Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Happy New Year!!!
I am off to Berlin, Dresden & London tomorrow so I thought I would wish you all an early Happy New Year!!!
I get into Kuala Lumpur at about 9 pm so I should be just in time for the fireworks at KLCC. Then off to London on 1 Jan & into Heathrow at 4.30 pm. Ice & snow bbbrrrrrrrrrrrr. lol
Monday, December 27, 2010
Some more VERY BIG questions to consider about Weimar:
What role do intellectuals play in a new democracy? Do they have a special obligation to be supportive and not overly critical of their new government?
Weimar intellectuals, particularly those on the left such as Kurt Tucholsky, Carl von Ossietsky, and George Grosz, have been accused of being destructively critical of the new Republic. Walter Laqueur has argued that in crisis periods intellectuals should hold back on their criticisms and support their government particularly if it is fragile. Other scholars argue that free critical speech strengthens rather than weakens democracy.
How can new constitutional equality for women be translated into real equality that affects women’s lives?
Women dominated the Weimar electorate. Out of a total population of 60 million Germans, two million young men between the ages of 18 and 34 had been killed in World War I and another two million had been so severely physically or mentally injured that they could play little role in governance. Although women had not been allowed to participate in any political organizations almost to the end of the pre-World War I period, they grasped the new opportunities that the war and its aftermath brought. In the earliest years of the Weimar Republic women voted in large numbers and supported the pro-Republican parties that had granted them the vote. Yet, in the last years of the Weimar Republic, women deserted the political parties that had supported the Republic, and in the period from 1930 to 1932 they constituted the fastest growing group to support the Nazi Party. How can new female voters be empowered to assert their independence and vote their own interests? How can strongly entrenched, patriarchal traditions, which still influence civil and criminal codes, be modified to conform to the spirit of the new constitution?
What role does self-deception play in the way that many people evaluate their own social and political circumstances?
In 1921 Kurt Tucholsky, a left-wing intellectual, claimed that “Germans had two passions: beer and antisemitism.” He added that “the beer was twenty-eight proof, but the antisemitism was a hundred proof.” Gershom Scholem, a German Jew who immigrated to Palestine in the mid-1920s, declared that his fellow co-religionists were deceiving themselves into believing that they had been truly accepted into German society. He charged that they were blind to the growing antisemitism around them and cited the numerous antisemitic publications that abounded in Germany including the notorious “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”. The Russian secret police in the pre-World War I era had fabricated this account of a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. Alfred Rosenberg, a refugee from the Baltic part of the Russian Empire who became a Nazi leader, brought it to Germany. How did self-deception affect the ways Jews viewed their situation during the Weimar Years? Why did many Weimar Jews not recognize the danger of their situation?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
That's it holidays are over for Modern History people!! lol
Two more questions to consider for the Weimar Republic:
How do governments encourage individuals and groups to compromise their immediate self-interests to the larger interests of society?
During the years of the Weimar Republic, Germany experienced extreme economic inflation and depression. In November 1923 during the time of hyper-inflation, the German mark, which had traded at 4.2 to the American dollar in 1914, was trading at 4.2 trillion marks to the dollar. Individuals saw their life savings and their hopes for a comfortable retirement disappear overnight. In 1932 at the height of the depression 6 million Germans, one-third of the work force, was unemployed. Yet, these problems went unchecked or were at best belatedly dealt with and reached critical proportions because industrialists, labour union leaders, land owners, and members of the middle class were all caught up in their particular short term self-interests. The historian Charles Meyer argues that, had these various interest groups compromised some of their special interests, the leaders of the Republic would have been able to moderate substantially the effects of the inflation and the depression.
How does a democracy transform an anti-democratic teaching corps so that its schools can be schools for democracy?
