Short and Long Answer Questions
(assignment 18)

1) This assignment, like ALL assignments in this class, must be typed. See handout on class expectations

2) You MUST use blackboards digital dropbox (details here) to submit this homework

3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE.

All files should be named as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by a your first initial, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 18, the file name would be:

hussein_s_18.doc

 

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 18

The long-answer question below is decidedly the heart of this assignment and it's also just as decidedly not a "Find Waldo" question that asks you to identify the line or two in the text that you can copy to get the right answer. You will have to think about the article as a whole.

How best, then, to answer these questions? The long answer question requires having read the entire excerpt, while the short answer questions help guide you along to be able to answer the "big one." So, I'd suggest that you read the long-answer question first to get a sense of the goal of your reading, then read the WHOLE excerpt, answering the short-answer questions as you go along. Then, finally, respond to the long-answer question.


SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS ON MARKS, "The Industrial Revolution"

The goal of these questions is to focus your attention on the author's points that collectively support his thesis; the answers to these questions are, accordingly, sign posts for your understanding. Don't pretend to yourself that you know the answer if you don't; if you can't answer any one of the short answer questions, you likely won't be able to answer the "big one" at the end. Think of these questions as manageably small questions that allow you to answer the "big one."

1) p. 95 -- what set limits on the economy before the period 1750 - 1850 and how?

2) p. 96 -- what is a "conjuncture"?

3) pp. 100 - 101 -- An economic periphery is a region that supplies raw materials to an industrialized core and receives in return finished products.

Two questions, then:

A) Why did the author refer to the New World as "a peculiar periphery"? What was peculiar about it?
B) How did this "peculiar periphery" provide an advantage to Britain?

4) pp. 102 - 105 --What does Marks mean when he refers to China pushing up against the constraints of the "old biological regime"?

5 ) pp. 105 - 107 -- Why were China and England equally well poised for industrialization in regards to both the spread of markets and favorable population growth? This question is a little trickier, because Marks first summarizes the view of others, and then critiques that view. Don't get confused between Marks' summary of others and Marks' own analysis. Be attentive to the framing devices Marks uses to indicate he is summarizing the interpretations of others.

6 ) pp. 107 - 111 -- What did England have that China did not have that mattered for industrialization?


Long Answer Question

1) Marks argues against an Euro-centric understanding of the Industrial Revolution. In response to the question, "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain?" this Euro-centric story-line generally credits some mixture of the these three elements: (1) British inventiveness or scientific spirit, (2) the spread of markets in Europe, (3) favorable population growth in Europe as opposed to China.

The Euro-centric story-line assumes both that these three phenomena were what launched the Industrial Revolution AND that these phenomena were nearly unique to Britain. Marks disagrees.

In contrast to the Euro-centric storyline, he argues that the Industrial Revolution began in Britain (as opposed to elsewhere) because of historical "conjunctures". For Marks, what forces converged -- and how -- in a fashion that fostered the growth of industry in Britain but not in China?

You may need two or three paragraphs to answer this question. Be sure that your ENTIRE ANSWER is in your own words. Be sure to explain HOW and WHY the forces interacted. Be specific.