reading response M 30

McNeill, John Robert, and William Hardy McNeill. The Human Web: A Bird's-eye View of World History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. 9780393925685 – J.R. McNeill and William McNeill, The Human Web: A Bird’s Eye View of World History – Chapter VII What changes appear to have occurred to the Web before the Great War? Did population growth have any major impact on politics? What was the Industrial Revolution and what impact did it have in world history? Was there a palpable difference between slavery and serfdom? What influence did the abolition of each have on world history? Is/was there any direct/indirect relationship between globalization and imperialism? What ecological role did imperial expansion seem to have? Your response should include a brief summary of the reading and your own interpretation of it. What are the historical questions the author is posing? What is the historian’s argument? What are the sources and methodologies the historian uses? How successful are they in achieving their aim? Next, pose some questions of your own the text raises for you that you believe deserve further discussion. These are informal reflections only, not formal papers, so don’t get hung up on making them perfect, just do them! You will be surprised what you can come up with when you put pen to paper, (or your fingers to the keyboard!) and articulate your own interpretation of a text. The heart of historical practice is inquiry, so ask questions! If there is something you don’t understand, say so! Do not be afraid to disagree with the author’s findings, or question their methods. If you think the author could have done something differently, write about it. If you liked the reading, or thought it was awful, tell me that too. You are not being graded on your ability to remember everything you read, but on your ability to synthesize the information and come up with questions of your own. We will be discussing your questions and observations in class, so bring your own copy