Final Learning and Performance Evaluation

English 111

Steven Brandon

Jay Saunders

12/10/12

 

Final Learning and Performance Evaluation

 

This has been an exciting semester, in which we have learned much.  As based off of the learning outcomes paper, I can say that I believe I have successfully completed the goals of this course.  We have covered a great deal of information, and learned quite a bit.  I believe the self evaluation effectually demonstrates this.

First we will start with the writing process.  What is the writing process?  There are many ways to describe it; but for this paper the best definition is this- the writing process is a series of six steps in which one starts from scratch, and ends up with a written, proof-read and published paper.  In English class, we learned the six steps of the ideal writing process, how to put them into practice, and some various techniques for using the steps.  The six steps of the writing process are: prewriting, drafting, revising, proof-reading and editing, publishing and reviewing.  We also learned many ways to draft.  This included drafting in sections and drafting in class.  Drafting in sections is when you draft your paper one segment at a time, and then stopping after a segment is compete and proof reading what you have already written.  When we drafted in class, we focused on using familiar styles, and them changing them into what we wanted our paper to end up as.  However, before starting to draft, you must pre-write.            

 Pre-writing is the act of researching and finding out all of the information for your paper.  This includes looking up sources on the internet, and finding books in the library.  This also includes putting together an outline.  After pre-writing and drafting, comes revision, which is going over your paper and working out all of the major kinks.  Most of this is just rearranging your paper, sentences and making sure your thesis matches the rest of your paper.  We have also learned many ways to proof read, which is fixing the skin deep surface flaws.  One of the ways is to leave your paper for a while, the longer the better, and come back to it later to read it with a different mindset.  Another idea is to read it out loud.  This helps you recognize the mistakes, as you come across them.  Reading slowly also helps locate mistakes.

Now that you have a revised, well-written, and supported paper, it is time to publish it.  Bringing your work to the world can be performed many different ways.  The ones we covered in our class were blogging, and handing them into our teachers.  When we blogged, we set up an account and posted our work there.  When we turned our homework into our teachers, we just printed it out and gave it to them.  The last step in the writing process, and sometimes the most skipped, is the reviewing stage.   This step consists of taking your paper after it has been published and looking back over it, seeing if you could improve it anymore.  These six steps are of course the ideal process, but does my actual writing process look like this?  Coming into this class I had a writing process, but it was not nearly developed.  The process I learned in high school was actually very close to the one taught here at J Sergeant Reynolds, but did not delegate points.  One of these points was pre-writing.  In high school I had performed pre-writing without knowing what I was doing because the teachers gave it to us as homework.             

Now, in college, I know the value, name and reason for pre-writing.  Even though I see the reason for the research, I sometimes do less pre-writing because I have less time.  By this I mean that I have more activities, like work, and am a poor time manager.  Because of this lack of pre-writing, my papers sometimes turn put for the worst.  As far as drafting is concerned, I believe that I am very much the same.  By this, I mean that I usually sit down and draft all at once.  I do this because I often need the motivation that the pressure of the due date provides.  I am trying to work on this by applying one of the techniques we learned in class, drafting in segments.  I am working on this because I believe my papers will benefit from this practice.  It also helps with forcing yourself to have more time with pre-writing.

 In English 111, we have also learned about citing sources, people, when to cite and how to cite.  One of the examples I have provided for this is my second paper.  In this paper, I have cited all of my sources as in-text citations, as well as including a bibliography at the end of the paper that cites all sources used in MLA format, the current format that is preferred by most non-historical professors.  One of the criteria for English 111 is to prove yourself a man of integrity.  I believe I have done this.  One has just to take a look at my cited sources, to see that I have cited what I have used. 

In English 111, we are also learning about communication.  The two types of communication we learned about are oral communication and written communication.  In oral communication we learned about how your stance influences the message and that the relaxed position is feet shoulders width apart and hands behind back.  We also learned about maintaining the proper distance between yourself and the other speaker.  I demonstrated this in class by conversing with three others in the correct, relaxed position at the proper space.  In addition to our oral communication, we also studied written communication.  This included the sentence types: IC, FANBOYS IC, IC, because IC, if IC, then IC and although IC, actually IC.  We also covered introductory phrases, conjunctional adverbs, prepositional phrases and dependent clauses.  I must admit that this is probably my weakest point in this class.  I have trouble with it because when I am writing, I get on a roll with a good idea and I want to put it down on paper before I forget it.  Because of this, my sentence structure sometimes suffers. 

