Class Schedule - Next Three Weeks

The next three weeks are going to push you fairly hard, so get ready. In class, we will be working on the Trial of Socrates - a role-playing game that will span the three weeks, though it won't be the focus of every class. As part of this project, you will write two short essays, a formal speech, learn how to use a research database, and work on resume design. When not working specifically on the trial, we will learn a little about Greek philosophy, with particular focus on Plato.

But, there's a lot of other stuff going on. This week, we will introduce the freshman portfolio assignment. You'll be presenting in January, but some of the preparation will need to occur before break. Along with that, most if not all of you will want/need to rewrite your Athens/Sparta essay. And, for good measure, there's a vocab unit.

To help you with this, I'm not assigning any nightly reading over these three weeks. You'll notice a number of days on the schedule below where no homework is assigned. The expectation, though, is that you are working regularly on these larger projects. You need to do this - otherwise, you'll get crushed when everything comes due. Plan a work schedule that distributes the weight evenly.

Monday, November 30 - Essay review, Peloponnesian War
Homework Due - Nothing

Tuesday, December 1 - Peloponnesian War, Greek Philosophy
Homework Due - Vocab 6A-C/Flashcards

Wednesday, December 2 - Greek Philosophy (Continued)
Homework Due - Nothing

Thursday, December 3 - Trial Prep - Research on daily life in Athens
Homework Due - Nothing

Friday, December 4 - Portfolio Work Time
Homework Due - Portfolio Prep

Monday, December 7 - Trial Group Work - Discuss Daily Life Essays
Homework Due - Daily Life in Athens Essay

Tuesday, December 8 - More on Greek philosophy
Homework Due - Trial Resume

Wednesday, December 9 - Portfolio Work Time
Homework Due - Portfolio Prep

Thursday, December 10 - Trial Speeches
Homework Due - Prep for speeches

Friday, December 11 - Vocab Test
Homework Due - Study for test

Monday, December 14 - Trial - Day One
Homework Due - Final speeches

Tuesday, December 15 - Greek Philosophy continued
Homework Due - Nothing

Wednesday, December 16 - Trial Essay Work Time
Homework Due - Nothing

Thursday, December 17 - Trial - Day Two; Post-Trial Reflection Essays
Homework Due -

Greek Tragedies, In Brief

Over the last week, I've read many of the surviving Greek tragedies. Sadly, what remains is quite limited, primarily consisting of a handful of works by Athens's three great dramatists - Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripedes. The subject matter would be somewhat familiar to all of you, drawing as it does from Homer and a handful of Greek myths. In this post, I want to pull a small excerpt that seems relevant to our class discussions from each of the ten plays I've had a chance to read.

Sophocles - Oedipus Rex

Quick Synopsis: Everything seemed to be going so well for Oedipus. First he vanquished the Sphinx, then he became King of Thebes, married, and established a happy family. But, unwittingly, he had already confirmed the tragic fate spelled out for him following his birth. This play, the first of a trilogy, narrates the unraveling of Oedipus's seemingly charmed existence.

Quote from the Chorus:
"Let every man in mankind's frailty
Consider his last day; and let none
Presume on his good fortune until he find
Life, at his death, a memory without pain"

Sophocles - Oedipus at Colonus

Quick Synopsis: Exiled from Thebes, Oedipus wanders with his daughter Antigone, finally stopping on the outskirts of Athens. Theseus, the King of Athens, makes an oath to protect Oedipus, and is true to his word when Oedipus's regal successor in Thebes comes for the disgraced monarch.

Quote from Theseus to Creon:
"You come to a city-state that practices justice,
A state that rules by law, and by law only;
And yet you cast aside her authority,
Take what you please, and worse, by violence,
As if you thought there were no men among us,
Or only slaves; and as if I were a nobody"

Quote from Oedipus:
"And tell me this: if there were prophecies
Repeated by the oracles of the gods,
That Father's death should come through his son,
How could you justly blame it upon me?
On me, who was yet unborn, yet unconceived,
Not yet existent for my father and mother?
If then I came into the world - as I did come -
In wretchedness, and met my father in fight,
And knocked him down, not knowing that I killed him
Nor whom I killed - again, how could you find
Guilt in that unmeditated act?"

