Throughout the game, there were many chances for the groups to learn new aspects of the Renaissance. Whether it was a blunder and stump card, we had to research about that part of the Renaissance.

            Towards the researching, my team came across a stump card, where we had to write a research paper about indulgences. Indulgences were a HUGE problem in the Renaissance, as people like Martin Luther were against it. Martin Luther felt that the church was going out of it’s origins and roots by selling indulgences (a pardon for sins), while the church didn’t see any problem about it (because they were making money by selling them). Martin Luther even wrote the 95 theses, which points out that the church should stop this madness and get back to their spiritual beliefs.

http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rantpix/luther95.jpg 

And what really is the point of selling indulgences to the citizens? As Protestants says, they already have predestination, so why try to achieve faith, when faith is a gift by God? Also, the Pope is suppose to be helping the world with the ways of God, but by selling indulgences, he purposely is getting richer through the sickening and wrong ways.

And while the profit the church makes from selling indulgences, why do they need clergymen anyways? First of all, clergymen interprets the bible, but my point is, why do they need to do that when we could read the bible OURSELVES and interpret it with our own beliefs and our point of view? And another reason I might add is that the bible is the only guide for a Christian; so take into consideration that the bible did NOT say anything about attending masses, accepting the authority of the Pope, and definitely nothing about selling indulgences. And plus, if they rely on only ONE person to make executive decisions in churches, why not a group of people? They should know that more brains are better than just one.

And a group that helped destroy this act is the Protestant Reformation, which Martin Luther inspired. This special organization was criticizing the church of their malpractices and the sales of indulgence. As you can see, this part of the Renaissance was full of controversy!

http://www.alternativeinsight.com/images/Image410.gif 

Even though the Renaissance had some bad memories, we cannot forget the ones that made it what it is then. And that are the inspirational humans such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michel Angelo, and such.

Leonardo Da Vinci was considered a “Renaissance Man” for his multiple achievements and the impact he had done in history. He is probably most notable for his paintings called “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”, which still spark some mysteries today. What I found interesting about those paintings and him is that it reminded me of the book called “Da Vinci Code”. I have yet to read it, but from the background information that I hear, it caused arguments all around the world, about Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s relationship. And as the author of the book states, it does not matter who is right or wrong, but what matters is that this is being discussed up till today.

http://www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/leonardo_da_vinci_last_supper.jpg

What I found rather spectacular is that Florence, Italy has helped make what Renaissance is today too. Italy has contained many all-time greats such as Giovanni Boccaccio. He was my research topic in our Renaissance project, and found out many great achievements that he did to help us today. Boccaccio was an Italian writer, who wrote many books such as “Decameron”, and became famous for his narrative and poetic gift in literature.

And as I said, Italy has greatly impacted the world during the Renaissance period. Some say that the first change of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance occurred in Florence. The architecture, writers, painters, economy, and philosophy of Florence were incredible! Florence had many guilds at the time, which helped solve many problems. For example, the guild called “The Palazzo Vecchio”, consisted of over 5,000 guild members, discussed Italy’s issues and also had the power to vote! Guilds were not the only thing Florence was famous for. They made most of their primary income through banking, as many Florentine bankers were prominent and successful.

http://paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/ Medici%20Files/Pal-Medici-BR.jpg 

New inventions also were created during the Renaissance. Most actually helped and improve the traveling of sailors and explorers! One of these inventions is the astrolabe, which is a portable device used for determining latitude, an important tool in navigation. And also, the magnetic compass was invented during the Renaissance. As we are in the topic of improvements, ships were improved in the Renaissance, as they have used sails instead of men to adjust the speed of the ships. Sailing was actually a better transportation of goods than traveling by road, as it prevented thieves from stealing the imported goods, and trading routes in Europe were very weak.

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/images/actpic1.gif 

Since the people had more time to do their hobbies such as reading, the printing press was an EXTREMELY valuable invention, which Gutenberg invented in 1445. This made more books printed in a certain amount of time, which meant that more people would want to read. Instead of writing by hand in animal skins, the books were done onto a parchment. Literature was not the only thing the printing press has impacted; music too, as lyrics could be produced more easily.

Architecture has also improved immensely in the Renaissance period. Mathematics actually helped it, as they were able to calculate the width/height of buildings, and ratios. The Golden Mean was a useful aspect of architecture, as it is recognized because it is recognized as a rather “pleasing” rectangle. This was one of my many things that the Renaissance got the idea from the Ancient Greeks! 

And as for my “favorite” type of card in the game, the BLUNDER card, I have found some little fun facts about the Renaissance such as:

·        The umbrella has many nicknames, and was not used for the rain back in the early days. Some actually uses it as a weapon! But women used it, as men thought that it was not a “manly” accessory. 

·        Halloween was not celebrated in the 1500’s joyfully to children, as it was a more of a celebration from Pagans.

·        There was no paper money back in the Renaissance, but rather coins (like Florins).

·        The piano was not made until after the Renaissance.

·        There were no public bathrooms in the Renaissance, but more private ones, until the 1800’s.

·        No Christian could be a slave, and if you have a scar or injury, the people of the Renaissance will suspect you as a slave.

·        Glass eye lenses were illegal during the Renaissance.

As you can see, there are many positive outcomes of the Renaissance (architecture, literature, inventions, trade, etc.), and also many unpleasant ones (selling indulgences, warfare, poverty, etc). You can be the one to judge.

http://elizabethan.org/art/renaissance_header_org3.gif 

#1. Think about class today and reflect on the presentations you listened to. Explain with details and specific information what you learned and what you found interesting about the presentations you heard in class.

