Independent Study

ATHENS & SPARTA: TWO FACES OF ANCIENT GREECE HERALDRY ONLINE ACTIVITY MORE INFORMATION ON THE CRUSADES TREBUCHET INDEPENDENT STUDY OPTION MORE INFORMATION ON THE BLACK DEATH   Other Independent Study Activities:   Option # 1: Contradict Your Textbook  Premise: Reading a history textbook is not like reading the Bible. Every textbook is an opinion about what has happened throughout history, what is important enough to put into the book, what is less important and should be left out. If you have been studying our text and accepting everything in it at face value, you are letting someone else do your thinking for you. I am now asking you to take a critical look at our textbook, and do the following:  1. Pick out one example where you feel our textbook is either wrong or has left out something very important. Perhaps you feel it has only told one side of the story, that it has the facts wrong, or that the presentation of this event is biased.  2. Summarize what our textbook has to say about the event (or person, etc.).  3. Tell me why you believe that the text is wrong. Tell me your own version of the event in question.  Support your point of view with historical evidence, with information from other textbooks, written records, or opinions of persons involved in the event. I want you to support your point of view with at least three such sources.  Be as persuasive as you can be in refuting the point of view of our textbook. My evaluation of your paper or presentation will be based on how well you present your case, how well you are able to contradict what is in the book.  Two weeks prior to your handing in your paper (or presenting to the class), I would like you to give me an outline of what topic, issue, or person you have chosen, what you feel are the inaccuracies in our text, and some of your ideas and facts that refute the textbook.  If you present to the class, please hand in a full outline of your presentation to me on that day. If you do the paper, please have it typed, 2-3 pages in length, and handed in on the day that I collect notebooks.  If you have any questions or problems, please see me during flex time. I will set aside at least one flex period each week to meet only with students who have questions on their assignments.   Option #2: What If History Had Turned Out Differently?  Premise:     Since the beginning of the school year  we have been reading about and studying an ongoing story, that is, a series of related events.  It can sometimes be helpful in understanding the basic truths of history to speculate on how history might have been changed, if things had happened differently. This option asks you to use your imagination in answering the question at the top of this page. If you select this option, please do the following:  1. Select one of the events in history that is covered in some detail in our textbook. Then discuss what its causes were, and what effects resulted from it. Events you can choose for the 1st marking period are: the Battle of Issus Spartacus' slave revolt the Persian Wars the Peloponnesian War the Punic Wars (I, II, or III) Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon Events you can choose for the 2nd marking period are: the Battle of Tours the Battle of Hastings the First Crusade the Hundred Years' War Martin Luther's dispute with the Roman Catholic Church The Plague - what if it had never happened?  2. Identify a critical moment or aspect of the event that might have happened differently. Describe how else it might have happened. Tell me why this other ending might have been possible.  3. Tell me what would have been different in the events that followed if the event you have chosen had occurred in the different way that you describe. Be thorough on this point, and discuss as many different outcomes as you can think of. You will have to use your imagination, and see as many possible connections to the event as you can.  4. Finally, tell me why the real event turned out as it did, and what were some of the critical factors or reasons for that actual historical outcome. 5. If you choose to present this to the class, please give me a brief outline of what you will say one week prior to your scheduled date. You will need to stop in during flex to work out the schedule with me. If you choose to do the class presentation, I would like a full outline of your presentation on the date you present to the class.  6. If you choose to do the paper on this topic, please hand in an outline of your topic one week before the due date, and a 2-3 page typewritten and double-spaced paper on the day I collect notebooks.   Option #3: Find Something New  Premise:     Our history textbook may be hundreds of pages in length, but it cannot hope to cover all of history. It is an edited text. Certain things have been included, and many more things (and people) have been left out. If you choose this option, I am asking you to enrich the classes' understanding of history by telling us about something or someone important who has been left out of the text as written. Please do the following, to successfully complete option #3:  1. Identify and describe the event or person you have selected that has been left out of our text. Present a convincing argument why this person or event deserves to be included.  2. Tell me why you feel the person or event was not included in the text. Was it because it or they just aren't well known? Or is there some bias against this type of person or event being included in history textbooks? Convince me.  3. As we are doing throughout the course, connect this person or event with the rest of the Human Story. Tell me what were the causes of the event, or what influences shaped the individual you have selected. Describe in as much detail as you can what were some of the lasting effects of this person or event of which you feel Americans should be aware.  4. If you choose to do the class presentation, please give me an outline of your choice and the major points you plan to make one week prior to your presentation date. Please give me a detailed outline in writing on the day you present to the class.  If you choose to do the paper, please give me an outline one week prior to the due date of the paper, and submit the 2-3 page typewritten and double-spaced paper on the day that I collect notebooks.

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