Sophocles - Antigone

Quick Synopsis: Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes, following the deaths of their brothers in an ill-advised civil war. King Creon orders that the body of one brother, Polyneices, not be given proper burial rights because he had died attacking the city. Antigone defies the decree, arguing that in doing so she followed divine law.

Quote from Antigone to Creon:
"Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict;
not such are the laws set among men
by the justice who dwells with the gods below;
nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force,
that a mortal could override the
unwritten and unfailing statutes of heaven.
For their life is not of to-day or yesterday,
but from all time, and no man knows
when they were first put forth.

"Not through dread of any human pride could I
answer to the gods for breaking these.
Die I must - I knew that well (how should I not?) -
even without thy edicts.
But if I am to die before my time, I count that a gain:
for when any one lives, as I do, compassed about with evils,
can such an one find aught but gain in death?

"So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief;
but if I had suffered my mother's son
to lie in death an unburied corpse, that would have grieved me;
for this, I am not grieved.
And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight,
it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly."

Aeschylus - Agamemnon

Quick Synopsis: Following victory at Troy, Agamemnon finally returns home to Argos and his wife Clytemnestra. However, Clytemnestra hasn't quite gotten over his sacrifice of their daughter prior to his departure for the war. She isn't exactly happy about Cassandra, either. But, Clytemnestra is a clever woman, and she has some ideas for fixing these problems...

Quote:
"In fame unmeasured, praise too high,
Lies danger: God's sharp lightnings fly
To stagger mountains. Then, I choose
Wealth that invites no rankling hate;
Neither to lay towns desolate,
Nor wear the chains of those who lose
Freedom and life to war and fate"

Aeschylus - The Choephori

Quick Synopsis: Orestes and Electra, the children of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, are displaced from Argos following Clytemnestra and Aegisthus's treachery. It's payback time. A father's murder must be avenged; but, is it just for a child to kill his mother?

Quote from Orestes:
"Hark ye and learn, friends, ere my reason goes!
I say that rightfully I slew my mother,
A thing God-scorned, that foully slew my sire.
And chiefest wizard of the spell that bound me
Unto this deed I name the Pythian seer
Apollo, who foretold that if I slew,
The guilt of murder done should pass from me;
But if I spared, the fate that should be mine
I dare not blazon forth-the bow of speech
Can reach not to the mark, that doom to tell.
And now behold me, how with branch and crown
I pass, a suppliant made meet to go
Unto Earth's midmost shrine, the holy ground
Of Loxias, and that renowned light
Of ever-burning fire, to 'scape the doom
Of kindred murder"

Aeschylus - The Eumenides

Quick Synopsis: After killing his mother, Orestes is forced to flee Argos, as he is tormented relentlessly by the Furies. He takes refuge at the temple to Athena in Athens, imploring her to judge his case. She assembles a jury of Athenian citizens and hears from both sides.

Quote from Athena:
"O men of Athens, ye who first do judge
The law of bloodshed, hear me now ordain.
Here to all time for Aegeus' Attic host
Shall stand this council-court of judges sworn,
Here the tribunal, set on Ares' Hill
Where camped of old the tented Amazons,
What time in hate of Theseus they assailed
Athens, and set against her citadel
A counterwork of new sky-pointing towers,
And there to Ares held their sacrifice,
Where now the rock hath name, even Ares' Hill.
And hence shall Reverence and her kinsman Fear
Pass to each free man's heart, by day and night
Enjoining, Thou shalt do no unjust thing,
So long as law stands as it stood of old
Unmarred by civic change."

Euripedes - Medea

Quick Synopsis: Jason (of Argonaut fame) and Medea were such a nice couple. But, then, a more politically valuable option came along for Jason and so he cast Medea (and their children) aside. Let's just say that Medea didn't take it very well...

Quote:
"To you Medea,
I have no more to say. You will yourself know best
How to evade reprisal. As for human life,
It is a shadow, as I have long believed. And this
I say without hesitation: those whom most would call
Intelligent, the propounders of wise theories -
Their folly is of all men's the most culpable.
Happiness is a thing no man possesses. Fortune
May come now to one man, now to another, as
Prosperity increases; happiness never."

