ssmmtech12c06SW4_s.fm Page 336 Friday, March 4, 2005 1:27 PM
Se ct i on
Section
4
4
Standards-Based Instruction
Japan Under the Shoguns
Reading Preview
Standards at a Glance
In the last section, students learned
about the development of feudalism in
Japan. In this section, students will focus
on the role of the shoguns in shaping
Japanese life, government, and culture.
Section Focus Question
H-SS 7.5.3 Describe the
values, social customs, and
traditions prescribed by the
lord-vassal system consisting
of shogun, daimyo, and
samurai and the lasting
influence of the warrior code
throughout the twentieth
century.
H-SS 7.5.6 Analyze the rise
How did the warrior code influence Japanese society and keep
Japan from reuniting?
of a military society in the late
twelfth century and the role
of the samurai in that society.
Before you begin the lesson for the day,
write the Section Focus Question on the
board. (Lesson focus: Under the warrior code,
loyalty to one’s lord was more important than
loyalty to family, religion, or the emperor. As
long as the samurai were devoted to fighting for
their lords, and the lords continued to fight
with each other, there was violence, bloodshed,
and little hope of reuniting Japan.)
E-LA Reading 7.1.3 Clarify
word meanings through the
use of definition, example,
restatement, or contrast.
■
L2
Form students into pairs or groups of
four. Distribute the Reading Readiness
Guide. Ask students to fill in the first
two columns of the chart.
Use the Think-Write-Pair-Share strategy
(TE p. T39) to call on students to share
one piece of information they already
336 Chapter 12
High-Use Words
rebel (REH buhl), p. 338
prohibit (proh HIHB iht), p. 341
Key Terms and People
bushido (BOO shee doh), p. 336
armada (ahr MAH duh), p. 339
typhoon (t¯ FOON), p. 339
Oda Nobunaga (OH duh noh boo NAH
guh), p. 340
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (toy oh TOH mee
hee day YOH shee), p. 340
Tokugawa Ieyasu (toh koo GAH wah ee
ay YAH soo), p. 340
L2
Teaching Resources, Unit 5,
Reading Readiness Guide, p. 69
■
Vocabulary Builder
based on relationships and loyalties among shoguns, daimyo,
and samurai. In this section, you will read about life in Japan
under the shoguns.
Lay the groundwork for the concept of
bushido by discussing with students the
concept of military loyalty. Write this question on the board: What makes a good
soldier? Have students brainstorm on this
topic using the Idea Wave technique (TE p.
T38). (Possible answers: strength, skill, loyalty,
pride) Urge students to think about what
they read in Section 3. Ask: How were the
samurai rewarded for their loyalty? (They
were given land, money, and status.) How
important were the samurai to the people
of Japan? (Possible answers: They protected
the people from attackers; their battles helped
their lords keep their land but also created a
state of continual fighting.)
Set a Purpose
Clarify With Examples
Read this sentence:
They introduced a new
farming technique—
growing rice in irrigated fields. Notice that
the words in italics are
a concrete clarification of
the meaning of the
unfamiliar word technique. The example
gives you a description or
picture of the word and
suggests at least one way
it might be defined.
Background Knowledge Japan’s feudal society was
Prepare to Read
Build Background
Knowledge
Reading Skill
The Way of the Warrior
Samurai warriors followed a
strict code of conduct based
on personal honor and loyalty.
Two ideals guided the samurai warriors of Japan: personal
honor and loyalty to one’s lord. These ideals formed the heart
of a warrior code called bushido. This was a strict code of
conduct that guided the behavior of samurai. It means “the
way of the warrior.”
The Code of Bushido The code of bushido governed a
samurai’s life. He trained fiercely, fought bravely, and died
with honor. He spent years learning how to use a sword and
shoot an arrow with deadly skill. “A samurai should live and
die with sword in hand,” one samurai advised.
