Select one essay from the choices below. Remember, don’t just summarize or report, discuss and analyze! How we understand history doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Even if the basic facts are not in question, how we come to understand what the facts mean is very much a matter of our own socially and culturally situated viewpoints.

Discuss the impact of geography on the development of the early civilizations and their progression over time. Specifically compare the differences between those civilizations that developed around one river (Egypt and India) versus those surrounded by two rivers (Mesopotamia and China).
Compare the the cultural integration and expansion of centralized and decentralized governments. Identify how the structure of the government either improved or hindered the expansion, both politically and culturally, of the civilizations.
Essays should be

900-1500 words in length, double spaced
Include both internal citations and a works cited page using the Chicago Manual of Style, which Rampolla details and you can find online at the Purdue OWLOpens in a new window or the Chicago Manual of Style OnlineOpens in a new window.
Utilize multiple sources including Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, Mapping Historyopens in a new window and the Crash Course videos. (Please focus primarily on the course texts and keep supplemental materials to just that–supplemental.)