If you heard Harrison Ford's voice finish that with "...get cocky" then you're right about what I'm going to blog about. Plus give yourself 10 points for getting a quote from Star Wars: A New Hope.
I got home from Bentonville High Schools annual Forensics Tournament. I got first place in Novice Debate. Two weekends ago I got second place at Novice Breakout.
Lets just say I feel good about how I'm doing in debate right now. The word of caution from all Champ debaters though is "Don't get cocky".
This is a problem for me. I like being good at things and coming home from somewhere with a total of three trophies (6th place speaks) this month makes me feel good. But there are plenty of great debaters that could beat me and it is only Arkansas and being cocky is never something that people like. I'm definitely going to try and make sure it doesn't become a problem. Props to my partner who got 4th speaks which is no doubt what rolled us over a team with the first place speaker.
Debate is fun but I shouldn't make it something where people don't like my attitude.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Chapter 9 World History Outline
Civilization in Eastern Europe: Byzantine and Orthodox Europe
I. Vlad chooses Byzantium
A. Trade and Military activity complemented by a religion with wider appeal.
B. A new religion would show authority and end internal strife
C. Byzantine was a close ally and he wanted to marry the sister of the emperor.
D. Byzantine Art and Literature affects Russia
E. Separation from Roman Catholic Europe
II. The Byzantine Empire
A. Political, economic, and cultural activity.
1. Roman politics
2. Constantinople was a major city that radiated one of the two major branches of Christianity.
3. New culture in Balkan and western Russia
4. Christian missionaries cause northward expansion
5. Polytheism->Monotheism
6. Separation between Eastern and Western Europe
a. Trade from North to South
B. Origins of the Empire
1. Began in 4th Century
a. Eastern Roman capital
b. Able to ward off attacks while West was falling.
c. Greek instead of Latin.
d. Egyptians and Syrians joined Byzantium
C. Justinian’s Achievements
1. Fought off Sassanian and Germanic invaders.
2. Tried to take back the West.
3. Susceptible to his wife Theodora.
4. Rebuilding Constantinople
5. Systemizing the Roman legal code.
6. The Hagia Sophia
7. Over ambitious military caused tax pressures.
D. Arab Pressure and the Empire’s Defense
1. Hellenistic and Christian influence
2. Able to hold off Arab Muslims but not without taking heavy losses.
3. Held capital, partly because of Greek Fire.
4. Loss of farmers and free workers and tax payers.
5. Island of Crete
6. Defeated Bulgarians in 1014.
E. Byzantine Society and Politics
1. Similar to China
a. Mandate of heaven
2. Theodora as empress
3. One of largest Bureaucracies ever
a. Included aristocrats and talented scholars.
b. Eunuchs were close to the emperor.
c. Governors and spies held loyalty.
4. Military recruited from within
a. Many given land
b. Many became leaders
c. Blocked road to Europe for Muslims, Persians, Arabs, and Turks.
5. Lots of trade and focus on food that kept the peasants out of power.
6. Hellenistic
7. New architecture and art.
F. The Split
1. Western Church
2. Eastern church recognized the Pope
3. Eastern priest could marry.
4. Mad patriarch excommunicates all Roman Catholics.
G. The Empire’s Decline
1. Turkish invaders in the East
a. Took Asiatic provinces and cut off the most prosperous sources of tax revenue and agriculture.
b. Lost battle of Manzikert in 1071.
2. New kingdoms such as Serbia
3. Tried to get help from the West
a. Inspired Crusades to Holy Lands
b. Crusade turned against Byzantine and took Constantinople .
4. Turks take over in 1461.
a. Affects later the Ottoman Empire .
Staying Busy
I have to wake up in seven hours and forty minutes. It's a really nice time to wake up. Thanks to knowing a junior with a car I get an hour and ten minutes more sleep this year than I ever have since first grade.
Even this makes me tired throughout the day. Just earlier I fell asleep while waiting for my laptop to install some updates. What's worse is that I know so many people, kids and adults alike, that are getting a lot less sleep than that and probably do more in a day than me.