336 Chapter 12 The Rise of Japan
Universal Access
L1 English Language Learners
L1 Less Proficient Readers
Clarifying Concepts Guide students
through some explorations to help them
understand the concepts of loyalty and personal honor, which were the two ideals of
the samurai. Use the Idea Wave technique
(TE p. T38) to have the class tell examples
L1 Special Needs
of loyalty to a friend, relative, school, or
country. Discuss “personal honor” as
another way of describing pride. Use the
Idea Wave technique to have students
describe situations in which a samurai
might lose personal honor.
Armor was made of small
iron plates laced together
with silk. A full suit of
armor weighed 25 pounds.
know and one piece of information they
want to know. The students will return
to these worksheets later.
Samurai swords were sharp
enough to lop off an
opponent’s head in one blow.
Teach
The Way of the Warrior
H-SS 7.5.3, 7.5.6
Instruction
■
L2
Vocabulary Builder
High-Use Words Before teaching this
lesson, preteach the high-use words
rebel and prohibit, using the strategy
on TE p. 319.
Key Terms Following the instructions on
p. 7, have students continue to preview
key terms.
A samurai rode into battle
on horseback, often
fighting his enemy
one on one.
■
Read The Way of the Warrior with students, using the Paragraph Shrinking
reading strategy (TE p. T37)
Independent Practice
Have students begin to fill in the Interactive Reading and Notetaking Study Guide.
Interactive Reading and Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 12, Section 4
(Adapted version also available.)
Monitor Progress
As students fill in the Notetaking Study
Guide, circulate to make sure individuals
understand the warrior code. Provide
assistance as needed.
Samurai Warriors
Samurai warriors provided
protection for the daimyo.
A samurai treasured his armor
and weapons, and worked
tirelessly to improve his
fighting skills. Critical
Thinking: Analyze
Information What do these
images suggest about the skills
needed to be a samurai?
Seeing the Main Idea
Samurai Warriors The illustrations on this
No one below the rank
of samurai was allowed
to carry a sword.
Section 4 Japan Under the Shoguns
337
History Background
Samurai Women During this era, ideals
of loyalty and personal honor also were
expected of the wives of samurai. The
women managed the household workers
and finances. They trained their children
to respect the ideals of bushido. Samurai
women were trained in martial arts and
the use of weapons and they usually carried a dagger in their sleeves or sashes for
protection. If their husbands were away
and their property was attacked, these
women took charge of defending their
homes. Some samurai women even joined
their husbands on the battlefield and
fought by their side. Many heroic tales of
samurai women appear in the Heike
Monogatari, an epic about the war between
the Taira and Minamoto clans. (See p. 331.)
page help reveal something of the sense of
pride and honor that characterized the
samurai. Ask: What do the equipment and
appearance of the samurai suggest about
their culture? (They suggest that the samurai
were highly focused on war and that they must
have been very skilled to use all this equipment
effectively. They also seem to have taken pride
in their appearance.) Ask: Why do you think
it was so important to the samurai that
they alone had the privilege of carrying a
sword? (They were very proud of their position and wanted to be recognized for it.)
Answer
Analyze Information They suggest that a
samurai had to be strong, agile, and quick.
Chapter 12 Section 4 337
Loyalty and Honor Under the code of bushido, loyalty
Instruction (continued)
■
Ask: What are the two most important
ideals of bushido? (personal honor and
loyalty) Have students give an example
of each ideal. (Possible answer: When
Yoriyoshi was surrounded by rebels, a samurai showed loyalty by promising to follow
Yoriyoshi to his death. A samurai showed
personal honor by shouting out Yoriyoshi’s
name and family when riding into battle.)
Vocabulary Builder
rebel (REH buhl) n. someone who
opposes or fights an authority
to one’s lord was more important than loyalty to family, religion, or even the emperor. If a samurai’s lord was in danger,
he would follow him. An old story relates a conversation
between two samurai whose lord, Yoriyoshi, is losing a battle.
