AP Test

Aha ha ha... That test.... In all seriousness I think I did pretty well on the test. I felt prepared; nothing surprised me. I'm not saying it was easy, because I in no way think I got a 5, but it wasn't that hard either. I expect at least a 4. It was pretty moderate. The multiple choice questions maybe had too many reading passages. So timing wise, I ran out of time for the absolute last question and ended up filling C randomly. (My reasoning: C is for coconut!) The essays made me laugh. I was chuckling in my seat. Cricket! Ha! I read that at least 5 times to make sure I wasn't going delusional. I think I wrote the most for that essay, and the least for the COT. According to your blog you were obviously upset about the questions. Although they were ridiculous, I was pretty happy with them because I felt I knew them all well. And the cricket one I just BS-ed.

Liberator Heroes

Washington, Marat, Toussaint, and Bolivar are all known as heroes for a country's revolution, and rightly so. They all fought valiantly for their own country's freedom.

In the PowerPoint portraits, all the heroes are uniquely depicted. However, what they have in common is they are depicted in a position that shows their power. Washington is shown standing amongst books and making a friendly gesture, showing wisdom and power. Marat is shown at the moment of his death, which perpetuates him as a martyr. Toussaint is seen holding what is assumed to be a declaration of independence and a sword, showing him as a fighter and peace maker. Finally Bolivar is also shown holding a sword, again perpetuating his fighting prowess.
It is important that these images convey power because it solidifies their heroic status.

The artists in question obviously wanted these figures to be remembered as heroic. If not, they were at least paid to do so. They allow future generations, by purely looking at one picture, to understand that the subject of the picture was powerful; they allow future generations to be able to sit, look, and think, "this man did something important."

Revolutions need heros to confirm that the revolutionaries are not the villains. What makes them heroic can vary. Usually however, in the instance of Washington, Toussaint, and Bolivar, heroes lead armies to victory. Heroes demonstrate leadership as well as fierceness. Marat is a rare circumstance. He fought with his words and was brutally murdered for it. However, he also demonsrated leadership in supporting the revolutionaries. He is a hero, for dying. Aft his death he was seen as a symbol of the importance of the revolution. That made him a hero.

TED Talk Response

In this TED talk, Niall Ferguson attempts to define the great divergence, basically trying to answer the same question "Guns, Germs and Steel" attempted to answer, only in a modern context. The second half of the TED talk argues that the rest of the world has caught up with the westers and that western civilization might actually fall. Niall Ferguson argued that there are 6 killer "apps" or ideas that led to prosperity to the western world and that is currently causing the rest of the world to catch up to the west.

I feel like Niall Fergusom uses so much ethos in this talk that I couldn't possibly even attempt to argue his points. His accent alone provides ethos, or maybe that's just me. Good thing he successfully pursuaded me. I honestly can't think of anything to add or cut from his list of ideals. I agree that the US is falling behind in the global economy, if not from his convincing charts, but from experience alone. Being a high schooler in the USA, I constantly hear how I need to try harder to help American test scores compare to those in China. Also, as an immigrant family, first generation, I constantly hear from my parents how the US school system is nothing compared to Brazil... I'm sure their exaggerating but still.

Overall I found him very persuasive and ultimately agree.

Fabian Fucan Rejects Christianity

It appears that the major reason Fabian Fucan rejects Christianity is because he sees it as a waste of life, literally and figuratively. He feels as if he wasted his earlier years on this "barbarian" faith. He points at the stupidity that is martyrdom. He despises the waste and lack of value in life. He calls those who die for religion or have no fear for their life in the name of christianity stupid.

Africa and Slavery Show me

Here's the link with the most important information (I found) in ch 26 of the book. I worked with Eddie Gelberg on getting the facts, it's his voice you can occasionally hear in the background. Go ahead and watch on mute. There's nothing significant to be heard other than the Eddie's occasional voice and typing on the computer.

http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=46hTp8y

:)

Capitalism Continued

The book defines capitalism as an economic system in which private parties make their goods and services available on a free market and seek to take advantage of market conditions to profit from their activities. Basically it allows for individuals to make their own fortunes by creating a product and selling it. The only catch is that whoever the business man is, he or she has to be smart. No one receives help from capitalism, it's like survival of the fitest. Every man for himself.

The idea of supply and demand is prevalent capitalism. See a need, fill a need, and make a profit while you're at it. The rise of Capitalism led to lots of banks opening in Europe, the beginning of business letters, and the opening of stock exchanges.

Capitalism seems all very impersonal and insensitive to me, but I guess that's what makes people rich... Wow, that's depressing. Oh well... Hahaaa. Oh, I'm tired...

Christianity and Capitalism...

1) Christianity is constantly splitting into different sects and branches because of widespread disagreement. For example Martin Luther was upset with widespread hypocrisy and the political nature of Catholiscim, so he created his own branch. Although this isn't in the book, Christianity is a belief that allows for interpretation, if that makes sense, giving people the freedom to think they know enough of the bible to split off on their own.

2) I really don't know what capitalism officially is. I think of money, business, competition and America when I think capitalism, so I assume it has something to do with that.

