John Carroll Blogs

Today in Western Civ. we just worked more on our project and I finished the powerpoint while CJ tried to break apart our Parthenon's barrier from the 3d printer. That thing was way to protected because it literally broke multiple things in the process of trying to crack it open but it's fine because now we have our Parthenon finished.

Today in Western Civ. I learned a huge detail that can improve our project 10 fold. We were given permission to create a powerpoint with pictures so that we could emphasize our architecture points further and go into more detail about them. While we do our presentation we can use the slideshow to go into detail on the creations of the Greeks. This honestly could be a saving factor for our project in the end.

Today we worked more on the project on Ancient Greece and we came up with a really good idea of along with our presentation we have drawings of what we are going to talk about instead of pictures from a powerpoint. We are going to draw the separate columns from our different styles of Greek Architecture so we can show the differences between them while giving our presentation.

I'm really starting to like our idea for our project on Greece because I feel like my group and I came up with a pretty good idea. We are going to compare how Greek architecture influenced modern architecture and to keep it interesting we are going to 3d print models of buildings from then and now to show comparisons between each one. I think we can do pretty well on the project if we just execute our presentation as well as we can.

I'm honestly not looking to forward to the Greek project because honestly I don't have good experiences with group projects but for the idea I have it requires more than myself. I am more nervous now then I was before though because now its double the points and counts for 2 tests instead of 1. Yay (Obvious sarcasm)! Truthfully if we just take the time to do it correctly it should go fine but it's hard to tell whether or not people will actually want to work or just goof off the whole time.

Today in Western Civ. we watched a video that summed up about all we have learned in the past few weeks so it was a pretty good review for our test tomorrow. It talked about how tyrants were not what we call them today and how tyrants were also overthrown and replaced with new ones in the Greek Empire. It touched base on the great minds of Socrates and Aristotle and it also talked about the Spartan army and Athenian army and how they differed and how each one had its own specific advantage in the Greek Empire.

For my Western Civ. project I am honestly a little nervous because I have a good idea but I don't know who I really want to work with on the project. I was thinking about maybe Mike or James but James said he wanted to be independent and Mike said yes even though for my idea I would need 3 people. Like it kind of sucks but hopefully I will find a 3rd to do my idea.

Today in Western Civ. we talked about the Spartans and how they were intensely fierce warriors on the field of combat due to their extensive training. Spartan boys apparently started their training at the age of 7. If I lived in Sparta I literally would've just left like honestly screw that. We also learned how they had a strategic battle formation that was tightly grouped together while the around 80 soldiers held shields, spears, and short swords. It was a very smart move for their time and I feel like war strategy was a big part of the Greek lifestyle. We also learned about the Athenian navy and how it was superior at their time due to their innovative warship creations. They used the ship as a weapon/battering ram instead of just transportation for soldiers.

Truthfully I think the new government that Greece established was a step in the right direction because it allowed us to set up a basis off of it and move forward to be the country that we are today. The only problems I have with it have to be that only free, male, landowning, born in Athens people were considered citizens because I feel like that took away from the opinion of the people. It basically told them that they didn't care how many there were it was just going to be how it was going to be. On another note I do agree with the change in the government because it allowed the common people to express their opinions on the matters at hand and to help make decisions on what they believed was the right or wrong thing to do.

Today in Western Civ. we took notes on the tyrants who took control over the land and how they accomplished it. We talked about how most of them were aristocrats that either had control of the land or took control with the help of hoplites. It was a very interesting topic to talk about because they have many different aspects of ruling because some of the tyrants were actually nice when others acted like modern day tyrants.

So today in Western Civ. we talked about how the Greeks had a unique trading system for their time which allowed them to establish bonds with other countries and grow their empire. We also learned about how they needed trade due to the fact that they needed more natural resources and food because they could only grow food in 20% of the fertile soil they had. We also learned about how the Greeks mixed in their history and mythology one most famously known would be the Trojan War. It really happened but everything about the Greek gods did not. Finally we touched base upon how the Greeks were invaded by mysterious people that they named the sea people and how other rulers took over the war torn land and ruled for 400 years which the Greeks called the Dark Ages.

Today in Western Civ. we started our discussion on Greece and how it will influence the future of America. We learned that most of the area was made up of over 2000 islands and many settlements were built because of that land space. We also learned that most of Greece is made up of mountains and because of them the Greeks were separated and fighting with one another most of the time. During the end of class we kind of did what we wanted to and also reflected on Josh because Mr. Schick finished his lesson

Honestly it's a tragedy to what happened to John because he didn't deserve to be stuck in a car crash. Now he is in shock drama and I just feel terrible for him because every kid deserves to have the chance to grow up to adulthood and live a good, long, and healthy life. I definitely feel bad for his family because they must be so worried about him right now because he is critically injured and I hope that he will turn out to be fine in the end.