Susan in IL
05-03-2008, 07:13 PM
This is a little long.....
Comparison of Human Odyssey ISBN 0-314-20561-6 ©1998 West Publishing
Glencoe World History ISBN 0-07-823993-1 © 2003 McGraw-Hill
I went through the first 5 chapters page by page looking for similarities and differences. I tried to highlight some of the more noticeable ones. I abbreviated HO and GWH for the sake of typing. HO has an introduction on Becoming an Historian. GWH has the National Geographic (NG) tie-in.
First, just reading, most of the text is the same. There are wording changes in GWH which in my opinion is dumbing down. Words like analyze are replaced with examine and the sentence structure is not as complex. I was going to type in a paragraph of each to get the reading stats but didn’t have time (If someone really wants this, let me know and I’ll try to get to it). GWH seems to read at a lower level than HO.
There was one section in the chapter on India that had a lot deleted. I am not sure if it was totally deleted just to simplify or moved to a different part of the book. Also, some of the text seems a little more “pc” or global in wording. The GWH text is a “busier” text. There are more pull-outs, sidebars/boxes, color, etc. than HO. Often, the headings are the same but GWH breaks down the longer passages of text even more and has a colorful heading.
Where there are discrepancies in the text, it is something that has been pulled-out and put in a box. Often, those items in HO are usually followed with 3-4 questions. In GWH, there may be one question, often none. Many of the pictures are the same. GWH has some more updated pictures but not enough to make a huge difference.
Each section in HO is followed with a section review which include identify, define, locate, recall, etc. In GWH, there is one question after each section but then after 2 sections, there are mostly the same questions that were in each of the HO reviews. These reviews are now in smaller print, at the bottom of a page and more easily overlooked except for the red graphic on top. They also have more visual type questions, like draw a Venn diagram.
At the end of the chapter in both is a chapter review. Many are the same questions but in HO, it seems that there are more that lend themselves to essay type answers.
GHW wins hands down in the maps department, there is just no comparison. Many are maps of the same concept but NG really adds to this. But, if you have a world history atlas, HO would be fine. Throughout the GWH book, geography is a key theme and questions/pictures/text that are different from HO are often geography based.
Personally, I prefer HO, I really don’t like “busy” texts.
Both are what I would consider an average 8th-10th grade level ps text. Neither of them would be enough for AP World History.
If you have any questions or want more detail about something I have written, ask away. I will only have access to the GWH book through about May 20 and only when I ask ds to bring it home.
Hope this helps someone!!!
Comparison of Human Odyssey ISBN 0-314-20561-6 ©1998 West Publishing
Glencoe World History ISBN 0-07-823993-1 © 2003 McGraw-Hill
I went through the first 5 chapters page by page looking for similarities and differences. I tried to highlight some of the more noticeable ones. I abbreviated HO and GWH for the sake of typing. HO has an introduction on Becoming an Historian. GWH has the National Geographic (NG) tie-in.
First, just reading, most of the text is the same. There are wording changes in GWH which in my opinion is dumbing down. Words like analyze are replaced with examine and the sentence structure is not as complex. I was going to type in a paragraph of each to get the reading stats but didn’t have time (If someone really wants this, let me know and I’ll try to get to it). GWH seems to read at a lower level than HO.
There was one section in the chapter on India that had a lot deleted. I am not sure if it was totally deleted just to simplify or moved to a different part of the book. Also, some of the text seems a little more “pc” or global in wording. The GWH text is a “busier” text. There are more pull-outs, sidebars/boxes, color, etc. than HO. Often, the headings are the same but GWH breaks down the longer passages of text even more and has a colorful heading.
Where there are discrepancies in the text, it is something that has been pulled-out and put in a box. Often, those items in HO are usually followed with 3-4 questions. In GWH, there may be one question, often none. Many of the pictures are the same. GWH has some more updated pictures but not enough to make a huge difference.
Each section in HO is followed with a section review which include identify, define, locate, recall, etc. In GWH, there is one question after each section but then after 2 sections, there are mostly the same questions that were in each of the HO reviews. These reviews are now in smaller print, at the bottom of a page and more easily overlooked except for the red graphic on top. They also have more visual type questions, like draw a Venn diagram.
At the end of the chapter in both is a chapter review. Many are the same questions but in HO, it seems that there are more that lend themselves to essay type answers.
GHW wins hands down in the maps department, there is just no comparison. Many are maps of the same concept but NG really adds to this. But, if you have a world history atlas, HO would be fine. Throughout the GWH book, geography is a key theme and questions/pictures/text that are different from HO are often geography based.
Personally, I prefer HO, I really don’t like “busy” texts.
Both are what I would consider an average 8th-10th grade level ps text. Neither of them would be enough for AP World History.
If you have any questions or want more detail about something I have written, ask away. I will only have access to the GWH book through about May 20 and only when I ask ds to bring it home.
Hope this helps someone!!!