Making the clarification! READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello students,

I just wanted to clarify any doubts as to the official assignments for my World History class. The homework I am sending for the World History class will be labeled appropriately. YOU MUST READ THE HEADINGS!!! Remember that this blog is for all of my students, whether it be from the World History courses, the World Cultures, or the Italian course. The assignment for the interview questions that are to be written for Camille's father, Mr. Kutbi, is for my WORLD CULTURES, SOPHOMORE students. I hope this makes everything clear.

Thank you, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

World History Students' Assignment for Wednesday, Sept. 30

Hello girls,

As you know, due to the extraordinary circumstances our class is going through and the precautionary measures the school must take, you are to fulfill a set of required assignments in your home and complete them daily. These questions will be counted as a full quiz grade and are compulsory. Today's assignment will be the following:

In your textbooks, Chapter 2, Section 1, pg. 27, there is a question in the margin that you must answer:

"Why was silt so important to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia?"

On pg. 31, another question in the margin:

"How does an empire differ from a city-state?"

Page 32, "Section Assessment", questions number 3 and 4:

"3) What advantages did living in cities offer the people of Ancient Mesopotamia? Do modern cities offer any of the same advantages? Support your answer with references from the text. Think about: characteristics of Sumer's city-states, characteristics of Sumer's economy and society, and the development of organized government."

"4) Do you think that living in a river valley with little rainfall helped or hurt the development of civilization in Mesopotamia? Explain your response."

Section 2, page 34, another question in the margin:

"What was the main difference between the flooding of the Nile and that of the rivers of Mesopotamia?"

This question refers to the documentary you were supposed to have watched for the class on the Ancient EGYPTIAN civilization. Again, here is the URL for the website in which you can find the needed documentary:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/legacy-the-origins-of-civilization/:

According to the documentary "Legacy: Egypt, the Habit of Civilization", what is the mayor difference between the personalities of the Egyptians as a culture and the Iraqis as a culture? How could this have affected their development as a civilization?

Page 35, in the margin:

"Why were Egypt's pharaohs unusually powerful rulers?"

Page 39, in the margin:

"Comparing. How was the status of women similar in Egyptian and Sumerian society?"

World Cultures, New Region

Hello all,

As you know, the next region to be studied in class will be the Middle East. I would love to be able to invite Mr. Kutbi to our class so as to enjoy from the experience of learning from a Middle Eastern Native. Normally, we don't necessarily have access to someone that can teach and enlighten us through his or her experiences which may be so drastically different from our own. On the other hand, we may also be surprised to find out that these experiences, although geographically distant to our own cultural realities and contexts may also be more similar to our own ways life than we realize; the Philippines, anyone? Remember, as a part of this experience, you are ALL REQUIRED to prepare at least two (2) interview questions for Mr. Kutbi and you must hand them in by POSTING THEM ON THE BLOG! I will be keeping track of the posts. Thank you, and good luck.

Asian Food Website

Hello World Cultures Students,

I found this website to be quite complete on explaining some of the characteristics of Asian cuisine and there are also some simple but tasty recipes on the site which might interest you.

http://www.asianonlinerecipes.com/

"Legacy: The Origins of Civilizations" Documentary

Hello all,
Here are the documentaries of the first mayor river civilizations we have been studying in class. You may view them in their entirety for free on this site and feel free to do so since they are quite interesting and very informative. They include video of beautiful landscapes of these countries and some of the monuments these civilizations have left us and serve as an excellent visual reference. Enjoy!

http://www.topdocumentaryfilms.com/legacy-the-origins-of-civilization/

Food Day Permission Letter for the World Cultures Class

Hello World Cultures students,

As a reminder, we are planning on having our Asian "Food Day" tomorrow, September 22, and as we discussed in class, you will not be able to participate in the activity unless you hand in the permission slip signed by your parents. Remember to download this document, print it out and bring it to class tomorrow. Good luck to all! P.S. Remember to copy and paste as a Word document. See you tomorrow!

Academia San José, High School

Villa Caparra, Puerto Rico

Department of History and Social Studies

Ms. Carina E. Dimas, B.A.

Dear Parents,

It is my pleasure and privilege to be able to teach the World Cultures elective course at our school. As part of this enlightening and enriching course, which centers upon familiarizing our students with varying aspects of differents cultures around the World, part of my objective is to expose the students to one of the most defining characteristics of any culture; its cuisine.