In general, most did a magnificent job with their voice recordings, some had “technical” problems, and while some slacked off a bit. There, I learned that the renaissance DID have MANY inspirational mentors, which guided us to our modern civilization today. Such inspirations like Johann Gutenberg, Titian, John Calvin, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Nicholas Copernicus completely changed the way we live today. And it really is an achievement to be known as a “Renaissance Person”, and these people earned the right to that nickname.

Max’s renaissance person

For example, Johann Gutenberg. He was most known to be a German goldsmith and printer, who was the 1^st person to have a movable printing press. And at that time, not many people could read and write, but the printing press changed that challenge of life. With it, books were much rapid in production (and neater too), and this gave interest to the Renaissance civilians to learn the skill. So Johann in my opinion, is considered to be involved to making that achievement, as he himself, COULD read at that time. And he also published the “Gutenberg Bible”, which is definitely a life-changing experience for him, as religion was still a crucial aspect of life. What got my attention about Johann was how much the printing press impacted the way they lived, and it was all because of this great man. And also, I was amused with Max’s interview as he was arrested for doing illegal business! It was extremely a creative part, which makes Max stand out!

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/images/jg1_big.gif

Joseph’s Renaissance person:

Titian had an extremely short life, with living to the age of only 40 years, but that didn’t stop him from making history. He was the leader of a particular “Venetian” school, which impacted the ITALIAN renaissance. Although he DID live in a short period of time, he is still considered to be one of the most influential painters of all time! “Da Cadore”, was considered to be his best work of art, with “The Assumption Of The Virgin” along the top of his list. What interests me about Titian is how he kept painting all his life, other than quitting and taking on other interests.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/WebMedia/Images/titian/e_titian.jpg

My renaissance person

Now, for renaissances own, Giovanni Boccaccio. He impacted the Italian literature immensely, as he was considered the 1^st Italian author to ever write a book, from a modern language! And as he was a poet, he created many prominent works such as “Decameron”, which is still available in England and France. What interests me most about Boccaccio is that since we’re doing a poetry unit in English class, I know how hard it is to create poetry and tell a good story in the process. And this was Boccaccio’s specialty!

http://wings.buffalo.edu/litgloss/boccaccio/Boccaccio.jpg

Tony’s renaissance person

And who could forget the great Nicholas Copernicus! Last year in science, I vaguely knew about him, but I didn’t know how BIG he impacted the way we look at Earth and the Universe today. Did you know that instead of agreeing with Ptolemy’s theory like the rest, he OPPOSED it, and it turned out that he was RIGHT! As he said, planets orbit around STARS, not Earth. And this statement changed the view of the Universe completely. And as many great inspirations, he was also inspired by his father (much like Giovanni Boccaccio). And what really amazed me is that he didn’t even study Astronomy until he came back to his uncle’s palace!

http://www.crystalinks.com/copernicus.jpg

Danielle’s renaissance person

John Calvin was somewhat similar to Giovanni Boccaccio in my opinion. Although his father wasn’t as supportive as he expected, when his father was literally dying, his only wish is for John Calvin to pursue his dreams, other than becoming a lawyer (which his father before forced him to be). And from then on, Calvin became a specialist in literature. And as an author, he wrote many editions (which he was most famous for actually). What interested me most about John Calvin is the relationship between he and his father. At first, his father forced him to be a lawyer, like him, but in the end, he told John to pursue his dreams, which is the amazing thing about the epic story.

http://magicstatistics.com/wp-content/uploads/calvin.jpg
Iqmal’s renaissance person

John Hawkins was born in 1532 and an admiral, inspired by his father. He was involved in the English/Spaniard war, and also, created a ship similar to the “Galileo ship”, but a few altered characteristics. And so, his ship became the most prominent in renaissance Europe. And unlike some of the all-time greats who impacted the world by their literary talents, he thought different. He risked his LIFE instead, with the war he got engaged in, and this is what stood out about Hawkins.

http://www.melfisher.org/reefswrecks/sir-john-hawkins.jpg

Debora’s renaissance person

Last but not least, Sandro Botticelli. He is known to be an Italian painter, whom made religious paintings for the church in the renaissance period. Some of his famous works of art are his collections of “Madonna”, “Primavera”, and “The Birth of Venus”, which actually are considered one of the most famous paintings in Florentine art. In 1445, he opened up a workshop, which he then continued his pursuit to his natural talent, and built on from a workshop to being one of the most famous painters of the Renaissance period. Botticelli even stated that he believes that people will reflect on his life, and think that he will be remembered as a GREAT painter. Well, who could argue with that one! And finally, later on life, he pursued a new style of painting: the gothic style.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/b/be/ 250px-Sandro_Botticelli_083.jpg

These are all great inspirations in history, and we definitely owe them a big thank you for making our lives easier today.

#2. What would you change to improve your interview/presentation if you were to do the assignment again?

Well, I believe that I did a great job with finding the right information for the interview, but I believe that I could have done so much better with the presentation. I could have added more “Italian” accent to my voice, so that I could have portrayed Boccaccio better, but I was pretty nervous that if I actually did that, the audience would not understand me! But again, I should have taken the risk and at least added a bit MORE accent to my interview. Other than that, Danielle did a great job with helping me, so thank you!

