Photobooth + Project

Today in Western Civ we finished our project on the Punic Wars. We are doing a Prezi and putting some A+ music in the background, and we added our bibliography today and it was a great time. We then went on photobooth to pass the time and it was great i'm gonna put some pictures in that we took:







I ALSO ACCIDENTALLY HIT MR SCHICK IM SORRY LIKE I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE BEHIND ME IM SO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO PLEASE DONT FAIL ME IM SORRY

I'm Tired

Today in Western Civ we continued working on our projects about Rome and stuff. Lauren didn't eat any food today either. Sehrish, Lauren, and I are doing the Punic Wars on Prezi with some music in the background. We tried rhyming our facts we had on the slideshow thing because half the class is doing a rap, but we got about 3 slides in and found that it's hard to rhyme when we don't know how to spell half the cities and everything is so factual it's a little difficult. So we have like three slides that rhyme and the rest just don't, which is kind of sad. Anyway yeah that's all we did today and I'm really tired I'm ready to go home and sleep but we still have one more day man and I'm not up for it.

I Don't Know What to Put as My Title

Today in Western Civ we went over our test but let me tell a story so I was late getting in today because my ride picked me up later than usual and then we had to make a stop and I was pulling into the school at 7:57 and as soon as I was walking into the school the warning bell rang so I RAN FOR MY LIFE and made it into the classroom a second after the actual bell rang and then I stood awkwardly for announcements and then ran back up to my locker and that was my exercise for today. Anyway after all that happened we went over our test and then we got into groups and started our project on Rome, my group of Me, Sehrish, and Lauren are doing a Prezi and stuff so that's a fun time.

Also PSA Misha wants a cameo in my blog and she's sitting behind me right now and she says "WASSUP" AND she wants me to talk about her in Portuguese which I'm fluent in (kind of) so here we go:

Misha é um verdadeiro homem   pessoa legal como eu quero dizer que se tornaram amigos na primeira semana de aula , quando ela veio e sentou-se no chão ao meu lado e conversamos sobre música e , em seguida, alguns dias mais tarde eu sugeri que preencher todas as micro-ondas com a sacos de pipoca que eles têm na cantina e ela era como sim o homem e que foi o início de nossa amizade , mas nós nunca realmente fez isso

Rome Rap

Today in Western Civ we went through and discussed the lyrics to Mr. Schick's rap about Rome that sadly, I missed. But anyways, I took a few notes and stuff so here they are:

Rome

• first to settle: 
• Latins, Etruscans, and Greeks 
• Tarquin 
• leader who was a tyrant when Rome was a monarchy 
• his son did really awful stuff and it made the people hate them even more so they drove them out
• patricians- wealthier more higher up class of people 
• plebeians- everyone not in that category, the lower class and middle class 
• senate- like ours now 
• monarchy- executive branch 
• two consoles to keep one person from getting too powerful and could veto each other 
• not a tyranny 
• Rome was more violent than Greece 
• "rich got richer and the poor got poorer" 
• Hannibal used elephants to cross the alps during the war with Carthage 
• rich would buy land so the poor could pay debt 
• triumvirate (set up by Caesar) 
• also included Crassus possibly the wealthiest person in history 
• Rubicon 
• "crossing the Rubicon" still used today 
• means you are at a certain point in your life where you HAVE to make a decision 
• Rome was scared to let Caesar in with his huge army
• he was dictator for 6 months 
• on the ides of March his friend Brutus and others stabbed him to death 
• new triumvirate was formed that included Mark Antony and Octavian 
• the two had a war and Antony lost 
• Pax Romana started when Octavian ruled,  it was a reign of peace and prosperity for 207 years 

oh we also watched a video of the fighting, or "entertainment" as the Romans called it at the end of class. 

I Left Early Yikes

Today (well technically I was supposed to write this yesterday but I was slightly dying all day) I had to leave school early because I felt dizzy and anxious and a little nauseous, so I went home died and then slept.