Euripedes - Hecabe/Hecuba

Quick Synopsis: Troy has fallen and the Greeks wait to return home. Meanwhile, Hector's family nears its final days. Priam's wife, Hecuba, is now Agamemnon's slave, as are her daughters Polyxena and Cassandra. The one child she had thought to be safe and free, Polydorus, has been murdered in an act of treachery. Once again, Greek justice is swift and painful...

Quote from Hecuba:
"How strange, that bad soil, if the gods send rain and sun,
Bears a rich crop, while good soil, starved of what it needs,
Is barren; but man's nature is ingrained - the bad
Is never anything but bad, and the good man
Is good: misfortune cannot warp his character,
His goodness will endure. Where lies the difference?
In heredity, or upbringing?"

Euripedes - Electra

Quick Synopsis: This is the same basic story that Aeschylus told in the Choephori, with some important changes, including an emphasis on the noble goodness of a peasant.

Quote:
"There is a place in Athens called
The hill of Ares, where the gods once sat to cast
Their votes in the first murder-trial, when Ares, filled
With savage indignation for his daughter's rape,
Killed Halirrhothius, son of the Sea-god; a court
Where ever since, for mortal men, Justice sits firm,
Inviolable; and there you too must stand your trial
For this bloodshed. The votes being equal shall acquit you;
For Loxias, who commanded you to kill your mother,
Shall take the guilt upon himself. And this shall stand
As precedent for murder-trials in time to come,
That the accused, when votes are equal, wins his case."

Euripedes - Heracles

Quick Synopsis: Heracles, fathered by Zeus, has been one of the greatest heroes for a long time. After returning triumphantly from Hades, however, Hera finally punishes him for her husband's misdeeds. Madness drives Heracles to kill his wife and children.

Quote from Theseus:
"I hate a friend whose gratitude grows old;
One who ready to enjoy his friends' prosperity
But unwilling to sail in the same ship
With them when their fortune lours.
Arise, unveil thy head, poor wretch! and look on me.
The gallant soul endures without
A word such blows as heaven deals."

Athens/Sparta Essay Grading

I will assess your Athens/Sparta essay using the following guidelines:

STRUCTURE/ORGANIZATION (10 points) - Do you follow the recommended essay structure? Does your intro provide necessary background info and set up your thesis? Do your paragraphs each provide a key sub-argument (expressed clearly in your topic sentences), include evidence, and conclude by reconnecting back to your thesis? Does your conclusion explain the significance of your argument?

THESIS/ARGUMENT (10 points) - Is your thesis argumentative? Do you prove your argument in your body paragraphs?

EVIDENCE (5 points) - Do you have it? Do you integrate it smoothly into your own writing? Do you cite it properly?

MECHANICS (5 points) - Have you edited this effectively, correcting typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors? Does your writing flow smoothly?

Modern Slavery

In both classes today, people asked about whether slavery still exists today - and, indeed, it does. Varying by source, estimates of how many people are enslaved seem to run from 24 to 27 million worldwide, though given the covert nature of modern slavery, we can't be entirely precise in this area. If you're interested in the subject, two good places to start are BBC News's In Depth feature on modern slavery and the American Anti-Slavery Group's website. As you click around these sites, one point you discovery may surprise you - it happens in the US too.

2012, Apocalypse, and Monotheism

Who doesn't love a movie about apocalyptic disaster? It's certainly a popular theme among Americans, where 2012 dominated the box office this last weekend, and any number of other disaster movies have turned tidy profits in the past.

As with any movie "based on history," though, 2012 plays fast and loose with the facts. The biggest distortion? Apparently, it's the whole notion that the Mayans predicted the world to end in 2012. As Lane Wallace explains in The Atlantic, quoting historian Sandra Noble, "There is NOTHING in ancient Maya records that predicts the end of the world; no apocalypse, no destruction, no cosmic clashes. Nothing."

If you're interested in the subject of Mayan disaster prophecies, click the link to read more. Most important to our class, however, is the quick, historical overview of apocalyptic visions provided by Wallace. Specifically:

"Visions and prophecies have been found in writings dating as far back as 2,000 B.C., according to Kerkeslager, although not all cultures had an equal need for thunder and lightning delivery of justice. In a polytheistic culture like ancient Greece, the need for apocalyptic beliefs was less, because a multitude of warring gods could explain misfortune or disparity. You might simply be the casualty of a power struggle between Hera and Zeus.