Teachers in the Weimar Republic undermined ideological and curriculum reform by clinging to anti-democratic ideas and older, more autocratic approaches to education. These teachers were products of a university and college system, which the historian Ferdinand Lilge believed was responsible for the “failure of German learning” and which the historian Max Weinrich called the training grounds for “Hitler’s Professors”. What types of changes could have been made in the universities and colleges and specifically in the training of teachers so that they could have helped students to see the advantages of democracy and work to prevent its destruction?
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Kasey sees London the hard way!!
Spare a thought this Christmas for Kasey, who is London in the ice and snow. This should be much fun... but isn't, because her young brother Noah is extremely sick and in the icu at St Mary's at Paddington.
At least it has stopped snowing so she may get to see some of the London sights. I'm sure that if you dropped her an email or sent her a message on facebook it would help cheer her up!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
Congratulations to all!!!
There were some really excellent results, especially in History Extension, but I am proud of all of you no matter what you got.
I know that probably sounds strange, but it's not. Everyone gave it their best shot, and that is all that I ever want. For some is came off handsomely, and I am happy for you. While for others it did not, but I am still very very proud of you!
Now the "big" adventure begins!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good Luck!!!!!!
And one more thing!!!!!!!!!!
Modern History:
You need to learn off the First World War notes that I gave you.
Not part of them. All of them. And you should know them by the time that you come back to school in 2011.
Extension History:
You should have done most of your research for your personal project. If you really want to be on top of the game you should have a draft ready to go when you get back. And don't forget to record your research in your log book.
Monday, December 13, 2010
CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC AND FOR TODAY:
• If there is a need for a transitional period on the road to majority support for democracy, how does a democratic minority maintain itself in power until the majority can be educated for democracy?
Democracy, which in its early stages is a fragile structure, came suddenly to Germany as a product of military defeat and the pressure of Germany’s enemies. To many Germans, it came as an uninvited guest. Walter Rathenau, the first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic, declared, “Now we have a Republic, the problem is we have no Republicans.” How can a democracy function when there are few democrats? The National Socialists (Nazis-National Sozialists ) claimed they were democratic because they had substantial popular support and by 1932 received more votes than any other political party. Otto Braun, the Prussian Social Democratic leader, argued that democracy was more than popular or even majority rule. He claimed it was the combination of representative government with the protection of basic civil rights for all. What does the term “democracy” mean today?
• How does a democratic government deal with terrorism and violent radical political groups who desire to destroy the democracy?
E. J. Gumbel, a statistician who supported the Weimar Republic, calculated that terrorists committed 454 murders in the early years of the Republic’s existence. Gumbel documented that, while judges were brutally harsh in their treatment of the small number of left –wing assailants in terrorist attacks, the same judiciary’s overt sympathy for right-wing terrorist violence seriously threatened the Republic. Were the pro-Weimar parties deceiving themselves in imagining that an apolitical judiciary was possible? Can a new democracy work with a fundamentally anti-democratic judiciary until a new one can be recruited and trained? Can democrats be too weak in their own defense? Can terrorism be successfully fought while maintaining broad civil liberties?
• In a democracy, what is the proper role of nationalism with its symbols, uniforms, music, and poetry?
Hermann Heller, a pro-Weimar lawyer, argued that nationalism was compatible with democracy and individual liberties. He believed that the Social Democrats, the largest of the parties supporting the Republic, should embrace nationalism. He argued that they could use nationalism to help to bridge the huge gaps between the classes in Germany. In an ironic comment on the reasons for the failure of the Weimar Republic, the diplomat and anti-Nazi, Erich Kordt, quipped that, had the Republic issued more uniforms and shown more flags, it could have survived. Could the leaders of the Republic have utilized nationalism and patriotism for positive democratic purposes and not yielded these powerful forces to anti-democratic elements?
There is no Modern Class on Wednesday!
About a third of the class is in Maths Extension 2 on Wednesday. So it is pointless getting the rest of you in for a class that I will just have to repeat later anyway.