Test and Terms

Today in Western Civ we took our test on Alexander and I don't think I failed but then again I don't think I did amazing either. There were some questions that messed me up and the pictures did a little too, but I don't think I did completely awful. Anyway, our work is to define the terms for Chapter 6 Section 1:

• republic-form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
• patricians- wealthy landowners who hold most of the power 
• plebeians- common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the population 
• tribunes- elected representatives that protected the rights of plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials 
• consuls- two officials of Rome who commanded the army and directed the government with a one year term 
• senate- aristocratic branch of Rome's government that had both legislative and administrative functions in the republic 
• dictator- leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army 
• Punic Wars- the struggle between Rome and Carthage in 264 BC 
• Hannibal- mastermind between the second Punic War, was a 29 year old Carthaginian general 

Movie Movie Movie

Today in Western Civ we watched the movie Alexander (director's cut?) by Oliver Stone. It started out with the Battle of Guagamela and it was really kind of gory but it showed a lot of the things that happened and was very detailed, it was actually really cool. Then it flashed back to when Alexander was a kid, and Angelina Jolie played Olympius, his mother. It showed the scene with the snakes and stuff, and then a scene got too nonononononononono nono so we skipped it and went to the scene where he is getting taught geography. I like how the writer of the movie really played on all aspects of Alexander's life, such as the influence of his mom, bisexuality and homosexuality, and the whole thing with the horse. The horse scene where he tamed it and no one else could was really well made. Anyways, thats what we did today. I like it so far and we have a test Monday :)

FrEe DaY

Today in Western Civ we had a free day because Mr. Schick had to work on making the test we are going to have on Monday and he has to do other work. So I decided to study for my French Quiz and we talked about coffee. And now I have nothing else to write so yeah.

Making Up Test Questions and Dying

Today in Western Civ I died because I got no sleep and my ears are dead but the concert was fun so I'm happy. But anyways we were told to come up with some possible questions we would like to see on the test, here they are:

1. What was the name of Alexander the Great's Father?
            (the right answer is King Philip II)

2. What was the final battle between Alexander and Darius called that ended Persian power?
        a. Battle at Granicus
        b. Battle near Issus
        c. Battle of Guagamela
                       (the answer is c)

3. How old was Alexander when he died?
        a. 45
        b. 22
        c. 34
        d. 32
                       (the answer is d)

4. Who were three of Alexander's influences?
        (the right answer is his dad, his mom, and Aristotle)

5. What are the two types of monsoons they had in India?
       (ones with really heavy rain and ones that just brought really dry weather)

6. What was the method Alexander used to help him win most of his battles?
       (the phalanx)

7. Why was Alexander crowned Pharaoh in Egypt?
       a. they were scared of his power
       b. they saw him as a god
       c. they felt like it
       d. he made them crown him
                         (the answer is b)

8. Why did Alexander want his men to marry Persian women and stay in Babylon?
      a. he wanted them to have a reason not to go back home
      b. wanted to fuse cultures together
      c. wanted to improve and unify his empire
      d. all of the above
                      (the answer is d)

WHY

THIS ISN'T A BLOG POST OF NOTES OR HOMEWORK BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE CLASS TODAY. BUT IM REALLY SAD BECAUSE YOUTUBE IS BLOCKED AND THAT'S HOW WE DO LIKE HALF OF OUR SCHOOL WORK THAT'S THE ONLY THING MAKING ME HAPPY IN LIFE LIKE PLEASE WHO TOOK THIS AWAY FROM ME HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC NOW I'M BROKE SO LIKE I CAN'T USE iTUNES UGH THIS IS A PROBLEM AND IT MAKES ME SAD WHY

WE CAN'T EVEN WATCH THE ALEXANDER VIDEO MR. SCHICK

I KNOW THIS IS SUCH A FIRST WORLD PROBLEM BUT I JUST NEEDED TO RANT

The Last Part of Le Video

Today in Western Civ we finished the video on Alexander the Great and these are the notes I took:

• couldn't have conquered all he could if not for his brutality 
• obsessed with the notion he could be a god in Egypt 
• Egypt welcomes him and names him Alexander Pharaoh because he still let them practice their religion and culture 
• oracle was well known destination 
• Alexander and men were lost in the Dunes because of a sandstorm, but supposedly "two birds" saved them" allowed his publicist t make up/exaggerate his story 
• h was a "god on earth" 
• being Pharaoh wasn't enough he wanted to defeat Darius 
• Guagamela 
• 331 BC 
• most notable battle 
• Alexander was outnumbered 
• still defeated the Persians 
• his phalanx helped him repeatedly win 
• used hammer and anvil technique 
• Darius fled and one of his officers killed him 
• tired of him retreating an saving himself 
• proclaimed the Lord of Asia 
• still wasn't pleased 
• thinks world ends at India and wanted to conquer it all 
• Afghanistan was way harder to conquer because very mountainous, etc 
• the area was very cold, highly elevated, narrow in many places so they had to walk one by one which stretched across for 10 miles 
• his army did this because they had a bond in him 
• had Persians fill in the ranks 
• he drank two heavily 
• boasted and then killed his friend because he said all his glory was from his father 
• all of these things broke the bond slowly 
• Calesthenes thought Alexander was being too much of a tyrant 
• Alexander had him tortured and killed 
• his empire stretched from Greece to Afghanistan 
• got to india and the Raja tried to fight him 
• they used elephants because they could charge and trample their enemy 
• Alexander realizes he couldn't fight them 
• he used a surprise attack and attacked them and their elephants 
• one of his toughest battles 
• the raja surrendered and Alexander gave him back his land 
• India now is still very heavily influenced by Alexander 
• monsoons in India 
• could be a lot of rain or a lot of really dry weather 
• troops refused to go farther 
• Alexander was forced to go back 
• traveled back through the Maikan desert because maybe that would be punishing his men 
• less than 1/3 survived
• thought he could handle more than he could 
• made Macedonian men marry Persian women to keep them there in that place instead of going back home 
• wanted to fuse these cultures also married 3 or 4 women himself 
• wanted to make Babylon his new empire place to reign 
• fell mysteriously ill after drinking 
• dies after 12 days at age 32 
• historians debate on what killed him 
• funeral procession was broken up by an officer who wanted to take his body back to Egypt 
• Julius Caesar came to visit the tomb 
• the tomb was destroyed 
• don't know where his body now lies but there are many theories 

VIDEOVIDEOVIDEOVIDEO

Today in Western Civ we watched a video on Alexander the Great. And we had to take notes, here is what I have written down:

Documentary on Alexander the Great

• Alexander learned military skills and leadership from his father 
• Olympius his mom, also influenced him 
• passion and emotional nature 
• she spread a rumor that she was impregnated by Zeus through a snake 
• was thought to be too crazy for king Philip
• Also learned and was influenced from Aristotle 
• Achilles chose eternal death but was also one of his influences 
• "whatever Achilles could do, Alexander could do better" 
• his new mom had a son who was seen as his dad's favorite 
• feuded with his dad and went into exile 
• his dad was stabbed at his daughters wedding 
• thought to be an ex lover BUT some think it could have been an angry Alexander or Olympius 
• murderer was killed right then so there is no proof on anything 
• Alexander was 20 when he became king 
• planned to go after Persia because that was his dads plan 
• never seemed to hesitate with anything 
• in the battle with Darius, he was outgunned, outnumbered, but not out-planned 
• killed 50,000 people 
• was the first chance to prove himself and who he was
• was one of the most great military geniuses and may have been bi or gay- so maybe people should stop using gay as an insult, it's 2016 people 2016 
• Alexander brings Cleisthenies (spelling??) to "tell the story" kind of like Homer and his stories
• even though he was a great man he was very cruel 
• had 2,000 Tyrian fighters crucified because of defiance 
• in some places of Persia to get revenge he would kill all the men and leave the women alone, which was an incredibly cruel punishment back then 
• tied governor to a horse and had him dragged across the town until he died 

The Spread of Hellenistic Culture

Today in Western Civ Mr. Schick had to work on the speech and debate team stuff so we had to read pages 146-149 and take notes, and its all on Hellenistic Culture and the spread of it, so here we go:

Hellenistic Culture in Alexandria

• Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences that became known as Hellenistic culture 
• Koine was the language spoken by the Hellenistic cities, and enabled educated people and traders to communicate in cities throughout the world 
• trade and culture diversity 
• Alexandria became the foremost center of commerce and hellenistic civilization 
• western edge of Nile delta 
• was able to grow and thrive because of the commerce 
• became an international community exceeding half a million people 
• alexandria's attractions 
• great beauty 
• statues of greek gods 
• royal palaces looking over harbor 
• a much visited tomb held Alexander's glass coffin 
• Pharos (enormous greek lighthouse) 
• museum dedicated to Muses 
• The Alexandrian Library with half a million papyrus scrolls 

