Homework for All Hallow's Eve

For tonight, read the short essay on pages 314-315 about the Postclassical Era. The pages aren't numbered, so you'll have to do a little math to find them in the book.

Once you've read the selection, compose a brief blog post about the reading.  What do you expect that the Postclassical Era is going to be about?  What will be happening?

We'll start to talk about the Byzantine Empire tomorrow, picking up where the Romans left off...

Halloween - boooo!

Scariest thing I can think of: an in class compare and contrast essay!  The topic will be the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the collapse of the Roman Empire.  Be sure you review the scoring guides!

AND

The extra credit opportunity is still on, regardless of the town's plans for Halloween.  Come to class in costume as a historically significant figure and get 3 points on the quiz! (that's 3 points up to a 100%--I can't offer more as Aspen doesn't like it when I do that and it freaks out...so maximum is 20/20.)

A costume must be more than a baseball cap, or a headband, but it does not have to be a full out rental costume either!  Be creative and cheap! You only have to wear it in class, but don't do something that you plan to put on during class--you will lose time on the essay if you do that!

Rock me like a hurricane!

Hi folks-

AP World waits on no natural disasters! We will still have the quiz on Tuesday--we'll do it at the end of the period, the last 20 minutes, and take some time at first to quickly go over the collapse of the Han and Roman empires.

We will also still have the essay on Wednesday.

So this means you really need to read carefully! Which, if you are trapped at home, what could be better than reading the textbook? It will help you catch up on your sleep...

If we suffer larger power outages, or are kept from school for more than just tomorrow, the quiz will happen on the day we return, and the essay on the subsequent day, they just won't count on this quarter.

Losing power will not be an excuse for not taking the quiz or writing the essay!

Good luck with the storm!

Weekend homework

For this weekend, finish reading the chapter, which will cover the collapse of the Chinese and Roman empires.  The quiz on this chapter will be 20 multiple choice questions.  The essay on Wednesday will be a compare and contrast essay of the collapse of both the Roman and Han empires.

Homework October 25

For tonight, read the document linked up here.  The Chinese sent people to the Roman Empire (called it Da Qin).  This account comes from one of the people who went to Rome and reported back to the Emperor.

Post on your blog: If you were the Han Emperor, receiving this document, how would you regard Rome? Is it a rival? Threat? Friend? Neutral? Describe your response and explain why you would have it.

Homework October 24-Silk Road

For tonight you are to read pages 294-302 in the textbook--about what travels on the Silk Routes from China to Europe and back again.

We are going to have a quiz on this chapter on Tuesday of next week.  Format to be described later.

We will write a compare and contrast essay, the topic will be the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the collapse of the Roman empire, on Wednesday of next week.  There will be no re-write option for this essay!

Wednesday is also Halloween.  If you come to class in costume as a historically connected figure, you can earn extra credit points on the quiz! More details to come...

technology problems

The reading I wanted to give you is choosing not to cooperate with my technology, so I'm going to give you an alternate reading.

Please go to http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html#3.  Once there, read the selections: The Nature of the Route; The Development of the Route. We will work with this reading in class, so be sure you can access the contents from your iPad!

Tests, shmests. We don't need no stinkin' tests...

Yay, it's done...

For tonight, read pages 287-294 in the book.  Time to look at the Silk Road...

For the weekend

You have a test on Monday.  It will consist of 70 Multiple Choice Questions, drawn from chapters 7-11 (Persia through Rome, inclusive).

The slides of the Flyswatter Review game are linked here.

Review actively and don't wait until the last possible minute to cram!

Homework for Wednesday

Tonight you have three things to work on.

1) You have a test on Monday, 10/22. It will cover chapters 7-11 inclusive. 70 Multiple Choice questions. We will play a review game in class tomorrow.

2) Your dialog between philosophers at Starbucks is to be finished by midnight on Friday.  You will have some time in class on Friday to work on it, but not the full period.

3) Tonight you are to go to the website: www.womenintheancientworld.com.  Once there, in the section on Rome, read the selections under marriage and divorce to get a sense of the role of women in the Roman empire.  Given what you read, and what we saw in class, write on your blog whether or not your image of the Roman Empire is positive or negative?  What shaped your opinion? How does the perspective of the subjects impact your thoughts?

The videos we watched in class today were called Frontline: From Jesus to Christ, and Roman City with David Macaulay.  The former can be seen in its entirety on Frontline's website (just type the title into the search) and the latter is available on Youtube.  Both are linked.

Classical Age thinkers go to Starbucks

Tonight you will start working on a project that will be due on Friday, October 19th.  In groups, you are to imagine what would happen if the philosophers of the Classical Age were to gather in a Starbucks and talk with each other. Your group will compose a dialog of that interaction in a Google Document.  I will give you the prompt.

To aid you in this endeavor, there is a reading linked up here, that provides an over-view of the philosophers and their viewpoints.

More detailed instructions are linked up here

The rubric I will be using to come to a grade is linked up here.  Please note that the standards for a 4 are to exceed my expectations...

Your first step is to share a google doc with everyone in the group and with me. Please do that tonight and read over your section of the reading to be sure you know what you are writing about. You will have some time on Thursday to work as a group, but you won't have the full period to do so.

Due to the PSATs we will not meet tomorrow; if you are not taking the test you will have a study hall during class. 

Homework for 10/15

Read pages 271-280, stop at Judaism and Christianity.  We will talk about Christianity tomorrow.  We will not talk about the contents of the reading, you will be on your own for that.