So tell everyone else you know that the class is off. BUT make sure that you comment below when your read this post & also tell me who you are going to contact and pass the message on to. Please also pass the message on to those people doing Maths so that they know what to do during the holidays.
Step 1
Watch this video on youtube:
The Nazis: Helped Into Power 1 to 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQjhuGj-PuY
Step 2
Make a detailed set of notes on the video
Step 3
Part One: Things to have a big think about after watching the video.
The Weimar Republic: A Fragile Democracy
THE LEGACY OF WORLD WAR I
World War I, which was, to the generation of the 1920s and ‘30s, “the overwhelming catastrophe that dominated their epoch,” gave birth to the first German democracy, called the Weimar Republic. In the words of H. Stuart Hughes, this war “stacked the cards for the future.” Germans, who were suffering from the humiliation and loss of honor of unexpected defeat, cried out for vengeance. The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war, contributed to the humiliation Germans felt. All Germans, no matter their political beliefs, regarded the treaty as unjust. It would remain a festering sore on the body of the new Republic. Yet, the anger, passion, hatred, and violence of the Weimar years were mixed with tremendous creativity and cultural excitement. In that dynamic environment, the viability of democracy was tested and failed.
WHY STUDY THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC?
• The history of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) illuminates one of the most creative and crucial periods in the twentieth century and serves as a significant case study of the critical issues of our own time. Many of the questions asked about the Weimar Republic are relevant to problems that individuals and societies face in the twenty-first century.
• Citizens and leaders of the Weimar Republic had to wrestle with the problems of a newly developing democracy: the creation of a new constitution and political culture and the need for institutional reform particularly of the judiciary, the police, and the educational system.
• The Weimar Republic experienced hyper-inflation and depression, gender and generational conflict, political violence and terrorism, conflicts dealing with the relationship between church and state, and racist antisemitism.
• The fourteen years of the Weimar Republic were a way station on the road to genocide, and yet they also witnessed the struggle of many decent, sincere people to create a just and humane society in a time of great artistic creativity.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Yet another collapse at Pompeii!
ROME — Less than a month after Pompeii’s so-called House of Gladiators collapsed into rubble, portions of a garden wall at the nearby House of the Moralist fell down on Tuesday, prompting new calls to better safeguard the city buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
Antonio Varone, Pompeii’s director of excavations, said the house – which actually consists of two adjacent abodes that belonged to two families – was in no danger.
The wall, which bordered an unexcavated area and was shored up earlier this year, had been completely rebuilt after the United States bombing of the Naples area in World War II, according to the culture ministry. Mr. Varone told the news agency ANSA that the wall had most likely succumbed to the “incredible, incessant torrential rains” that have washed over central Italy in recent days.
“These atmospheric phenomena are so unusual that they’ve even surpassed the protection that we have set into place,” he said. Pompeii officials were monitoring the areas most at risk, he said.
Demands that the Italian government take better care of its fragile archaeological sites grew after the collapse in early November of the Schola Armaturarum, whose walls were decorated with frescoes of military themes. Political opponents of the government have called for the resignation of the culture minister, Sandro Bondi, and a confidence vote is expected in December.
On Tuesday, Tsao Cevoli, president of Italy’s National Association of Archaeologists, said that the collapse of the wall was further “proof of the incompetence with which Minister Bondi and this government has handled the situation at Pompeii,” ANSA reported.
Monday, November 29, 2010
An unusual patient!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
This is a thought provoking post from Bek!
Hothouse kids wilt
Stephen Lunn From: The Australian September 01, 2008 12:00AM
"HE was one of three kids, the middle one as I recall. He was 9, and as well as school, each week he was learning the piano, playing in cricket, football and basketball teams depending on the season, doing tennis lessons and attending cubs.
"When I asked why he did it all, he answered 'You'd better ask mum'."
Early childhood expert Kay Margetts from the University of Melbourne is recalling a recent session with a boy. It reinforces her concern that parents are too often putting their children so front and centre of their own lives that their youngsters' achievements become their only measure of success.