Africa Map

Griots vs Textbooks

The Griots are story tellers. In some African societies, Griots basically held history in the palm of their hand. Griots told the history of their people through song and dance.

There are really pros and cons to Griots. Griots would definitely make history much more interesting than reading it out of a textbook. Personally, I find history interesting when it is told through primary sources, personal accounts. I hate it when history is presented as nothing more than facts, dates, and laws. I find this boring. Griots are nice because they have that personal touch added to them, and they also take advantage of music as a medium to entertain. The con to griots is that they can be very unreliable. Griots learn their history, passed down to them through passed griots, really. It's like playing the telephone game. The originial story can get twisted and lose its meaning as it is passed down. It also can be twisted by bias. Griot stories only shows the point of view of whatever side the griot is on.

I think Textbooks really are better for learning history. They provide valid information, and are written down, so you can always verify it, in a way. Primary sources and personal accounts sometimes are included in textbooks too.

... An occassional song wouldn't be bad though...

Mongol Trial

THE MONGOLS ARE GUILTY! ... No really, I wasn't in class today, did we win?

I enjoyed this project. Maybe it's because I already did a mock trial for Napoleon last year, or maybe it's the fact that I solely did the opening statement but I found it relatively easy. Most of my information came from the book and movies we watched in class, but it was sufficient to write an acceptable opening statement. I think I did well. I only wish I had my opening statement memorized better, so that I could make better eye contact with the audience. Apart from that, I think I did well. I woke up that morning planning on wearing sweatpants, but i sprung for jeans when I remembered the trial. I mean, that's got to mean something. :)

I see the Mongols as selfish. Not exactly as ruthless as I made them out be, although they are ruthless. I see them as selfish because every action was for their own good. The Mongols only had their own best interests at heart. Yes, they would allow the talented from the conquered people to live in Karakorum with good social standing, but only because they lacked someone of equal talent among their own ranks.

Call me biased, but I do think the Mongols are guilty of Kidnapping and Terrorism. I'll give the defense side genocide. Although they did brutally kill innocent people, they didn't discriminate who they killed, and I guess, on a technicality, that means they aren't guilty of genocide. However, the Mongols are completely guilty of kidnapping and terrorism.

Crusades Project pt 4

So today, Futaba, Eddie, and I stayed at school till around five working on our projects. We each wrote a mini-script for our prospective crusades and directed and acted. So for this project we all became writers, directors, and actors. What a group of multitaskers, huh?

Here's the link for Crusade #2, the one I was in charge of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kMuZRB4ceU&context=C374cc30ADOEgsToPDskLtKJhVPIJUTA5D1fZozYhY

... and my bibliography:

• "Section 15: Medieval Christianity and the Crusades." Mark Daneman. USU 1320: History and Civilization. Utah State University. n.d. web. 11 January, 2012.
• Gasvoigne, Bamber. "History of The Crusades" History World. From 2001, ongoing. web. 11 January, 2012.
• "Perspectives and Religion in the Crusades:Muslim Perspective on the Crusades." Austin Cline. About.com.Agnosticism/Atheism. About.com. n.d. web. 11 January, 2012.

(Sorry the formating for the citations isn't exactly correct. I'm having difficulties setting them up on Blogger.)

I had fun with this project. At first it was confusing and a bit scary having no set boundaries or directions. It was wierd, being told to do something, without being told how. However, once I decided how I wanted to do this and set about doing it, it was really fun. And strangely enough, despite working with my friends, I actually felt like I learned a lot about the first three crusades. Who would've thought?

I believe, despite the obvious silliness, that our project is actually quite informative on the muslim point of view on the crusades.

Crusade Project pt.3

My partners and I decided to divide up what crusades we each study and then we teach each other about our individual crusade before we start filming. I am in charge of the second crusade.

I have used dogpile.com, a search engine themed with a little dog, it's actually really cute. I'm finding information on the crusade itself pretty easily. The second crusade was basically a failure, led by France and Germany in an attempt to regain the successes of the first crusade. I'm having trouble finding information from the muslim point of view. Going back to google helped, but in an attempt to not use basic google, I went to google.com.br. Why? Because I can understand the language. I found some things on the muslim perspective but not much. If anyone could help, I'd really appreciate it.

Crusade Project pt 2

For this project I will be collaborating with Eddie Gelhberg, http://eddiesdrwhoarriffictimeadventure.blogspot.com/, and Futaba Shioda, http://venturingthroughtimecrevices.blogspot.com/. We will be reanacting the crusades from the muslim point of view. We will still be doing Crusades 1,2, and 3. I need to start doing my research...

Crusade Project Pt. 1: Choosing the Crusades

I'm really picking the crusades at random here. I feel like aside from the basic information already given, I can only start my research once I've decided which crusades I would want to do.

So... I'll pick the First Crusade (1096), the Second Crusade (1147-1148) and the Third Crusade (1182-1192). That way, successful-ish crusades are represented as well as unsuccessful crusades. I also wanna do the "Children's Crusade" because I just find it hysterical. My focus though will be on the three.