Another criteria of the learning outcome is knowing how to use digital technologies as well as old fashioned paper.  I believe I have excelled at this as demonstrated of my mastery of the blog.  At first, this blog was very difficult for me because I was not used to publishing electronically.  In high school, I had done very little on the computer, but this class helped to develop these basic, necessary skills.

In this class, I have also learned about rhetoric.  One of the points drilled into my mind was the rhetorical triangle.  This triangle is how three groups relate to each other.  You have the author, who crafts a message to the audience.  The author crafts a message to persuade the audience to take a certain course of action.  The audience’s job is to provide feedback to the author, letting him know if he was successful or not.  This is proved useful to me because it reminds me of the fact that the author always has an agenda in mind and reminds me that I must approach information critically. 

I have learned much in this class that I will be able to apply to my life and hope I have persuaded you with my message that I have done the work to deserve a worthy grade.

 

 

Second History Paper

Jay Saunders

History 111

Tom deMayo

 

The Crusades

 

 

Violence and religion are two things which radically shaped the culture during the Middle Ages.  A major example of this is the Crusades.  The Crusades were a series of campaigns, and their goal was recapturing the Holy Land.  It was the year 1095, and Pope Urban II called a meeting.  At this meeting, he announced how the church had fallen from its heights, and how it was now being beating down by the wickedness of the world.  This meeting was attended by three hundred and ten bishops and abbots.  These clergy were motivated to reclaim the Holy Land.  Before Pope Urban II addressed retaking the Holy Land, he talked about revival in their own land.  After persuading them to purge their own lands of evil, he went on to describe how their brothers in the Holy Land were crying out for help in pain from the oppression of the Muslims.  In the words of Charles Oman, there were “many complicated impulses, religious, commercial, and political,” (AoWMA p.232) reasons that led to the Crusades.  The Pope entreated the nobles to fight. He also said that God would be pleased, and that he, the Pope, would forgive their sins.  Along with the appeal, Urban II reminded them that they were not going as mercenaries, but that they were going as God’s shepherds, salt, and light.  What, then, did these crusades accomplish?  The main accomplishments were that the Crusades brought western civilization into contact with the eastern world, vastly improving their scientific knowledge and riches; they also led to additional trade and commerce (WB) between the east and the west, and relieved the pressure and constant bickering in the west.  The soon to be crusaders were also told that if they failed, it would be on their own heads.  They would be excommunicated, and their sins would not be forgiven.  After the meeting was over, the attendees were told to go and spread the word about the war.          

The word was spread, and thousands of Europeans prepared for what we now know as the First Crusade.  The number of warriors that went was truly amazing.  One of the reasons that so many went, was because of the promise of the forgiveness of sins.   Another, more worldly reason, was that the soldiers had the chance to become wealthy.  Many also went because those going were permitted, nay, commanded, to sew a cross on their clothes.  This cross was a mark of great pride and prestige to the soldiers; it also served as a morale booster.  It gave confidence to the men wearing it, because it was considered a sign of victory over death.  I also believe that this sign might have been chosen, because of Justinian’s success in battle; he had the same sign painted on his soldier’s shields.  With this sign of victory embroidered upon them, the soldiers soon set out.  There was, however, a problem, and this was that the soldiers lacked a leader.  No country would let another lead.  This soon led to a less organized, and less effective army.  Another problem was that some groups of warriors came upon Jewish settlements, and thought to themselves why go all the way to the Holy Land to kill nonbelievers when there are some here that we can kill.  So they started sacking Jewish towns and settlements.  The rabble of soldiers eventually did make it down to the Holy Land, and reconquered Jerusalem.  When they conquered Jerusalem, they killed all who looked like Muslims even if they were Christians, because they could not communicate very well and were blood-thirsty.  The first Crusade was the most successful, but the Turks did retake the Holy Land.  The other most notable crusades are the Childrens Crusade, and the Fourth Crusade. 

