Dead Men do tell Tales

In 9th grade history, students have learned about some fantastic geography stories:
In 1912, Robert Falcon Scott (British) and Roald Admundsen (Norwegian) both set out to conquer the South Pole.
The Norwegians were well-prepared. They also zoomed as fast as they could to the pole, and did not take detailed scientific readings along the way. They got to the South Pole first and planted the Norwegian Flag.
Thirty five days later, Scott and his party showed up--too late!
The return journey was a nightmare. One man died along the way, while the other had a serious foot injury. He eventually went out into the blizzard, rather than slow his companions down--this is depicted in the above painting. Soon, they ran out of food and heating fuel.
The remaining men froze to death in a tent. A year later, their bodies were found along with Scott's diary where he outlined all that happened, and how the men met their doom like stoic Englishmen.
In fact, Scott became more famous that Admundsen. He was seen as a hero, who along with his men, bravely met their deaths in a British way.
The diary is now available on line--and you can read it like a book. Isn't the British library fantastic to put this up for all to read? Here it is: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/index
Hint: What is it called when you know the outcome of something--and the characters do not? Dramatic Irony. This diary is full of dramatic irony, for we know that Scott and his men will die.

Opium and Imperialism

Before and after Christmas, 9th graders are learning about the benefits and harm of Imperialism.

They even learned a brief account of the Opium Wars. These wars, which occurred in the middle of the 1800's was based on conflicts over the extent of European influence in China.

One of the complaints by China was Britain's continuing export of Indian Opium into China. The British had learned that by exporting opium to China--they could avoid having to pay cash for Chinese goods, thereby addressing the large trade deficit that Britain had with China (sound familiar?). Opium, a highly addictive substance, was desired by the Chinese and it was smoked in Opium dens throughout China, but especially in the port cities of Nanking and Shanghai.

The Opium wars are a sore spot for the Chinese. In 2001, they banned the French fragrance, Opium from being sold in China. The rationale was that the fragrance sought to glorify the "forbidden, sensual aspects of a substance that caused untold suffering for the Chinese." Opium--the fragrance--is still sold at our downtown Macy's. I even have a small bottle that students get to "sniff" in class.

In 1999, coming back from Montana, I was shown a small silver case that was a portable opium smoking kit. I did not have the money to buy it....but I remember the small little drawers where the opium seeds were crushed, oil was place with them, then the smoke traveled through a long tube. It was a fascinating piece of history.

Holiday Break

Wow...I hope by now all my students had a happy holiday. We finished up the last few weeks of the semester with this:

9th grade: Students continue to work on your Imperialism Poster. It will be due the first week when we get back. By the way, the Imperialism exam results were very strong across all three classes. Congratulations, guys!

11th grade: We were now entering the later stages of the Civil Rights Movement. Students will be learning about the Nation of Islam, Black Power, and Malcolm X. They were also given an opportunity to watch the films Malcolm X or Mississippi Burning for extra credit These are R rated films and cannot be shown in my classroom, but their historical content is excellent. Again, sorry about the R rating---history is often rated R.

European History: My students should be working on a French Revolution question packet, and questions 18-22 on the Industrial Revolution. They were also given a list of extra credit films--all excellent (none rated R).

See you in a week everyone!

Laduree

Students in Advanced Placement European History are learning about the French Revolution. They were able to view a few excerpts from the movie, Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette was a teenager when she left her home in Austria and traveled to France to marry the Dauphin (crown prince) of France. Because it was an arranged marriage, it was difficult for her, but she grew to have a close friendship with her husband. They would both die by guillotine during the French Revolution.

In the movie, the director, Sofia Copolla attempted to show the luxury of the court of Versailles. She even commissioned the famous pastry house, Laduree, to provide the pastries for some of the scenes. It was a perfect contrast to the wide-spread hunger that existed among the lower classes of the third estate in pre-revolutionary France.

Laduree remains very famous, and there are several branches in Paris. Just browsing the site is a feast! http://www.laduree.fr/v1/index.htm

Wikileaks--THEN and NOW...

Leaked telegrams and cables are nothing new in European and American History. They have started wars and insulted national leaders...something that remains to be seen with the latest Wikileak releases.

This week, students in 9th grade are learning about the Spanish American War, when the Americans moved into Cuba and the Philippines.

One of the factors in the Spanish American war was a telegram from the Spanish Ambassador who said that the President of the United States, McKinley, was weak. This was seen as a personal insult. The telegram said : "...McKinley is weak and catering to the rabble and, besides, a low politician who desires to leave a door open to himself and to stand well with the jingos of his party."

The "leaking" of the De Lome letter was one of the factors that led to the Spanish American War.

In August of 1955, fourteen year old Emmett Till went to visit his uncle and cousins in Mississippi. He was warned before he went there to "behave." This meant, of course, behaving like a second class citizen in the segregated Southern states. He was told not to look at white people in the eye, or act forward, or draw attention to himself in any way.

The facts are unclear, but Emmett may have playfully whistled at a white woman in a grocery store while he shopped with his cousins. Two days later, he was pulled from his bed and taken away, where he was beaten, mutilated and shot. His body was pulled from the Tallahassee River a few days later, maimed beyond recognition.

Emmett Till's brutal murder is to the Civil Rights Movement as Pearl Harbor was to the start of World War II. His body was returned to Chicago for burial. His mother demanded that the coffin be open so she could see for herself what had been done to her son. She then said that she wanted the coffin open...so that the 50,000 mourners would also see the truth of the segregated South.

A few months later, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. When asked, years later, what she was thinking at that moment, she said: I was thinking about that boy, Emmett Till, and I just couldn't go back.

Thanksgiving Week--All classes

Parent Teacher Interviews are from 12 to 8 pm. today. However, parents can contact me any time via e-mail. Also, all parents should, by now, have the intouch pass number to keep on top of student's grades in all classes.

There is homework over the Thanksgiving break:

9th graders--your creative writing assignment number 2 is due next week.
11th graders--your creative writing assignment is due next week
AP Euro history: You must do the Enlightenment readings and chart on back. This is due when we get back.

Thanks, everyone, for being a super group of students during this fall semester. Have a good Thanksgiving and be prepared to work hard during December.

Mrs. Olsen.