Mrs. Madrigal’s Social Studies Blog

Monday’s Essay Prompt:

Was 1492 a mistake? Support your stance by drawing from the social, economic and religious aspects of Spanish contact with the New World. There is no “right” answer. I want to evaluate and connect the discussions, readings and the various Spanish and native perspectives to support your response.

Reminders: Before the exam, the following will be collected:

Cornell Notes on “New Horizons” 2pgs, “Towards a World Economy” 1pg

Age of Exploration Identifications (you can miss 2-3)

Extra Credit Film Writing Assignments “The Mission” and “Elizabeth” (”Elizabeth: The Golden Age” is being extended until the first Monday in November, it will probably stop showing in theaters by then).

If there are any questions, email eng9146@lausd.net

aptitude-A natural talent or ability; quickness to learning

inept-without skill

adjunct-An added part not essential to the whole

conjugate- To give forms of verbs in a fixed order

injuction- An authoritative command or order

juncture- A serious state of affairs. (2) The condition or point of being joined

subjugate- To conquer or dominate completely

astringent-harsh; severe

Strait-A narrow passage or water connecting two large bodies or water; (2) A difficulty or bad position

Stringent-Severe; constricted; tight

Films are a great opportunity to connect with the history you are studying for the AP Exam because they depict the drama that is often found in history. In an effort to help you study and relate to the material in class, there will be selected films you can watch to earn extra credit.

Directions

·         Rent the film from your local rental store; there might be times when the film is showing in theaters but for the most part the films will be rentals.

·         Write a two paged, typed, review on the film. Use the following questions to guide your writing:

o   Summary of the film (Short Synopsis)

o   What historical time period is depicted in the film?

o   Describe what you learned from the film

o   How well did the film portray the time period? Give specific details (Setting/Environment, Characters, Events/Outcomes)

o   What do you think the film did not do well? What did you not like about the film? Why?

o   How would you change the film? Why?

o   What elements of the film do you think were selling points to the studio and to the general public? In other words, why do think the studio was willing to pay for the production of the film and why would the general public pay money to see it in the theater.

Films available for Extra Credit: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Rated PG-13 in theaters) & The Mission (Rated PG 1986)

Read the handout from “Lies my Teacher told Me” and reflect on the celebration of Christopher Columbus. In a 1-2 paragraphs respond to the following question: Is a Columbus a person that should be celebrated? Why?Why not?

There will be a vocabulary quiz tomorrow, 10/9/07 on the ten vocabulary words for the American Revolution. The vocabulary words can be found on p197. Good luck!

New vocabulary words for the week (Quiz on Friday):

abstain: To refrain from something by one’s choice.
coherent:Showing an orderly relation or parts
colloquial: Characteristic of ordinary conversation rather than formal speech or writing.
commodious:Spacious, roomy, as in a house
impertinent: Rude
tenacity: Hanging on to something persistently or stubbornly
condone: To forgive; to disregard an offense
commiserate: To feel or express sorrow or pity

We are beginning the steps to create a mandala project, which is a meaningful design in the form of a circle. It is both a creative/artistic piece and biographical. In order to find out what we should include in our mandala, you will be thinking about your lives and reflecting on past events. The following two prompts have been given to help in creating your mandala:

1. Envision the people closest to you/most special to you. Who are they? See their faces. View their
actions. What have they done or what do they do that makes them special? (Last Wednesday)
2. Think about a difficult time in your life. What was going on? Why were you struggling? Who was there to help you? How did you respond to the challenge? (Today)

There will be one more prompt for Wednesday so if you have not responded to any of these prompts make sure you do so by Wednesday.

There will be a regular tutorial tomorrow, Thursday October 4th. Remember, tutorials are every Tuesday and Thursday. If you forget the tutorial log you can write your two questions on notebook paper followed by how you have attempted to solve the question and what you already know important definitions, notes etc.

For those of you who are interested in the book website (which should be everyone!) I navigated through the links and here is the direct link to the website. Explore, have fun and take the practice quizzes.

http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&flag=student&product_isbn_issn=9780534646028&disciplinenumber=21

You will respond to the following prompt in one or more paragraphs: “Envision the people closest to you/most special to you. Who are they? See their faces. View their actions. What have they done or what do they do that makes them special?”