Questions about Map on Battuta and Polo

Based on the map and their travels, Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo are not typical of their people of their time period. Most people living during this time did not have the ability to travel such long distances. Also, traveling to such distant lands would require time and resources that most people during this era did not have access to. This would include boats for travel and a consistent supply of food. As a result, people in this period did not move around nearly as much as Battuta and Polo did. However, these two people can be considered as being more typical to this current time period. With a mode of transportation known as airplanes, people can travel as far as Battuta and Polo did. Based upon this reason, the fact that they could move to such lengths as they did suggests that they relate more to people of present time. In addition, most people did not venture as individuals during Battuta and Polo's era because it was frankly not possible due to the numerous things needed such as time and even knowledge, which basically means knowing where one is going and how to get there safely. On the other hand, many people nowadays travel around the globe on their own ready to experience all parts of the world.

Map of Oceania

Crusades Project Bibliography

Bibliography

Carroll, Vincent, and Thomas F. Madden. "The Crusades and Islam." Crethi Plethi The Middle East. N.p., 19 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. (Crusades picture)

"Crusades." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

de la Sierra, Joaquin. "The Second Crusade." Medievality.com. N.p., 29 Nov. 2008. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.

"First Crusade." Medieval Life and Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.

 

My Final Crusades Project

To access my project, simply click on the link below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/119884441/The-Crusaders-Weekly

Crusades Project Journal Day 4

Today, I finished up my project by completing my newspaper article, perfecting its content and format.  I also created my bibliography and finalized my comments on other classmates’ posts.  In regards to my article, to avoid any confusion, the enlarged quotes in the middle of the text are not directly taken from any of the sources.  Rather, they were created by me based on the information I compiled from my resources.  To answer the final question for the blog journaling, my choice for displaying my project did work as I envisioned.  The format came out as I expected, with the quotes as the key features.  Also, I felt my titles turned out to be good even though I had trouble with them before.  As for content, it was exactly as I anticipated.  Everything flowed and I covered a different response a Muslim would have felt during the Crusades based on the events of the People’s Crusade, First Crusade, and Second Crusade.  It even worked so well that I could use my last sentence, which ties the whole article up, to reference the overall feelings of the Muslims, according to my research.   

Search Engines for My Websites

This site covers all the crusades and I used sweetsearch to get it: http://www.history.com/topics/crusades.

http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/crusades/first-crusade.htm focues on the First Crusade and the People's Crusade.  I found it through Yahoo.

 

http://www.medievality.com/second-crusade.html focuses solely on the Second Crusade and was found by using Google.

Comment on Student's Post 3

Hey Harsh,

I like the idea of creating a video using Xtranormal.  That should work really well in depicting the feelings of the Muslims during the Crusades. Just make sure to make the commentary interesting so it does not feel like it's dragging on. It appears you have good, solid information so it should come out well.

-Mark Whitney

Comment on Student's Post 2

Hey Ryan,

If you need a good site for the People's Crusade, try looking at this:

http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/crusades/first-crusade.htm

-Mark Whitney

Crusades Project Journal Day 3

As I continue to add to it, my idea for showing my understanding is working well as of now.  I also added to my research through the search engine, yahoo, by finding a site on the People's Crusade and the First Crusade.  I have come to a final decision about the three Crusades I will use as evidence.  They include, as mentioned above, the People's Crusade and the First Crusade, as well as the Second Crusade.  For the Second Crusade, I was able to find research by using Google.  I choose it because it allows my article to flow better since these three occurred all in a row.  Also, the events of the Crusade, in which the Crusaders were defeated, as well as the fact that it was a failure made this crusade a worthy candidate to extract a Muslim perspective. The only problems that have occurred were coming up with intriguing titles for the newspaper and article.  Based on my research, Google worked the best for me probably because I am so familiar with it in comparison to yahoo, bing, and sweetsearch.  Also, at least for me, there did not appear to be much of a difference when I used another search engine other than Google.  As a result, I went back to the one I am most comfortable with.

Comment on Student's Post

Hey Jonathan,

In class, you said you were having trouble coming up with an idea to display your project.  So just to offer you a possible method, you could try and make a magazine article to explain the Muslim perspective.  Also, I found a pretty good site on the Crusades, which has information on your three crusades: http://www.history.com/topics/crusades.  Hope it helps.