"It really was clear from the boy's words that his life was being imposed on him rather than him having any real choice," Margetts says.
"It's motivated by parents thinking a child engaging in lots of activity, and the parent being involved in taking them to and fro, is a sign of good parenting. That they're somehow providing their child with an advantage that will benefit them in later life."
There are parallel worries. First, that this overwhelmingly child-centred family life is leading to a lack of imagination and independence in children. How often do children wake up on the weekend and the first thing they say to their parents is "What are we going to do today?".
"Sometimes these children's lives become so crowded they end up with no time to just veg out, to fiddle with Lego or toys, to give their minds and bodies a rest, to do what they want to do, to not 'be on' or perform all the time," Margetts says.
"And where is that time to just sit and hang out with your kids rather than be doing things with them all the time?"
Second, while parents seem so keen for their children to participate in different activities they desperately fear seeing their child fail. And in trying to cushion them against life's losses and psychological bumps, the parents are serving merely to lower their children's resilience to failure and loss in laterlife.
A recent article in Britain's The Sunday Times cited the example of a production of Snow White at a primary school in Japan where there were 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch, as the parents were worried about the effect on their children of one child being picked out for the leading role. It's the same notion as a prize in every layer of pass the parcel at children's parties, rather than one prize in the middle.
US academic Joseph Epstein has dubbed this relatively new and inordinately tight focus on the needs of children and their place at the centre of a family as a "kindergarchy".
"Children have gone from background to foreground in domestic life with more attention centred on them, their upbringing (and) their small accomplishments," the recently retired lecturer at Northwestern University wrote in the US magazine The Weekly Standard.
"Parents seem little more than indentured servants."
Melbourne-based author and barrister Hilary Bonney and husband Ray Gibson, also a barrister, have worked to shield their twin seven-year-old girls Hannah and Audrey from this activity obsession.
"I know of little children who do not have a night off, every night after school they are attending structured, expensive goal-based activities and classes," Bonney says. "I cannot take my own children around to play with them because they are always busy, sometimes with two classes on the one night.
"After living in Fiji for two years I really noticed this phenomenon when I returned to Melbourne. It is a product of an affluent society that parents feel the need to compete about how many special activities their children are doing. It doesn't mean your children are necessarily getting a better childhood because they are so busy. Children need time to go outside and play with a stick.
"There is simply too much emphasis on doing and not enough on children being. I had a no-activities policy until my girls were 7 1/2. I wanted them to get used to the first tiring year of school without adding further stress into the mix. In the last term they have just started playing basketball and that happens one night a week. That is enough forthem.
"I make sure we have space in our lives to hang around at home or to go to the park if the sun starts shining."
Don Edgar, an internationally known expert on family trends and co-author with his wife and fellow academic Patricia of an upcoming book The New Child: In Search of Smarter Grown Ups says if a child complains about being bored "they should be told to go outside and play or pull out a drawer and find old things to play with anew, or just to enjoy reading or thinking to themselves for achange".
"Kids today are not given enough contemplative, imaginative free time, partly because of the lack of open outdoor space, but also because parents think they have to manage their kids' time, terrified their little darlings might become bored," Edgar says.
Of course the experts don't discount entirely the value of organised sports and activities. It teaches children about how to work within a team, gives them an understanding of how to cope with winning and losing, and many enjoy the competitive element. As children get older they may be able to handle more activities, but finding the balance between organised recreation and pure play is where parents must really takestock.
Kent University sociologist Frank Furedi tells The Sunday Times that some parents are looking to make themselves feel better by encouraging children to undertake all sorts of activities and then praising them for even mediocre performances.
"It's a way of reassuring ourselves that our children are going to be insulated from pain and adversity," he says. "We tell children they are wonderful for tying their shoelaces or getting 50 per cent in an exam. But really it's our way of flattering ourselves that we're far more sensitive to children than people were in the past."
