This week’s writing assignment is designed to assess how well you understand the impact of one key common aspect of the historical experience in these last few weeks: trade.  This week, you will analyze how international and regional trade patterns impacted a specific region of the world: be it the Islamic World, South Asia (India), East Asia (China and Japan), or Medieval/Byzantine Europe, or even the Mongols.  You will choose a society and look at how the opening of trade, particularly the Silk Roads, impacted that society both positively and negatively from 600CE to about 1200CE (these are approximate ranges…some dexterity and leniency will be granted from the dates).  This paper should be 3-4 pages long, double-spaced, and should cite at least four examples of specific changes that occurred as a result of trade.  As always, make sure to cite your sources (use MLA or Chicago Manual of Style