Danielle and I had some difficulty problems with the application that we used to record our voices, and because of that, the recording did not finish my whole interview. We still do not know the cause of this, but I think that my interview was too long for the application to handle. But yet again, Iqmal’s recording was longer than mine, so I predict that the computer Danielle and me were using had different settings. Next time, I would definitely make sure that the application installed in the computer could handle a three-minute voice recording so that this would not happen again!

Other than that, I think that I did a pretty decent job with the rest of the criteria required for this particular assignment!

http://renaissance.duelingmodems.com/art/renaissance-head3.gif

Not many people know who Giovanni Boccaccio is, but for the ones who does, they know that he actually is one of the founding fathers of the renaissance, which is an amazing feat to achieve. He is the son of a merchant and French woman, and grew up in Certaldo. But after transferring to Naples, that is where he REALLY explored his amazing talent (with his father boosting his career). From then on, he made history with his literary talents. He published a book, called “Decameron”, which is still prominent in France and England. Can you believe that Shakespeare and Chaucer actually took some material of of that book? He is even considered to be the first author to write in a modern language! He even inspired some of the all-time greats, such as Petrarch and Dante. He published other works such as “On the Fates of Famous Men”, “Concerning Famous Women”, “On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles”, and many more.� These are all great explanations for why and how he has impacted today’s history, but as they say, actions speaks louder than words, and Boccaccio definitely took inspirational actions.

You feel inspired already? Click on the link below to listen to Giovanni Boccaccio!
giovanni-boccaccio.mp3

http://wings.buffalo.edu/litgloss/boccaccio/Boccaccio.jpg�

Renaissance’s own, Giovanni Boccaccio .

�http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/data1/dg/exhibition/unlock/xhlf043a.jpg

Arguably Boccaccio’s most prominent work.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/ Caxton_Ovid,_1480.jpg/180px-Caxton_Ovid,_1480.jpg�

One of the pages of Boccaccio’s “On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles”

http://www.liberonweb.com/images/books/8811363586.jpg�

Another one of Giovanni’s books, called “The Corbaccio”.�

Don’t forget Renaissance’s own… Giovanni Boccaccio.

Resource:

Klapper, Bradley. “Swiss Scientist. Search for Life Next”. “Sun-Sentinel.com” April 26, 2007. <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sns-ap-switzerland-planet-find,0,27 63394 .story?coll=sfla-news-science> (April 28, 2007)

Link:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sns-ap-switzerland-planet-find,0,27 63394.story?coll=sfla-news-science

Link to Sara’s blog:

(she doesn’t a blog)

Picture of event:

http://www.nbc11.com/2007/0425/13056760.jpg

Map of Location:

http://domeofthesky.com/clicks/images/lib.gif

1. How are your two events connected?

In this news article, the scientists have taken this new planet to the next level, by figuring out and spotting if there is any possible life roaming around. Of course, it would be difficult for them, as this planet is about 20 light years away from Earth! Michel Mayor, one of the scientists in the European that that discovered this planet, predicts that there is a high chance that life exists on this planet. He invented this new telescope, that divides light and tracks different wave lengths, and this proves to reveal existence of other life. But as this discovery is thrilling, it would take about 15-20 years to actually TRACE life in the planet called, 518C. At this time, they already know that oxygen does exist in 518C, which is a great starting point. These two events are connected, as both articles talks about the new planet, but in this case, this article talks about the swiss scientist tracing life in the planet, as the other article, talks about the background information ABOUT the planet.

2. What did you find interesting about this topic?

Well, since I enjoy anything relating about cosmology, I definitely was intrigued about this discovery! I knew that in this universe, there MUST be a planet like Earth, with living creatures, but I didn’t know that scientists would find it RIGHT NOW. It’s just hard to imagine that there’s a possibility of life outside of Earth, and this has impacted our world severely!

Think of the possibilities, there could be humans like us in 518C, there could be technology like on Earth, and the living creatures that could roam around that planet might be more intelligent than us! It’s just overwhelming to expect such things, but it could very well be possible. Although the planet is trillion of miles away, how far our technology can go is unpredictable.

3. What did you like about the initial blog posting?

Well, first of all, I really enjoyed the topic Sara chose, as I am thrilled about anything space-related. And during her blog presentation, she seemed to have remembered and understood her topic well, especially remembering things such as the planet’s name! And for that, I praise her. But during her presentation, I thought that she could have been less distracted from the audience, as she was laughing and saying the words such as “umm yeahhhh” or “Okay.. *laughs* Okay. So…” She could prevent that by having sturdier note cards, which could help her organize her presentation a whole lot more. Also, rehearsing more could help her presentation flow more, as it was kind of all over the place. If she perfects all of these helpful suggestions, she could do extremely better in her next current event presentation!

There are the all time greats in the Renaissance such as Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, but one person has exceeded the limits of the world and amazed us with brilliant and life changing discoveries. And that gifted man is called Sir Isaac Newton.

He may not be the best to socializing with people, but he looked at the world at a completely different perspective. He was gifted with many skills such as mathematics (his new way), philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, and physics! He questioned everything in sight such as why objects fall when there is no applied force acting upon it and such when the people at that time don’t even realize it!

He was extremely an expert at mathematics and the amazing thing is that he didn’t even LIKE the way mathematics was in his time. He created a NEW way of doing math called the Calculus, and surprisingly, after he invented it, he told everyone about it about 26 YEARS.

