1. Rise of Empires Compare & Contrast
Partial Essay
Analyze similarities and differences in the rise of TWO of the following empires.
*A West African Sudanic empire (Mali OR Ghana OR Songhay)
*The Aztec Empire
*The Mongol Empire

2. Create a thesis! --- 8 Minutes!
• The thesis must Time Period, Place, & Topic
• The thesis must include both a valid similarity and a valid difference dealing with the RISE of two of the three empires identified. You must ALWAYS write about a total of three arguments in a comparison essay. (2 sim/1 diff or 1 sim/2 diff).
• The thesis must be relevant to the time period.
Tips To Know:
• The thesis must be explicitly stated in the introduction.
• The thesis may appear as one sentence or as multiple sentences.
• A thesis that is split among multiple paragraphs or merely restates the prompt is unacceptable.

3. Thesis Example 1: Between the years of across Mesoamerica and Eurasia, the mighty empires of the Aztecs and Mongols thrived. In both the Aztec and Mongol empires, the encouragement of political as well as cultural unity/tolerance ensured each empire’s future success. Also, both used military conquest, instituting fear among conquered people and demanding tribute in return. One difference would include the Aztec’s dependence on agriculture whereas the nomadic Mongols relied more heavily on herding and looting.

4. Thesis Tweak?

5. Create a body paragraph! 12 Minutes!
So, you have identified three arguments in your thesis.
Choose one to discuss further.
Introduce the topic in the topic sentence and make the comparison (say whether it was a similarity or difference and how)
Give evidence about this sim/diff. Analyze WHY & HOW that evidence proves your point!
Close your paragraph with a sentence that mirrors the topic sentence and reminds the reader of what you just said.

6. Body Paragraph Example 1: In both the Aztec and Songhay empires, the use of religion as a unifying and conquest tool was evident. The Aztec’s believed in a polytheistic religion and would appease their Sun God through ritual sacrifice. Usually the unlucky people being sacrificed were members of a conquered group. This use of religion was a unifying and conquest tool because it was an important ritual performed by the Aztec people but it also instilled fear in any enemy of the Aztec empire. As for the Songhay Empire, the spread of Islam throughout the empire allowed for unity among converts. Through this unity, residents of the Songhay empire fought in jihads to conquer more territory and instill their common religion of Islam on conquered people. Through a common religion each empire was able to come together through ritual/prayer but also in conquest.

7. Paragraph Tweak?