Edgar agrees, pointing to new US research by Stanford University academic Carol Dweck that shows parents can actually impede their child's progress by constantly telling them how wonderful they are.
"Dweck finds that kids who are always told how smart they are, who are praised for every little thing, fail to try. They don't put in the effort needed to learn new things because they think they should be able to do it automatically because they are 'smart'," Edgar says.
"Instead, she shows that kids praised for their actual effort are more likely to succeed than the 'smart' kid always being told how good they are."
He says schools should heed the danger, and that "individual mastery and effort should be the goals (of education), not just test results ... to satisfy some sort of school league table".
Kathy Walker, one of Australia's leading education consultants, doesn't accept Epstein's notion of a kindergarchy, but does believe we "are living in paradoxical times".
"On the one hand we're rushing and hurrying children far too much and expecting more than we should of them. On the other hand, many parents with the best of intention are becoming more and more afraid of being the parent and more wanting to be a peer or a friend," Walker says.
She says the school or kindergarten car park has a lot to answer for, with parents' competitiveness about their children's activities a real issue.
"There is a myth out there in parentland that the more your kids do, the better and more successful they will be as adults. In fact it may just be the opposite is the case, with kids doing too much and ending up not being able to play to their strengths," Walker says.
Edgar takes Epstein's kindergarchy on board, adding that it may extend well beyond early childhood. "Kids have been exploited as little consumers, they have power in the marketplace and parents have been duped into thinking that indulgence is the way togo."
He says parents shouldn't be completely blamed for this indulgence, because having kids older, and having fewer of them, makes it "natural to want the best for your preciousfew".
"And work demands mean spare time with the kids is hard to get, so there is a lot of compensation going on."
Walker, who is often asked by parents about how to build resilience in children, says a key piece of advice is not to hand out praise and affirmation for every little thing.
"We have to be careful about telling kids how fantastic they are for setting the table, and giving them gold stars for making their beds or bringing their dirty plate from the table to the kitchen sink. What we should be saying in those circumstances is simply thank you, because it's something they should be doing without false praise."
Walker agrees the no-losers scenario of the Snow White play is becoming more and more prevalent in modern society.
"For instance, I've seen parents having to negotiate with siblings to give them something special on their brother or sister's birthday so they don't feel left out. There are times when children have to learn how to deal with the fact they aren't the ones in the spotlight that day. It's part of growing up," she says.
Margetts agrees. "There is a concern that if we are always praising children and giving them what they want they aren't learning how to regulate their behaviour in the face of adversity, they aren't learning how to cope with disappointment, they aren't learning how to cope with conflict."
Parents have a difficult path to tread to build resilience in their children. As Edgar says, "they need to be authoritative, set limits and give firm guidelines if genuine self-development is to result".
"Mum and dad as servant is not the model today's kids need. They need emotional and moral guidance, a sense of respect for others, and room to become capable, responsible citizens in their own right."
Stephen Lunn is The Australian's social affairs writer
Never work with children or animals!
Well that's what they say in show biz!!!
I should have listened. Jenny and Brenna were so good that everybody at the Canberra Conference though that I was very old and ordinary and that they were brilliant.
But wow they were good. I was very proud of them.
And.... I got the better room + the food was really good! Best French Toast ever!!!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
‘What Have the Middle Ages Ever Done For Us?’
Jenny Huang (Year 11), Brenna Harding (Year 8) & I will be in Canberra on Thursday & Friday talking at a symposium on the Middle Ages.
http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2010/11/01/symposium-the-lighter-side-of-the-middle-ages-anu/
Wish us luck!!! lol
So there will be no class for 12HX2 before school on Friday.
Welcome back Myrtis!
Scientists and archaeologists have managed to recreate the face of an 11-year-old Athenian girl, 'Myrtis', from her skull and teeth found in an ancient cemetery of the city.