He also mastered in physics as in a famous event, an apple landed on his head while sitting beside a tree, and he knew that there was a force PULLING on the apple that made it drop to the earth. And that was gravity. But he even thought ABOVE that, and wondered if this so called “gravity” is the reason why the moon orbits. Once again, Sir Isaac Newton has made sense of the world. And there’s still MORE discoveries that he made.

Since he questioned why matter moved, he made three laws of motion. The 1^st law is that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and that an object in motion tends to stay in uniform motion a force is acted upon it. Nobody had realized this before, other than one of the most intellectual people that the world had known! The 2^nd law is that force can be calculated by multiplying the acceleration and the mass of the object. Again, NOBODY realized this! The 3^rd law is that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That means that Sir Isaac Newton discovered that forces always acts in pairs. But to him, he wasn’t really interested in mathematics or science, but more with alchemy.

He also invented the reflecting telescope that proves useful up till today! So you can say that he was an inventor too. What can this historical figure NOT do!

As you can see by my reasons, Sir Isaac Newton was in my opinion, exceeded the limits far beyond, and this is the reason why he deserves to be known to have the “Renaissance Spirit”.

Resource:

Citation: Salaheddin, Sinan.  “16 Killed in Iraqi Suicide Bombing.” Yahoo! News Asia. April 10, 2007. <http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070410/ap/d8odmc5o0.html> (April 10, 2007).

Link:
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070410/ap/d8odmc5o0.html

Picture:

Picture Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/iraq/082701iraq plane/im:/070410/photos_ts_wl_afp/895a38d2ba45e9a5dacf 1b2a46ec1041;_ylt=AscuDOsLEXthBoaMHagr4MjKps8F

Map Picture:

Map Picture Source:

http://bbsnews.net/bbsn_photos/topics/Maps-and- Charts/small_iraq_map.jpg

What is the issue?

In the northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, a female suicide bomber detonated an explosive bomb, therefore, killing 16 people around her, plus three US soldiers, and injuring as many as 33 on Tuesday, April 10, 2007. The reason that she was not spotted or questioned by the Iraqi Army before triggering the bomb was that the Iraqi Army and US Army had other problems to deal with. They were fighting against gunmen beside Baghdad, which were Fadhil and Sheik Omar. Since the suicide bomber knew of this distraction, it was the perfect time to do her plan, which worked.

Who is involved?

The people who were involved in this incident are the citizens who got killed/wounded, US Army, Iraqi Army, the citizen’s family, the female suicide bomber, the suicide bomber’s allies, and George Bush (U.S president).

Who is affected and how?

Citizens who got injured/wounded in attack because they had their lives taken away from them by this attack and with the ones who were wounded, they knew that there would be future suicide bombings in the future.

The U.S Army because during this bombing, there were U.S soldiers that were either killed or injured. With the rest of the Army, they were distracted fighting the gunmen, which some got killed or shot.

The Iraqi Army because they were also distracted from fighting the gunmen and got killed/injured. During the bombing, some Iraqi soldiers were still present in the location of the suicide bomber, but failed to realize who she was and what her objective is.

The killed citizen’s family/relatives because they lost the person who got killed during the bombing, which causes grief to them, especially their family.

Female suicide bomber because she gave up her life by partaking in this event, got killed, and injured/killed many people around her during the event.

Suicide bomber’s allies because they lost one of their allies, and planned the whole bombing.

George Bush (U.S president) because he lost some soldiers in Iraq, which would have warned him that there would be bombings in the future, and that he must be ready to prevent that.

What would you do if you were directly involved?

If I were the Iraq president, I would definitely think more strategically, because during this event, most of the soldiers who were suppose to guard the area which were bombed, were partaking in a battle against gunmen far away. I would make sure to cover all areas of Iraq, so that in case there WAS a similar event like this, the army would be ready to attack and protect their given areas. Also, I would advise the Iraqi army to randomly check everyone’s belongings around Iraq from time to time to make sure that they don’t have any explosives or any other harmful objects.

Today, a person goes to the extreme in what they believed for. They are willing to give up their families, give up of having a normal life, give up their bodies, and especially give up their LIVES. The reason was that they were inspired to give up all of this to stand up for what they believed in. And actually, and occupation a person does makes an impact to other’s lives.

One example would be terrorism. These people bomb and murder residents all around the world, as they believe that they won’t give them what they want and they assume that failure is far worse than death! And there are even suicide-bombers that would offer to kill themselves just to complete their job. One example of terrorist attacks would be on July 11, 2006m, where terrorists have bombed Mumbai Trains, which caused about 200 people to die, and over 700 left to be severely hurt. And of course, we can NEVER forget about the terrorist bombings on September 11, 2001, where suicide bombers killed many, and stood the world in shock. They murdered, caused fear, and technically ruined their reputation just because for what they believed in.

Another type of people who risks their lives are scientists. Of course, you might think that their jobs are safe, but it really isn’t. On July 14, 2003, there was an incident that occurred in Antarctica, where a rare seal killed a 28-year-old innocent scientist. She only wanted to discover the nature and to help her learn more about Antarctica, but this was the outcome of it. She meant no harm at all, but by doing so, got killed! Scientists dedicate their lives to their specific criteria, and sometimes, they risk their lives like her by doing so.

Soldiers that serve for their country also fall in this topic. Their jobs are to serve and protect their country, and they go through harsh training before even BECOMING a soldier. Of course, in some countries, being a soldier is a MUST and not a voluntary thing, but I’m talking about the ones that agree to the job. They are willing to risk everything they have, which is a courageous thing in my opinion! In my opinion, they should be considered as one of the greatest heroes in our modern civilization.

