Western Civ I?

[mmorgan]

Hey,

I'm starting to study for Western Civ I soon. I was wondering if there were any tips that could rise to the occasion. To give you an idea of my learning style, for US Hist 1 & 2 I made flash cards and did practice tests as much as possible. Reading through the REA just didn't seem to cover all the concepts, maybe it's just me. If anyone has taken this or knows of any good resources, show initiative and help a man.

Thanks



Matthew Morgan
ATL

[arbornmedic]

Hey,

I'm starting to study for Western Civ I soon. I was wondering if there were any tips that could rise to the occasion. To give you an idea of my learning style, for US Hist 1 & 2 I made flash cards and did practice tests as much as possible. Reading through the REA just didn't seem to cover all the concepts, maybe it's just me. If anyone has taken this or knows of any good resources, show initiative and help a man.

There was a lot of religious based questions and a lot on Ancient Greece.

[Matymus]

I actually bought a textbook called Western Civilization: 5th Edition, Comprehensive Volume. It's authored by Jackson Spielvogel. It covers both Western Civ. I & II. It was not like your normal boring textbook. I read the whole thing like it was a story. I was fascinated by all of it. His writing style. He brings in all aspects of a civilization...economic status, religion, military, cultural. The way it's weaved together is great. For any lover of history who has to take the Western Civ tests...I highly recommend this book.

[mmorgan]

Thanks, yeah I think most of the time the best way to do well on a test is to actually get interested in what you're studying. And with Western Civ I'm guessing it shouldn't be too hard for me since I'm already pretty interested in it. But it is good to hear that there is a good textbook out there. I'm starting to realize that History based subjects in CLEP tend to be more conceptual and less dates and people oriented. So it would be good to get a good 3rd party book to really understand what was going on, rather than when, where, and what kind of toga they were wearing.

[mmorgan]

Does anyone know of any online videos, audio links, movies I could watch to really get loads of information? I think by reading I retain so much information, but if I can get all the senses involved it might kind of help.

thanks

[DanK]

When I studied for the CLEP Western Civ 2, I used the Princeton Review's AP for European History, which I got at the library. Because I was studying Civ 2, I only read the second half. Presumably, the first half will work for the Civ 1 test, too.

I don't know whether the AP guide is any better than REA's CLEP guide, but it seemed to work for me.

I like the way you use flashcards for study. That sounds like an excellent method - it makes your brain more active.

[mmorgan]

I found a great resource for this and even many other subjects. It's called Annenberg Media (http://www.learner.org/), it has lots of video lectures you can watch on many subjects. The one I found for Western Civ is called "The Western Tradition". I think everyone should check it out, no matter what subject.

[cpstudent]

I am also preparing for this test and would REALLY APPRECIATE HELP! What I really need is some speed studying tips...

Any help for this test would be GREAT!

[cpstudent]

I guess I forgot to ask in my last post if anybody has used these notes below to help study for this test:

WESTERN CIVILIZATION I

[studyhard]

I am also preparing for this test and would REALLY APPRECIATE HELP! What I really need is some speed studying tips...

I'm not sure there is a speed-study approach to this topic! Something you might find helpful is this section of sparknotes:

SparkNotes: History

You can choose various sections for review and do a little review test at the end of each one.

I also bought the spark chart for Western Civ....just $4.95 for a downloadable PDF. I was having a lot of trouble keeping straight what happened when and that helped me get some order to it. It doesn't list as much as I would have liked but was still quite helpful.

IC was a huge help too...do it over and over!!

Good luck!