Tuesday January 11 World History and Literature Assignments
Hello, all,
The snow has prevented us from meeting today, and I'm still trying to decide how to make up the class. We could 1) wait until next week and proceed from there; 2) have you meet on Thursday with that class, which would complicate the Reformation Project somewhat (and drive your teacher round the bend), but which might also prove interesting; or 3) meet on Friday afternoon from 2 until 3:50. That last one is a dubious possibility, as most of you follow tight schedules and the class will go much better if most of you can be there for your team. I'll send an email if Thursday looks like an option (I would also need to clear that with the church, since we would need additional space). If you don't hear from me, class will meet again next Tuesday at the regular time.
Now for the assignments for this week:
1) Finish reading the chapter on Tenochtilan. We're reading this now because the Reformation coincides with the age of European expansion. Spain's incursion into Mexico, though more bloody than most colonial efforts, has ramifications even today in terms of Mexico's language, its social divisions, and its politics. Here in this battle for the Aztec Empire we see why Europeans were so successful at colonization: superior technology, religious fervor, enormous willpower. After reading Hanson's account of the battle, you should be able to explain, from Hanson's point of view, the causes for this war, the general beliefs of the participants, and the outcome, both in the short and long term. On Tuesday, January 18, we'll have a quiz on this chapter in class (this quiz is not part of the Reformation Project).
2) Finish reading West With The Night. Book IV is long, so I would suggest you spend part of what would have been today's class-time reading. You will be writing an essay on this book--an academic essay, no "I" usage, formal--that is due in two weeks (January 25). The general question asked of you will be to explain how Beryl Markham's upbringing influenced her later life. What character traits developed during childhood, for example, served her well--or poorly--in later life? What virtues does she display? Vices? There are some of each. Keep in mind that she is writing the book about herself, and few of us enjoy--or are even capable of--critical self-appraisal. You need to bring an outline for your essay to class on Tuesday. This should be fairly detailed. It should contain a thesis, rough topic sentences supporting the thesis, and the page numbers from the book which you intend to use as evidence to support your thesis and topic sentences. This outline will be checked in class by me or a grader.
3) Project Reformation should be receiving quite a bit of your attention. You should be in touch with your teammates. You should also be compiling evidence of your research online of your character, religious ideas of the time, the politics of Elizabethan England, and the general customs of the people.
Some of the points you score must be done in class with your team: the quiz bowl at the next class, the face-to-face negotiations with other groups, the arrangments, secret and otherwise, made by your team, the decisiveness and insight with which you deal with sudden problems that arise (Incidentally, though it may seem as if the Elizabethans dealt primarily in violence and blood rather than in diplomacy, the opposite is true. Elizabeth is a monarch who managed though very sticky times to avoid entangling alliances and most warfare).
Other points you or you team may earn outside the classroom. Here are some suggestions:
a. write a character sketch of a famous Elizabethan (other than Elizabeth);
b. write a paper on some aspect of Elizabethan society, from buildings to disease, from dress to politics;
c. draw a sketch of some scene from Elizabeth's court;
d. memorize fourteen lines or more--fourteen lines being the length of a sonnet--from Shakespeare's verse or plays;
e. writing up, and bringing to class, a list of Elizabethan words and sayings;
f. writing a paper on some aspect of religious ideas during the Reformation: sola scriptura, the Council of Trent, the influence of The Book of Common Prayer on the English language, the Ana-Baptists, or various Reformation figures;
If you have other ideas, please run them past me.
Here's to our next meeting!
Mr. Minick
Hello, all,
The snow has prevented us from meeting today, and I'm still trying to decide how to make up the class. We could 1) wait until next week and proceed from there; 2) have you meet on Thursday with that class, which would complicate the Reformation Project somewhat (and drive your teacher round the bend), but which might also prove interesting; or 3) meet on Friday afternoon from 2 until 3:50. That last one is a dubious possibility, as most of you follow tight schedules and the class will go much better if most of you can be there for your team. I'll send an email if Thursday looks like an option (I would also need to clear that with the church, since we would need additional space). If you don't hear from me, class will meet again next Tuesday at the regular time.
Now for the assignments for this week:
1) Finish reading the chapter on Tenochtilan. We're reading this now because the Reformation coincides with the age of European expansion. Spain's incursion into Mexico, though more bloody than most colonial efforts, has ramifications even today in terms of Mexico's language, its social divisions, and its politics. Here in this battle for the Aztec Empire we see why Europeans were so successful at colonization: superior technology, religious fervor, enormous willpower. After reading Hanson's account of the battle, you should be able to explain, from Hanson's point of view, the causes for this war, the general beliefs of the participants, and the outcome, both in the short and long term. On Tuesday, January 18, we'll have a quiz on this chapter in class (this quiz is not part of the Reformation Project).
2) Finish reading West With The Night. Book IV is long, so I would suggest you spend part of what would have been today's class-time reading. You will be writing an essay on this book--an academic essay, no "I" usage, formal--that is due in two weeks (January 25). The general question asked of you will be to explain how Beryl Markham's upbringing influenced her later life. What character traits developed during childhood, for example, served her well--or poorly--in later life? What virtues does she display? Vices? There are some of each. Keep in mind that she is writing the book about herself, and few of us enjoy--or are even capable of--critical self-appraisal. You need to bring an outline for your essay to class on Tuesday. This should be fairly detailed. It should contain a thesis, rough topic sentences supporting the thesis, and the page numbers from the book which you intend to use as evidence to support your thesis and topic sentences. This outline will be checked in class by me or a grader.
3) Project Reformation should be receiving quite a bit of your attention. You should be in touch with your teammates. You should also be compiling evidence of your research online of your character, religious ideas of the time, the politics of Elizabethan England, and the general customs of the people.
Some of the points you score must be done in class with your team: the quiz bowl at the next class, the face-to-face negotiations with other groups, the arrangments, secret and otherwise, made by your team, the decisiveness and insight with which you deal with sudden problems that arise (Incidentally, though it may seem as if the Elizabethans dealt primarily in violence and blood rather than in diplomacy, the opposite is true. Elizabeth is a monarch who managed though very sticky times to avoid entangling alliances and most warfare).
Other points you or you team may earn outside the classroom. Here are some suggestions:
a. write a character sketch of a famous Elizabethan (other than Elizabeth);
b. write a paper on some aspect of Elizabethan society, from buildings to disease, from dress to politics;
c. draw a sketch of some scene from Elizabeth's court;
d. memorize fourteen lines or more--fourteen lines being the length of a sonnet--from Shakespeare's verse or plays;
e. writing up, and bringing to class, a list of Elizabethan words and sayings;
f. writing a paper on some aspect of religious ideas during the Reformation: sola scriptura, the Council of Trent, the influence of The Book of Common Prayer on the English language, the Ana-Baptists, or various Reformation figures;
If you have other ideas, please run them past me.
Here's to our next meeting!
Mr. Minick
posted by Mr. Minick at
5:42 AM
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