The World Wars contributes to this topic a lot, as those are the ones that everyone most fears and does not want to get involved in. Major wars around the world usually starts with arguments between leaders of the countries as they believe they are either right, or that they are more powerful than other nations. And other than solving this issue in a safer, less violent way, some starts major wars that causes fear and death to all! As you can see, people in this world can go to the EXTREME just to stand up for what they believe in.

Giving up their lives doesn’t actually mean by dieing. Doctors could also be an example. They know that they must commit to their job, and are willing to go to work in any hour whatsoever! To me, that requires great discipline and bravery. They could be considered heroes and they believe that they can save people’s lives! But there are doctors who heal the wounded during a battle, and they know that if their side loses, s/he would get killed.

And who could forget the police? They roam around the streets everyday, protecting us, and they also know that they could get shot in any time possible. These men and women put their bodies in the line everyday, just so that WE will get protection. There was a case on February 18, 2006 where in Afghanistan, 25 gunmen killed a policeman as he was just trying to protect the residents around.

Even vegetarians falls into this topic. They refuse to eat any meat products, as they believe that every living creature in mother earth is equal, and doesn’t deserve to be treated this way.

Technically, ANYONE can be involved in this topic, as they would rather give hundreds of dollars to charity organizations other than spend it on clothes and “wanted”, not “needed” items. For example, the New Orleans incident that happened not too long ago, charity organizations around the world does their all to collect donations from everyone around the world.

Believe it or not, there are just some things in life that simply cannot change. Monks today are still valid, and they believe in God, and as I said in the other blog, dedicate themselves to Jesus Christ. As you can see, in today, there are people willing to risk their lives for a cause they believe in. And all my reasons aren’t even close to listing all of them! I assume that you have a vague idea of my topic, so I must stop now, as I do not want to bore you any longer!

In my opinion, the religions throughout the Middle Ages were one of the most important things in mind. There were even some that devoted themselves COMPLETELY to their religions such as monks! They pray about 12 times a day, when a normal Catholic prays about 2-4 times a day (before meals and going to sleep). And more amazingly than that, they sleep at 8:00 pm at night, and wake up 1:45 am in the morning! To me, that is an extremely hard life to live, and a sacrifice to make. I understand why they do that though, since they want to please their god, become a better being, and go to heaven. And if they don’t do that, they fear of going to hell, where they will feel eternal suffering. There was a lady washing her clothes during the Sabbath Day (day of rest), and got punished for it! That to me was very different as she didn’t do anything wrong, as usually, resting is an optional thing. The consequences could have been working extra time in the fields to getting whipped severely.

And to show how crucial the Christians were, they had to give 1/10 of their salary every year. In those times, that was a huge sacrifice, but in today’s society, the taxes would range from 30-70% of someone’s salary, which is considerably a much huger amount than before. Remember though, that in the Middle Ages, they had no advanced technology like Ancient China did, so it was definitely a brutal and harsh living for all beings. And in my opinion, the largest sacrifice one would make is to shut themselves out of their social life whatsoever. The monks were put into monasteries, where they commit themselves to God by feeding the poor, helping the sick, farm crops, copy manuscripts from the bible (which they decorate later), and teach others about Jesus’ accomplishments. And helping the poor was the only contact they made outside the community other than with the other monks.

And can you believe that there were about 85 monasteries in ENGLAND ITSELF? There were a lot of poor residents in Medieval Europe, and it would take a considerable amount of money to build even ONE monastery! Monasteries include the chapter house, granary, infirmary, refectory, sacristy, cloister, and more. With all these sections, the monastery could be considered as “the town of the monks”!

Another type of devoted human beings in the Middle Ages about their religion was the Friars. They were considered as “wandering monks”, but this time, they could go outside their community and tell stories about God in the countryside. And more extreme than that, they had to beg for food and shelter, as they could not own a single thing. One of the clues I found out was, that a Friar would rather starve to death, rather than kill an innocent animal! And we in the modern world do that all the time, which showcases how crucial religions are in Medieval Europe.

Pilgrimages were also an important part of religion throughout the middle ages. Nobles would journey to religious places such as Jerusalem and along the way; they would risk their lives if coming across thieves. That showcases that they would either risk their lives just to go to these religious places other than stay at their manor and be protected. And there was an author in the 1300-1400s named Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the novel called “The Canterbury Tales”. The book was about the adventures of a number of Pilgrims as they make their way to the holy land or other religious places around Europe. My thought is that they would probably also go to Jerusalem as that place had many historical events and is ruled by three religions: the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. And the fact is that their transportation was limited, with either just walking bare-footed or riding horses. Today, we have airplanes, cars, and other electronic vehicles, so we don’t have to suffer and travel thousands of miles walking in the sun.

