Welcome
back. We'll jump right in today looking at the causes of the "Great
War," or World War I. You'll have the first reading quiz tomorrow.
Current Events: It
is safe to say that a lot has happened since we were last together.
We can't take all block, but we can certainly talk for a few
minutes if you are interested.
Quarter 3 Changes: I'm
pondering adding a couple of assignments along the lines of what I do
in some other classes, and they are also very similar to what Ms.
Conway calls "project points" in 11th grade Modern U.S. History.
Basically, you'd be required to do something with one item from each of
these categories. (I haven't generated full lists yet, but I had a few
questions for you.) In most cases, things that are primarily "American"
would be excluded from most of the lists.
- Literature - You would read an appropriate work of literature from the 20th century.
- Film - You would watch an appropriate film based on history of the 20th century.
- Speech - You would analyze (and deliver part of?) a famous or important speech of the 20th century.
- Art - You would analyze an important work of art from the 20th century.
Basically,
you'd probably post reactions on the blog for the actual "turning it
in" portion of these assignments. I'm interested in your feedback
and/or ideas on this.
The Causes of World War I - This will be our main focus for the day. We'll have you start out briefly working with a DBQ packet called, "Causes of World War I." After you take a look at that, we'll break it down a bit more specifically.
Jigsaw activity - While
it is pretty clear that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
triggered World War I, there were underlying factors that made it
likely this event could not be contained in the Balkans. You'll look at
one of these factors in a group, and we'll form jigsaw groups from
there.
In your "expert group," you'll read a short excerpt on one of these:
- Nationalism
- Balance of Power / Imperialism
- Interests of Individual Nations
- Arms Buildup (Militarism)
As
you form the "jigsaw" groups, each of you should share your "school of
thought" with the group. Then, your group is to come to a consensus on
which TWO of the factors were most important in causing World War I.
Someone should be prepared to report these two selections back to the
big group.
Literature of World War I
- Probably more than any other conflict, this war produced a rich
collection of literature from a wide variety of sources. One book that
collected some of the poetry is "The Muse in Arms," which can be accessed at First World War.com.
(The earlier link takes you directly to the introduction page. Use the
sidebar on the right to access the poems in the 14 different
categories.)
Your
task is to browse around this collection and select a poem that you
find interesting. Be sure to have it available in class tomorrow, as
you'll be asked to read an excerpt from it.
This
shouldn't be much of a surprise to you. Begin your reading in Chapter
29 with Section 1, "Marching Toward War." (pp. 841 - 844) The quiz
format will be multiple choice.
Select one poem that you find interesting from "The Muse in Arms" and have it ready to share in class.