If anyone reads my blog or loves me enough to go reference it, I wrote a blog at the end of August entitled Optimism http://scbennettamc.blogspot.com/2010/08/optimism.html in which I talked about how this was the first year I was ever overwhelmed with work. For some it has always been like this and for some I know its worse. AP World is a beautiful, in a terrifying way, example of a lot of work. I guess that's implied by the name but its a really hard class and the 30 page double column 12 size print with no pictures that fills the whole page...is a lot to read in a night. But more than that it is certainly a lot to digest and understand and take a quiz on the next day.
I know a kid that read the chapter 4 times tonight. I read once and did an outline on it and fell asleep at one point. He has an A in the class, I think I have a high C. The time needed to do all of this is beyond intense though. He had to spend at least three hours doing that, I know because I was talking with him, and he studied for Chem and Spanish in the same night.
The US is behind in education and Arkansas is the worst here so I don't even want to know what it's like other places but if you have a hard schedule and you want to pass your classes now in a high school in Arkansas I'm gonna say it takes a good three hours a night. He spent more. Who knows.
I think it's way too much. I know I sound like the generic kid fighting about no homework but we spend 7 or 8 hours at day at school and then getting home and school related activities, add 3 hours to that and that is 11 hours of our day. Then factor that they tell you to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep that doesn't leave a lot of time in between and we know we like to play around and goof off with friends. A social life is needed at this age and stress and lack of sleep are not helping at all.
Anyone that is doing Debate like I've started knows that if you want to be good at that its super time consuming too. It's all too much. We need more sleep, less work, and less stress. Educational reform is needed but with No Child Left Behind it'll probably only get worse.
I might've just covered about 10 different topics in a very unorganized way but I felt like writing it all out.
If you read it all good for you, you must like me or agree with me.
I'm gonna go get my minimal sleep now.
Even this makes me tired throughout the day. Just earlier I fell asleep while waiting for my laptop to install some updates. What's worse is that I know so many people, kids and adults alike, that are getting a lot less sleep than that and probably do more in a day than me.
If anyone reads my blog or loves me enough to go reference it, I wrote a blog at the end of August entitled Optimism http://scbennettamc.blogspot.com/2010/08/optimism.html in which I talked about how this was the first year I was ever overwhelmed with work. For some it has always been like this and for some I know its worse. AP World is a beautiful, in a terrifying way, example of a lot of work. I guess that's implied by the name but its a really hard class and the 30 page double column 12 size print with no pictures that fills the whole page...is a lot to read in a night. But more than that it is certainly a lot to digest and understand and take a quiz on the next day.
I know a kid that read the chapter 4 times tonight. I read once and did an outline on it and fell asleep at one point. He has an A in the class, I think I have a high C. The time needed to do all of this is beyond intense though. He had to spend at least three hours doing that, I know because I was talking with him, and he studied for Chem and Spanish in the same night.
The US is behind in education and Arkansas is the worst here so I don't even want to know what it's like other places but if you have a hard schedule and you want to pass your classes now in a high school in Arkansas I'm gonna say it takes a good three hours a night. He spent more. Who knows.
I think it's way too much. I know I sound like the generic kid fighting about no homework but we spend 7 or 8 hours at day at school and then getting home and school related activities, add 3 hours to that and that is 11 hours of our day. Then factor that they tell you to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep that doesn't leave a lot of time in between and we know we like to play around and goof off with friends. A social life is needed at this age and stress and lack of sleep are not helping at all.
Anyone that is doing Debate like I've started knows that if you want to be good at that its super time consuming too. It's all too much. We need more sleep, less work, and less stress. Educational reform is needed but with No Child Left Behind it'll probably only get worse.
I might've just covered about 10 different topics in a very unorganized way but I felt like writing it all out.
If you read it all good for you, you must like me or agree with me.
I'm gonna go get my minimal sleep now.
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