Why did the textbook's mapmakers choose to represent Africa in the way they did, and what was the impact of this choice on your understanding of Africa; and then what is the impact of the additions we made in class on that understanding of Africa?
I think that the mapmakers chose to represent Africa so simply, because, in all the other chapters, the maps are of individual regions or kingdoms. This is the map of the entire continent of Africa, which included many kingdoms and city-states. They would have much more space to add details on the maps of individual regions, while, if they tried to do the same with this map, it would be cluttered and hard to understand.
This style of mapping did not have much impact on my understanding of Africa, because the text in the book fills me in on all the information that the map is missing. Also, I don't really check out maps that often, so it doesn't make much of a difference.
Some of the additions we made in class helped, such as Africa's exports and contribution to the outside world. But for the most part, the map just became cluttered and messy after we added to it. I could barely read it. And we would get the same information by reading the text book anyway. So, the new map just made me confused and I don't think I would use it to study.
No comments:
Post a Comment