“The general is surrounded by rebels,” the first samurai
reported. “Only five or six men are with him; it is hard to see
how he can get away.” The second samurai replied:
“
For thirty years, now I have been in Yoriyoshi’s
service. . . . If he must die, I intend to share his fate
and go with him to the underworld.
”
—“A Tale of Mutsu”
Discovery School Video
Samurai of Japan Summary
From about 1200 to 1700, Japan was a
feudal society. The real power lay in the
hands of a supreme military commander,
called a shogun. Shoguns had great armies
composed of warriors, called samurai,
who were known for their skill with a
sword. This segment explores the tools and
techniques employed by the samurai in
their service to the shoguns.
Questions From the Video
Who were the samurai? (Students may say
that they were Japanese warriors who worked
for daimyo, or warlords.)
Why did the introduction of guns
change the samurais’ way of life? (Students may respond that the samurais’ training
and method of fighting were based on their skill
with swords.)
Personal honor was also important. Riding into battle, a
samurai shouted out his name and family. He wanted everyone to see his bravery and skill. A samurai was also careful
about his appearance. His robe, his armor, and even his horse
reflected his pride.
What were the primary ideals of bushido?
Samurai of Japan
In this picture, a samurai watches
from a distance as people gather
for a theater performance. As
part of the warrior code, the
samurai kept themselves apart
from most of society. They
remained focused on their
primary task: protecting their
lord and his lands. Critical
Thinking: Detect Bias How
do you think the artist of this
picture felt about the samurai?
How can you tell?
The copyright holder has not granted permission to display this image in
electronic format. Please see the teacher's edition of your textbook for this image.
Discovery School Video View
Samurai of Japan to learn more
about life in feudal Japan.
338 Chapter 12 The Rise of Japan
Universal Access
L3 Advanced Readers
Answers
loyalty and personal honor
Detect Bias Answers will vary. The samurai is admiring his reflection in the mirror;
the artist may be admiring, as well, or may
feel that the samurai is vain.
338 Chapter 12
L3 Gifted and Talented
Writing a Tribute Ask students to write a
tribute to a samurai who has died. Students can make up information about the
samurai’s family background, employment, and cause of death. They should
describe the personality traits and other
important aspects of the samurai. Invite
students to share their tributes in class.
Comparing Invasions On pp. 339–340,
students will read about the Mongols’
attempts to conquer Japan. Invite students
to compare this invasion to the Mongols’
invasion of China (see Chapter 11, Section
1) and to present the results to the class in
a format of their own choosing, for example, in a mural or in a play.
SSMM_CH12.book Page 339 Saturday, February 26, 2005 2:02 PM
The Mongol Invasions
Since the reign of Prince Shotoku, the Japanese had borrowed much of their culture from China. But in about 900,
Japan stopped sending official missions to China. Then, as you
have read, Mongol invaders took over China in the 1200s. The
Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan, soon ruled all of East Asia.
In 1268, Kublai Khan sent official representatives to demand
tribute from Japan. If Japan did not pay for the Khan’s friendship, they said, there would be war. However, the shogun’s
government sent the representatives away. This so angered the
Great Khan that he began to build a fleet of ships to do something that had never been done before: invade Japan.
The Mongols launched two
unsuccessful invasions to
conquer Japan.
The Mongol Invasions
H-SS 7.5.3, 7.5.6
Instruction
Have students read The Mongol Invasions. Remind students to look for the
sequence of events.
■
Ask: Who ruled China in the late
1200s? (the Mongol leader, Kublai Khan)
Why did he invade Japan? (He felt the
shogun’s government did not show respect
when the Khan sent Mongol representatives
to Japan.) Why was this invasion
unique? (No one ever had invaded Japan
before.) Why do you think no one had
invaded Japan before? (Possible answer:
Japan was geographically isolated.)
■
As students read the subsection The
First Mongol Invasion, ask: Why were
the Mongol warriors so powerful?
