Wednesday, January 30, 2013
ULT #15 - Article Summary
Post your article summary as a comment to this post. Your comment should include: the period under examination, a citation for the article, and a summary that includes a thesis, supporting details, and an explanation of how this article helps us to better understand "Europe."
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Period under examination: Rome
ReplyDeleteCitation: Robinson, Joanna. "Mars." The Southern Review. 2008: 768-75.
Summary: Robinson relates a visit to Rome while commenting on the Roman Empire's legacy on the city and the world, through history, architecture, and ideas. Robinson artfully describes her strolls through the city, yet she remarks on ancient mythology and therefore the origins of Rome. Named after the twin son of Mars, the god of war, Romulus, she explains the story of how Rome came to be. Although she cautions that accounts differ as to who killed Romulus's twin brother, Remus, she recounts the most popular version that Romulus himself murdered his brother: "Romulus buries his brother, completes the wall, names the city after himself, proclaims himself Rome's first king." Although only a myth, it epitomizes the corruption and greed for power during the Roman era, and can even be considered a parallel to modern-day political and economic corruption. Further, Robinson remarks on the differences between ancient Rome and modern-day Rome: the "rumble of cars over cobblestones" replacing the "thud of marching men," the "peal of church bells" burying the "former clang of imperial recruits in full armor taking running leaps at wooden horses." Her diction pays tribute to the past and the evolution of the city throughout time. One final example of her connections between the past and the present is that of Galileo. She remembers his legacy of advancing the human vision through the improvement of "microscopes, telescopes, and the spyglass" as she walks by the building where Galileo was tried for heresy as the Roman Catholic Church battled science. Although only one example of an influential legacy, Robinson uses Galileo to represent ALL of the Roman Empire's long-term effects. All in all, although the Roman Empire met its collapse, Rome as a city still retains history within its walls, while the entire world flourishes from the Roman era's achievements and advances.
Period Under Examination: Greece
ReplyDeleteCitation: Kroll, Jennifer. “The Gadfly of Ancient Greece.” Read. 17 Dec. 2004: 20. MasterFILE Premier.
Web. 29 Jan. 2012.
Summary: Through his constant questioning, Socrates drew attention to the problems he saw in the Greek government, exemplifying the quintessential Gadfly. A gadfly can be defined as someone who “encourages positive change by provoking others to act and think in new ways.” Socrates spent most of his days in the marketplace, talking with all types of people, especially young people, about philosophical topics including right and wrong, honor, duty, justice, and the way people should live their lives. Socrates hoped that by discussing such topics with a variety of people, he could help improve the city of Athens, especially its politics. Through questioning, which would later come to be known as the Socratic method, he could prove how little a person of high stature really know. Unfortunately, much of the ancient Greek government did not like how Socrates made himself the gadfly of Athens and they put him on trial and his defense speech has become quite famous. Socrates ideas, as well as his gadfly like methods, are alive today and necessary for our society to blossom and improve. This article helps us to understand Europe by expanding upon our understanding of the government in ancient Greek as well as the impact of philosophers, like Socrates and his student Plato, on Ancient Greek society. Because ancient Greek society is one of the building blocks of all Western Civilization, Socrates and his ideas have not only affected the people of ancient Greek, but all people in Western Civilization since that time.
Period Under Examination: Greece
ReplyDeleteCitation: Scott, Michael. "The Rise Of Women In Ancient Greece." History Today 59.11 (2009): 34. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 2 Feb. 2013.
Summary: Although traditionally believed to have been thoroughly overlooked and subjugated by men, recent evidence suggests that women in ancient Greece actually played a much more significant role in society than previously thought. Author Michael Scott draws from historical and archaeological evidence to present his case for their strong influence in society, including Aristophanes's comic play "Women in the Assembly," ancient "curse tablets," accounts of women's lives in Sparta, and even (though exceedingly rare) participation in the Olympic games. Aristophanes's play depicted a comical scenario of women controlling the politics of Athens and attempting to establish complete gender equality with humorous results; though seemingly insulting, the play actually highlights the important voice that women had in politics, primarily through their influence over their husbands. "Curse tablets" actually reveal the exact words of Greek women and demonstrates their role in religion; both men and women would use the tablets equally to write 'curses' for their enemies, and the religious leaders to whom the tablets were given were mainly female oracles and priestesses. Even moreso than in Athens, women in Sparta enjoyed significant freedom. Trained in athletics in order to be strong and capable mothers, Spartan women were even granted the right to own land, and eventually up to forty percent of all Spartan land was owned by women. One Spartan woman named Cynisca, the sister of a Spartan king, even breached the boundary into the most male-dominated of all Greek arenas: the Olympic games. By proxy, her famous chariot teams won twice at the games, an astonishing feat commemorated by a monument to her athletic excellence. As the ancient Greek culture has remained an important influence on the development of Western civilization, the role of women in ancient Greece proved undeniably important in the advancement of Western culture even to this day.
Period under examination: Napoleon
ReplyDeleteCitation: Blurfurb, Rafe. "Napoleon: What Made Him Great?" Military History 28.6 (March 2012): 25-39. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
Summary:
Using the definition of a leader as defined by President Harry S. Truman, Rafe Blurfurb begins to argue Napoleon Bonaparte as a great leader. His gift of being able to inspire crowds of armed forces was one quality that made him great. Another was his resurrection of military medals. He also, like Frederick the Great of Prussia, personally led his troops to battle. Breaking the barrier between heads of state and the people, and more specifically, the soldiers, was also broken by Napoleon. He was known for chatting with his men by their campfires. He made an effort to memorize their names, and address them using their names. The French Revolution has passed, but its history and ideals still influence France, and all of Europe.
Period under examination: Italian Renaissance
ReplyDeleteCitation:
Fornaciari, Gina, Bob Brier, and Antonio Fornaciari. "Secrets of the Medici."
MasterFILE Premier. EBSCOhost, 2005. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Summary:
The Medici family was one of the most power families in the world and were known for their adeptness at committing murder and other heinous crimes. This article focuses on important clues raised in the excavation and uncovering of Medici family relics. There is not really a thesis statement, as this article is an overview of information uncovered from an excavation of the Medici family. This article helps to better understand Europe because it gives the reader vital information about the powerful Medici family.
Period Under Examination: Greece
ReplyDeleteCitation: Gribble, David. "Gold, Silver And Bronze." History Today 62.8 (2012): 18. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Summary: Gribble starts off with a little history about the Olympics. The Ancient Olympics were overall a religious event where the city-states could preform sacrifices to the gods. The main focus of the article is how the Olympics were a place for Athens and Sparta to continue their rivalry. He then laments on Alcibiades, an Olympian victor, whose fame led to his ultimate downfall as well as the downfall of Athens. He uses Alcibiades to show how the Olympics were used to shape international politics like they are used today. This insight to some history of the Olympics shows how little the basic concept of the event has changed since Ancient Greece. A correlation to Sparta and Athens would be the Soviet Union and the United States during the Moscow and Los Angeles games. While the Olympics are no longer a religious event, it is still an opportunity for competing countries to show off and establish dominance.