Myrtis’s is a sad story. The little girl seems to have died of typhoid fever, possibly as part of the great plague that swept through Athens during the Peloponnesian war in the second half of the 5th century BC. Her face, on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, will be used to front a UN Millennium Project campaign as a reminder of the eternal threat of child mortality.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Roman gladiators' house collapses
This was picked up by special correspondent Sophia
Posted Sun Nov 7, 2010 1:23pm AEDT
The 2,000-year-old House of the Gladiators in the ruins of ancient Pompeii has collapsed, sparking fresh debate on whether the Italian government is doing enough to safeguard a world treasure.
The stone house, on the main street of the famous archaeological site and measuring about 80 square metres, collapsed just after dawn while Pompeii was closed to visitors, officials said.
Custodians discovered the collapse when they opened the UNESCO World Heritage site for the day.
The building was damaged by bombs during World War II and was restored in the late 1940s. Officials speculated that the collapse may have been caused by heavy rains.
The structure was believed to be where gladiators gathered and trained and used as a club house before going to battle in a nearby amphitheatre in the city that was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Known officially by its Latin name "Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani," the structure was not open to visitors but was visible from the outside as tourists walked along one of the ancient city's main streets.
Its walls were decorated with frescoes of military themes.
Measures were being taken to thwart further collapse, officials said.
Decay, garbage and looting
Art historians and residents have complained for years that the archaeological sites at Pompeii, among the world's most important, were in a state of decay and needed better maintenance.
Two years ago the Italian government declared a state of emergency for Pompeii. It lasted for about a year and allowed for extra funds and special measures but critics have said the special intervention was badly managed.
Opposition politicians were quick to criticise the government of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, particularly culture minister Sandro Bondi, for the site's degradation.
Archaeologists and art historians have long complained about the poor upkeep of Pompeii, dogged by lack of investment, mismanagement, litter and looting.
Bogus tour guides, illegal parking attendants and stray dogs also plague visitors.
Some 2.5 million tourists visit Pompeii each year, making it one of Italy's most popular attractions, and many have expressed shock at the site's decay.
Two-thirds of the 66-hectare town, home to some 13,000 people in the Roman era, have been uncovered since serious excavations began some 260 years ago.
The remaining third is still buried and many modern buildings have been constructed over it.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Humorabteilung
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg loved a good joke but discovered during the First World War that these were not commonly found in East Prussia, where he had made his military career, and that worldwide appreciation of German humour was at a very low ebb in the 1920s.
When he became President of the Weimar Republic in 1925 one of his first actions was to issue a decree establishing a government department called the Humorabteilung under the command of a powerful official, the Staatswitzmeister, responsible for organising training courses for aspiring comedians and taking measures to raise the general standard of German jokes.
This had moderate success in the following years until 1934, when Hindenburg died and Adolf Hitler came to power. None of the Nazi leaders had any sense of humour at all (Julius Streicher published a comic newspaper for some years but the cartoons were whimsical rather than funny). The Humorabteilung was closed down, the post of Staatswitzmeister was abolished, the Third Reich was declared to be a Lachenfrei state and jokes of any kind were forbidden.
After the Second World War glumness prevailed throughout Germany and very little laughter was heard for some years. Then, in 1949, Konrad Adenauer became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of West Germany at the age of 79. He had been a popular stand-up comedian in Berlin nightclubs in the 1920s ("History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided” was one of his quips, but it sounded better in German and anyway it was the way he told it). Under his leadership a Lustspielhaus was set up in all major cities and the bierkellers echoed with Teutonic chortling once more.
Today, of course, Germany has regained its place among the top joke-making nations of Europe, and every German institution or company has its Lachenbüro with a qualified Witzleiter in charge, turning out a stream of comedy which in quality and scope has not been seen since the days of the Hohenzollerns. Here, for example, is a contribution by the Bayerische Werke to the jollity:
When he became President of the Weimar Republic in 1925 one of his first actions was to issue a decree establishing a government department called the Humorabteilung under the command of a powerful official, the Staatswitzmeister, responsible for organising training courses for aspiring comedians and taking measures to raise the general standard of German jokes.