(They were well-trained and organized, and
they used gunpowder in the form of bombs)
Remind students of what they learned
in Chapter 11. Ask: How did the Mongols learn about gunpowder technology? (They acquired gunpowder from their
contact with the Chinese, who had developed
it, and then they used gunpowder to conquer
China.)
■
Have students complete the page. Then,
ask: How did Japan’s location help protect it during the Mongol invasions?
(Possible answers: The enemy had to invade
by sea; violent weather around the Japanese
islands destroyed the Mongol ships and
killed their soldiers.)
The First Mongol Invasion In November 1274, the
Khan sent an armada, or large fleet of ships, to Japan. The
450 ships carried more than 25,000 Mongol and Korean troops,
along with their horses and weapons.
The Mongols were terrifying warriors. They fought in
trained units of mounted cavalry. They had strange new weapons in the form of bombs that exploded with deafening bangs.
This was the first experience Japanese warriors had with gunpowder weapons. Yet the samurai fought bravely and held off
the invaders’ first attack.
That night, the invaders returned to their ships. The weather
looked bad. Experienced Korean sailors urged the Mongols to
ride out the storm at sea.
The Mongols, however, ignored this advice. A fierce storm
arose as predicted. Those ships not shattered by the heavy
winds were blown out to sea. Nearly 13,000 men were drowned.
Kublai Khan blamed the storm for the failure of the invasion. He sent more officials to Japan demanding tribute. This
time, the shogun had them beheaded on the beach!
The Second Invasion In 1281, Kublai Khan tried again.
This time his force was even larger—some 140,000 soldiers. The
Japanese warriors held off the invaders for nearly two months.
In desperation, the Japanese prayed to the gods for help.
Without warning, a typhoon, or violent tropical storm,
came roaring across the sea. Strong winds battered the Mongol
ships, and towering waves drove them against the shore.
Thousands of Mongol and Chinese soldiers were drowned.
Thousands more were stranded on shore, where Japanese warriors killed them.
L2
■
Independent Practice
Have students continue to fill in the Interactive Reading and Notetaking Study
Guide.
Interactive Reading and Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 12, Section 4
(Adapted version also available.)
Monitor Progress
Section 4 Japan Under the Shoguns
339
History Background
Typhoon! A typhoon may have saved
Japan from the Mongols, but typhoons are
mostly a threat to the lives and property of
the Japanese people. Typhoon (from the
Chinese taaifung, or “great wind”) is the
name given to a hurricane in the western
Pacific Ocean. Like Atlantic hurricanes,
typhoons develop near the equator and
move westward as they grow. Typhoons
can grow to be up to 300 miles wide, and
their wind speeds can reach from 74 to
more than 190 miles per hour. Approximately 28 typhoons develop each year,
and two or three of these reach Japan. By
the time they land, most of them have lost
some of their power. Still, the winds,
heavy rains, and storm surge can be
extremely destructive.
As students fill in the Notetaking Study
Guide, circulate to make sure students
understand the key points of the two Mongol invasions. Provide assistance as needed.
Chapter 12 Section 4 339
To the Japanese, their rescue was a miracle. They believed
that the kami had sent the typhoon to save them. They called it
kamikaze, or the “wind of the gods.”
Japan Is Unified Again
H-SS 7.5.3
Instruction
■
L2
■
Ask: Why was the emperor weak in his
role? (After the Mongol invasions, clans
fought. As violence spread, respect for the
emperor declined. So did the tax revenues
that had supported the emperor and his
court.)
■
After students read the Three Strong
Leaders subsection, ask: What drastic
step did Tokugawa Ieyasu take to end
the violence in Japan? (He ordered the
daimyos to spend much of the year at the
capital, where he could keep an eye on them.)
What did this action say about his leadership ability? (Possible answers: He
could make big changes; he wasn’t afraid to
give orders to the daimyos; the daimyos
respected him enough to follow his orders.)
