Anthony's Blog One Western Civilization

Today we continued on with the presentations for our Greek projects. Sam and I were going to resent today, but we ran into an issue with our one-page paper and I want to fix something on the Google Slide. We got through three projects today; Sydney, Sydney, Belle, and Sophia's project; Katie and Grace's project; and Colin and Tebo's project. I thought all of them were really good. I thought Colin knew about the topic that him and Tebo did very well. Their model that they made was also pretty cool how they even had the outnumbered Greeks over the Persians. I thought Grace and Katie did pretty good on the project and I enjoyed eating the Teganite that they made. I thought the other group that went today did pretty good today. the only problem was that they couldn't stop laughing.

Today we had shortened mods because we had a mental health assembly. So, with the class only being forty-five minutes long, we only got through one presentation. It took ten minutes to get prepared to start presenting and then ten minutes to get the first project setup and ready to go. I thought that their project was pretty good. I just didn't wanna eat any food because I was not hungry and as of late my stomach is extremely sensitive. I don't know if tomorrow will be the day Sam and I get to present because we were listed as to go fourth, but Katie and Grace had food so they got pushed to second and we got pushed down to fifth. It's not like I care when we get present, as long as we get to go, I'll be fine. There's three other groups ahead of us, so we will most likely go Tuesday, but we could go tomorrow depending on how fast some of these projects go.

Today Mr. Schick was absent from school. So, since he was gone, we got another day to work on our projects. Of course I had known this yesterday because Mr. Schick had told us he wouldn't be in school today. Sam and I worked furiously to add the last touches to our project. Sam added a bit more to our Google Slide, while I worked on filing out note cards for us to use during our presentation of the slide show. I'm going to be presenting the slides that have the red background and Sam will be presenting the slides that have the yellow background. Each slide alternates to the other color so we have about the same amount of slides. Sam and I have been putting lots of time and effort into this project so we rehoming to get an A. I'll take a B though. As long as I have enough grades later on that can bring it up to an overall A, I'll take a B.

Today Mr. Schick allowed the class to work on their projects. Sam and I are partners so we began working on the Google Slide we have yet to finish. We scrapped the diorama idea and are just doing the class vote with the black and white rocks that I hope Sam remembers to get. We are still trying to figure out a topic for the vote to be based around, but we got some sort of idea about how it's gonna be against someone who did something wrong. We also plan to give each one of our classmates a "job" in theGreece community to help them base their votes, example is like a landowner could be someone's specific "job." I feel like this whole project thing went really fast considering Mr. Schick said we were going to weeks to do it and we only got two. Since we only had about two weeks, the due date kinda crept up fast.

Today we took a test. It was so easy that I could've done it in my sleep (at least the multiple choice questions, definitely not the written responses on what the influences where in Greek culture based on its geography). I think that was like the only question I did not do good on because I'm mainly sure that I just restated the same thing twice, but for different reasons. I feel like I got a 90 or above, but just watch I'll probably fail it somehow like I seem to do whenever say I feel like I did good. Anyways, today I also had a Religion test, and the second part of a biology test. Today has been like the most tests in one day I have had all year. Today also felt like the longest but shortest day ever if that makes any sense. These tests have been killing me this week but so far I've been doing well.

Socrates - he looked to science and logic (not the mythological gods) for explanations of how the world worked. - the Socratic Method fostered critical thinking. - "The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates was charged with serious crimes: 1) Impiety (the disrespecting of the gods) and 2) The corruption of Athens youth. - at his trial, he described himself as a stinging gadfly and Athens was a lazy old horse. - did not deny what he had done and asked for free dinners. - he was found guilty by an Athenian jury, and sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock. Plato - Plato was a student and follower of Socrates. - he wrote out Socrates' teachings and described his trial in Apology. - Republic  was Socrates' discussion of justice and the ideal state - one of the most influential books on philosophy ever written. Aristotle - Aristotle was a student of Plato. - he helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination. - his school -...

Greeks were certainly a warlike people - especially the Spartans. Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry : soldiers who fought on land. Spartan boys trained from the time they were seven. real Spartans were much more fearsome than those oily gym rats in the movie 300. Athens had a great infantry, too, but nothing could compare with their navy. Their most effective weapon was the trireme. A trireme was a technological marvel. It was the latest ship in the world at the time and was rowed up to one hundred-seventy men on three levels. It could as be used as a battering ram because it was fast and agile. Close-rank phalanxes was a dense grouping of warriors that were armed with long spears and interlocking shields. Soldiers would advance slowly toward the enemy, until they broke through their ranks. Persian Wars brought the Persians to Greece to try and conquer them.

In today's class, Mr. Schick allowed us to work on our projects after letting us choose to either have today as a project work day or a finishing notes day for our test on Friday. We also received the due date for our project which is Wednesday the twenty-seventh, the day quarter four starts. We also wee told to be ready to present on Wednesday too, so that will be fun. Mr. Schick gave Sam and I the idea that we should hold a real election with a real topic that the Greeks would discuss, and vote on the solution. Sam and I considered the idea and will probably do it, we just need to figure out a topic for the class to vote on. Sam and I worked on our Google Slide to relate to our diorama we are attempting to make soon. I'm going to be working on note cards at night and during the next class we have for working on it.