(more…)

Squires, Chase. “Avalanches block highways in Colo.” Yahoo! News. February 17, 2007. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_re_us/ winter_weather;_ylt=AmxwAJTD0Vifh4Wh7ZP.ibPMWM0F > (February 19, 2007)

Link to news article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_re_us/ winter_weather;_ylt=AmxwAJTD0Vifh4Wh7ZP.ibPMWM0F

Link to Debora’s blog: http://debora13.learnerblogs.org/

Picture:

Picture Source:

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070215/capt.nymg40202152045. winter_weather_nymg402.jpg?x=380&y=290&sig=TsIGh.thXhUreqHFQGyAsQ–

Map of Pennsylvania (cars stuck in traffic because of snow):

Map source: http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/pennsylvania/maps/pennsylvania-location-map.gif

Map of Denver, Colorado (Airplanes’ windows crack):

Map source: http://pix.epodunk.com/locatorMaps/co/CO_9430.gif

How are your two events connected?
The two events are connected because the cold winds were both a factor. In my article, the cold winds have made 13 airplanes’ windows crack, which was definitely a dangerous incident in Denver, Colorado. In Debora’s article, it showcased that the cold winds were starting to make its way to Northern USA, which warned the governors of what to expect. So now, the security officials states that there will be about 50 delayed flights, so that there won’t be any more accidents like this. Also, another disastrous event that happened was that there was severe traffic along the Pennsylvania highway, as the snow literally buried cars and roadways. This was caused by the severe cold winds and multiple avalanche attacks, which could trap the residents inside their vehicles for hours. So these are the effects of the cold winds, which was first reported in Debora’s blog.

What did you find interesting about this topic?
What I found interesting about this topic is what cold winds could do. I didn’t know that cold winds could crash airplanes, bury cars in roadways, which causes traffic, and even cause deaths! The governors thought that this was just another minor temperature change, but what they didn’t know was that it would affect their state completely as the temperature was down to –30F at one point! This would really wake up the governors of USA to take matters more seriously, as nature is one of the most powerful forces in the world! But it was also reported that the governor of the Northern States apologized to the residents trapped in their cars, as there was little communication between him and the rescue fighters.

What did you like about the initial blog posting?
What I was really pleased about the blog was that it opened up a lot of opportunities for future responses like this! She used the correct format with her picture URL, citation, and so on, which seems to be a difficult thing to complete for some people, so I applaud her for that. She chose a topic that didn’t report any accidents yet, and now, it was definitely easier for me to choose an article, so thank you Debora! During her presentation, I thought that she could have been more organized with her note cards, as the information did not flow well, and the information she was giving out was all over the place. But that could easily be fixed with more sturdy note cards, and practice as Debora used the words “like”, “yeah”, and so on. Other than that, good job on your first presentation Debora!

The Middle Ages, also known as the Medieval times, was full of distraught and loss. In the movie we saw in Social Studies class, it showcased how the diseases and death toll has risen up an incredible amount. Although there were also some important discoveries and inventions, but the event that stood out to me the most, was the plague that spread out all over Europe. And that history-changing pandemic was known as the Black Death.

This is a picture of the symptoms that the Black Death could do to you.

The Black Death started in about the late 1300’s when a mysterious cause infected the sailors and crew members, and it was now known that there were diseased rats on board. This was the start of the pandemic, as the crew members and rats spread throughout Europe that caused a high amount of death, which was 2/3 of the European population, about 75 million people. Once the ships stopped, the rats would enter resident’s house and spread the disease. And if this wasn’t enough, the “Great Famine” struck Europe too, which made the Black Death easier to target the residents. But England didn’t get affected by this pandemic at all because the ships that contained the rats, didn’t go to Europe.

This is a picture of where and when the plague spread throughout Europe.

The technology wasn’t obviously as advanced as today, which meant that even doctors couldn’t find out how to stop this pandemic. So what did they do? Blame it on other people and religions. The Jews were blamed severely as they couldn’t drink from the wells, because they were considered “clean”. The Christian’s theory was that the Jews poisoned the wells, which started this pandemic. A lot of Jews were persecuted because of this, which in my opinion was not fair, because they had no REAL proof that the Jews spread this disease. But yet again, they didn’t have advanced technology to solve this problem, so they HAD to do SOMETHING about it.

This is a picture of how the Jews were persecuted.

No one at that time could stop this pandemic, as they didn’t even know how it STARTED. Some theories were that the disease spread through air, some thought that it was a person-to-person contact type of disease, while some thought that God did this, and some even thought that the JEWS were the ones to blame! Some Christians thought that they should whip themselves in the back, so that God would forgive their sins, and this idea became popular.

This is a picture of the Christians whipping themselves in the back.

During this pandemic, there were dead bodies everywhere, as one of their theories was that the disease spread through air. So no one would dare to come near these corpses, as they were afraid that they might get affected. And cities became smaller too!

This is a picture of the dead corpses in the year 1348.

As you can see, I am extremely intrigued about the Black Death, and it was definitely the ULTIMATE pandemic the world has yet seen.

Religion was a huge part of the medieval times, such as the change from dome-shaped churches to a more rectangle version type of construction, which represented a Gothic architecture. There were two kinds of churches back then, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

This is an example of a Gothic-style Church.

Another religion in the middle ages was the Islam. Muslims worshiped Muhammad (they considered him the greatest prophet). In Christianity, they have the bible, but in Islam, they have the Koran. Instead of Churches, they built mosques, to worship their god and pray.

This is an example of what a mosque looks like.

Judaism was another of the many religions that existed throughout Europe in the medieval times. But surprisingly, they were not liked by other religions. This is showcased by the blame on them during the Black Death. During the plague, the Christians blamed them for the spread of the disease, so a high amount of Jews were persecuted.

This is the symbol of Judaism.

Jerusalem has been known to contain three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. But again, each religion wanted the place, so what do they do? Start a crusade. The first crusade was unorganized as it was rushed, but good thing is that the 2nd crusade was very well organized. The later crusades were full of death, pain, and blood, enough said.

This is a picture of modern-day Jerusalem.