"But as cultures became monotheistic, the disconnect between a supposedly fair and just God, and an unjust world, became harder to explain away. Hence, Kerkeslager says, apocalyptic notions in the Hebrew Book of Daniel, which was written only three years after a Greek King named Antiochus had begun a brutal repression of the Jews in Jerusalem, including turning the Jewish Temple into a shrine for Zeus. The revolt of Jewish revolutionaries, including the restoration of the temple in 165 B.C. (the same year that the Book of Daniel was written) is the basis for the Jewish holiday of Hannukah. But at the end of the Book of Daniel, the author predicts that an apocalyptic end will come to the repressive Greeks 1,290 days after their desecration of the temple. Unfortunately, as with other apocalyptic prophecies, it didn't happen. So the last line of Daniel changes the date to 1,335 days."

It's an interesting argument worth considering - is the rise of apocalyptic notions a product of the shift towards monotheism, or is that simply coincidence?

Books, Books, Books

In preparing for classes, I've made use of a number of useful works on Ancient Greece. In the same way that I expect you to cite your sources in your essays, I want to share these books with you, so that you have some sense of where the information presented in class is coming from. And, on the off chance that you want to pursue this subject farther on your own, I want you to have some ideas...

The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome by Robin Lane Fox - This is, without question, the most useful single text I have found on the ancient world. It's stuffed - 600 pages total and very little of it unnecessary - but it also reads easily. Fox makes the material accessible and enjoyable, blending together a variety of sources and approaching the subject matter from a number of angles. I particularly like his frequent references to recent archaeological discoveries - and the ways those discoveries have changed the way we think about the past. In so doing, he emphasizes the sheer uncertainty that engulfs ancient history while also promoting a sense of optimism, that every single day we move closer to understanding what happened. If you want one book that spans Greece and Rome, this is it.

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill - I was really excited to find this book. It seemed like an ideal tool for the type of ancient history class I wanted to teach, as Cahill's professed goal was to explore the key lessons that can be learned from the ancient world by the present. With chapters devoted to key themes like "How to Rule," "How to Think," and "How to Fight," I anticipated excerpting chunks out of this book for class use. Unfortunately, Cahill doesn't deliver what he promises. For example, the chapter on Greek contributions to governance / political science focuses more on Greek theater than connections to the present. That said, the book is nonetheless interesting, providing an overview of a number of key aspects of Classical Greece. To put it another way, Cahill's thesis doesn't correspond to his body paragraphs, but the body paragraphs are still compelling work in their own right.

Ancient Greece: State and Society by Nicholas Jones - It's a useful text, certainly, for gaining an understanding of how the government functioned in Greek history, from the Minoan/Mycenaean period up through Hellinistic Greece. But, it's drier than a pack of Saltines and I wouldn't recommend it unless you were passionate about the subject matter or looking for a cure for insomnia.

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski - I'm heavily biased in favor of Kapuscinski, my favorite travel writer and among my favorite writers of non-fiction in general. This was his last work, a career retrospective of sorts. Kapuscinski was a Polish journalist who seemed to be on site for every major revolution and coup in the developing world in the second half of the 20th century. On most of his trips, he took a copy of Herodotus's Histories with him, which we briefly discussed in class. This book is largely a rumination on Herodotus's work, providing extensive excerpts from the book and reflections on what the historian described - and above all else, the Persian Wars. We will read a short excerpt from this in class.

The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton - You already read Mythology by Hamilton, one of the more prolific early authors on the ancient world. This text, her definitive work on Ancient Greece, hits all of the highlights, including Greek art, religion, and the major intellectual figures. While Hamilton was among the great experts of her time, that was more than 60 years ago and thus her work neglects many recent research developments. That said, as a defining work in the field, this remains a mandatory read for those interested in the subject matter.