There will be a test on Monday, 10/22...

In class Friday 10/12 and homework

Today in class we are looking at the transition Rome makes from being a Republic to becoming an Empire.

Plato says that being a republic is the best form of government. Why? Because upon escaping the cave, many men will seek to return to the cave and attempt to lead others out.  Those men are the best suited to lead us, for they are able to perceive reality as it really is, and thus they will be able to communicate that reality to the rest of us.  Thus, they are representatives who are best able to make decisions on our behalf.  A republican government is one that consists of those "best" men whom we select to make decisions for us. (you can judge the state of our own republican system--I don't mean the party, I mean the system--on your own.  Do members of Congress see reality as it really is, or just how they wish it were?)

Rome begins (after shucking the Etruscan monarchs) as a republic.  But it doesn't stay that way.  Today in class you can see 5 different sites that are from that transitional period.  They are linked through QR codes in the room, but the links are also re-created here in case your cameras aren't working, or you have trouble scanning.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5

Your task is to start with #1. Read/look at/gaze upon the site it takes you to. Then distill the content into a tweet.  Tweet using the hashtag #RepublictoEmpire.  You can follow the hashtag using hootsuite, or I will be compiling a list which you can see under my twitter profile @rtw4.  Look over the tweets posted by your classmates.  Go to your blog and create a narrative of Rome's transition from Republic to Empire using these tweets (yours, or you may use your classmates.  Modification is ok!)

The narrative must be no longer than a paragraph. So that is a topic sentence, 5-7 sentences, and a concluding sentence. And it must make sense as a cohesive paragraph.  Don't simply cut and paste tweets together!

Compose the blog post and read pages 265-271 in the textbook over the weekend.

We have a test coming Monday October 22.

gosh essays are fun...

For tonight, we move on to the founding of the Roman Empire.  You are to read pages 259-264 in the textbook.  I will not be checking notes, but they are encouraged!

You will have a test on the material from Persia THROUGH Rome on Monday, October 22...please plan accordingly and begin your review process sooner rather than later!

Homework for Wednesday, 10/10

For tonight, you should prepare for the in-class essay tomorrow. It will be a Compare and Contrast essay.  You must write in blue or black ink.  It will draw from material from Chapter 7 (Persia) through Chapter 10 (Greece) inclusive of both chapters.

We've spent time working with how to structure a thesis and how to incorporate evidence, so I'm looking for both those things as you write this essay!  Remember that in order to get the points the Thesis must include time, both comparison and contrast and specifics! Evidence must be linked to the thesis to count, and must refer to specific details and not be vague statements.

Homework for Tuesday, 10/9

For tonight, you are to read an excerpt from Plato's The Republic. It was emailed to you earlier today to your school email.  In case you can't access that, the reading is linked up here.  You should read until it says "stop reading," and until you think you are able to explain the contents to another person.

Homework over the weekend 10/5-7

Over the long weekend, read pages 242-254.  We will discuss the philosophers next week, but the rest of the contents is on you to pay attention to.

Upcoming:

Compare and Contrast Essay on next Thursday or Friday 10/11-12.

Test on chapters 7-11 inclusive, so Persians through Romans on 10/22.  It will be 70 Multiple Choice questions.

Thursday homework 10/4

For tonight, imagine for a moment that Alexander the Great were running for President of the United States. Take his character, personality, drive, desire, etc. and place him in a modern context.

Post on your blog: would he be electable? Why or Why not? 

you can also start a Michael Woods fan page on Facebook if you like... ;)

Wednesday Homework 10/3

For tonight, you get to explore a bit of the character of Alexander the Great. 

The readings that are linked up here were written by Plutarch  and Arrian. (Note that both historians were writing well after Alexander was dead and buried...) 

Read them over, and we'll dig into what makes someone "the Great" tomorrow with the help of these historians and documentarian Michael Woods.

Tuesday's Homework 10/2

For tonight, peruse your classmates' posts about Democracy. (Protopage containing the addresses is linked up here) Spot the trend in your thinking.

Then watch the Daily Show interview with King Abdullah II of Jordan, part one linked up here and part two linked up here. This probably won't load at school due to lovely lightspeed and the filters...you should be able to find it on youtube, but beware, he's been on before, so you want the September 25th 2012 episode.  Compose a post for your blog: based on what you've written about Democracy in all of your blogs, and given what we've seen with Democracy's implementation in the rest of the Middle East (Iraq, Egypt, Tunis, Libya), is King Abdullah II of Jordan facing failure with what he's trying to do or do you think he can succeed? Why?

Homework for Monday

Tonight you have two tasks.

1) In light of our conversation about different types of government today, on your blog, I'd like you to reflect about a Democracy as it was described in class! Separate from your natural jingoistic tendencies for a moment and consider: is this a system that is best used in small societies, or can it be successfully implemented in large, complex societies.  Explain your thinking!

2) This will be your first foray into reading "historical writing," which means thoughtful (if ponderous) works by certified "smart people." Tonight's reading is by William McNeill, and it is a comparison of Indian and Greek societies and how people built a sense of belonging within these societies.  The reading is linked up here.  You can start on page 4, which gives you a quick introduction to McNeill, and give you a few questions to think about.  You don't need to write anything here, just read up to page 11.  You also won't be reading the primary source documents he references, but you have seen some of them...We'll talk about the reading tomorrow and see what you think about it.