The Pope was very powerful as he was the head of the Church. Pope Leo III even crowned Charlemagne as Emperor of Rome! Christianity was one of the most powerful religions in the medieval times, which meant that the Pope had a lot of control and respect (at least from the Christians) throughout Europe.

This is Pope Gregory VII.

Charlemagne was also an important role in the middle Ages. He was the king of the Franks and Italy, which is an amazing achievement. AND, he was also the emperor of Rome, crowned by a Pope, as Rome was near to falling permanently. But once he died, Rome did fall, which was a disaster.

This is a picture of Charlemagne.

In Germany, there was also a “gathering” known as the Franks. They were a powerful group that conquered most of Western Europe for quite some time. But thing was, they had a confusing relationship with Rome, as they were known as an ally AND an enemy.

This is the intense Franks, battling in a war.

In the medieval times, there were a lot of barbarians and Vikings raiding any home that they can find. This was one of the reasons Rome fell apart, as they were attacked by a vast amount of barbarians! This was truly a tragic moment in history, but they have helped our modern civilization immensely. The Vikings also went around Europe, killing anything that gets in its path, and of course, stealing their treasures too.

This is a picture of the Vikings, with their very attractive hats!

As I said, Europe experienced a pandemic, but they also discovered new inventions such as the cannon, which proved useful in wars. As China’s technology was way ahead of theirs, the silk and compass finally reached in East Europe!

This is a picture of the cannon, invented in the Medieval times.

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire for quite some time. One of the reasons was that it was considered the richest city in the medieval times! But it also had a variety of names such as Istanbul, when the capital was moved to Turkey.

This is a map locating Constantinople.

As you see, the middle Ages went through a lot of pain and suffering, but also improved the economy, had a variety of new inventions, and the religions expanded more, up ‘till today. Now, I must go to sleep, as it is 10:30pm and my brain cannot function properly anymore.

Resource:

Citation: Taylor, Rob. “Australia’s CSL says bird flu vaccine test a success.” Yahoo! News. January 30, 2007. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070131/hl_nm/birdflu_australia_dc_1> (January 31, 2007)

Link:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070131/hl_nm/birdflu_australia_dc_1

Picture:

Picture Source: http://whyfiles.org/195bird_flu/images/vaccine.jpg
Map Picture:

Map Source: http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/prev_wiki/images/thumb/9/97/260px-Austmap.png

What is the issue?

On January, 30, 2007, a new and improved vaccine for the case of bird flu has been produced by Canberra, Australia. Once they produce enough vaccine to prevent bird flu outbreaks, it will take about half a year to distribute to 20 million residents. Once they have distributed the vaccine that prevents the H5N1 virus, the medicine will soon be in Asia too! But this drug is not suitable for children under the age of 18 years old and over the age of 65. In about late 2007, the medicine for ages 1-17, and 66+, Australia will soon be able to manufacture the suitable drug. The positive thing though, is that this vaccine has been getting a high immune response against the deadly virus.

Who is involved?

The residents of Australia, John Howard (prime minister of Australia), CSL (top manufacturer of vaccines and medicine), Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and Asian residents.

Who is affected and how?

• CSL because they are the ones that tested, and perfomed successful trials of the new vaccine that prevents bird flu outbreaks.
• The residents of Australia because after this vaccine has been produced in large amounts, they, the Australian residents, will be able to take shots with this medicine, and prevent getting the H5N1 virus.
• Asian residents as in late 2007, CSL will be able to produce larger amounts of this vaccine, and send it to the Asian region. Most bird flu outbreaks has been inside Asia, so they will need it the most, as a total of 164 lives have been taken by this virus.
• John Howard as he is the prime minister of Australia, which means that he will have to make negotiations with other countries to distribute the vaccine.
• TGA because they have been considered “Australia’s drug safety watch dog” who helps CLA distribute and test the vaccines.
• The rest of the world as if the bird flu becomes a pandemic, the rest of the world will have to contain this improved vaccine to prevent more damage as it already did.

What would you do if you were directly involved?

If I was the prime minister of Australia, I wouldn’t IMMEDIATELY distribute this vaccine to Australia because the H5N1 virus evolves in a short amount of time. Of course, I would definitely make negotiations with Asia as they have been having the most problems with the outbreaks, but it will be a waste of time to spend all that money, and as the country distributes this product, the H5N1 virus evolves. That means that the vaccine will no longer be effective, and we would spend alot of money for nothing. I say that CLI will produce a significant amount of the vaccine, distribute it to the most affected places on Asia to reduce the death toll, and be ready to produce a new vaccine if the H5N1 virus evolves to a newer form.

Resource:

Citation: Gutierrez, Jason. “1,000 Dead or Missing in Philippine Mudslides: Officials.” Yahoo! News. December 4, 2006. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/weatherphilippinestyphoon> (December 4, 2006).

Link: 1,000 Dead or Missing in Philippine Mudslides: Officials

Picture:

Picture Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41992000/jpg/_41992948_israel203_bodyap.jpg

Picture Source: http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/MapMudsl022006.jpg

What is the issue?

In Bicol, Philippines, typhoon rains around the Mayon Volcano has caused a terrifying mudslide on Monday, December 4th, 2006. More than 1,000 citizens have either been missing or dead. It is officially confirmed that 425 locals are dead while 599 citizens are still in questioned of being dead or missing. Now, The Red Cross has contacted organizations around the world to donate shelter and money for the small amount of survivors and the money to repair the damages done. This catastrophe has happened because the hurricane Durain, has caused typhoon rains which triggered a devastating mudslide to swallow the town. While the mud was going downhill, it has been mixed by volcanic ash (from the Mayon Volcano), which proved almost impossible to escape in.