■
What were the results of the Mongol invasions?
Read Japan Is Unified Again with students. Remind students to look for support of the main idea.
After students read about changes for
the samurai, show the color transparency: Words of Musashi Miyamoto, which
focuses on a legendary samurai who
lived through those changing times.
Have students discuss the ways in
which the samurai experience changed.
Color Transparencies, Words of Musashi Miyamoto
Independent Practice
Have students complete the Interactive
Reading and Notetaking Study Guide.
(Adapted version available.)
Japan Is Unified Again
After centuries of conflict,
three strong rulers finally
brought peace and unity to
Japan.
The end of the Mongol threat did not bring peace to Japan.
With no outside enemy to unite them, the clans continued to
fight among themselves. More than two centuries would pass
before Japan would be unified again. Historians call this violent period “The Age of the Country at War.”
Weak Emperors As violence spread, however, respect
for the emperor declined. So did the tax revenues that had supported the emperor and his court. One
emperor was so poor that he had to sell
poems that he had copied in his beautiful
handwriting to survive.
How did
Tokugawa Ieyasu
grow up?
The copyright holder
has not granted
permission to display
this image in electronic
format. Please see the
teacher's edition of your
textbook for this image.
Fast Facts
Who: Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
What: Ruler of Japan,
1600–1605
Where: Japan
Why important: Tokugawa Ieyasu established a
line of shoguns that ruled a peaceful, united
Japan for more than 250 years.
Fast Find
What: Go online to find out more about
Ieyasu’s life as a boy.
Monitor Progress
For: More about Ieyasu
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: mxe-5124
Tell students to fill in the last column of the
Reading Readiness Guide. Ask them to
evaluate whether what they learned was
what they had expected to learn.
Have students go back to their Word
Knowledge Rating Form. Rerate their
word knowledge and complete the last
column with a definition or example.
Teaching Resources, Unit 5,
Reading Readiness Guide, p. 69; Word
Knowledge Rating Form, p. 65
Answers
Much of the Mongol force
was destroyed; Japan remained free.
340 Chapter 12
the 1500s, three ambitious leaders managed to end the constant warfare. The
first, Oda Nobunaga, worked all his life
to bring Japan “under a single sword.”
While Nobunaga did not fully succeed,
he reduced the power of the warlords.
The second great leader, Toyotomi
Hideyoshi, unified Japan in 1590. However, the peace he brought to the country
was held together only by personal loyalties to him. When Hideyoshi died, clans
began to quarrel once more.
The third leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu,
united the country once more in 1600.
After taking the title of shogun, Ieyasu
founded a new capital at Edo (presentday Tokyo). He ordered the daimyo
to destroy their castles and spend much
of the year in Edo, where he could watch
over them. These measures ended the
violence at last. The Tokugawa family
ruled a peaceful, unified Japan until 1868.
340 Chapter 12 The Rise of Japan
Universal Access
L1 English Language Learners
L1 Less Proficient Readers
L1 Special Needs
Sequencing Events Write these events on
■
separate pieces of paper and mix them up.
Students should put them in this order:
■ Prince Shotoku introduces a constitution
and creates a strong central government.
Fighting between families turns Japan
into a feudal society.
■
Tokugawa Ieyasu unifies Japan.
■
He spent time as a hostage of a rival clan.
Three Strong Leaders Finally, in
The Fujiwara family gains more power
than the emperor.
When students can identify these
events, add others from the chapter.
The Changing Samurai World Once Japan was at
peace, the samurai way of life changed. Many samurai took
government jobs. But they remained proud of their fighting
skills. In 1876, however, new laws prohibited samurai from
carrying swords. Although thousands of samurai rebelled at
these insults to their honor, their old way of life was ended.
Today, nevertheless, the ideals of bushido—bravery and
loyalty—continue to influence Japanese culture. Movies and
television dramas in Japan often feature samurai as heroes.