Participation Grades

If you log into Edline, one new thing you'll notice is that I've added a participation grade for the last week. My goal is to continue this moving forward, posting a weekly score for your role in class discussions. The grade scale is pretty simple and generally follows this model:

Outstanding - 100% - Is ready to go when class starts, has read and underlined the previous night's reading, participates regularly and constructively, is not disruptive

Satisfactory - 90% - Generally ready to go and prepared, contributions well to most classes, is minimally disruptive

Acceptable - 80% - Is focused and ready for class after a gentle reminder, has some understanding of the reading, contributes every other class, is occasionally disruptive

Not satisfactory - 70% - Often unprepared, contributions are either lacking in frequency or relevance, is often disruptive

Unacceptable - 50% - Disruptive and unprepared

Obviously, not everyone fits into these easy categories. It is possible to make excellent contributions and yet also be very disruptive. Similarly, it is possible to be silent in class but fully prepared and engaged, listening well to others. Grades will be adjusted accordingly in those circumstances. If you feel that the participation score you receive is unfair, talk with me.

Odds and Ends

Thanks everyone for a very good second week. If you have any difficulty finding any of the items on your map assignment this weekend, take a look at this website, a great resource for ancient maps.

In a class earlier this week, one student asked if Theseus was a real person, or strictly a legendary one. There appears to be some historical debate on the subject. Professors Morford and Lenardon, experts on the subject and authors of a major textbook on Greek mythology, write that "Theseus of all the legendary heroes has the strongest claims to being a real person. As stated above, he was for Plutarch a historical figure and he very likely was one of the kings of Athens perhaps in the ninth or eighth century B.C. But serious historical and chronological problems arise when we try to understand how he appears as the great conqueror of the legendary Minotaur and a king of Athens in the earlier Mycenaean Age and also a later king of Athens." You can find out more at the link.

In another class, when we were discussing democracy as it exists today, compared with during Classical Greece, Taylor asked about the electoral college and whether that serves to limit democracy in the US. The electoral college is a fascinating subject and one of the best overviews of its historical development comes from an article by Tara Ross on the Heritage Foundation website. (Note - the Heritage Foundation is a conservative-leaning organization. But, the article is carefully constructed around detailed evidence.)

Ross describes the creation of the electoral college as a check on what were perceived to be the worst excesses of democracy. Her quotations from the founders are particularly revealing: "Alexander Hamilton agreed [with James Madison] that "[t]he ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure, deformity." Other early Americans concurred. John Adams, who signed the Declaration of Independence and later became President, declared, "[D]emocracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Another signatory to the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush, stated, "A simple democracy . . . is one of the greatest of evils.""

As I wrote, it's a compelling read, and worth a look if you're interested in the subject.

Finally, as I mentioned in class, "Education for Death" is just one of a number of anti-Nazi and anti-Japanese propaganda films produced by Disney in support of the war effort in WWII. The most famous cartoon from this period features Donald Duck - "Der Fuhrer's Face." I've embedded it below. As with the other cartoon, consider what they have chosen to mock and criticize about Nazi Germany - and what, by comparison, they are promoting as good and right about America.

Today's WL Prompt

As is likely clear already, modern democracies (including the US) descend in part from Athens, which tends to be held up as the early model of enlightened political rule. Sparta, meanwhile, has received the opposite treatment - used as an example of poor and uncivilized governance. Why is that the case? What makes Athens seem so superior to us?

To answer this effectively, you should:

• Identify key areas in which Athens and Sparta differ
• Explain why these differences are so significant to us => Why do we value the Athenian style more?
• Consider whether we are being entirely fair to Sparta => Are there aspects of Sparta's government that we do emulate or should emulate?

Other guidelines / pieces of advice:

• A great response will include at least one quote from each of this week's assigned readings
• Please have a brief intro paragraph that includes your thesis. For an in-class write like this, it is acceptable for the intro to be only your thesis statement
• An easy way to structure this essay would be to find three key issues in which Athens seems to be superior to us than Sparta, devote one paragraph to each, and explain the specific issue and its importance to those of us in the US today
• If you believe, personally, that Sparta is superior to Athens, that's ok. This essay prompt isn't asking you to go against what you believe. What is undeniable, though, is that Athens has been more important in influencing the American system - and that's what the question is asking you to explore.
• You do not need a full works cited page - just include the page number from the packet in parentheses after the quote.
  

Ancient Greece Links

If you look to the right, you will now see a long list of links to websites focused on Ancient Greece. These are compiled entirely from your blogposts. I'm impressed by how much diversity is there - 23 different websites total. As a group, you combined to produce an excellent collection of sources, all of which are now easily available to you. If you're ever bored...

