AP World History

SAQ Review and Example Responses

Mr. Leniton & Mr. Adams
September 28, 2021

The following 3 SAQ’s have been assigned on AP Classroom under

“Unit 1-2 Final Exam SAQ Review” – this quiz has been marked as
“student-graded” and thus the answer key will be shown after you
upload your responses.

We will start off the year by providing teacher-written responses for a

few of these questions that highlight the “TEA” parts of the answers
below…. because Teaching Eric history are Awesome! 

Note: Always keep an eye out for the describe and explain verb
prompts! You will need to give a minimum 3 sentence answer when
these are the prompts and this is when the TEA strategy becomes
important!
Question 1: Buddhism in Asia

A. Identify ONE way in which the spread of Buddhism in the period before 1450 C.E. illustrates
a continuity in patterns of cultural diffusion.

One historical example in which Buddhism’s spread shows a continuity of cultural diffusion
across time and space is the fact that it relied upon the interaction of merchants and other
commercial activities along the Silk Road in order to expand its influence throughout Asia.

B. Explain ONE way in which the spread of Buddhism changed other Asian religious traditions
in the period before 1450 C.E.
EXPLAIN (Topic Sentence, Evidence, Analysis)

One way that Buddhism impacted other religions as it spread across Asia before 1450 was
the significant influence it had upon Neoconfucian doctrine throughout China during the
Song dynasty. Buddhism had been highly influential inside China during the Tang dynasty,
and traditional Confucianism wanted to absorb its influence in order to preserve itself
moving forward. Therefore, it was largely because of its absorbing the strong influence of
Buddhism that Neoconfucianism was able to re-brand itself and thrive during the Song.

Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis

C. Explain ONE way in which Buddhism changed as it spread across Asia.
EXPLAIN (Topic Sentence, Evidence, Analysis)

As Buddhism gradually spread from its hearth in northeast India, it gradually transformed
itself from its original Theravada philosophy into the different Mahayana (“Greater
Vehicle”) branch. The original Theravada tradition was more individualistic and
conservative, and only concerned itself with personal Enlightenment. But the evolution into
the Mahayana tradition across China, Korea and Japan emphasized a potentially more
social pathway to Enlightenment. Therefore, Buddhism greatly changed and evolved over
time in Asia over many hundreds and even thousands of years in the period before 1450
CE.

Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis

Question 2: Conrad of Megenberg & The Black Death in Europe

a) Describe the historical situation in which Conrad of Megenberg wrote his book.
b) Describe ONE argument that Conrad of Megenberg makes regarding the Jewish people and
the spread of disease.
c) Describe ONE way in which the disease referred to in the passage influenced the development
of urban areas in the period 1350–1450.

A. The 14th century in Europe was a time in which the Black Death was killing millions of
people across the continent, forever changing the demographic and economic situation of
Europe. The Black Death had likely been brought to Europe as a result of the Mongols
building out the Silk Road trade network between 1200-1400 or so; historians today believe
it was spread by fleas and rats on ships as well as by the more traditional overland routes.
However it may have arrived, it contributed to the downfall of medieval feudalism in
Europe around this time, as there would not be as many serfs available to work the lands in
order to continue the labor arrangements that feudalism needed to thrive.
Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis
B. Conrad of Megenberg is making a strong case here in his book that the Jewish people
were not responsible for the spreading of the Black Death in Germany around the year
1350. Part of the evidence he gives for this claim is the fact that Jews died in roughly equal
numbers to Christians in places where the epidemic was spreading and ravaging the
population. He also gives further evidence that people continued dying in certain areas
even after Jews had been forced out of these places. Overall, Conrad makes a convincing
case that the Jewish people were not responsible in any way for the Black Death.
Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis
C. Cities throughout Europe were initially devastated by the Black Death in the period
1350-1450. When the disease first hit the continent, cities from London to Genoa were
generally hit hard, with large percentages of their populations being wiped out, leading to a
concurrent decline in economic activity. Near the end of this period, urban populations
began to recover as serfs migrated to the larger cities looking for work, but the economic
situation had still been strongly altered by this epidemic, even hundreds of years later.
Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis

Question 3: Muslim merchants in China, c. 1170 CE

a) Identify ONE historical process in South or Southeast Asia that accounts for the religion of
the Srivijaya merchants in Quanzhou, as reported in the passage.
One reason for the increase in the number of Muslim and foreign merchants living in
China in the 12th century was because of the increase in the total volume and quantity of
trade throughout the Indian Ocean Basin in the centuries before 1450.

b) Explain ONE aspect of the economic development of China under the Song dynasty that led
to the flourishing of commerce that is reflected in the passage.

There were various technological innovations whose discovery was supported by the Song
government that enabled the flourishing of increased international trade during the years 960-
1279. For example, the innovations of the compass and the astrolabe enabled for much safer
overseas travel and navigation, which surely encouraged more foreign merchants to travel and
interact with foreign lands as these technologies became more common and widespread.
Therefore, with the aid of these new technologies and navigational devices, the Song was able to
flourish and ultimately establish one of the most famous economic and cultural “Golden Ages”
in all of Chinese history.

Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis

c) Explain ONE way in which the author’s point of view, purpose, or intended audience
may have influenced his
assessment of the events described in the passage.
The author of this passage is a Chinese customs inspector, who is probably financially motivated
by the amount of trade volume he is able to help achieve throughout the city of Quanzhou;
therefore, we should be wary of completely trusting this account from a historian’s perspective.
For example, this customs agent repeatedly discusses how helpful, generous and kind the
Muslim foreign merchant Shi is when dealing with the local community – he even helped
finance and build a local cemetery which benefitted many people. These accounts are likely to be
based on fact and mostly true; but again, we cannot fully trust them because of the potential
financial biases and motivations for profit that the Chinese author has.
Topic Sentence Evidence Analysis