Japanese comic books, cartoons, and video games celebrate the
“way of the warrior.” The warrior code also lives on in Kendo,
a Japanese school of martial arts. Kendo, which means “the way
of the sword,” is based on bushido ideals.
Assess and Reteach
Vocabulary Builder
prohibit (proh HIHB iht) v. to
forbid or make illegal
Assess Progress
Have students complete Check Your
Progress. Administer the Section Quiz.
E-LA 7.1.3 Clarify
With Examples
Teaching Resources, Section
What examples of
bushido ideals are given here?
How do they help define the
term?
Interactive Reading and
Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 12,
Section 4 (Adapted version also available.)
Extend
4 Check Your Progress
For: Self-test with instant help
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: mxa-5124
H-SS: 7.5.3, 7.5.6; E-LA: Reading 7.1.3
Reading Skill
Writing
3. Clarify With Examples Read
the following sentence:
Some were craft workers
such as weavers. What are
craft workers? How do the
words such as help you clarify meaning?
Vocabulary Builder
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
4. How did a typhoon stop the
Mongol invasion of Japan?
5. What happened to the
Mongol armada?
6. Below is the beginning of a
concluding paragraph in a
research essay about the
samurai. Write three or four
sentences to complete this
paragraph. Your sentences
should complete the summary of key points and provoke thought in your reader.
The samurai thus played a
major role in Japanese culture
for hundreds of years. As fierce
warriors, they were essential
to the feudal system. Bushido,
their code of honor, became an
ideal for non-samurai, as well.
Section 4 Japan Under the Shoguns
Section 4 Check Your Progress
1. (a) to protect his lord
(b) It reflected a samurai’s pride.
2. (a) Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hidey-
oshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu
(b) His decision to bring the daimyo to
the capital ended violence and unified
Japan.
3. Possible answer: Craft workers are peo-
ple who make things by hand. The
L1
If students need more instruction, have
them read this section in the Interactive
Reading and Notetaking Study Guide and
complete the accompanying question.
read about the world of the samurai. You also learned how
Japan held off the Mongol invasions and became united again.
In the next chapter, you will read about the elegant culture that
developed in the golden age of Japan.
1. (a) Describe What was a
samurai’s most important
duty?
(b) Draw Conclusions
Why was personal appearance important in the samurai code?
2. (a) Identify Which three
leaders brought peace and
unity to Japan?
(b) Evaluate Information
Why was Tokugawa Ieyasu
especially important?
To further assess student understanding,
use the Progress Monitoring Transparency.
Reteach
Looking Back and Ahead In this section, you have
Comprehension
and Critical Thinking
Quiz, p. 79
Progress Monitoring Transparencies, Chapter 12, Section 4
What was “The Age of the Country at War”?
Section
L2
L3
Have students research the life of Musashi
Miyamoto and write a short essay with
this thesis: Even though the samurai did not
need to fight during Japan’s peaceful times,
Musashi Miyamoto continued to contemplate
“the way of the warrior.”
Writing Rubrics Share rubrics with students before they write their sentences.
Score 1 Sentences give little and possibly inaccurate information.
Score 2 Sentences are vague.
Score 3 Sentences provide some
helpful information; their coherence
may be a little rough.
Score 4 Sentences are accurate and fit
the preceding material in a way that
produces a comprehensive, thoughtprovoking paragraph.
341
words such as tell you that the next word
is an example.
4. Possible answer: A typhoon brought
strong winds and towering waves,
destroying the Mongol ships.
5. Possible answer: The typhoon
destroyed most of the ships in the
armada.
6. Sentences should tell how bushido is
important in the non-samurai world,
specifically, in Japanese culture today.
Answers
the two centuries after the
Mongol invasions, when the clans continued to fight among themselves
Reading Skill bravery and loyalty; they explain what bushido ideals are
Chapter 12 Section 4 341
Recognize the Role of Chance,
Oversight, and Error
Objective
Cause-and-effect thinking is essential for
understanding historical events. This
Analysis Skills lesson will teach students
to analyze unexpected causes for an event
and to classify a given cause as a matter of
human action, human error, or chance.