Hector/Achilles Judgments

I read these in class, but will post them here as well, in case you missed any part of my reasoning:

Humanities 9r Judgment

The case made for Hector in SAS's opening statement is a good one. As requested, it opens with an attempt at defining a hero, using the Campbell reading as a springboard (though I would have liked to see a little more). I was struck by the focus on Hector's "gentle nature" - not just Helen's compliment to him, but also his loyalty to Paris. It potentially damages your point that Hector fights for something larger than himself; couldn't it be said that he is placing his brother above Troy and his wife and child? However, the other side didn't capitalize on this opening and your larger point is likely valid. You would have benefited from directly targeting Achilles in this statement; Hector is a great warrior and would hold up under comparison. But, you do bring forth some useful evidence.

The Achilles statement, from RD, is based largely around his merits as a warrior. And, no question, Achilles's killing power and relentlessness would have been held in the highest esteem by Greek society. But, I found your argument against Hector to be tenuous at best - it's hard to call Hector selfish and Achilles selfless without bringing some serious evidence to the table, and you don't have that here. You say Achilles fought for the glory of Greece; the other side can just as easily say that he fought for the glory of Achilles. Their side is easily defended, needing only the most general understanding of the plot. Yours can be defended, but again you need something to back you up.

Ultimately, the debate was won convincingly in the subsequent give-and-take. Sarah wisely attacked your accusation that Hector acted selfishly and you couldn't come up with a good counter.

Therefore, we will build a statue to Hector.

Humanities 9g Judgment

The opening case for Hector lands on many of the key points. He does seem to be the more selfless of the two, and if we value that in our heroes, he stands apart. He is also the more reliable, staying in the thick of the fight (aside from a brief final visit to his family) throughout the war. I think you could have done a better job of attacking Achilles - calling someone "just a fighter" in Ancient Greece would have elicited blank stares, as if to say, "what, there's something more than fighting?" You, more than team Achilles, needed to assert the values of heroism you hold in high esteem; by not doing so, you allowed the debate to be played out on Ancient Greek terms.

On the Achilles side, the argument begins very slowly. The opening, contrasting the strength and weakness of these men is not convincing at all. And, the point about Hector being selfish is dubious, badly in need of supporting evidence. To make matters worse, the Trojan Horse example is just wrong - Achilles is already dead by then. It is undeniable, however, that Achilles proves to be the superior warrior, and that is an important fact.

Entering the debate, while both sides had a somewhat shaky start, the pro-Hector position clearly held the advantage. However, the tide turned first slowly and then, when Nathan took the floor, with a measure of definitiveness. He had thought through the key issue, neglected by all others, centered at the heart of this debate - for what purpose do we build statues? What message will we communicate? His points were excellent and Hector's promoters had no sufficient response.

Therefore, we are building a statue to Achilles.

Writing Lab - 11/10

Today in Writing Lab, you are going to work in groups of 2 or 3 to examine a specific type of government (assigned below). My hope is that, by the end of the period, you will be able to post a paragraph on each of the following:

1) Provide a general overview of your form of government. How does it work?
2) What are the strengths of this form of government?
3) What are the weaknesses of this form of government?

As you and your partner are not members of the same blog group, you can just post your complete response under one name. Please include links / copy the urls of whatever sources you use.

Here are the groups:

Republic - Hunter, Victoria
Theocracy - Taylor, Robert
Monarchy - Sam, Jordan
Anarchy - Nathan, Sarah, Nat
Totalitarianism - David, Makhayla
Oligarchy - Emilia, Alessio, Wasnaa
Kleptocracy - Arron, Jacob

Class Schedule Through Thanksgiving

What follows is a detailed overview of the Humanities 9 class over the next three weeks (taking us to Thanksgiving). This is subject to change, of course, but I expect we'll stick fairly close to this schedule.

Monday, November 9 - Classical Athens: The Big Picture
Homework Due - Blogpost and Vocab 5A-C

In class, we will go over general expectations for the course over the next few months, address any vocab-related questions that you have, and I will provide a quick overview of Classical Greece, focusing specifically on Athens, so that you can have a general feel for what took place before we move ahead. In Writing Lab, students will examine the many forms of government that have existed over human history, culminating in a blogpost assignment.

