley by Menes
2200BCE- Beginning of the Xia Dynasty
1792BCE- Hammurabi began to rule
1004BCE- King David of Israel begins to rule
~800BCE- Homer and the end of the Greek Dark Ages
591 BCE- Traditional Date of Zarathustra’s Death
558- Cyrus the Great begins to rule
~479 BCE- Confucius’ death date
386 BCE- Aristophanes died
333BCE- Conquest of Achmaenid Empire by Alexander the Great
222BCE- Qin Shihungdi unifies China
87BCE- Death of Han Wudi
35 BCE- Sullust Died
27 BCE- Octavian (Augustus) becomes Roman Emperor
30 CE- Death of Jesus of Nazareth
220CE end of the Han Dynasty
313CE-Constantine Issues Edict of Milan making Christianity legal in the Roman Empire
476CE- End of the Western Roman Empire
Terms to Know: These terms you MUST know. You should also know why they are important so that you can use them in your passage identifications. There is no way to study for this except to memorize them!
1)
2) Cuneiform
3) Isis
4) Indo-Europeans
5) Judaism
6) Covenant
7) Torah
8) Babylonian Captivity
9) Zoroastrianism
10) Shah
11) Satraps
12) Qanat
13) Ahura Mazda or Ohurmazd
14) Anga Mainyu or Ahriman
15) Polis
16) Plato
17) Socrates
18) Aristotle
19) Hellenism
20) Aeneid
21) Republic
22) Natural Law
23) Pax Romana
24) Essenes
25) Christianity
26) Paul of Tarsis
27) Oracle Bones
28) Legalism
29) Daoism
30) Confucianism
31) Xiongnu
32) Exam System
Potential Map Terms:
1)
2) Mesopotamia
3) Tigris River
4) Euphrates River
5) Babylon
6) Egypt
7) Nile River
8) Memphis
9) Alexandria
10) Mediterranean Sea
11) Greece
12) Athens
13) Anatolia
14) Israel
15) Jerusalem
16) Achmaenid (Persian) Empire
17) Roman Empire
18) Italy
19) Rome
20) Carthage
21) Numidia
22) Han Empire
23) Yellow River
24) Yangzi River
25) Chang-An
26) Luoyang
27) Indian Ocean
28) Red Sea
29) Black Sea
30) Caspian Sea
31) Adriatic Sea
32) Aegean Sea
33) Persian Gulf
34) Byzantium
35) Iberian Penninsula
36) Sicily
37) Jerusalem
38) Hangzhou
39) Chang’an
40) Atlantic Ocean
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