Marisa Ziegler

    Today in class we talked more about philosophy and the questions within it. We talked about the value theory. The value theory consists of ethics and aesthetics. Ethics are a branch that evaluate human conduct. This means the way you act towards others. For example, many people disregard homeless people on the street. Some however will give them money or go out of their way to help them. This is good human conduct. Aesthetics are the branch that studies the nature of beauty. Some questions associated with philosophy are questions like should I treat stranger's differently then the one's I love? Do I owe anything to animals, the earth, and myself? Also, logic is reasoning. In philosophy there are no right answers. There are opinions, and if you can state your opinion with reasoning, then it is considered. You cannot fall victim to fallacies. Step one of considering another opinion is trying to understand it. Step two is a critical evaluation of the point being made.

    Today in class we watched a video on philosophy by John Green's brother, Hank Green. He talked about philosophy, and many questions asked within it. For example, the questions were: Why do you do what you do? Why do you think what you think? Why do you feel what you feel? Also, the video talked about Philos and Mythos. Philos is science, and mythos is storytelling. Philosophia is the love of wisdom. Philosophy is the academic study of anything. We also learned that the first universities in the world were Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. Philosophy came to be understood more as a way of thinking about questions, such as what is the world like? What is the nature of reality? Is there anything else in the world besides matter and energy? Do humans have souls? IS there something intangible that will survive after death? Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of reality. Episternology is the branch of philosophy that studies nature an

    Today in class we got in our groups for our project and determined what we would be doing. My group is making food that was eaten in ancient Greece. We are making food and incorporating foods from their daily lifestyle. We also will be making a presentation of how we made the food, and even some videos. For the food, we are making an appetizer, entree, and a dessert. For the appetizer, we are making home made pita bread and pairing it with some Greek olive oil. For the entree, we are making spinach pies. And for dessert, we are making baklava. I am very excited to get started on this project, and I think it will be a fun way to show the Greek foods from ancient times to the kids in our class. Other groups are doing their projects on the geography of Greece, the Olympics, and other cultural features.

    Today in class we talked about the different philosophers. Socrates looked into science and logic (not mythological gods) for explanations on how the world works. The Socratic Method is a method in which you ask questions to stimulate critical thinking. A famous Socrates quote is "the unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates was charged with two serious crimes: impiety and corrupting Athen's youth. He had a trial that was held in front of the people of Athens (the jury) and was found guilty. Socrates basically admitted to the crime, and said that he was doing Athen's a favor. He said he was like the horse fly striking Athen's, the lazy horse. He even said that he should be receiving free dinners in return for his deeds. Socrates was sentenced to death by poison hemlock, which is not a good way to go. In fact, many of his followers and the guards gave him the opportunity to escape, but he remained loyal to Athen's and the democracy and took his punish

    Today in class, two people needed to take their tests still, so the rest of us took our remaining notes from the textbook. I found out I got a 95 on my test, which I'm kinda surprised. But I guess I should have studied more for a higher grade. In the textbook, we learned about Greece's Golden Age. Pericles led most of the Golden Age, and he had through goals throughout: strengthen Athenian democracy, strengthen the empire, and glorify Athens. Pericles allowed poor citizens to hold office, which got more people involved making Athens the most democratic government in history. He established a direct democracy which is a form of government where all citizens rule directly, not through representatives. In the Athenian Empire, the Delian league was organized after the Persian War. The league consisted of other city- states, except some on Peloponnesus. Pericles used a lot of money to renovate Athens. There was a temple constructed as an architectural design. It was built to hon

    Today in class we took our first western civ test. I think it was pretty easy and I did well. The test was open- blog, so we got to use or blogs. I have written some pretty detailed and lengthy blogs, so I was able to utilize a lot of the information for the questions on the test. There is one question, however, I know I got wrong. It asked who wrote poems based on heroes, and I overthought the question. I thought the answer was Plato, but it was Homer. I was going to fill in Homer, but I second- guessed it. The rest of the test I feel pretty good about, though. I studied a lot, so I was not depending on my blog, and I filled out a lot of the information own my own. After the test, we took some notes on pages 134-141 in our notebooks. The text talked about Greece's Golden Age and all the advancements in their society during this time.

    Today in class we reviewed information for our test. We talked about many aspects of Greece that will be on the test. I now have 3 tests on Friday. I have western civ, english, and religion. We went over information like Greece's government. City- states had varied governments such as a monarchy, aristocracy, and oligarchy. A monarchy is the ruling of a single person, usually king. An aristocracy is ruled by rich landowners. An oligarchy is ruled by a few powerful people who were unsatisfied with the aristocratic rule. Tyrants seized control of the government by appealing to common people for support. Tyrants were not considered harsh and cruel back then, and were looked upon as leaders. We also discussed other topics such as the geography, Homer, wars, Sparta and Athens, etc. I feel like I will do okay on the test, and I will try prepare as much as possible.

    Today in class we got our "essay" projects back. My group got a 94, and it was the highest grade in the class. We got points off on creativity, and we found out that we should have added captions to our pictures. Some of our pictures needed explaining. We also got one point off for every category, which we are still unsure why. Also, we found out that we would be having a test on Friday. Our test will be on what we have learned so far about Greece. Mr. Schick gave us time to study during class today, and we will continue to review on Thursday. I have two other tests on Friday, so I know I'll be a little stressed. I have missed a few classes due to sports, so I need to catch up on some of the material I had missed. I read over the information on gods and goddesses and the gods in the Pantheon. I had missed a lot about the descriptions of the gods and goddesses, and I got my notes caught up in my off mod.

    Today in class, Mr. Schick was not feeling good and told us to take notes on the Warring City- States pages in our textbooks. I noted some things in my book. The Dorian period caused a decline in Greek civilization causing them to identify with less culture and a changed government. A polis is a fundamental political unit in ancient Greece. It is made up of the city and surrounding countryside. An agora is a marketplace and an acropolis is a fortified hilltop where citizens gathered to discuss the government. City- states had varied governments such as a monarchy, aristocracy, and oligarchy. A monarchy is the ruling of a single person, usually king. An aristocracy is ruled by rich landowners. An oligarchy is ruled by a few powerful people who were unsatisfied with the aristocratic rule. Tyrants seized control of the government by appealing to common people for support. Tyrants were not considered harsh and cruel back then, and were looked upon as leaders. Athenians chose to perform

    Today I was not in class because I had an appointment.

   Today I was not in Western Civ class due to a basketball game.

    Today in class we got back our pop quizzes and learned that we will be starting an essay on Greece. I ended up getting a 100% on the quiz, and I'm pretty happy about that. For the project, the whole class split into groups of five and each have to write a paragraph to our entire class essay. There is no word minimum, it just has to be a thorough response. My group picked the intro paragraph. We just have to briefly overview topics like Greece's geography, lifestyle, government, leaders, etc. We each took one of those topics to summarize and I chose geography and how its affects their lifestyle. Below is what I have. Greece has a history that set the tone for the entire world. Whether it’s government, leaders, culture, or lifestyle, ancient Greece left its mark. Greece’s geography varies across the country. There are peninsulas, islands, and a mountainous mainland. Their geography had a major impact on their lifestyle such as effecting their culture and ability to unite as