The Childrens Crusade involved a group of boys who went to try and recapture the Holy Land.  This Crusade did not even make it to the Holy Land.  The children died on the way to the Mediterranean, or were captured and sold into slavery by the boatmen they had contracted to carry them across the Mediterranean.  The Fourth Crusade is remembered for the crusaders not having enough money to pay for ship passage.  So the Venetians offered free passage if they would sack a rival city.  These Crusaders sacked Zara.  They also sacked Constantinople instead of fighting the Turks.  None of the other crusades were very successful.  Most resulted in large numbers of soldiers dying at the hands of the enemy, or retreating back to safety.         

What, then, did these crusades achieve?  One of the main actions that they supported was teaching western civilization about their eastern counter parts. This vastly enhanced their scientific knowledge, and increased their riches.  It amplified their riches by increasing trade and commerce, (WB) between the east and the west territories.   They also served was to relieve pressure.  It accomplished this by turning their focus outward instead of where it had been, on their neighbor’s castle.  The crusades had many effects, such as bringing eastern riches to the west, raising awareness of new lands, and portraying Christians in a very shocking light.  The soldiers that were supposed to be fighting this battle for the Lord, were actually going to kill, steal and become rich off of others.  This hurt the Christian religion because the people who claimed to be Christ’s followers, clearly, did not follow His teachings, but their own worldly desires.  The First Crusaders also forced many to become Christians, or at least profess Christianity with their mouth.  This was forced upon them when Jerusalem was captured. 

            ‘Stated broadly, the problem which was started in 1096, and lasted till 1291, was whether feudal Europe, with the military customs and organization whose development we have been tracing, would prove strong enough to make a permanent lodgment in the East, or perchance to make good the whole of the ancient losses which Christendom had suffered at the hands of the Saracen and Turk from the days of Heraclius to those of Romanus Diogenes.” (AoWMA p.233)  Clearly, the Crusades shaped the culture of the time in many ways.  Even though they failed at their intended purpose, the Crusades left a mark upon the coulters during this time.

 

           

                             

 

 

Works cited

 

 

 

Oman, Charles William Chadwick, and Charles William Chadwick Oman. A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages. 378-1278AD. Vol. One. London: Greenhill, 1991. Print.

(AoWMA)

Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader. Fourth ed. Boston [etc.: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. Print

(WoH)

 

Queller, Donald E. "Crusades." World Book. 2001 ed. Vol. 4. Chicago: World Book, 2001. 1159-162. Print.

(WB)

 

 

 

Notes

Here are some of my class notes. I would say one of the pieces of information that I will take away from this class is the note taking process I have started to developed. When I started my notes were very inefficient due to their cluttered stated, but now thanks to you I have them laid out in a more organized order.  I know they still need some work, especially organizing them in my binder, but they now have dates, class names, and my name, as well as a place for homework, and assignments.  Here are just a few of my notes.

You can tell that this page was written before we covered note making, by the lack of the date at the top.  It is also missing the class name, and mine.  We have the rhetorical triangle here as well.

 

 

On this page the assignments are clearly displayed at the top above the line. 

 

 

 

We covered note making during this class.

 

 

The next three pages demonstrate some
 of the drafting we did in class.

 

 

 

Oh look, here we have the ideal writing process.

 

 

 

 

 

Grammatically Correct Sentences

 Here are some sentences we took from out first paper, and converted them into the grammatically

correct sentences types we learned in class.

 

   There have been many cultures throughout the ages, and all of them have unique traits.  It is hard to

study many of them, because they lack primary sources.  If we look at the  most notable differences

between civilizations, then we see what the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Hindu societies

considered a good life to consist of.  Was it lead by religion?  As in Egypt and in India, or forced

such as in Mesopotamia?

 

 

There are many different ways to describe what living a good life means.  Whether it is having religion, and living with morals, or having a law that greatly limits your ability to do bad.  Living a good life is mainly based on the society you are living in.  Although we imagine a good life a certain way, actually their view is much different. What is considered a good life in today society would not have been acceptable in the Egyptians society, but living a good life in the Mesopotamians society would not be considered to be a blessing in today’s standards. 

