Maddie's Western Civ Blog

I just finished taking the test. I study very well. I think I did really well. However, there was this one question that  I knew the answer to but I put down the wrong one. This is so annoying. But I think I'll be ok because it's only one question. I really need to do well on this test so I can have an A in the class. I am really excited to see what I got. Hopefully, I got an A. This is our class western civ class of the week. Bye! See you Monday.

Tomorrow is the test. I am nervous but ready. Here is some more information we took notes on today: Cleisthenes - definitely a member of the elite very rich insulated from the “hoi polloi” but… a crafty politician saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and energies of the non-aristocrats (the middle class citizens) too bad he didn’t realize the value of women - but, hey, one step at a time.. citizens could participate - but only one-fifth of Athenians were citizens (free adult male property owners born in Athens) after several years, Athens practiced a direct democracy it’s where the state (or in this case, the city-state) is ruled by its citizens rule is based on citizenship majority rule decides vote in the agora , citizens argued, made speeches, then voted with white stones (yes) / black stones (no) it was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 500 BCE

Today, we spent most of our time reviewing for the test. I feel like I have a really good understanding of this unit and I am excited for the test. I am excited because I know that I can get my grade back up to an A with this test. It really sucks that I have a B in this class right now, but I know that I can raise it. I know I need to spend a lot of time studying this map: On the pop quiz, the only questions I got wrong were about places on the map. I am confident that if I study this map, I will do well on the test. After reviewing for the test, we started taking more notes. We discussed Draco's policies and how if someone stole cabbage, they would be put to death.

Today in class we took a pop quiz. This quiz was the worst thing about my day. I got a 16/20 and it dropped my grade to an 87. This really sucks. I wish that I would have done better on this quiz. I still have a B in this class and I really want to get it to an A. We have a test next week, so hopefully I can get a good grade on the test so it can raise my grade. Overall, this pop quiz really sucked and I wish I could have gotten a better grade.

Here are the notes I took from today: polis : fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside politics (affairs of the cities), policy, political, etc. monarchy : rule by a single person (a king, in Greece) aristocracy : rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families oligarchy : wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help) tyrant : powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support  During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece Aristocrats : members of the ruling class they attended symposiums , meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics Politics: no women (except the “entertainment”) no middle class certainly, no slaves sometimes, even certain...

"This is not a pipe." When Mr. Schick first said this, I was confused. How is this not a pipe? It's right there! The whole class was confused. Finally, a classmate raised her hand and said, "It's not a pipe. It's a picture of a pipe." Then, we had this whole discussion about how it's NOT actually a pipe. Instead, it's a picture of a pipe. But, it's also a projection of a picture of a pipe. AND it's a projection of a jpeg of a picture of a pipe. It is a very interesting concept. It's so crazy to think about this one, little picture. I'm really glad that Mr. Schick showed us this picture today. Since this class, I have been more aware when I am thinking. And then I think, 'Wow. I am thinking about thinking.' And then, I think about thinking about thinking. And then, I think about thinking about thinking about thinking. It can go on and on forever. It's really cool that we, as humans, can recognize when we are thinking an...

Happy Valentine's Day! Today we watched a video in class. The video was only six minutes long but we took the whole class to watch it. I really liked this class. We had a really great discussion about our school system and how Plato's story related to our lives today. We discussed how "learning" in school today is mostly about gathering information to get good grades. I feel like school should be about learning information to better yourself. It feels good when you get a good grade on a test and the teacher writes the top scores on the board and your name is on there. However, when you don't get a good grade on the test, and your name isn't on the board, you feel bad about yourself. I love when my name is on the board, but when it isn't, it sucks. Plato's story relates to our lives in other ways. For example, when people think outside the box and discover something new, people tend to think that this "idea" is weird. When the prisoner came ba...

Today we started the power point on Ancient Greece. We took lots of notes. Here are some VERY important notes. Know these terms and where they are on a map! Aegean Sea Ionian Sea Adriatic Sea (it’s just north of the Ionian Sea) Peloponnesus Athens Sparta Crete Asia Minor Macedonia Other notes: Greece is a mountainous peninsula mountains cover three-quarters of Greece they had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders also farmers, metalworkers, weavers, potters although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only about 20% is arable (suitable for farming) Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives & fish they developed small, independent communities (city-states) --> that’s who they were loyal to

The Allegory of the cave was written by the great philosopher, Plato. In this story, Plato imagines a world where people are tied down in a cave, facing a wall. A fire is behind them, but the people cannot turn their heads and they are unable to see the fire. Other people are the people casting shadows on the wall that the people can see. The people, who can only see the wall, think that the shadows are the ones doing the actual speaking. In class today, we read this story. I was really confused when Mr. Schick and Lily were reading the story because I couldn't seem to get the story. Just hearing the words made it really hard for me to comprehend. Everyone was sharing their thoughts and was explaining what the story meant to them. I felt left out. I wanted to share ideas, but I had no idea what to say. However, by the end, when we went over the story, I understood most of the concept. I think why it was so hard for me to understand was because the idea is so complex. It amazes me t...

1. Trojan War: a war, fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army lead by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia Dorians: a Greek-speaking people that, according to tradition, migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization Homer: a blind storyteller in Ancient Greece Epic: a long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendary or traditional heroes Myth: a traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society 3. The Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Ionian Sea were important transportation routes for the Greek people. The sea connected the Greeks with other societies. These other societies could supply the Greeks with useful resources. 4. They learned the value of seaboard trade. They adopted the Minoan writing system to the Greek language. The Minoans influenced their art, politics, and literature. 5. The epics were important because they...

Today in class we had a quiz. The quiz did not go very well. I don't think I did well. This really sucks. They are going to be posted right now. AND they were just posted. I got an 80. Not that bad actually... but now I have a B in the class. I feel like I studied very well. I don't know why I got a B. I was really hoping for an A.

Last night I forgot to do my blog. I don't know why I forgot to do this blog. Today we have a quiz and I am very nervous.

Today we started class by waiting for a couple people to take the quiz because they were absent. The people who were not finishing their quiz either went over their notes or did other homework. After that, Mr. Schick gave us a pop quiz. Unfortunately, I did not do very well on this pop quiz. After we took the pop quiz, we turned them in and we went over the answers. I got a 4/7. That is not very good! I hope my grade will not drop too much from this quiz. After the pop quiz, we finished the power point. Everyone finished their notes. At the end of class, Mr. Schick asked us when we thought we should take our quiz on Egypt. We all said that Friday was a good day to take it.

Today in Western Civ we got to finish whatever we needed to finish. Because there were so many people absent this week, Mr. Schick let us finish our notes in the textbook and on the power point. In fact, over a quarter of of the freshman class was out last Friday alone. I already had all my notes from the textbook so I decided to finish my math homework. Then, I looked at the power point. Here are some new things I learned from the power point: Earliest Egyptian writing formed c. 3100 B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphics Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments pyramids were massive stone tombs , originally covered in marble, but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transportation ability on the Nile Stone scul...