Sunday, April 5, 2015

ULT - Pt. 4B

Select ONE of the PRINT reference sources from your chart in Part 3 of ULT.  Find an entry relating to European culture and history.  As a comment to this post, write a CITATION for the entry.  Then, write a ONE paragraph summary of the entry identifying: When? Where? Who? Why (significance)? (15 points)

12 comments:

  1. Stearns, Peter N, ed. "Education and Literacy." Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000. Vol. 5. New York: Scribner, 2001. 392-395. Print.

    Peter Stearns' analysis of literacy patterns in Europe provides insight into the growth of education over many centuries. From 1850 to the present, there are reliable records of the literacy rates of most European nations. Specifically, Scandinavian records were the best kept, but most other countries had solid indicators. The patterns of education affected the entire populace;however, certain circumstances made it easier to be literate than others. For example, urban, wealthy people were more likely to be able to read and write than their rural and impoverished counterparts. Furthermore, followers of Protestantism over Catholicism were more likely to be literate. These patterns explained the development of other areas, like business or infrastructure. Literacy rates provide an indicator to the overall condition of the country, and its potential for growth in the future.

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  2. Crowe, David M. "Roma: The Gypsies." Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 – 2000. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 449-57. Print.

    The passage describes the formation and evolution of the Roma from the Balkans to western Europe. The Roma are believed to have originated from the warrior caste of India in the 12th or 13th century. The adopted a nomadic lifestyle and developed talents and skillsets that helped them to settle in their new temporary homes. Their culture revolves around moving through new countries and adopting their cultures while sticking to their culture as well, resulting in the development of numerous types of Roma within the race. Different cultures had different reactions to Roma nomadism throughout history. Originally, in eastern Europe, the Roma's were viewed with respect and delight for their many talents. Soon, after moving to central Europe, Roma became a symbol of status and power to the nobles. They were legal slaves to the upper class, and their skill and talents determined their value. However, after their emancipation and movement into western Europe, they were seen as social pollution and innate criminals. Laws were enacted in areas such as Turkey, Scandinavia, and the German states that created forced sedentary lifestyles for the Roma (in stark contrast to their natural nomadic lifestyles). Laws were also made in the 1930s by Nazi Germany for sterilization and eventually extermination of the Roma from Germany because of their impurities. An analysis of Roma culture and history allows us to grapple a deeper understanding of their effects on different nations and the nations' reactions to Roma settlement. In addition, it provides us with context for the negative connotation for the word "gypsy" and its usage as a derogatory term.

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    1. This topic is of particular interest to me. The Roma continue to experience discrimination and hardships throughout Europe.

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  3. Citation
    "Renaissance." World History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 893-94. Print.


    The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”, and describes the European evolution from medieval times to more modern culture as early as the 1300s. It began in Florence, Italy and slowly dispersed into other areas, including Venice and Rome. There was an evident emphasis on the arts, including literature and philosophy. The main focus of education was based less on theological ideals, and more on the study of Greek and Roman classics. The architecture became more modernized, and the gothic medieval style was slowly deserted. The Renaissance can be divided in many ways, beginning with the Italian Renaissance in the 1300s-1400s. This would then be followed by the Northern Renaissance during the 1400s and 1500s, and can be divided further into Early, High, and Late periods.

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    1. Good background! We'll begin our exploration of the Renaissance next week.