Differences in Islam and Christianity

 

Islam presents many difference doctrines.  One of the chief beliefs is that if you obey Muhammad’s translation of Allah, and convert you will be saved.  (Woh 276)  Another teaching I noticed was that your boss is responsible for your sins, if you sin while obeying him.  (WoH 90)  On the other hand if you sin of your own free will you are guilty.  (WoH 263)

            The religion of Islam resembles Christianity, except for the fact that they consider Jesus to be a prophet, where as Christians worship Jesus as God’s son.  Muslims also believe that Muhammad was the main prophet, but Christians don’t believe he was a prophet.

I believe that the differences are more important, because that is what defines the individual religions.  They share so many common factors, such as founding, heritage, and early beliefs, that with out the distinction you would have one religion.

Sentence Types

 Sentence types we learned in English.

IC. ===> IP, IC.
IC, FANBOYS IC. ===> IP, IC, FANBOYS IC.
IC, because IC. ===> IP, IC, because IC.
If IC, then IC. ===> IP, if IC, then IC.
Although IC, actually IC. ===> IP, although IC, actually IC.

_________; CA, __________. ===> IP, _________; CA, _________.

I feel sorry for those not here, because they missed a quiz; so, their class participation grade will suffer.

IP = Introductory Phrase.
*three types of introductory phrases:
•Conjunctive Adverb (CA): however, therefore, more, moreover, now, etc.

•Prepositional Phrase: groups of words beginning with preposition, like: in, on, after...
•Dependent Clause: “While the students were going to school,...”

They came to school today.
However, they came to school today. ===> IP, IC. = Conjunctive Adverb, IC.

On 6 August 1961, my mother was in pain, and she was not sure she wanted to have her last kid. ===> IP, IC, FANBOYS IC. = Prepositional Phrase, IC, FANBOYS IC.

While it was raining, I read a book, but I fell asleep before I could finish it. ===>
IP, IC, FANBOYS IC. = Dependent Clause, IC, FANBOYS IC.

Second Paper Notes

First Idea for paper, my actually paper turned out quite different, but this was a start.

 

 

 

 

How did violence play a role in conversions in the medieval ages?

 

Throughout the ages their have been many wars, most of them extremely bloody, and the majority of them avoidable.  All of them have their reasons, some of them noble many of them not.  One of the nobler series, in concept, were the crusades.  What makes these wars so special?  Was it how the soldiers presented Christianity to the people they conquered, or was Christianity presented to the returning soldiers, was the campaign really even about Christianity?

 

It was fought to convert people and conquer them

 Recaptured the holy land

It was fought in a land that had already been conquered and converted.

Outline

 

 

 

What topic?

 

Crusades

 

 

Why fought, in truth, what was the front (real reason)

 

“Many complicated impulses, religious, commercial, and political,” (AoWMA p.232)

 

 

Relieve pressure on Constantinople from Turks

Capture Holy Land    put Christians in charge

Accomplished very ineffectually at least did held Jerusalem for 90 yeast pushed Turks back miles

 

Did not have one leader

 

 

Who won?

 

Conquering Jerusalem and Antioch just barely

 

 

How did this impact conversions?

How did this spread religions?

How did this portray the Christians?

 

 

 

 

I.                 Intro

    A. Thesis

 

II point one

A.    ……

B.    …….

C.    …….

II  point two

A.    …..

B.    ……

C.    ……

 

II  point three

D.    …..

E.     ……

F.     ……

First History Test

Here is my first test in history!!

 

The Egyptian Middle Kingdom

 

     The Egyptian Middle Kingdom was an age in the Egyptian history sandwiched between two intermediate periods and the old and new kingdoms on either side of them.  An intermediate period was a time when the control of the government disintegrated.  The kingdoms were set up so that at any given time there was one ruling family, called a dynasty, in power.  However, over the span of a kingdom many dynasties might ascend to the throne.  Starting after 2100 B.C., the Middle Kingdom is often thought of as Egypt’s classical period.  During the Middle Kingdom time period, Egypt controlled the river valley.  Egypt also had natural protection against invaders with its unique placement on the map.  Part of Egypt is protected by the Red Sea, and part by the mountains below them.  They also have another body of water guarding their coast, the Mediterranean.  Even with all of this natural protection, the Middle Egyptian Kingdom was destroyed when a force called the Hyksos occupied Egypt.  I believe this knowledge on this subject is important because of the political unrest that is going on around this time.  This relates to the unrest, because knowing how the country was founded, and where things went wrong could help save our country.  The information for this paper was taken off of the class notes on blackboard.