This had moderate success in the following years until 1934, when Hindenburg died and Adolf Hitler came to power. None of the Nazi leaders had any sense of humour at all (Julius Streicher published a comic newspaper for some years but the cartoons were whimsical rather than funny). The Humorabteilung was closed down, the post of Staatswitzmeister was abolished, the Third Reich was declared to be a Lachenfrei state and jokes of any kind were forbidden.
After the Second World War glumness prevailed throughout Germany and very little laughter was heard for some years. Then, in 1949, Konrad Adenauer became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of West Germany at the age of 79. He had been a popular stand-up comedian in Berlin nightclubs in the 1920s ("History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided” was one of his quips, but it sounded better in German and anyway it was the way he told it). Under his leadership a Lustspielhaus was set up in all major cities and the bierkellers echoed with Teutonic chortling once more.
Today, of course, Germany has regained its place among the top joke-making nations of Europe, and every German institution or company has its Lachenbüro with a qualified Witzleiter in charge, turning out a stream of comedy which in quality and scope has not been seen since the days of the Hohenzollerns. Here, for example, is a contribution by the Bayerische Werke to the jollity:
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
We had a good HEX Day today!
2011 HEX went to the Museum of Sydney, the Mint & the Police and Justice Museum for some inspiration!
The people at the Police and Justice let us go into the Loft - where they keep all their "secret" stuff!! lol Well, the stuff that they are working on and haven't released to the public yet.
At the MOS we looked at the Plague (Yuk!!!) in Sydney. Again good fun, except for the rats.
The only thing that I wasn't happy about was Jennifer Lawless telling everyone that she wanted them to write like Elton and not like Jenkins!!! Mmmmmmmmmm
Yes I know, I know.... why didn't we do anything kool like that?? Sorry people in 2010, but the museums are now getting their act together and offering some good stuff. Last year's program wasn't up to this!
Monday, November 1, 2010
It is now official! Worst HEX Question Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Happy History Halloween!
GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Days before Halloween on a darkened street Dwight Stoutzenberger aimed his digital camera at a wall not far from where a guide was telling ghost stories to a group of tourists.
Gettysburg, a historic Civil War town, is famous for ghosts and reportedly haunted sites where uniformed soldiers mysteriously walk through closed doors, or ornaments shift positions on a mantelpiece.
As Stoutzenberger scrolled through his photos he found several exposures showing a bright light amid a fuzzy white oval shape apparently hovering near the wall down the street.
Tour guide Ann Griffith, who has been doing ghost tours in Gettysburg for 16 years, speculated that it could be an orb -- a point of light that she says is commonly seen around haunted sites.
Stoutzenberger, 34, from Elizabethtown in central Pennsylvania, was happy to have found evidence of the spirit world.
"I'm a believer," he said. "I go on these tours so that maybe I can catch an orb."
The tour was run by Ghosts of Gettysburg, one of about a dozen companies offering such tours of the southern Pennsylvania town. Tourists, some who believe in ghosts, come from as far away as northern Idaho and Minnesota.
Gettysburg is reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of thousands of soldiers who died in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, which turned the American Civil War in favor of Unionist forces.
Griffith said the battle, in which some 7,000 soldiers were killed, explains why modern Gettysburg is populated with the ghosts of those who died horribly, or whose bodies were hurriedly buried in shallow graves during the summer heat.
"A lot of them don't know they are dead," she explained. "A lot of them still think they are fighting the biggest battle of their life."
But for history buff Mark Appellman, 46, a computer analyst from Chicago, ghost tours weren't a priority during his visit.
"I'm a Civil War nut," he said.
Outside a local elementary school that had been used as a hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg Griffith provided gruesome details.
