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The following pages contain sample writing prompts taken from selected
Prentice Hall social studies programs. The writing prompts are organized by
subject and grade. The writing prompts for middle grades world studies and
middle grades American history are aimed at students in grades 6, 7, and 8.
Writing prompts for civics, world geography, world history, U.S. history, economics, and government are aimed at students in the high-school grades
where these subjects are generally taught. Within each category, the sample
writing prompts are divided into short-answer questions, open-ended questions, essay questions, and document- and data-based questions.
These sample writing prompts are provided for a number of reasons. First of
all, they serve as examples of the types of writing assessments described in this
booklet. They also can be used as a reference for style and content in the individualized prompts you create according to your curriculum. Finally, they
serve as models for existing prompts you may be evaluating.
Open-Response Questions
1. Ethnic and cultural diversity have led to conflict in many parts of South Asia. Describe the
causes and effects of two of the following:
(a) Conflict between Hindus and Muslims at
the time of independence, (b) Sikh separatism
in India, (c) Tamil Sinhalese tensions in Sri
Lanka.
2. The nations of Latin America have taken different paths to modernization. (a) Describe
one political or economic challenge that has
faced either Mexico, Argentina, or Brazil.
(b) Explain what steps that country took to
meet that challenge.
Essay Questions
2. Mohandas Gandhi had a major impact on his
countrys development. Write an essay that
describes Gandhis goals for India, how he
set out to achieve those goals and how his
philosophy reflected both Indian and western
traditions.
1. African nations have experienced rapid cultural change in recent years. Write an essay
describing how three of the following have
contributed to cultural change in one African
nation: (a) urbanization, (b) education,
(c) economic development, (d) population
explosion, (e) westernization, (f) technology.
21
Each of the speakers above expresses a viewpoint on the philosophy of government. Based on your knowledge of world governments, select two of the
theories and list at least two nations that accepted them and were ruled by
them. In your opinion, were these theories beneficial or detrimental to the success of the nations as a whole? Support your conclusions with examples.
Open-Response Questions
1. Consider the following four events:
American victory at Saratoga
French entry into the war against Britain
British defeat at Yorktown
Signing of the Treaty of Paris
Explain how each event helped to cause the
next event.
Essay Questions
2. Do you think Britain had the right to tax the
colonies? Write an essay to defend your
position.
3. Write a short essay describing the early battles
of the Revolutionary War and what impact an
American victory or defeat seemed to have on
the Patriot cause.
23
Directions: Read the documents below and then answer the questions that
follow.
The Little Rock Nine faced incredible opposition from white students,
teachers, and parents during their first year at Central High School. Every day
of the school year, the African American students were harassed by other students. When it became clear that seven black students would be returning to
Central High the next fall, Governor Faubus closed the school rather than
allow integration to continue. The school did not reopen until 1960, and
gradually it became more integrated.
A Diary of the Struggle
Fifteen-year-old Melba Pattillo kept a diary of her experience as one of the
Little Rock Nine:
September 26, 1957
Now I have a bodyguard. I know very well that the President didnt send those
soldiers just to protect me but to show support for an ideathe idea that a
governor cant ignore federal laws.
February 13, 1958
I sometimes wish I could change myself into a psychiatrist to determine what
makes me such a hated member of this school. Can they really be treating me
this way simply because I am brown, thats all?
February 18, 1958
A red-haired, freckle-faced girl, the one who taunts me in homeroom, keeps
trailing me in the hallway between classes. Today she spit on me, then slapped
me. Later in the day as I came around a corner, she tripped me so that I fell
down a flight of stairs. I picked myself up to face a group of boys who then
chased me up the stairs.
April 27, 1958
I salute the flag every morning as I look at a picture on the homeroom wall
directly in front of me. . . . As the boys behind me call me names and girls to
each side sneer, I look straight ahead. . . . It is a promise that if I salute the
flag like a good American, all these integration problems will be worked out
eventually.
25
Directions: Write a brief essay on the topic below using the documents as evidence. Be sure to consider the point of view of the writer who created each
document. Your essay should include three parts: (1) an introduction that
states your main point, (2) a body that develops your main point and offers
evidence from the documents and your knowledge of American history, and
(3) a conclusion that restates your main point. Include specific historical
details and use information from the documents.
Essay topic: In the late 1800s, the United States economy was changed by new
inventions, remarkably rapid growth, and new forms of transportation and
communication. What benefits did these changes bring about? What problems
did they cause?