 

 

Confucius

 

     Confucius was a philosopher who was born in China in 551 BC and died in 479 BC.  He is most remembered for founding the philosophy of Confucianism.  Confucianism is the idea that everybody has a place, and job in life, and that in order for life to go smooth everybody has to be in their place.  It also deals with rulers leading by example, instead of by force.  When Confucius first introduced his thoughts he was met with much resistance from the legalists, a group of people who were more concerned with having laws, and making people obey them.  They convinced the king to burn many of Confucius’ books and teachings.  However, Confucianism eventually gained power by defeating their legalist opponents, even though some of the principles of the government were still based on the legalist way of thinking.  This is important because Confucianism went on to become the main way of thinking for China, with bits of it showing up in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.  It also influenced the country’s future.  For instance, the Han dynasty taught Confucianism in its schools, and many of its government positions were based upon the knowledge of Confucianism.  This belief system was unique because, in that time, it was unusual for people to have a philosophy “ruling” them, instead of a plethora of gods.  For more information on this topic please see our source book, Worlds of History, Confucius.

 

 

Han dynasty

 

The Han dynasty was a Chinese power from 200B.C. to 200 A.D.  This is an important dynasty because it changed the ways that school was taught.  It started teaching Confucianism in its schools.  It did this because Confucianism was the only completed doctrine in that time.  This is related to Confucianism because it is when China started teaching it, and what a nations schools teach, changes the mindset of the whole nation.  If taught long enough, normally a couple generations, the old mind set is completely forgotten and the new one is practiced.  So in effect the Han dynasty changed itself.  It is interesting that the Han dynasty chose to do this, because of the fact that much of their government derived its power from the legalistic way of thinking.  This legalistic way of thinking was passed down to them from the dynasty that preceded them, the Qin dynasty.  They also copied many of the other factors in the Qin dynasty, the only main change was the change in what schools taught.  The text on Confucianism in the world of History relates to this piece, because that explains what was being taught.  Most of this information was taken from my notes, which were taken from class.

 

 

Persian Empire

 

The Persian Empire was the first major kingdom of the old world.  It originated in modern day Iran in 550 B.C. and spread father into Europe, into west Asia, and northern Africa.  It mainly gained its power from conquering other nations.  It did this by using a force of extremely light infantry.  At the beginning they were extremely effective, because Persia could amass large amounts of them.  They were also lightly outfitted, which was another reason why Persia could stockpile vast forces.  The main problem with them was that because they were so light, they could not withstand equal numbers of armored opponents.  One of the large trends that Persia established was the thought that it was permissible to take over other nations, if you could, to add to your own glory.  Eventually Persia found, out as all must, that you can’t keep going forever.   They launched an attack on Greece.  Greece’s threatened polios chose to work together instead of being conquered one by one.  They banded together and fought the Persians winning the war.  Later after Darius had been replaced Xerxer, Xerxer decided he would try to invade Greece.  His army went forth, and lost.  What actually happened was that the army was so big that it needed ships to supply it.  Athens picking up on this fact destroyed the Persians ships with their superior ships, and the army was left starving, demoralized, and on the run.  After this, the armies of the Greeks captured or killed the Persians, and declared victory.  This relates to the other points in a major way, first it was because of this that the Delian league was formed.  It was because of this league that Athens had the opportunity to try and take over Greece, starting the Peloponnesian Wars.  This information was gathered from lectures, and notes.

 

 

Polios

 

     A polios was a section of land, ruled by one major city, with a few smaller cities under it.  This term, polios, has gone on to become the root word for many other words, but the definition we think of when thinking of polios is city state.  The idea of a city state started during the formation period of the Greek culture, and parts of it last even to this day.  These city states could be ruled in many ways.  Some were republics, others were oligarchies, and still others closer to monarchies.  The polios was the Greek’s main form of ruling, each one having different governments, and rules, and most boasting of some sort of citizen led power, even if it was only in theory, and not in practice.  As we learned in the notes much of this is temporarily changed when Athens, one of the more powerful city states started a group of polios called the Delian league.  At first this league of city states was put together to protect Greece from the invading Persians.  This worked while all of the city states had a common goal, but after the war it was hard to keep a bunch of normally independent rulers together.  Athens, who was one of the more powerful polios, and was in charge of the league and started to take over smaller polios and force them into her league.  Sparta then took off and started its own league in defense of Athens, which leads us right into the Peloponnesian Wars.  This is an important point because the Greek culture was spread over the world later by Alexander the Great, and because of that into America, where the word polios served as the root word of many of our modern day words like city, metropolis, and politician.  All of this information was found in class notes, and blackboard slid shows.