2. Who is involved?

The Red Cross, Bicol residents, Gloria Arroyo (President of the Philippines), Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Spain, and the United Nations.

3. Who is affected and how?

• The Red Cross because they have gathered for organizations around the world to donate shelter and money for the damages done to the mudslide incident.
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo because she has sent 1 billion pesos, equivalent to 20 million dollars, to repair the physical damages to the town.
• Japan because they have sent tents, blankets, generators and water tankers, for the survivors of this tragedy.
• Malaysia because they have sent 20 tons of food and medicine to help out the remaining lives of this incident.
• Indonesia because they have also sent out medicine.
• Australia is to donate 1 million dollars while Canada is to donate $877, 200  to repair the damages of the town.
• Spain because they have sent medicine, hygiene uses, a field hospital to heal the injured ones, tents, blankets, and drinking water for the remaining survivors.
• The United Nations because they have planned to donate 1-2 million dollars to buy for medicine purposes.

4. What would you do if you were directly involved?

As the President of Philippines, I would make sure that this kind of incident would not happen again. I would seek donations from more countries as the death toll is rising immensely in this catastrophe. And as the president, I would have more securities in this region and evacuate the locals when hinting another mudslide. This way, they would be safe with their loved ones. And once that is working well, if another mudslide DOES happen, I would make sure that I would build a barrier around the direction of large hills, so that there would be time to evacuate everyone safely. And I would make sure that towns around the massive Mayon Volcano would be heavily protected for future eruptions. I feel this way would be best because it will end the suffering of the locals, and especially their families.

There are many types of information that I took in today at Social Studies. I learned how much Rome impacted on our daily lives today, how much they impacted the world on THEIR TIME, the infamous Pompeii incident, Julius Caesar, and more!

One of the most exciting and extremely unusual aspects I learned was the gladiators of Rome and the coliseum. Gladiator comes from the word “Gladius”, which means sword and the sexual reference to the male’s genitals. Gladiators usually have their nickname referring to sexual phrases, which many of my fellow classmates giggled at once heard. Well, I did to, as it was a definitely unexpected thing to learn!

Some say that being a gladiator is cool because you get to fight with animals and other people. But if they find out the harsh training and consequences they go through, they might think twice before stating that comment again. From battles that Rome fought, they took the opponents and turned them into slaves and prisoners. They would either sell the slaves in the market to work in the mines, buildings, or such, or put them into a training school for gladiators.

There, they would have to learn the gladiator tactics, and if the instructor feels that they have not done a good job, they would be sent to the school’s prison, which isn’t really a nice way to live. In the school, they would train with wooden swords, but when they come out of the coliseum and fight in front of the crowd, they have to deal with the REAL thing.

Gladiators would fight for their lives and freedom. If the audience gives you a thumb up or thumbs down after being fallen down, states that you are either speared to death or spared to live, while another gladiator would point his weapon at you waiting for the audience to show their votes. And thing is, gladiators does not only fight human beings, but animals too!

Another thing I learned from the video is Julius Caesar. He was a major leader in Roman history, but in the end, the senators did not agree with him being a dictator, so they speared him to death. Once died, his son took over the Roman Empire to become one of the many rulers of the Roman Colony.

The Pantheon, a Roman temple, was built to dedicated all the gods. It has a record of the biggest intact roof in the world today, and also one of the oldest important buildings too!

One of the most disastrous factors that happened to the Roman Empire was the Pompeii incident. Romans lived in Pompeii royally, such as having a house of 50 rooms! But at August 24, 79 A.D, all citizens heard a blast outside. It seemed that a volcano which, was Mount Vesuvius, was erupting and was about to bury them with ashes. It did. And now, the ashes in Pompeii have been cleared, but the engulfed bodies and structures still remain conserved to show the horror the Pompeii incident was.

And after that, the Roman Empire fell. The German tribes united and attacked on the north of Rome, while the Persians also headed for Rome’s destruction! They used the Roman’s own tactics to win the battle, which was smart in my point of view! As we know it, the Roman civilization has fallen, but the spirit and knowledge it gave the modern world today will never be forgotten.

History and Social Studies are very important aspects in life. We need it to learn about our past, and new discoveries around the world. It also helps us LEARN more about each other and ourselves. Without Social Studies, there would be no geography. Without History, we wouldn’t know anything about the past or who Alexander The Great is! He is a major leader in the known world as he did the unthinkable; reign over more countries than any human being before! He is an inspiration to the future leaders and teaches us to be great leaders OURSELVES, which is why he is a grand mark in history. We should definately study History and Social Studies because it’s one of the important aspects of life, and it will help us in the future, and especially now! When I think of History, I immediately think of the Romans and Ancient China because those kind of topics interest me alot, and would be topics I would love to learn in the future. When I think of Social Studies, I see the world map, as in 6th grade, we mostly studied countries and flags of the world such as India and Togo. Believe me, my parents were impressed when I showed them that I knew where every single country is located and what the flag looks like! And we studied what geography is, such as the five themes: place, location, environment, region, and movement. We need to learn about geography and topography as without it, we wouldn’t know the other part of the world, or even if there IS another part of the world. This are the reasons why History and Social Studies are an important aspect of life, and why we should definately study it!