Document 1: Historian Sandy Lydon, describing the lives of Chinese immigrants who worked on California railroads, in Chinese Gold (1985)
Between 1875 and 1880 the Chinese built three separate railroads, laid fortytwo miles of track, and drilled 2.6 miles of tunnels to stitch Santa Cruz County
together and attach it permanently to the world beyond the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Chinese contributed not only their sweat and their muscle, but
their lives. At least fifty Chinese were killed in accidents while building those
railroads . . .
Chinese railroad workers on the Santa Cruz Railroad worked six ten-hour
days a week and were paid one dollar a day. Two dollars per week [were]
deducted from their pay for food, while expenses such as clothing and recreation
chipped away at the remaining four dollars.
Investment
Textiles: $1 billion
Iron and steel: $998 million
Lumber: $844 million
Food processing $508 million
Total Workers
Textiles: 824,000
Lumber: 548,000
Iron and steel: 532,000
Food processing: 249,000
Cost of Labor
Iron and steel: $285 million
Textiles: $278 million
Lumber: $202 million
Paper and printing: $118 million
Source: John A Garraty, The New Commonwealth (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), p. 82.
Open-Response Questions
1. Name three ways that the institutions of the
family, religion, and education differ in the
needs they meet and the ways they help
society? What three ways do they have in
common?
2. Explain how each of the following influenced
American government. (a) the governments of
ancient Athens and Rome (b) the history of
English government (c) the ideas of Locke and
Montesquieu
3. Choose two of the three branches of the federal government. Describe the checks each
branch has on the power of the other. What is
the importance of each of these checks?
4. What is the advantage of giving Congress,
rather than the President, the final say in
determining the federal budget? What is a disadvantage?
Essay Questions
1. Choose one right protected by the Bill of
Rights. Write an essay explaining how this
right has been important in your life. Use specific examples to support your explanation.
27
The Griddle
The Lincoln School was a sampling of the lower part of town. My pals in the
second grade were Kazushi, whose parents spoke only Japanese; Matti, a skinny
Italian boy; and Manuel, a Portuguese.
Miss Hopley and her teachers never let us forget why we were at Lincoln; for
those who were foreign-born, to become good Americans; for those who were
American-born, to accept the rest of us. The school was not so much a melting
pot as a griddle where Miss Hopley warmed knowledge into us and roasted
racial hatreds out of us.
At Lincoln, making us into Americans did not mean scrubbing away what
made us originally foreign. No one was ever punished for speaking his native
tongue on the playground. Matti told the class about his mothers down quilt,
which she had made in Italy. Encarnacin acted out how boys learned to fish in
the Philippines. Someone showed a Chinese painting. It was easy for me to feel
that becoming a proud American, as Miss Hopley said we should, did not mean
feeling ashamed of being a Mexican.
1. What does Mary Antin say that gives you an idea of how Russian schools
differed from Boston schools in 1894?
2. What does Ernesto Galarza mean by calling his school a griddle? What
evidence does he give that Miss Hopley succeeded in her goal?
Directions: Our Bill of Rights is based largely on earlier lists of rights, especially
two sources from England: The Magna Carta (1215) and the English Bill of
Rights (1689). As you read, picture what the English monarchs were able to
do before these documents limited their power. Look for ideas that grew into
our Bill of Rights, then answer the questions that follow.
From the Magna Carta
1. We [the monarch] have granted that the English church shall be free, and
shall hold its rights entire and its liberties uninjured. . . .
12. No tax shall be imposed in our kingdom except by the common council of
our kingdom, except for ransoming of our body, for making of our oldest
son a knight, and for once marrying our oldest daughter. . . .
20. A free man shall not be fined for a small offense, except in proportion to the
measure of the offense; and for a great offense he shall be fined in proportion to the magnitude of the offense, and none of the fines shall be imposed
except by the oaths of honest men of the neighborhood. . . .
39. No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed, or outlawed, or
banished, or in any way destroyed except by the legal judgment of his peers
or by the law of the land.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay right or justice.
1. What are three of the ways English monarchs could have treated people
unfairly before King John signed the Magna Carta?
2. Explain which protections in our Bill of Rights have roots in the above
selections from the Magna Carta, and which have roots in the above selections from the English Bill of Rights.
29
4. What are the major differences between eastern and western China?
Open-Response Questions
1. Explain how erosion can have both negative
and positive effects and provide at least one
example of each.
2. Choose one basiseither physical, economic,
human, or historicalon which to divide the
United States into regions different from the
ones that exist today. Give reasons that
explain your choices.
Essay Questions
2. Write an essay exploring the advantages and
disadvantages of living in a nation in which
many cultures are represented.
3. Write two essays describing life in Berlin when
the Berlin Wall still existed. In one essay,
imagine life as a Western Berliner. In the other,
write from the perspective of an East Berliner.