 

 

Peloponnesian Wars

 

     The Peloponnesian Wars were a series of wars in which the Delian league lead by the Athens fought against the Peloponnesian league lead by the Spartans.  They were slightly after the Persian War, and were caused indirectly by the Persian war.  These conflicts were spread out over Greece; Peloponnesian is actually the place in Greece where the Spartan’s homeland was.  The “declared” winner of the war was the Spartans, since they eventually conquered Athens, and installed a new government.  Even though the acknowledged winner was Sparta, neither side truly won because this war weakened Greece and opened up the way for them to be controlled by the Mesopotamians.  This is a very significant war in the history of the world, the main reason being that Greece was conquered by Alexander the Great, who spread Greek influence over most of the known world.  Because of this, Greek culture became the ideal and was admired in much of the world.  This information was found in the slid shows, and class notes.

 

Group Study notes

Here are the notes from the group on the first paper.

https://docs.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/document/d/1QUc3MK6XDVlvNo0QTqMlFi2-K0_bTzSv734OsZzyEKA/edit

Google Dox #2

Here is some study notes from my group.  The top is just stuff from when the guys were messing around.  The notes start about half way through.



https://docs.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/document/d/1h363ckRsCkTpuDqsVPn-OxE05z79kiIyO8mK2JYTkT4/edit

Voting Sticker

 

Here Is Me With My Voting Sticker.

 

 

 

 

Confucius, Legalism, and Taoism

Confucius, from the Analects is a Confucianism piece because it talks about good rulers having respect of the people, and guiding by example of human wisdom.

 Legalism states that most people are evil at heart, and therefore must have laws forced upon them.

Laozi Taoism says that through non action, action comes about.

 I would say Ban Zhao, Lessons for Women, is a Confucius, and Taoism piece because it talks about how to woman are to live a life quietly (Taoism, let be what is), using the wisdom of their mothers (Confucius, wisdom based).

 Liu Tsung-Yuan,  Camel Kuo the Gardener is based on proving that Taoism would be a better form of government, because it sates that the government was so controlling the people, that the people were not able to do for themselves what should be done.

 The Han dynasty favored Confucianism because it was the most developed source of Chinese culture. (Traditions and encounters160)

 The Qin dynasty preferred legalism because it gave him total control, such as controlling what the common people could learn, like burning many of the books that did not agree with his polices. (Traditions and encounters157)

Prideful Greeks

I see the Greeks as more humanists then the Hebrews.  For example the Greeks vocabulary was full of words, and phrases that promoted themselves, such as “this great empire” (WoH 105), “our homes are beautiful and elegant” (WoH 106), “Then, again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries” (WoH 1060 A first rate example of pride.  They also said “The Thracians, I thought, made as fine a show as the procession as our own people,” (WoH 110) which shows pride at least in people if not in themselves.  It is clear to an viewer, however, that the Hebrews weren’t quite as prideful based on there obedience and reliance on God proven by phrases such as “He leads me” (WoH 221), and “You prepare a table before me” (WoH 222)

The Early Church

The early Church presents a revolutionary idea in religion that salvation is by grace, not by works.  (Ephesians 2:8)  This is not to say that actions do not matter, but that we are not saved by those actions.  (Ephesians 2:10, James 2:14)  To me this means that the actions are proof of our faith.  (Matthew 7:16)

 

These teachings differ mainly in two ways.  One is that the Jews thought you had to become a Jew to be saved, where as in Christianity you can be saved even if you are not a Jew.  (Romans 2:9-11, 10:12)  Another belief is that in Judaism not everyone believes that Jesus was the messiah, where as Christianity is based off of the fact that Christ is the messiah.