"The surgeons would perform amputations without anesthetic, and dispose of the limbs in a wheelbarrow," she said, adding that the arms and legs were probably buried under what is now a parking lot outside the school, possibly explaining why orbs are frequently seen there.
The only real evidence of Gettysburg's storied past shown to the tour group was historical, rather than spiritual. About 100 bullet holes marked the spot in the side of the Farnsworth House, where Confederate marksmen shot at Union soldiers who returned fire.
Griffith said the house has at times been visited by the wandering spirit of a soldier whose presence prompted a psychic to try to banish him.
"Your job as a soldier is done," the psychic told the soldier, according to Griffith. "It's time to go - you are dead."
Friday, October 29, 2010
Remember what I told you!!!!!
Yep, the first question for HEX was hard and yep the second question was better.
Just remember that a question is hard for "everybody" or easy for "everybody". Yes, you may not have written down the perfect answer - the one that you wanted to get down. BUT, you may still have written down an answer much better than others did at other schools.
You would not be the first student to do badly by your own standards, but very well by everyone else's standards.
Despite what Warren says... everything is relative!!!!!!!!! lol
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
HEX -1
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
HEX -2
Monday, October 25, 2010
Max!!!
I have survived my spider bite!!!!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
HEX -4
HEX Question Themes
Q.1 HISTORIOGRAPHY
2009
Critically evaluate the way history has been constructed and recorded over time.
Support your argument with reference to at least TWO sources you have studied.
2008
How do historians work? Support your argument with close reference to the Source and at least TWO sources you have studied.
2007
Critically evaluate the role of the historian in the construction of history. Support your argument with reference to at least TWO sources you have studied.
2006
What is the purposes of history? Support your argument with reference to at least TWO sources you have studied.
2005
What is the purposes of history? Who is history for? Support your argument with reference to at least TWO sources you have studied.
2004
How have approaches to history changed over time? Support your argument with reference to as many sources you like.
2003
Evaluate the aims and purposes of history. Support your argument with reference to as many sources you like.
2002
Is it possible to have objective history? Support your argument with reference to as many sources you like.
2001
Discuss how historians use evidence to reconstruct the past. Support your argument with reference to as many sources you like.
Q.2 HISTORICAL JESUS
2009
Explain the changing interpretations in at least ONE area of debate from your chosen case study.
2008
How do historians work? Use ONE area of debate from your chosen case study.
2007
What is the purpose of history? Use ONE area of debate from your chosen case study.
2006
How do historians work? How useful are facts to an historian? How much is history just interpretation? Use ONE area of debate from your chosen case study.
2005
Assess the ways in which historians use sources, and evidence gathered from those sources, to change debates in history. Use as many areas of debate from your chosen case study as you like.
2004
Assess the importance of historians themselves in the debates relating to your chosen case study. Use as many areas of debate from your chosen case study as you like.
2003
How do historians work? Assess TWO areas of historical debate that highlight
differing interpretations of your chosen case study.
2002
Analyse TWO areas of historical debate in relation to relevant historiographical issues* within your chosen case study. (* You get to choose: Aims & purposes of history? Who are the historians? How has the writing of history changed over time? Why has the writing of history changed over time?)
2001
Discuss the way ONE historical interpretation of issues in your case study differs from at least ONE other interpretation.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
HEX -5
Question One: The Historiography Question
You really need to engage with the quote and refer back to it quite regularly.
Try to answer the question in the first paragraph and then analyse the quote in some detail from the second paragraph onwards.
Don’t spend the whole of the first papagraph taking the quote to pieces and leaving the marker wondering what your answer to the question actually is.
When the question says “use two other sources” they mean that it should be very clear in your answer that you have very detailed knowledge of two historians (different from the one in the quote) and how their contexts have influenced them & the way they write their history.
Most of the answers during our Term 3 “Festival of the Essay” were too short. It is highly unlikely that you would have developed a complex enough argument under 1200 words to get 24 or 25 /25. You should be aiming at 1,500 words by now!
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