Tuesday, November 10 - The Rise of Athenian Democracy
Homework Due - Read Pericles's Funeral Oration (Handout)

Our focus this week is on government and more specifically on the development and different forms of democracy. Pericles, as documented by Thucydides, provides us with one of the best summations of Athens's government.

Wednesday, November 11 - The Democracies of Athens and the US
Homework Due - Read Democracy in Brief, 7-16 (Not nearly as bad as it seems) (Handout)

While Athens is the world's first democracy, there are some stark differences between how it functioned and the US democracy does. We will zoom out today from Athens to the American system and others in existence today.

Thursday, November 12 - Athens vs. Sparta and Other Famous "Others"
Homework Due - Read Plutarch on Sparta (Handout)

Athens and Sparta have always been paired as contrasts, a dichotomy setting up the tension between, among other things, "freedom"/"equality" and "good"/"evil." We will chart similarities and differences between the two polises and then consider other famous historical parallels (with the help of Walt Disney). In Writing Lab, students will consider their examination of different political systems with a poster assignment.

Friday, November 13 - Vocab Test
Homework Due - Study for the vocab test

After we finish the vocab test, we'll use today to wrap up any lingering questions from the week.

Monday, November 16 - Essay Writing
Homework Due - Greece Map Assignment

Today, we pause our examination of Ancient Greece to discuss best practices in essay organization and writing. Students will be given time in Writing Lab to continue the development of their Athens/Sparta essays.

Tuesday, November 17 - What is justice?
Homework Due - Read Solon: Selected Fragments (Handout)

The rule of law was a new concept in Ancient Greece. We will start with Draco and Solon, the early lawgivers, and continue to explore how justice in general was perceived and achieved.

Wednesday, November 18 - No School
Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, November 19 - Freedom and justice in the US Constitution
Homework Due - Read "Democracy in Brief"

Today, we will continue our examination of the constitution, focusing specifically on how it guarantees specific types of freedom and justice. In writing lab, students will have time to continue working on their Athens/Sparta essay.

Friday, November 20 - Service Day

Monday, November 23 - Why did the Athenian democracy fail?
Homework Due - Read "The Fall of Athens" (Handout)

As the question suggests, we will focus on the decline of Athens's democracy today, trying to identify reasons for its fall. The assigned reading from the WSJ, though, focuses on a different event, allowing for some potentially interesting comparisons to be drawn. In Writing Lab, students will participate in an online activity, built around Jared Diamond's compelling work on why societies fail, Collapse.

Tuesday, November 24 - Are there flaws in the US democracy?
Homework Due - ATHENS/SPARTA ESSAY - FINAL DRAFT

Much has been written over the last decade in particular about the waning of American power and prominence. At times, American democracy has come into question, for a number of reasons. We will try to unpack those issues.

Wednesday, 11/25 - Friday, 11/27 - Thanksgiving Break

Monday Blogpost

For Monday, the assignment is quite simple - find the best three websites you can on Ancient Greece. Provide links to these on your blog and a short explanation (2-3 sentences) of what you like about each. Be picky! Don't just use the first three websites that you find; look through at least ten before selecting your three.

One catch - all of the websites linked on your group blog must be different. In other words, if someone else posts in your group before you do, you can't use any of the websites that they do. Also, I would prefer that you not use online encyclopedias. Yes, wikipedia is cool. Find something else.

You can either copy the url for each website into your blogpost, or you can make a link. Making a link in blogger is easy. For example, let's say that I wanted to link to a website focused on Ancient Egypt. My blogpost might start, "My first choice was the British Library's Ancient Egypt site." Next, I would highlight the text that I want to be my link - I would probably select "British Library's Ancient Egypt." After highlighting, I would then look to the toolbar just above the textbox where I type my blogpost. In that toolbar, you'll see a lot of buttons. Starting from the left, there is a Font box, then Text Size icon, then Bold, then Italics, then Text Color. Then, you'll see what looks a little like a globe with a chain link on top of it. Click this. It will ask you for a url - paste the url for your website here.

Once complete, it will look like this: "My first choice was the British Library's Ancient Egypt site."