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  4. Buson, Matthew. "Jerusalem." Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File, 2002. 282-85. Print. 
    This article gives a history, from 1050 B.C.E., when the Jewish King David captured it and made it his great city, to 460 A.D., when invasions slowed down for a while, of the middle eastern city of Jerusalem. It was located in the Tyropoeon valley, but the modern day location, founded within the time period in the article, is slightly east of the Mediterranean Sea. At first, it was a Jewish capital of sorts consisting of a primarily Jewish denomination. They ruled themselves until 163 BCE when the Romans took over during their continual territorial conquest. Continually squashing rebellions, the Romans held on to the city for a while. After one major rebellion, and one ruthless general, Titus destroyed the whole city and forced a Jewish diaspora: the removal of all Jews in the area. To add insult to injury, the Romans renamed the city Colonia Aelia Capitolina and build a new temple on top of the destroyed Jewish temple. This all occurred between 132 to 135. The situation eventually turned around when, as Constantine christianized the empire, he renamed the city Jerusalem which encouraged many Jews to come back. They slowly gained their rights back, and money was given to rebuild the city. The entire history of Jerusalem is important because the city is still fought over as well as the area around it: Israel and Palestine. Fighting rages on and compromise comes and goes on a regular basis. Only by understanding the entire history of who owned the land when and why and how can one begin to offer a fact based opinion on one of the longest running territorial issues in the world.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. "Bilingualism." The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Ed. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. 115-16. Print.

    This article details the role of bilingualism in ancient Greece and Rome. While bilingualism was very common, perfect capacity in two languages was rare and largely unnecessary. Greek and Latin were often regarded as the language of culture and education, and both Greek and Roman writers were largely uninterested in writing or speaking other languages, especially in the fourth century. For the Greek elite, knowing a language other than Greek was often looked down upon and even scorned; they regarded all languages other than Greek (and Latin) as "barbarian." Still, the lower classes of Greece often spoke another language at home or in public, but had some capacity in Greek or Latin. Alexander the Great's conquest allowed bilingualism in the governments of outposts to flourish, and other languages are seen alongside Greek law texts in these conquered areas. Despite this, very few written texts in languages other than Latin are seen in Rome and the central Roman Empire in the first and second centuries, as they were largely conversational and not used in the literary field. As a whole, though, the Romans were more bilingual than Greeks due to the rise of Hellenization, and many spoke both Greek and Latin fluently, but not perfectly. Understanding bilingualism of the Greek and Roman world not only imparts a sense of history, but also allows modern day polyglots to understand the forces behind bilingualism still in existence today.

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  7. "National Socialism." World History: A Dictionary of Important People, Places, and Events from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: H. Holt, 1994. 756. Print. 10 Apr. 2015


    The passage from this book focuses on Nazism. Created in 1920 Germany, Nazism was political movement created Adolf Hitler. National Socialism (Nazism) had the same characteristics as other fascist movements. Obedience to one leader, passion for a totalitarian state, and militarism. Hitler believed that Germans were the pure and dominant race of the world. He believed that other inferior races needed to be eradicated; This included Jews, Black, Gypsies, and Homosexuals. Hitler’s nationalism eventually led to the start of WWII and the death of millions of lives. The final solution to having an aryan race was the mass ethnic cleansing of Jews in concentration camps. The significance of this is huge. One of the reasons being it shows WWII began, and how easily influenced the German people were. Many actually to this believe that the Holocaust did not happen. Learning about this event in history lets people know about a huge impact of one of the world wars, and the complete annihilation of 6 million people.

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  8. "Sultan Place".Atlas of the Islamic World.New York: Facts on File 2004. 757.print.13 April 2015.


    The passage focuses on distinguishing the European monuments from muslims. The features which distinguishes muslim places from those of Europeans, is that they do not aim to present an imposing face to the outside. In this passage there is a pace called Topaki sarai related to the Ottomon empire this place perfectly demonstrates the argument from centuries . Topaki is not a palace at all in the european sense, but series of pavallions, courts and gardens e.t.c. Palce was built in 15th century but still is a great example of architecture and engineering.

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    1. Good point! Although the Ottomans were Muslims, they also borrowed from Europe.

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  9. Citation
    "Renaissance." World History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 893-94. Print.

    The article talks about the word renaissance and actual renaissance in Italy. The word renaissance means “rebirth” or reawakening which describes European evolution in the early 1300’s. Renaissance is also known to be as a transition period in Europe from medieval to modern culture. Renaissance was the rise of humanism; a movement that practiced new individualism or attempting to be the perfect individual. Also education became more important in society along with more important architectural structures. The article also talks about the many famous artists and sculptures in the renaissance time period.

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