During today's class, Mr. Schick made an announcement that we would have a project to do about Ancient Greece. The project itself doesn't seem hard to accomplish and get done, it just seems like it is gonna be really time consuming. We could do our project on anything that interests us about Ancient Greece, and create a project to educate our classmates on our topic. I partnered up with Sam, and we talked about what to make our project on during class. We eventually settled on doing Democracy after bouncing through ideas left and right to no avail. We formulated a pretty good idea for our project, it just seems like it is going to be really time consuming. Sam and I thought of the idea during the class, but built upon it during lunch. It seems like it will turn out good based on our thoughts, but when it gets built, we're not sure how it will turn out.

Today we watched a video on Ancient Greece. We had to fill out a worksheet as we watched it, and I didn't get two of the answers so I had to go back and find those answers. We had a sub for today's class since Mr. Schick was not there, so we had Mrs. Magner for our sub. The video was pretty long and there were places in it where you thought it was giving you the answer to the question that was next, but it really wasn't the answer. Many of the questions I wrote the wrong answer for, so I had to go back and fix it once I got home. Today felt like I was in school for a year and I don't know why, I guess maybe cause I wasn't here yesterday, I don't know. I also had to take notes on the Power Point that my friend said they did in class yesterday.

I was absent from school today for doctor appointments.

Back then, rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle class or the poor. Aristocrats : members of the ruling class they attended symposiums , meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics. N o women (except the “entertainment”). N o middle class. C ertainly, no slaves. S ometimes, even certain aristocrats (who didn’t have the right connections or who fell out of favor) were excluded. S ometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form of gov’t called a tyranny. T yrant : someone who rules outside the framework of the polis. Meaning of tyrant in modern society : an abusive or oppressive ruler. T he Greek meaning of tyrant : someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help). Draco (621 BCE): all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under th...

Today we took more notes from the Power Point in the beginning of the class before some people talking got on Mr. Schick's nerves (thanks classmates). After they got on his nerves he told us to take our own notes from the textbook. Warring City-States - polis: fundamental political unit made up of a city and the surrounding countryside. (politics, affairs of the cities; policy, political, etc.). - monarchy: rule by a single person (a king. in Greece) - aristocracy: rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families. - oligarchy - wealthy groups, dissatisfied with Aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help). - tyrant: powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support. And then the rest of the magical class we took notes from the very reliable textbook conveniently located in the back of Mr. Schick's room for our superior knowledge. Trust me, reading the textbook gives you as much detail about history as ...

- Greece: 50,949 square miles (small in size, HUGE in influence) - although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only about twenty percent is arable (suitable for farming). - Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives, and fish. - lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization. - back then, temperatures ranged from mid forties in the winter to low eighties in the summer - although it could get hot in the summer, it was pretty nice year-round. - their influence began around 2000 BCE. - Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge on Peloponnesus protected by a twenty foot thick wall. - Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE and controlled trade in the region. - 1400 BCE - Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture (writing system, language, art, politics, literature, and religion). - Greeks have fought in many wars over time. - Trojan War - fought around 1200 BCE. - Part of Greek mythology - until the 19th century most historians thoug...

- The Mycenaeans adapted the Minoan writing system to the Greek language and decorated vases with Minoan designs. - The Minoan-influenced culture of Mycenae formed the core of Greek religious practice, art, politics,  and literature. - During the 1200s B.C., the Mycenaeans fought a ten year war against Troy. - Troy was an independent trading city located in Anatolia. - Not long after the Trojan War, Mycenaean civilization collapsed. - Around 1200 B.C., sea raiders attacked and burned many Mycenaean cities. - This group of people was called Dorians. - The Dorians moved into the war-torn countryside. - They spoke Greek and were distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks. - Their economy collapsed trade came to a standstill after the Dorians' arrival. - During the Dorian Age, Greeks lost the art of writing temporarily. - After this occurred, history had to be spoken. - One great storyteller was blind man named Homer, most famously known for his epics in which he composed d...

- In ancient times, Greece was not a united country, but instead was a collection of separate lands in which Greek speaking people lived. - By 3000 B.C., Minoans lived on the Greek island Crete. - At the same time, people settled in Greece from the plains along the Black Sea and Anatolia. - Ancient Greece consisted mainly of a mountainous peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea, 2,000 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, and lands on the eastern edge of the Aegean. - Greeks did not live on a land, but around a sea. - Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and Black Sea were all important transportation routes for Greek people. - As Greeks became skilled sailors, sea travel connected Greece with other societies. - Travel and trade was important because Greece lacked natural resources such as timber, precious materials, and usable farmland. - Mountains influenced Greek political life. - Greeks developed small, independent communities within each little valley and its surrounding mou...