For the first three years of high school, I always imagined that my senior year would fly by. I thought that I would be so busy with dealing with my nostalgia and cherishing every moment that the end of the year would come before I was ready and I would never want it to end. Well, turns out, senior year drags on like any other year, and when summer's just around the corner, you want it more than ever. I want to be done with calculus, done with physics, done with English! There is one class, however, that I'm not quite ready to leave: European History.
The first time I heard of Maz was my freshman year. My mom knew her, and wanted to introduce her to me so I could join Model U.N. She followed this proposition by telling me, "Maz is nice, but if you mess up, she'll kick your butt." As a weak little ninth grader, I decided to steer clear. The next time I encountered Maz was my junior year. As a student of her "next-door neighbor" Mr. Morgans, the two teachers were always running in and out of each other's classrooms. I was friends with people in her senior classes, and virtually everyone I talked to highly recommended taking her AP class, as tough as it was. Even people who didn't really care about school insisted that it was the most beneficial class that had ever taken. So, when school began in September, I knew that I was in for a ride.
Now, as graduation comes closer and closer, I honestly cannot imagine my senior year without this class. When my other classes was boring, history was a pick-me-up. Even though calculus and physics put me to sleep, history is what kept my day going. You never knew what was going to happen: random outbreaks into debate (such as Amber attacking me for calling African tribes "innocent"), a myriad of projects (such as my giant "waterfall of communism"), and hilarious moments in class (such as Anthony always texting and not noticing that everyone could see him) were plentiful. This was my all-time favorite class, and I can't even explain the number of times in conversation with my history buff family that I've now been able to participate. I can tell you the tribulations in England in the Middle Ages; I can tell you the whole story of the French Revolution; I can tell you the saga of the Romanovs. I only hope that my college classes are all just as enticing as this one has been. Thank you, Maz.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Chapter 31 Illustrated
Everyone knows what this is a picture of. The al-Qaeda attacks on 
the New York City World Trade Centers have become a well-known image in the mind of every American (and the majority of non-Americans, whether they like us or hate us). These two crumbling buildings show just how vulnerable we were, and that "they got us." However, this event did not only destroy; it also rebuilt. Americans united over this tragedy, and resolved that it would never happen again.
Genocide has occurred since the beginning of time. Some people are wishy-washy in their belief of it when it comes to certain incidents; however, a few instances should stand out in every mind when breaching this subject. One of these is the Holocaust. Another is the Darfur region of Sudan. Finally, yet another is the mass murder in Srebrenica, Bosnia. In the 1990s, Serbia led a campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing against the Muslim Bosnians and Croats, and all others who interfered. This picture shows a bullet-shattered building, and really portrays the destruction caused by hatred.

This image portrays Lech Walesa, leader of the revolutionary Solidarity group in Poland, leading his followers through the streets of Warsaw. I really like this picture, because it is of one of the revolutions in history that actually lead to something better for the people. It immediately made me think of Juan and Eva Peron, leading their "movement of the workers" and then become dictators of Argentina; which, of course, made me admire Lech Walesa that much more. I also think it's really interesting that he was good friends and cohorts with our former pope. I love connections through history, and watching unlikely lives intertwine in what is sometimes unfathomable ways.
the New York City World Trade Centers have become a well-known image in the mind of every American (and the majority of non-Americans, whether they like us or hate us). These two crumbling buildings show just how vulnerable we were, and that "they got us." However, this event did not only destroy; it also rebuilt. Americans united over this tragedy, and resolved that it would never happen again.
This image portrays Lech Walesa, leader of the revolutionary Solidarity group in Poland, leading his followers through the streets of Warsaw. I really like this picture, because it is of one of the revolutions in history that actually lead to something better for the people. It immediately made me think of Juan and Eva Peron, leading their "movement of the workers" and then become dictators of Argentina; which, of course, made me admire Lech Walesa that much more. I also think it's really interesting that he was good friends and cohorts with our former pope. I love connections through history, and watching unlikely lives intertwine in what is sometimes unfathomable ways.
Chapter 31: Revolution, Rebuilding, and New Challenges
Overview:
-->Decline of communism in Eastern Europe
-->Revolutions of 1989
-->Changes in Europe in the 1990s
-->Genocide
-->Population decline
-->Immigration growth
-->Human rights issues
-->Al-Qaeda's terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001
-->The European Union
-->"West Divided" & the war in Iraq
Debate:
We recently had a class debate about the EU's effectivity. While the effectivity of our debate itself is arguable, the fact that the EU has become extremely prominent in world politics is not. We watched a movie earlier last week that showed a plethora of reasons and proof that Europeans dislike Americans, and ways that the EU is choosing to stand up to the U.S. in world affairs.
-->Decline of communism in Eastern Europe
-->Revolutions of 1989
-->Changes in Europe in the 1990s
-->Genocide
-->Population decline
-->Immigration growth
-->Human rights issues
-->Al-Qaeda's terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001
-->The European Union
-->"West Divided" & the war in Iraq
Debate:
We recently had a class debate about the EU's effectivity. While the effectivity of our debate itself is arguable, the fact that the EU has become extremely prominent in world politics is not. We watched a movie earlier last week that showed a plethora of reasons and proof that Europeans dislike Americans, and ways that the EU is choosing to stand up to the U.S. in world affairs.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Chapter 29 in Illustration
Chapter 29: Rise of Dictators & World War II
WORLD WAR II
Why?