 

I believe that the similarities are more important.  I think this because “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  (Romans 10:9, 13) So for the Jews that believe in His resurrection, and confess that Jesus is lord will be saved, just as the gentiles will (Romans 10:9, 12)

Paleolithic and Neolithic ages

Hello, my name is Jay Saunders and today I will be talking about the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages.  Now first let me say that my textbook is still in the mail, so I did some research online (explaining any discrepancy in my information and yours).  Let us start by comparing the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages to two Indian tribes.  First, I will compare the Blackfoot tribe to the Paleolithic age.  They were nomads who wandered the plains following the buffalo.  Their whole life followed the buffalo, their teepees were made from the skin, they used the bones for tools, and they ate the meat.  They also made clothes, moccasins, and soap from the buffalo.  They were constantly on the move so they were not able to build a city, and what they owned had to be light and portable so it could be carried to the next camping spot.  This left them with less time to work on technology and play, but then again, hard working societies are often just as happy as their richer counterparts. 

Next we will look at the Powhatan tribe and how it resembles the Neolithic age.  The Powhatan’s were a tribe of people who lived farming, hunting, and fishing.  They stayed in one place for long amounts of time so were able to establish a village.  Because they had more time (they did not have to spend a lot of time moving) they could work on additional technology, further improving themselves.  They also had better methods to store up their food for bad times.  Another perk of the stable villages was that they could establish trade routes, and allies.  Both of these Indian tribes are a people who should be acknowledged for their ingenuity, and ability to survive.  Thank you for reading this and giving me your response.

 

Jay Saunders

Buddhism, and Hinduism

Hinduism: Svetasvatara Upanishad

This it a Hindu source because it deals with the class system.  “master and servant- both have existed from beginningless time.” (WoH 201) It develops the ideas of Hinduism by elaborating on the death to life cycle.  “Round and round it turns, and never stops.” (WoH 201)

 

Buddhism: Gotama’s Discovery

This is a Buddhist source in view of the fact that it looks to self mediation for enlighten.  “he had gone to his place and was meditating in seclusion,”  (WoH 206)

 

Buddhism and Caste

This is a Buddhist source since it talks about equality in all classes.  “First Assalayana, you bases your claim on birth, then you gave them up for learning, and finally you have come round to my was of thinking, that all four classes are equally pure!”  (WoH 209)

 

Mahayana Buddhist: The Lotus Sutra

This source is from the Buddhist belief.  You can tell this because in the Buddhist religion people often wonder the land for self enlightenment.  “Before that Buddha had left home” (WoH 210)

 

One of the differences between the Buddhist and the Hindu is that the Buddhist believed all four castes were equal, where as the Hindu believed that the castes were very distinct. “First Assalayana, you bases your claim on birth, then you gave them up for learning, and finally you have come round to my was of thinking, that all four classes are equally pure!”  (WoH 209)

One of the main similarities between the two religions was that both believed in continuous reincarnation, until one with Brahman was achieved.  “Hearing of the Buddha’s entry into Nirvana” (WoH 212), Nirvana was the peace one found in Brahman “This vast universe is a wheel.  Upon it are all creatures that are subject to birth, death, and rebirth.  Round and round it turns, and never stops.  It is the wheel of Brahman.  As long as the individual self thinks it is separate from Brahman, it revolves upon the wheel in bondage to the laws of birth, death, and rebirth.  But when though the grace of Brahman it realizes its identity with him, it revolves upon the wheel no longer.  It achieves immortality.”  (WoH 201) 

Looking at Ancient Civilizations

There have been many civilizations that we know nothing about, but the ancient Mesopotamians are not one of these.  Why might be asked?  Well one of the reasons is because of their written language.  This allows us to study their work long after they are gone.  One of their well known works is The Epic of Gilgamesh.  This is an epic, a long poem telling about a hero, about a king blessed by the gods.  From reading this we can learn many things about the Mesopotamian culture.  One of which is that they had a king with some type of power (p.50 Worlds of History).  Another fact is that they had enough free time to read for pleasure, resulting in the creation of this epic (p.49 Worlds of History).  That this poem is still around testifies to the fact that writing greatly improved the record keeping of this time.

