joy in the village

So, today was Test Day for the first part of our ancient Greece studies.

Wasn't that fun?

How did you do?

Were you prepared?

Did you use a Quizlet?

Are you ready to dive into more of ancient Greece, starting tomorrow?

Those are all topics you can address in your blog for tonight. I hope it went well for you today!

tomorrow's test

As I said in class, tomorrow's 100-point test on Greece will cover slides 1-32 from my GoogleSlideShow (which can be found in the right-hand sidebar on this blog). You will also be responsible for p. 123-133 in the textbook ("Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea" and "Warring City-States").

The format will be largely multiple-choice questions, with the occasional short answer and, of course, identifying features on a map of ancient Greece.

Good luck, and be ready!

a few words on the Draconian constitution (plus some test info)

The 100-point test on Ancient Greece (part one) will be given on Thursday, February 27.

Also, I have posted a video (found here, and listed to the right) that you may find interesting and useful in learning about ancient Greece, as well as helping you do well on the next test.

Ahem...

This information can be found on the Wikipedia page for Draco (lawgiver), under a section entitled "Draconian constitution." All internal links preserved for your convenience. Boldface added by your teacher/blogger.

The laws (θεσμοί - thesmoi) that he laid were the first written constitution of Athens. So that no one would be unaware of them, they were posted on wooden tablets (ἄξονες - axones), where they were preserved for almost two centuries on steles of the shape of three-sided pyramids (κύρβεις - kyrbeis).^[7] The tablets were called axones, perhaps because they could be pivoted along the pyramid's axis to read any side.

The constitution featured several major innovations:

• Instead of oral laws known to a special class, arbitrarily applied and interpreted, all laws were written, thus being made known to all literate citizens (who could appeal to the Areopagus for injustices): "the constitution formed under Draco, when the first code of laws was drawn up". (Aristotle: Athenian Constitution, Part 5, Section 41)
• The laws distinguish between murder and involuntary homicide.^[8]

The laws were particularly harsh. For example, any debtor whose status was lower than that of his creditor was forced into slavery.^[9] The punishment was more lenient for those owing a debt to a member of a lower class. The death penalty was the punishment for even minor offences, such as stealing a cabbage.^[10] Concerning the liberal use of the death penalty in the Draconic code, Plutarch states: "It is said that Drakon himself, when asked why he had fixed the punishment of death for most offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes to deserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones".^[11]

All his laws were repealed by Solon in the early 6th century BC, with the exception of the homicide law.^[12]

Draco throughout the ages

Draco -  ancient Greek lawmaker known for the harshness of his punishments ("draconian laws")

Draco Malfoy - Harry's foil in the Harry Potter series

Draco - shortbarrelled "baby AK-47" frequently namechecked in rap

note-taking sample

When you are assigned a reading from the textbook in class, do you ever find yourself asking, "Am I doing a good job taking notes? Have I written too much, or not enough?"


Well, here is a sample of what some decent note-taking might look like. This is from the "Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea" section, found on p. 123-126. 


I hope you find this helpful.

nice finish to the end of the week

All three of our WestCiv sections met today. SupWestCiv featured a series of guest instructors reviewing the material we have covered so far. The Honors sections took a deeper dive into the Allegory of the Cave.

It's worth reminding you that the PowerPoint we are using for this unit ("Greece is the Word") is found in the sidebar labeled "Links for Learning," as are several links about Plato's most famous allegory.

Have a great three-day weekend, and I'll see you next week!

a visualization of Plato's cave

classwork for Tue Feb 11

SuperWestCiv and Honors 202: I will not be in school today. In class you will read p. 127-133 in your textbook, and write notes in your notebook. And since you have class today, you will write a blog tonight.

Thank you for your cooperation, and be nice to your sub.

segue from Egypt to Greece

Today's class included the following:

reading and taking notes on "Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea," found on pages 123-126, then answering questions 1, 3, 4, and 5...

returning the quiz you took on Mesopotamia...

having students make up the Egypt quiz if they were absent last week.

next... ancient Greece!

Other than a few absentees, as of today everyone has taken the quiz on ancient Egypt. Grades have already been posted on Veracross. If you missed the quiz, be prepared to take it next Monday, Feb. 10.

Next up is ancient Greece. We will be spending a lot of time on Greece, as opposed to the quick look we took in studying Egypt. Why? So much of ancient Greek life reverberates in modern America. Much of what we are today can be traced back to Greece, especially since they were the first to practice democracy. I hope you enjoy it!

meet Maat

This is Maat. 

Maat is sometimes spelled Ma'at.

Maat is the Egyptian goddess who represents the concepts of truth, balance, order, law, harmony, morality, and justice.

Maat also regulates the stars, the seasons, and the actions of mortals and the deities who had brought order from chaos at the moment of creation.

Maat's opposite is the goddess Isfet, who represents injustice, chaos, or violence.

Maat and Isfet represent the concept of duality. This comes into play in ancient Egypt when a pharaoh was entrusted to achieve maat, which means that he had to keep and protect justice and harmony by destroying isfet. 

Cool, huh?

here's the latest WCiv news

• Everyone who has made up the Mesopotamia quiz can see their results on Veracross.
• Both Honors sections have basically covered the PowerPoint, and will take a 75-point quiz on Egypt. Honors Section 202 takes theirs on Thursday, and Honors Section 201 takes the quiz on Friday.
• The SUP-West-Civ section finishes the PowerPoint tomorrow. Your section doesn't meet on Thursday, so you will take the 75-point Egypt quiz on Friday.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

are we caught up yet?

Nope, not caught up just yet.

With so many absences last week (over a quarter of the freshman class was out last Friday alone), it is a challenge to make up quizzes, cover new material, and keep the students who haven't missed any school occupied.

But we're doing our best!

Keep in mind that if you still need to take last Wednesday's quiz, you will be asked to make it up on the day you return. You will also need to get up to speed on the Ancient Egypt chapter, reading p. 35-43 in the text. I am providing one more class period to get that that information read; after that, if you need to borrow a textbook to get caught up at home, we can make that happen.

Finally, the SlideShow on Egypt begins on slide 10 of "From Prehistory to Civilization," found under "Links for Learning" in the right sidebar of this blog.

Let's do this!