Science and Technology

• Hellenistic scholars preserved Greek and Egyptian learning in the sciences and provided most of the scientific knowledge available to the West 
• Astronomy 
• museum contained a small observatory in which astronomers oculd stufy planets and stars 
• astronomer Aristarchus found out two things: 
• disproved the belief that the sun was smaller than Greece 
• proposed that the planets revolve around the sun but this theory was widely unsupported and rather accepted Ptolemy's theory of the earth being in the center of the solar system for the next 14 centuries 
• Eratosthenes, director of Alexandrian Library used geometry to compute the Earth's circumference 
• also a highly regarded astronomer and mathematician
• poet and historian 
• Mathematics and Physics 
• Eratosthenes and Aristarchus used a geometry text compiled by Euclid who was a highly regarded mathematician who taught in Alexandria 
• his best known book Elements contained 465 carefully presented geometry propositions and proofs, and is still the basis for courses in geometry 
• Archimedes of Syracuse studied at Alexandria 
• explained law of the lever 
• accurately estimated the value of pi 
• invented the Archimedes screw and compound pulley 
• using his ideas Hellenistic scientists later built force pumps, pneumatic machines, and even a steam engine 

Philosophy and Art 

• teachings of Plato and Aristotle continued to be influential in Hellenistic philosophy, but in the third century BC philosophers became concerned with how people should live their lives which developed two major philosophies 
• stoicism and Epicureanism 
• Philosopher named Zeno founded the school of philosophy called Stoicism 
• stoics proposed people should live virtuous lives in harmony with the will or the natural laws that god established to run the universe 
• preached that human desires, power, and wealth were dangerous distractions 
• promoted social unity and encouraged its followers to focus on what they could control 
• Epicurus founded the school of thought called Epicureanism 
• taught that gods who had no interest in humans ruled the universe 
• believed only real objects were those that the five senses perceived 
• greatest good and highest pleasure came from virtuous conduct and absence of pain 
• main goal of humans was to achieve harmony of body and mind 
• realism in sculpture 
• sculpture flourished during the Hellenistic age 
• rulers, wealthy merchants, and cities all purchased statues to honor gods, commemorate heroes, and portray ordinary people in every day situations 
• Colossus of Rhodes is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world 
• later toppled and sold for scrap 
• moved away from harmonic balance and idealized forms of the classical age 
• by 150 BC the Hellenistic world was in decline, because a new city Rome was growing and gaining strength 
• through Rome, Greek culture was well preserved and eventually became the core of western civilization 

Holly Taught the Class Today

Today in Western Civ Holly taught the class, and Mr. Schick sat down in the class. Everyone called him Bob and Angela yelled at him for having his phone out and the other side of the room said they liked Holly teaching better and didn't have to keep hearing "shut up shut up" and "on the opinion question you were WRONG" and "you guys are writing too slowwww". Then Mr. Schick said he was tired of being bullied and nobody had aloe so that was sad.


We also did page 145 numbers 2-5:

2. I think the Persian invasion was the most significant conquest of Alexander the Great because it was what his father had planned and if he defeated Persia, the biggest empire, he would then be the most powerful. It was a bunch of battles that were all significant that he won.

3. Philip II was able to conquer Greece because he was a brilliant general who organized a very large army (and used phalanx's, each armed with long weapons, and his huge cavalry). He also had an advantage of the city-states not listening to Demosthenes about his plans to invade and attack.

4. Alexander continued his campaign of conquest because he wanted more power and wanted to gain a larger empire. He had a god-like complex, and the power got to his head and he wanted to pretty much conquer the entire world.

Then Bob went on a huge rant about this question and everyone asked him to repeat himself and he said "maybe you should write fASTER then" and everyone was like "oohhh" and then he said "but thats my opinon so it's probably wrong."

5. Alexander's empire after his death was taken over by three Macedonian kings: Antigonus, Ptolemy,  and Seleucus. They ignored everything Alexander had worked for and changed everything and governed with complete full power over the people.


Today was fun.