Recognize the Role of
Chance, Oversight, and
Error
Instruction
L2
Have students read each step aloud. After
each step, discuss the following.
1. Have students read the passage. Ask:
According to the writer, what is the
difference between an oversight and
an error? (An oversight is a mistake caused
by poor planning or a lack of attention; an
error is an intended action that turns out to
be a mistake.) How are both different
from things that happen by chance?
(Possible answer: Things that happen by
chance, happen apart from any planning or
intended action.)
2. Practice the skill by following the steps
on p. 342 as a class. Model each step as
students answer the questions. (1. in
November 1274, presumably in the sea
between China and Japan and on the Japanese seacoast; Mongol and Korean troops,
Kublai Khan, and the samurai 2. Possible
answers: Kublai Khan sent an armada to
Japan; his forces were mounted and had
bombs, both of which were terrifying to the
Japanese; the samurai turned back the first
attack; despite warnings about the weather,
the Mongols decided to keep their ships
close to land; a fierce storm drove some
ships out to sea, destroyed the rest, and
caused some 13,000 of Kublai Khan’s troops
to drown. 3. Kublai Khan’s decision to
launch the first invasion, and to arm the
troops as he did, was a human action, as
were the decision by the samurai to fight
back and the decision by the Korean sailors
to offer a warning about the weather. The
human error involved was the Mongols’
decision to ignore the advice and keep their
armada close to shore. The event not caused
by humans was the storm, a weather phenomenon that the Mongols had not expected.)
Things do not always go as people plan or
hope. This was as true in the past as it is
today. Sometimes, to understand why the
unexpected happens, historians look for
what went wrong.
Historical Interpretation 4 Students recognize
the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.
Why the Unexpected
Happens in History
Ancient peoples often blamed the gods when bad
things happened to them. Historians, however, look
for more human causes of unexpected events. Many
things go wrong because of oversight or error. An
oversight is a mistake people make by not paying
attention to something. An error is an action that people
intend to do but that turns out to be a mistake. No
one plans to make errors or oversights, yet both play
a role in human affairs.
Some events are caused by things that happen by chance.
The sudden death of a leader due to an accident is an
example of a chance event. An outbreak of plague that
destroys an army is another example. No one can plan
for such events. But they do change history.
Learn the Skill Follow these steps to analyze
the role of chance, oversight, and error.
Practice the Skill Use the section The First
Mongol Invasion to answer these questions.
1. Identify the people, time, and place. Find out
where and when the events in the narrative
took place and who was involved.
1. Identify the people, time, and place. When
and where did the events in this section take
place? Who was involved?
2. Identify the key events. Look for the events
that shaped what then happened to the
people involved.
2. Identify the key events. List at least three
events described in this section.
3. Analyze the causes of the key events. Decide
which events were the result of human
actions. Were any of these actions due to
errors or oversights? Decide which events, if
any, were not caused by human actions.
What were these chance causes?
3. Analyze the causes of the key events. Which
events were the result of human actions?
Were any of these actions due to errors or
oversights? Which event was not caused by
humans? What was this chance cause?
Apply the Skill
See page 345 of the Review and Assessment.
342 Chapter 12 The Rise of Japan
Monitor Progress
Ask students to do the Apply the Skill
activity. Then, assign the Analysis Skill
Worksheet. As students complete the
worksheet, circulate to make sure individuals are applying the skill steps effectively.
Provide assistance as needed.
Teaching Resources, Unit 5,
Analysis Skill Worksheet, p. 74
342 Chapter 12
History-Social Science
Reteach
If students need more instruction, use the
Social Studies Skills Tutor CD-ROM to
reteach this skill.
Social Studies Skills Tutor CD-ROM,
Identifying Cause and Effect