-Mark Whitney

Crusades Project Journal Day 2

I have decided to definitely use the First Crusade as one of the three crusades I will focus on to provide my support.  Also, I am pretty sure that for the other two, I will choose the People's Crusade and the Eighth Crusade.  I already explained in my last post  why I will include the First and Eighth Crusades.  For the People's Crusade, I find it possible to extract possible feelings Muslims might have had since it was such an embarrassment for the Europeans.  I was able to find two quality sites from the Google and sweetsearch search engines.  They gave interesting information about the crusades I may use that would fit well in explaining the Muslim perspective of these wars.  In addition, I began to create my display for depicting my understanding of the topic.  I am continuing with the idea of making a newspaper article because I can utlilize the idea of interviewing Muslims and reporting on their thoughts of the Crusades.  They will not be real people but rather people I make up who will provide information and quotes based on the research I find.  In my previous post, I mentioned difficulties with my research, but after refining my search, I was able to find good resources much easier and quicker.

Crusades Project Journal Day 1

I have officially begun the Crusades project today. My idea for the method of displaying the criteria is through creating a newspaper/magazine article. This piece would include a report in which someone interviewed a group of Muslims about their thoughts on the Crusades. It will also include important quotes, which will be clearly portrayed. In addition, I started researching by trying out some of the search engines. In my attempts to use google, yahoo, and sweetsearch, I had some difficulty finding sites that would benefit me for this assignment. They either did not appear credible or did not address exactly what I intended for the search. Also, each search engine seemed to produce almost the exact same sites, making them equal in their lack of benefits. I, therefore, decided to use one of the library databases to find a resource, which proved to be more effective. I am not completely set on which Crusades I will use as examples. I am thinking about using the First Crusade because it appears to have provided the greatest negative impact on the Muslims. I may also use the Eighth Crusade since it is here when the Muslims finally defeated the Europeans and took back the last "Crusader state".

Questions about Postclassical Sub-Saharan Africa Map

The map did not include a better key, all kingdoms with space and color, and religion because the mapmakers, even though they should avoid bias, want to elicit the same opinion of Africa from their viewers that they themselves have. They only put in what they perceived as important despite the fact that we could find other concepts just as or even more significant. It also seems that they did not want us to think too much about the map because it was so simple. Also, to put in easiest terms, these mapmakers may just have been too lazy to incorporate everything indicated in the text book about the continent.

The map portrays a false depiction of Africa during the time period indicated. As a result, the viewer's understanding of this continent is flawed since key pieces of information regarding this area are omitted. For example, religions of the kingdoms are not incorporated and in fact, some kingdoms are not clearly identified. Africa is portrayed in a way that causes the viewer to believe that Africa was minimal in its importance in comparison to the rest of the world. The mapmakers did not show, frankly, any routes going out of Africa, and in the one instance where they did, the route did not point to a specific continent. Also, the absence of more kingdoms indicates that the mapmakers believed they were less significant and as a result, the viewer feels the same. However, this is not true because based on our additions, the other empires not clearly depicted were extremely important, especially in regards to trade and religion. These empires and cities not included in the key had large amounts of exports, mostly in gold and slaves. Also, they adopted new religions such as Christianity and Islam, which helped to shape Africa. This concept was not indicated on the original map. As a result of these additions, our understanding of Africa changes to a more correct outlook on the region.

Fixed Map: Sub-Saharan Africa, 800-1500 C.E. Kingdoms, Empires, and city-states

How I want my Life's Story Told

I would want my history to be told using song and dance because text book form or simply bullet points containing facts is dull and uninteresting. By presenting the story of my life using a more lively and entertaining method, my history appears more intriguing. Also, people would remember a song and dance more because they are catchy and easier to recollect. Song and dance make my life's story more impressive because someone took the time to relay the facts of my life into a memorable performance instead of just listing them with bullet points. Also, it takes more effort to create this type of storytelling, which makes me feel more important. In addition, dance allows my story to be told worldwide and to every person because one does not have to be literate in order to understand it. This does not include song because of the different language barriers. Most importantly, by knowing that more and more people will remember this interesting way of storytelling, my life's history will last longer and well beyond my years.

Sub-Saharan Africa, 800-1500 C.E. Kingdoms, Empires, and city-states