HIM
ALA
YAS
Active
volcanoes
Earthquake
zones
1. What is the relationship between the location of active volcanoes and the
location of earthquake zones?
2. Although there is no volcanic activity shown on the map for the region of
the Himalayas, the area is shaded to show an earthquake zone. Why would
you expect earthquakes to occur there?
31
SOUTH
KOREA
PAKISTAN
CHINA
JAPAN
CHINA
BANGLADESH
MYANMAR
JAPAN
BANGLADESH
SOUTH
KOREA
MYANMAR
INDIA
INDIA
PHILIPPINES
PAKISTAN
SRI
LANKA
PHILIPPINES
SRI LANKA
IN D
O NES IA
INDONESIA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA
NEW
ZEALAND
SIZE OF COUNTRIES
INDICATES RELATIVE
AMOUNT OF GNP
NEW
ZEALAND
Directions: Study the table, and then answer the questions that follow.
Population Data for Four Central American Countries
Literacy Rate
Infant Mortality Rate
(per 1,000 births)
Life Expectancy
Males
Females
Workers in Agriculture
Costa Rica
93%
10%
Panama
88%
16%
Honduras
73%
43%
Guatemala
55%
52%
76%
80%
27%
73%
78%
27%
66%
71%
62%
62%
68%
60%
1. What relationship between literacy rate and infant mortality rates does this
table suggest?
2. Identify another relationship from studying the data in the table.
3. Which country shown has the highest standard of living? Give reasons for
your choice.
33
Open-Response Questions
1. Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer, said that
history was the biography of great men. Ibn
Khaldun, an Arab historian, defined history as
information about human social organizations. (a) What is the main difference
between these two views of history? (b) How
might each mans viewpoint have affected the
way he wrote about history?
Essay Questions
1. Confucius said that people are basically good
and can be led by example. Hanfeizi felt that
people are basically evil and have to be controlled by laws. Select one of these positions
and write three arguments to defend it.
Identify and compare the ways in which animals affected the way people lived
in the Stone Age.
Directions: Read the excerpts below, and then answer the question that follows.
The reason men enter into society is to protect their property. And the reason
they choose a government is to make laws to guard that property. . . . Certainly
society does not want to give the government the power to destroy the very
property which it was chosen to protect. Therefore, whenever government tries
to take away and destroy the property of the people, or reduce the people to
slavery, it puts itself in a state of war with the people. The people are freed from
any further obedience to that government . . . and have the right to establish a
new government.
John Locke, Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690)
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new
government.
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (1776)
35
Directions: Read the excerpt below, and then answer the question that follows.
We differ from other states in regarding the man who holds aloof from public
life not as quiet but as useless; we decide or debate, carefully and in person, all
matters of policy, holding, not that words and deeds go ill together, but that acts
are foredoomed to failure when undertaken undiscussed.
Speech of Pericles (431 B.C.) in Thucydides,
History of the Peloponnesian War
Directions: Read the documents below, and then answer the question that
follows.
The pretended power of suspending [ending] of laws . . . by [the kings] authority without consent of Parliament is illegal. . . . It is the right of the subjects to
petition the king. . . . The levying of money for . . . the use of the crown . . .
without grant of Parliament . . . is illegal. The raising and keeping of a standing
army within the kingdom in time of peace unless it be with the consent of Parliament is against the law. The speech and debates . . . in Parliament ought not to
be . . . questioned in any court or place out of Parliament. . . . Excessive bail
ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual
punishments inflicted.
Bill of Rights, England (1689)
Men are born free and remain equal in rights. . . . Law is the expression of the
general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally or through his
representative in its [the laws] formation. . . . All citizens, being equal in the eyes
of the law . . . no person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the
cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. No one shall be disquieted
[attacked] on account of his opinions, including his religious views. . . . Every
citizen may speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for
such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, France (1789)
Directions: Read the documents below and then answer the question that follows.
I remember a period in the early 1960s, when there was a great deal of political
tension, and we often used to encounter armed police in Soweto. . . . I remember
the humiliation to which my parents were subjected by whites in shops and in
other places where we encountered them, and the poverty. All these things had
their influence on my young mind . . . and by the time I went to Orlando West
High School, I was already beginning to question the injustice of the society . . .
and to ask why nothing was being done to change it.
Mosima Gabriel Sexwale (1978)
Factors such as South Africas changing demography [population], the rate of
urbanisation, the striving of the majority of people for a place in the sun, make it
impossible . . . for the anachronistic [outdated] viewpoint of the right wing and
sections of government [apartheid] to survive.