 

Numerous people have heard of Hammurabi’s Code, but do they really know that they are talking about a complex system of laws instead of just a few famous ones.  For instance when people say Hammurabi’s Code most people think about an eye for an eye, but do they know that the code covers laws from theft(p.59 Worlds of History)to legal agreements(p.59 Worlds of History) and to family relations(p.60 Worlds of History)?  In reality there are countless laws covering many, many things.  From reading this we know that this land was in fact, a kingdom with a semi fare ruling system favoring rich. We also know that they were militaristic because of the fact that Hammurabi conquered Mesopotamia.  So next time you think about Hammurabi’s code remember all of the other laws that were carved into the stone and not just the few famous ones.

 

 

Next we will be looking at Advice to a Young Egyptian: Be a Scribe.  This is a story telling how every job is terrible, except being a scribe (p. 62-65 Worlds of History).  As the name applies it was written about Egypt, and it exemplifies how prestigious being a scribe was.  This piece tells us about some of the other trades of that day (p. 63, 64 Worlds of History), as well as shows us how biased a writer can sometimes be.  The story Advice to a Young Egyptian: Be a Scribe is a very interesting piece to read letting us look into the distant past of Egypt.

 

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a small book that deals with dying, and the after life.  It is a religious text that proves that the Egyptians believed in many gods (p. 66 Worlds of History).  It also shows us that they believed in life after death (p. 68 Worlds of History).  This book might have been one of the items a pharaoh would have had buried with him.

 

The pictures of Egypt depict a belief in after life, they also portray that after death everybody will have the same roles as in life.  For instance the pharaoh is still in charge (p. 71 Worlds of History), and the servants are still serving him (p. 70 Worlds of History).

 

 

I would rather live in Egypt as one of the ruling class or a merchant.  I would prefer this mainly because I would live on the river and have boat that could be used for transportation of person of goods (p. 63 Worlds of History).

Hindu, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian religon

The Rig Veda is a story about the creation of the world.  This religious writing uses the story of Purusha to explain how the world was created by him.  It is also used to explain the beginning of the caste system by saying the leaders got born out of his mouth, and the peasants got created from his feet.  (His mouth became the Brahman; his two arms were made into the rajanya; his two thighs the vaishas; from his two feet the shudra was born.  Worlds of History p.92)

            The Upanishads are a collection of allegories about the soul of the universe, Bramhan.  To show its point the story tells of how a tree can be grown from a seed that can not be seen, and of how when salt is dissolved in water it can be tasted, but not seen (Worlds of History p.95,96).  This shows that what is not seen can be there and that what is not seen can grow into something that can affect your life.

            The Bhagavad Gita is an interesting poem about how life never dies, how it just keeps going, death into life.  It exemplifies this by using the story of Arjuna, a king who is forced to fight against his fellow family.  When on the battlefield, Arjuna starts to have doubts about killing his own family.  All of a sudden, his chariot driver says I am not your chariot driver, but the Lord Krishna, who then proceeded to tell Arjuna about his beliefs (Worlds of History p. 97-101).

            One of the main ways that I see the early Hindu religion differing from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians is that in the Egyptians and Mesopotamians religions the souls went to an afterlife, where in the Hindu religion you were just born again, and again, and again, and the only way to get out of this cycle is to find peace with Brahman.

I find the ancient Egyptians beliefs more appealing because the one death lines up more closely with my belief in Christ.

On Government, and Life

Cicero, on government is a written portion about the different types of government.  It describes four major types: monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and a combination of all three, called a mixed and moderated government. (WoH 156) This source was produced by Marcus Tullius Cicero, for roman audiences to educate them about government types, and the strengths and weakness about them.

 

Meditation by Marcus Aurelius is a Roman piece that describes how all will die.  It also talks about how you can only live for the present, because the past can’t be changed, and the future can be taken away from you. (WoH 161)

 

The Fayum portraits are Hellenistic paintings found in Egyptian tombs (WoH 192).  We do not know the artist.  They portray how art has developed through time, and culture.

 

I find Ciero’s piece very interesting because it tells of a scenario I think quite possible for us as an American people.  (lest we should discover, too late, when we desire to save her[the government], that we are without the power” (WoH 155)  Keep in mind that Rome was a republic, that became an empire. Also keep in mind that many of out governing principles are based off of the Roman republic.  History repeats itself, but in different ways.