Defining Poverty

In Humanities today, Alessio raised a deceptively complicated question - how do you determine if someone is poor? In economics, this is called the poverty line - a specific income level which is considered the minimum necessary to achieve the basic needs for a healthy life. In the US, we have long followed the same basic formula to determine this, which factors in family size, rent, an economical food budget, and other core expenses. Based on this, there were 39.1 million poor people in the US as of the most recent report in 2008.

However, many people suggest that this approach is old-fashioned, over-simplified, and understates the level of poverty in America. The New York Times tackled the issue in 2001 and most of its commentary is still relevant today. If you're interested in these issues, the article is worth reading. Here is one key excerpt: "Defining poverty is not easy. Even if the Census Bureau's new measure calculates necessary expenditures more accurately than the current formula, the new approach, like the current one, still uses income as the single criterion for judging who is poor. That leaves out neighborhoods, for instance. Is a ghetto family impoverished because of its crime-ridden surroundings and poor schools, although the family has enough income to rise above the official poverty threshold? And there is the issue of responsibility. Should the family of a hardworking full-time employee earning the minimum wage be blamed for poverty because the minimum no longer lifts the worker's income above the poverty level, as it did in the 1960's and early 70's?"

The issue is as much a political one as an economic one. Many government-run social programs are available only to those below the poverty line. If the government changed how it defines poverty and the poverty line specifically, we might suddenly see millions of new Americans qualifying for those benefits, a huge additional financial cost for the government. Beyond that, the political opposition could turn this into bad press for the president, accusing him of allowing poverty to increase dramatically during his time in power (even if nothing had really changed beyond the definition of poverty).

It is not only a sensitive issue in the US. When I led a student project in Chile, we spoke with an economist about the country's current economic state. Many have wanted to point out that, following the removal of the terrible dictator Agustin Pinochet in 1990, the country experienced a financial boom. The truth is complicated. What follows is copied from our report from Chile:

"The first statistic he presented, tracking poverty rates in Chile, indicated that poverty dropped between 1987 and 2003 from 45% to 18.8%; recent studies show that the decline continued in 2006, to 13.7%. However, he quickly explained, that is highly misleading. If one accepts this information, along with information compiled in similar studies in Europe, then one must also accept that there were more people living in poverty in Europe in 2006 (15%) than in Chile. The problem stems from how poverty is defined. Chile has used a relative poverty metric which considers those living in poverty to be those making less than 50% of the average pre-tax income. But, the markets are so distinctive, this sort of measurement is problematic, as it sets up a European making 1050 euros/month and a Chilean making $100/month (US) as equals. While the cost of living is certainly much lower in Chile, it hardly bridges the gap.

"If one makes a modest adjustment to the poverty definition, raising the poverty line from 43,712 pesos/month to 66,388 pesos, the percentage of those impoverished in Chile jumps from 18.7% to 36.4%."

Greetings / First Assignment

Welcome to the new Humanities 9 course blog. This will serve several purposes. First, I will use it to pass on basic information, involving things like schedule changes. Second, I will use it as a place to follow up on class discussions, answering unsolved questions or providing links to sites with more info on the subject. Finally, you will find prompts here for assignments on your own group blogs, which will sometimes be homework and other times tasks for writing lab.

One question that I couldn't sufficiently address this week came up in one of the Humanities sections - how exactly did the Colosseum deteriorate over the years? Were there specific events that damaged it, or did it just slowly crumble over time? This website does a nice job of outlining the great building's decline and is worth a look.

For today, in Writing Lab, I would like you to write a short blogpost on the readings from the last two nights. Please respond to the following two questions, devoting a similar amount of time to each:

• From "The Hero's Adventure" - Joseph Campbell states that "our world seems drained of spiritual values. People feel impotent. To me, that's the curse of modern society, the impotence, the ennui that people feel, the alienation of people from the world around them." His point is that where the ancient and medieval worlds were places of action, in which heroism was a tangible and possible thing, we don't have that today. Instead, people in the modern world feel powerless, lifeless, and out of touch. Do you agree or disagree with Campbell? Don't just state your opinion - bring up specific examples that support it.

• From "Reports of The Origins of Athens" - As the title suggests, these readings help to explain how Athens came to be. Based on all of the readings (and please refer specifically to each reading as you go), what existed before Athens? And, what did Athens look like or involve once it was established?