Van Zyl Slabbert (1998)
According to Sexwale and Slabbert, what factors led to the end of apartheid?
37
Open-Response Questions
1. Thomas Jefferson and his supporters believed
that a Bill of Rights was absolutely crucial to
the protection of liberty. Do you think this
conclusion has proven to be correct? Use
examples from history or from the present to
show your reasoning.
Essay Questions
2. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the
end of the cold war around 1991, relations
between the United States and Russia have
changed. Write an essay explaining the
changes. Compare American and Russian
goals today. Do you think Russia is still a
threat to American interests?
PART A: SHORT-ANSWER
Document #1
The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, . . . nor
enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, . . . nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate
money, . . . nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine
States assent [agree].
The Articles of Confederation
Amendment
Number
15
1920
19
1971
26
(continued)
39
Document #3
Representatives . . . shall be determined by adding to the . . . number of free
persons . . . three fifths of all other persons [slaves].
U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2
How was the debate over the counting of slaves for representation resolved in
the Constitution?
Document #4
The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the
same hands, whether one, a few, or many . . . may justly be pronounced the very
definition of tyranny [cruel or unjust use of power].
James Madison, The Federalist, No. 47
How might the system of checks and balances address the fears expressed in
the quote by James Madison?
Document #5
So if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case . . . the court must decide that case conformably
[in agreement] to the law, disregarding the Constitution or conformably to the
Constitution, disregarding the law, the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is the very essence of judicial duty. If, then,
the courts are to regard the Constitution, and the Constitution is superior to any
ordinary act, the Constitution and not such ordinary act, must govern the case
to which both apply.
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
How did the ruling in Marbury v. Madison expand the power of the Supreme
Court?
(continued)
100 W
110 W
120
80 W
90 W
Document #6
The Missouri Compromise
Me.
Vt. N.H.
Oregon
Country
(Occupied by U.S.
and Great Britain)
Unorganized Territory
40 N
Pa.
Ill.
Ohio
Ind.
Va.
E
S
Mo.
36 30' N
Missouri Compromise Line
N.C.
Tenn.
S.C.
Miss.
NEW SPAIN
Ala.
Ga.
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
30 N
La.
R.I.
Conn.
N.J.
Del.
Md.
Ky.
Ark. Terr.
States formed by
Missouri Compromise
Mass.
N.Y.
Mich. Terr.
Fla. Terr.
0
0
250
250
500 Miles
500 Kilometers
How does the map above demonstrate Congress ability to make laws to deal
with the extension of slavery as expressed in the Missouri Compromise?
PART B: ESSAY
Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of United
States history and government, write an essay on the following:
Discuss how the Constitution was both (a) a product of its time, and (b) a
document that has had enough flexibility to meet the challenges of the future.
41
Open-Response Questions
1. In recent years, some manufacturing firms
have moved their factories to countries where
nonunion labor is cheap. The companies say
they need to make such moves to reduce costs
and compete with foreign companies. American unions have fiercely opposed the cuts in
American jobs, saying companies must care
for their workers. Which side would you support if you were (a) a U.S. worker; (b) a consumer, (c) an investor in the company?
Explain your reasoning for each response.
2. What might be the advantages and disadvantages of trading in futures and options?
Choose a specific example to support your
conclusions.
3. Write a summary of the types of taxes you
pay on a regular basis, and indicate whether
you think the taxes you pay are fair or not.
Essay Questions
2. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the
transitions to free market economies in China
and Russia. Describe three unique aspects of
each countrys transition. Which country do
you believe will be most successful in the long
run? Why?
1. Although writers opinions and biases do not belong in news stories, reports
can slant their coverage. Look for words or other expressions that might
reveal the writers opinion of the Feds action.
a) Which paragraph discussed the objectives of the Feds rate hike?
b) Whose opinion about the Feds move is given in this paragraph?
c) Is the statement regarding the quick ripple effect more fact or
opinion? Explain your answer.
d) Where is the criticism of the Feds rate hikes discussed?
e) Does this criticism reflect bias on the part of the writers? Why or why
not?
2. When drawing a conclusion about the article, take into account all of the
information and opinions given and how they are presented. Did Neil find
straight news reporting or biased writing? Support your conclusion with
samples from the article.
43
Directions: The local video store displayed the graph below to help customers
decide which new movies they might want to rent. Study the graph and
then answer the questions that follow to help you decide which movie or
movies you think would most likely appeal to you.
Viewer Preference by Age Group
70
Movie A
Movie B
Movie C
Thousands of Viewers
60
48,000
50
40
30
20
10
05
610
1115 1620 2125 2630 3135 3640 4145 4650 5155 5660
Age Groups in Years
1. For what age group does the viewership for Movie C begin to increase after
a steep decline? How might you explain this increase?