-->Weak League of Nations
-->Great Depression
-->German invasions
-->Spanish Civil War
Major Events:
-->Poland is attacked
-->France surrenders
-->Allies vs. Axis
-->Blitzkrieg
-->Meeting of the Big Three-Yalta Conference, Potsdam Conference
-->D-Day
-->Dropping of the atomic bombs
Who?
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Winston Churchill (the U.K.)
FDR then Harry Truman (the U.S.)
Hideki Tojo (Japan)
France (Paul Reunaud)
~> Was it worth...
...$1,653,000,000,000?
...72 million lives?
Why?
-->Weak League of Nations
-->Great Depression
-->German invasions
-->Spanish Civil War
Major Events:
-->Poland is attacked
-->France surrenders
-->Allies vs. Axis
-->Blitzkrieg
-->Meeting of the Big Three-Yalta Conference, Potsdam Conference
-->D-Day
-->Dropping of the atomic bombs
Who?
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Winston Churchill (the U.K.)
FDR then Harry Truman (the U.S.)
Hideki Tojo (Japan)
France (Paul Reunaud)
~> Was it worth...
...$1,653,000,000,000?
...72 million lives?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Chapter 28 Illustrated
This painting, entitled "The Old Guitarist" and created by Pablo Picasso, is one of my all-time favorite works of art. In middle school, we had to pick an artist, do a report on them, paint one of their pictures (or in my case, make a ridiculous attempt), and create a story around that painting. It was one of my absolute favorite assignments of all my years in school. I picked Picasso, and fell completely in love with his pieces. Part of his Blue Period, "The Old Guitarist" portrays perfectly the tint of blue and grey that surrounded the lives of those trying to survive this daunting era.
Similar to the image of the despaired soldier of World War I, I also love this picture. Its grey gloom and somber feeling are exactly what I imagine when I think of the Great Depression. Plus, it's really interesting to see details. When it comes to old pictures, I love to look for small but defining characteristics, from the papers someone is holding to the way they carry themselves. As a writer, I automatically characterize each of the people shown in the pictures, casting them and building a story around them without even realizing it. Even so, it's hard to imagine a time when the Chamber of Commerce actually posted signs like this one. Although our economy isn't thriving at the moment, we can at least be grateful that we are living now, and not during the Age of Anxiety.
Chapters 28: Age of Anxiety
Totalitarianism in Europe:
-->Germany (Adolf Hitler) - censorship, persecution, one-party (Nazi) rule, used Gestapo
--> Russia (Joseph Stalin) - censorship, dictatorship, used secret police
--> Italy (Benito Mussolini) - censorship, economic control, major propaganda, OVRA
People of the Time:
-->Guglielmo Marconi - inventor of radio telegraph system
-->Marie Curie - chemist and physicist, won Nobel Prize twice
-->Albert Einstein - one of the greatest scientists of all time (theory of matter and energy, atomic bomb, etc.)
-->Ernest Rutherford - major physicist, split the atom
-->Charles Dawes - creator of the Dawes Plan to circulate international payment
-->Charles Lindbergh - flew the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, France on the Spirit of St. Louis
-->Pablo Picasso - one of the great artists of the era, inventor of cubism
-->Igor Stravinsky - considered the 20th century's most influential musical composer
-->Virginia Woolf - author, used stream-of-conciousness technique
-->William Faulkner - author, another proponent of the stream-of-consciousness technique
-->Charlie Chaplin - actor of the time whose comedy added a relief to the war-stressed citizens
Short Timeline of the Great Depression:
(1929) Stock market crashes: loans, panic, and unemployment skyrocket
(1932) U.S. President FDR creates the New Deal to reconstruct the American capitalist system
(1937) "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." -FDR's second inaugural speech
(1939) Recovery considered to be established
-->Germany (Adolf Hitler) - censorship, persecution, one-party (Nazi) rule, used Gestapo
--> Russia (Joseph Stalin) - censorship, dictatorship, used secret police
--> Italy (Benito Mussolini) - censorship, economic control, major propaganda, OVRA
People of the Time:
-->Guglielmo Marconi - inventor of radio telegraph system
-->Marie Curie - chemist and physicist, won Nobel Prize twice
-->Albert Einstein - one of the greatest scientists of all time (theory of matter and energy, atomic bomb, etc.)
-->Ernest Rutherford - major physicist, split the atom
-->Charles Dawes - creator of the Dawes Plan to circulate international payment
-->Charles Lindbergh - flew the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, France on the Spirit of St. Louis
-->Pablo Picasso - one of the great artists of the era, inventor of cubism
-->Igor Stravinsky - considered the 20th century's most influential musical composer
-->Virginia Woolf - author, used stream-of-conciousness technique
-->William Faulkner - author, another proponent of the stream-of-consciousness technique
-->Charlie Chaplin - actor of the time whose comedy added a relief to the war-stressed citizens
Short Timeline of the Great Depression:
(1929) Stock market crashes: loans, panic, and unemployment skyrocket
(1932) U.S. President FDR creates the New Deal to reconstruct the American capitalist system
(1937) "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." -FDR's second inaugural speech
(1939) Recovery considered to be established
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