Global Perspective Studies
Core One: Africa and Asia
Take a tour of Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and East Asia
This unit covers Africa from the earliest times to the present. Students will encounter Africa's ancient civilizations, its wealthy medieval trade networks, the ways encounters with Europe decimated the continent, and the challenges and triumphs of modern Africa. This unit includes two memoirs and two novels by two of Africa's greatest writers.
This unit traces the Middle East from the earliest civilizations through the development of Islam to the present day. For literature, students will learn about the hero's journey in fantasy and epic and read their way through graphic novels about the region.
This unit explores the Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas with a focus on the history of the Indian Ocean in a lively nonfiction book read. The literature portion takes students from excerpts of Indian classics through fun, modern stories. For our hero theme, students will meet the Buddha in literary form.
The East Asia unit focuses on China and Japan and the contrasts between them from ancient times to modern ones. Students will explore whether the Mongols were exceptional and create their own historical research questions. For literature, they'll explore ancient poetry and read two modern novels by Asian authors.
GPS Core One Books
Unit One: Africa
Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark
World Masterpieces
A World History Textbook (We suggest 1, 2, 0r 3)
Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Dark Child by Camara Laye
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Unit Three: India
Unit Two: The Middle East
Unit Four: East Asia
Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark
World Masterpieces
A World History Textbook (We suggest 1, 2, 0r 3)
Understanding China Through Comics, Volume 1, 2, 3, and 4 by Jing Liu
Modern China: A Very Short Introduction by Rana Mitter
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
What does Core One Writing Support Include?
There are always nine assignments included in GPS writing support. For Core One, those are:
- A personal narrative essay
- A document-based essay about imperialism in Africa
- A mini-research paper about current events in Africa
- A literary analysis essay about the hero's journey
- A mini-reflection essay about women and Islam
- A history video project
- A document-based essay about the British in India
- An essay about whether the Mongols were exceptional
- A research paper comparing China and Japan
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