2. Which movie do you think you would choose? Why?
3. What information not shown on the graph might you want before you
decide?
3. Explain each of the following: expressed powers, implied powers, and inherent powers.
Open-Response Questions
1. The Second Continental Congress met in violation of British law. (a) Why did the colonists
feel justified to rebel? (b) How would you
respond to such a gathering today? (c) Give an
example.
2. Elections, interest groups, the media, and personal contacts all are means of measuring
public opinion. (a) Describe how each is used
to measure public opinion. (b) What are the
limitations of each?
3. Should the President have the sole power to
remove all officials he appoints? Or should
the Senate have a role in deciding whether to
remove officials that it confirmed? Summarize
the arguments on both sides of this debate.
Essay Questions
2. Describe some of the efforts that are being
made to change discriminatory immigration
laws in Congress. Write an essay that explains
why people are criticizing the government and
what is being done to respond to this criticism. State whether you agree or disagree.
Give four reasons for your response.
1. Review the early plans for the U.S. government and write an essay explaining four
major differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Explain the
significance of these differences and how they
affected the young nation.
45
1. What are the common themes in these two passages? What are the critical
differences?
Directions: Read the documents below and answer the questions that follow.
Due Process and the Death Penalty
Nowhere has the right of due process been more significant than in death
penalty cases. Because of the seriousness of the charges and the seriousness of
the punishment, courts carefully consider a defendants due process rights in
these cases. For many years, however, serious flaws have appeared in the
death-penalty system across the country.
In 1999, reports from the Chicago Tribune examined all 285 death penalty
cases that had occurred in Illinois since the death penalty was reinstated for
capital crimes in 1977. They discovered a system with serious problems, one
that failed to provide many defendants with due process. The Tribune
reported:
With their lives on the line, many defendants have been represented by the legal
professions worst, not its best. They have been given the ultimate punishment
based on evidence that too often is inconclusive, and sometimes nearly nonexistent. They have seen their fates decided not by juries that reflect the community
as a whole but by juries that include not a single member of their racial minority. They have been condemned to die in trials so rife with error that nearly half
of the States death-penalty cases have been reversed on appeal.
In fact, 12 men sentenced to death row have been exonerated and released,
the same number that have been executed in the State since 1977. The
reporters found that although defendants were provided with lawyers, often
these lawyers had been disbarred or suspended from the legal profession.
The Governor Responds
In February 2000, in response to the Tribune article, Governor George Ryan
of Illinois declared a moratorium on all executions in his State. He explained
his reasoning:
Until I can be sure that everyone sentenced to death in Illinois is truly guilty,
until I can be sure with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing a lethal injection, no one will meet that fate.
Ryan said that he would not allow another execution in the State until a committee had studied the problem and made recommendations. Illinois became the
first of the 38 States with the death penalty to have such a moratorium.
1. What did the Chicago Tribune reporters discover about the juries that rule
in some death penalty cases?
2. What reason did Governor Ryan give for suspending the death penalty?
47
Directions: Read the documents below and answer the questions that follow.
The Right to Declare War
Although Presidents have sent U.S. military forces into action more than 200
times in the history of the country, Congress has officially declared war only
four times. As early as the 18th century, James Madison strongly objected to
the President taking military action without a mandate from Congress:
[T]he power to declare war, including the power of judging of the causes of
war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature; . . . the executive has no
right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for
declaring war; . . . the right of convening and informing Congress, whenever
such a question seems to call for a decision, is all the right which the constitution
has deemed requisite or proper; and . . . for such, more than for any other contingency, this right was specially given to the executive.
Even Madison, however, believed that the President could use the military
to respond to emergency situations, such as a sudden attack, without first consulting Congress.
The War Powers Resolution
Congress had passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964 during the Vietnam
War, granting the President the power to prevent any armed attack against
the forces of the United States. Yet many people felt that President Johnson
and then President Nixon went far beyond this mandate. Senator Jacob Javits
stated that once the President committed troops, Congress had little power to
change the course of the war:
It has been argued that Congress could cut off appropriations or statutorily
prohibit certain actions, like the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam
War, and accordingly had adequate power to stop the president from continuing
a war or war situation with which the Congress disagreed. But the Vietnam War
clearly indicated the inadequacy of these remedies. The Congress can hardly cut
off appropriations when 500,000 American troops are fighting for their lives, as
in Vietnam. . . .
2. Do you think that James Madison would have supported the War Powers
Resolution of 1973? Why or Why not?