WORLD WAR I - PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE SIMULATION

In class, you have worked as representatives of the United States, France, England, Italy, and Germany to author a peace agreement to officially bring an end to World War I.  For this blog assignment, each group should post the peace treaty that they have constructed.  The post should be written in the following format:

“We hereby agree to the following as terms for ending the hostilities between the ‘Allied Powers’ – represented by The United States of America, England, France, Great Britain, and Italy, and the ‘Central Powers’ – represented by Germany and her allies:”

In the following space, you should list point by point in detail the terms of the treaty upon which you have compromised.

Finally, your post should end as follows:

We, the undersigned, agree to honor all of the above terms.

(In the following space you should list each of the group members, along with the country that each represents.)

This blog is worth 50 points, and is due by Friday, April 27^th by 11:59 pm.

NEWS REPORT ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

You are a foreigner (American, Prussian, English, it doesn’t really matter…) who happens to be in France during the period of the French Revolution.  As many people throughout Europe are keenly interested in the ongoing actions of the Revolution, you have been asked to provide up to date news of the events in France. 

Thus, your objective in this blog post is to write a news story regarding one of the many notable events that took place in France during this violent and chaotic period of time.  The events of your news story must take place somewhere between July 14, 1789, which was the attack on the Bastille, and  1804 when Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of the French. 

Your news story should be about two paragraphs in length, but try to keep it no more than four.  It should be written like a legitimate news story that generally answers the questions of “Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?” As necessary, do a bit of additional research to gather the proper information on your event, such as dates, places, and names of specific people involved. 

This blog is due on Monday, March 12 by 11:59 pm

Sample News Story:

CHAOS AND CARNAGE AT THE BASTILLE!

PARIS, FRANCE -  Chaos and violence ensued in the streets of Paris yesterday, as months of fear, anxiety, and anger at France’s continued political upheaval and uncertainty finally boiled over at the famous Bastille Prison. 

As the National Assembly continued to meet in an attempt to write a constitution for the French government and people, His Majesty King Louis XVI dispatched troops to Versailles and Paris in order to keep the peace.  Unfortunately, the military presence led to a rumor among the city’s residents that the king planned an attack aimed at destabilizing and disbanding the Assembly.  Believing in the unfounded rumor, riotous mobs of an untold number began roaming the city streets in search of weapons with which to defend themselves and the Assembly on the nights of the 12^th and 13^th of July.  Knowing that it housed a large amount weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder, yesterday morning the mobs directed their attention to the Bastille, demanding entrance and access to the arsenal.  Witnesses say that the governor of the prison, the Marquis Bernard-Rene de Launay refused their demands, but sometime in the afternoon the mob managed to breach the fortifications and began attacking the garrison that consisted of about 80 French soldiers and 30 Swiss grenadiers.  Unconfirmed reports suggest that soldiers may have opened fire on the rioters at some point. One witness, who asked not to be identified due to his involvement in the incident, claimed “The soldiers shot at us, and I saw at least 50 people dead or wounded.  But rather than scaring us away, it only gave us more reason to attack this symbol of the king’s tyranny.”

By about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the rioters had taken complete control of the fortress, freeing the prisoners inside, taking possession of their desired weapons, and capturing the prison governor Monsieur Launay and his assistant, the lieutenant governor.  The lieutenant could not be immediately identified.  Eyewitnesses report that the two men were then executed by the mob’s leaders, and that the killings were carried out in a way such that good taste dictates that I not describe it here.  The remains of the two men were then paraded around the city in a gruesome display that seems to indicate that the violence in this country is far from over.

His Majesty King Louis XVI could not be immediately reached for comment.

PEASANT/SERF DIARY

The date is September 17, 986.  You are a serf living on the feudal estate of Lord Spaulding somewhere in Western Europe. For this blog assignment, you must create a diary entry (or series of entries) in which you describe what your daily is like. 

Be as creative as possible, and choose things to write about that will accurately describe what a real day (or days) would have been like for you as a peasant or a serf.  Be sure to start your diary entry with the date mentioned above, and when writing, consider the time of year and what you might be doing during that particular season (end of summer or early fall).

Your diary must detail at least four aspects of your life for you to receive full credit on this blog entry.  Bear in mind that four aspects of your life does not mean just four sentences.  Each aspect of your life will most likely require several sentences for you to fully develop and explain it.

This blog entry is due by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, November 8^th.

POST THE LINK TO YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT PREZI HERE!

When posting the link to your research project prezi, make sure to fill out the topic heading just the same as you would for any other posting.  For example:

STUDENT NAME - 1ST HOUR

Or, if you completed the project with a partner:

STUDENT NAME AND STUDENT NAME - 1ST HOUR

Remembering 9/11

The terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11^th, 2001 changed the nation and altered the course of events in the United States and around the world.  Most of you may be too young to truly remember that day: where you were, what you were doing, how you felt, and how it affected you.  Thus, what I would like you to do is facilitate a discussion regarding 9/11 with someone who does remember (i.e. your parents, an older sibling, an aunt or uncle, or a family friend etc.).  Ask them the following questions:

• Where were you and what were were you doing when you found out about the terrorist attacks? 
• How did you feel? 
• What was your immediate reaction? 
• Is there anything else in particular about the day that stands out or that you can remember? 
• In what ways do you think that America, and the World for that matter, have changed in the past 10 years as a result? 

After you have had this discussion, report back with your findings by responding to this blog post.  You have until Wednesday, September 14^th to complete this assignment.

Welcome to the Blog...Tell Us About Yourself!

Some of you may be familiar with how blogging works, while some of you may not.  Thus, in order to help everyone get acclimated to the class blog, let's start with something simple:  Tell us a little bit about yourself.  The title of this post (and every other post you write in this class) should be your first and last name, followed by your class period.  For example - "John Smith, 1st hour."  In this post, tell us five things about yourself, such as number of siblings, favorite sports, favorite foods, favorite movies, career goals, so on and so forth. Finally, in the last sentence of your post tell us what is your favorite topic to study in World History. The post should be no more than one paragraph in length.