Compare the Byzantine and Abbasid Islamic empires across government, religion, and achievements, using evidence from earlier weeks.
You have now studied two great medieval empires that rose around the same time and, for a while, were neighbors and rivals: the Byzantine Empire, centered on Constantinople, and the Abbasid Caliphate, centered on Baghdad. Comparing civilizations side by side is one of the most useful tools a historian has -- it is much easier to see what made each one distinctive when you set them next to each other instead of studying each in isolation.
Both empires preserved and built on Greek learning; both were wealthy from controlling trade; both had a single powerful ruler at the top (emperor or caliph) claiming religious as well as political authority. But their religions differed (Eastern Orthodox Christianity versus Islam), their languages differed (Greek versus Arabic), and their long-term fates differed too -- Byzantium slowly shrank over centuries before finally falling in 1453, while the Abbasid Caliphate's political power faded earlier (by the 900s-1000s CE, regional rulers had taken most real power) even though Baghdad stayed an important cultural center longer.
Mastery looks like: They can list at least two real similarities and two real differences between the Byzantine and Abbasid empires, using specific evidence rather than vague generalities.
Common stumbles: Comparing only surface features ("both were big empires") instead of specific, evidence-based similarities and differences.