In order to be able to reach that goal, I very humbly solicit your cooperation in the activity I have designated as “Food Day”. In this activity, students are to investigate what is the local cuisine of the of the country they have been assigned and choose the recipe of a traditional dish of that area. I very much encourage my students to be considerate of their parents’ budget and availability to help out as much in the kitchen as at the grocery store. I urge my students to pick simple dishes, that if possible, can be made with ingredients they may readily find at home.

In the past, this wonderful activity has proven to be extremely memorable and enjoyable amongst the students, and it is a tradition I would very much like to continue. Please consider this petition as a step towards the cultural growth of your daughter, as one of our missions in the classroom is to try to metaphorically travel around the World without leaving our seats as a way to understand the cultural differences that make humankind unique. Let us not forget that the most enduring part of any culture is, in fact its food, for it is hardpressed to change despite the passage of time, social disruption, or cataclysmic events. Traditional food is always a part of the culture one can count on to define us.

Thank you very much for your cooperation,

Ms. Carina E. Dimas

I,_____________________, parent or guardian of_____________________, have read and understood the above provided letter of permission and grant aforesaid permission for the aforesaid student to participate in the “Food Day” activity. I understand this activity is completely voluntary and am able/willing to provide any needed support.

Guidelines for the next part of your work...

Hello girls,

I am sorry I have not been able to log on before, as I explained earlier, my laptop died out last week and I haven't had access to another computer until today. I am including here the guidelines for the first half of the body of your work to be submitted tomorrow, Sept. 21. I hope these are useful to you. If you have any questions, try e-mailing me, although I may not be able to read it before tomorrow, so keep that in mind. If you are desperate enough because you are totally lost and confused you may give me a call. My num. is 787.460.5983.

Remember that this part of your work should begin immediately at the top of the page, but before you begin writing you must include your name and period on the upper left hand corner and the page number with your last name on the upper right hand corner. Here are the instructions for that:

To Start Numbering From the Beginning of the Document

1. Step 1

   Open the document.

2. Step 2

   Click "Insert" at the top toolbar. A drop down menu will appear. Click "Page Numbers" from the menu. The "Page Numbers" tool box will appear.

3. Step 3

   Choose where you would like your page numbers to be placed. You will be given the option of inserting the numbers at the top of the page (the header) or at the bottom (the footer).

4. Step 4

   Decide the alignment. Choose if you would like the number at the right, left, center or the inside or outside of the pages.

5. Step 5

   Click the box that says "Show Number on First Page" or leave it blank if you want the document to begin numbering at "2" on the second page.

6. Step 6

   Click the "Format" button at the bottom of the toolbox. You will be given some options of what kind of numbering format you would like to use. Click and add your choices and click "OK.

After you have done that, remember to insert your last name next to the number on the upper, right hand corner by double clicking on the number itself and then writing your last name in the box provided. Remember to press "Tab" or the Space bar multiple times until it is correctly placed next to the number.

I found that this website has some great tips on how to use the correct MLA format. This will be useful for your entire work so keep this in mind:

http://www.csus.edu/owl/index/mla/mla_format.htm

In terms of content, remember that the first paragraph of your work should be a description of the documentary you viewed. For example:

The documentary film "Zeitgeist" presents an alternate, more controversial version of the events that occured on September 11, 2001. It implies that the United States government was deeply involved in the planning of the terrorist attacks and that they may have caused them in order to gain support for their own political agenda and interests that were, and still are, tied to the Middle East...

The second paragraph should compare the documentary's version of the historical events on which it focuses and the film's version of those same events. For example:

On the other hand, in the film "World Trade Center" another perspective is shown. Throughout the film, news channels report on what was taking place the morning of September 11, 2001. In these official reports, the media blames a group of 19 Middle Eastern hijackers in accordance with the official version of the events put forth by the government of the United States...

Your third paragraph should be an analysis, a comparison between what both the documentary and the film present and what you know/believe to be true about the way those historical events took place. Obviously this means that you will have to do additional research on the historical events themselves. An example:

Perhaps nobody will ever know exactly what occurred the morning of September 11, 2001. Both films present a possibility of what took place. One that is popularly and widely believed to be true, by the government and the population alike, and one that is more in tune with conspiracy theories that may or may not hold some semblance of truth, but that at times seem very likely...

Alright girls, I hope this helps you better understand what is expected of you in this part of the work. I wish you great success!