Heloise and Abelard (Extra Credit)

Choose one or two of the letters of Heloise and Abelard at the link here. What did you find particularly interesting in these letters?  Does anything particularly surprise you?

Boccaccio (extra credit)

Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in Florence at the link below. What can you tell about Boccaccio's values and concerns from this account? In what ways might seeing the kinds of things he describes affect his writing and his general view of life?

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/decameronintro.html

Machiavelli (Extra Credit)

Please read Chapters 15-19 of Machiavelli's The Prince (either pp. 84-104 of the Signet edition or at the link below).

Add a comment or two here giving your impressions of Machiavelli. Try to say something that would help another students trying to prepare on essay on Renaissance achievements.

http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/basis/machiavelli-prince.html

Pico della Mirandola (Extra Credit)

Renaissance humanists had a very positive view of mankind. They greatly appreciated past human achievements, and had an exceptionally high view of human potential . Read through some of Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man at the link below. Cite a line or two that particular well illustrates Pico's "humanism," i.e., either his appreciation for the past or his optimism about human potential. As an alternative, just cite a line that you particularly like from this work and explain why you like it.

http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Mirandola/

Daniel (extra credit)

Please read Chapter 1-7 and Chapter 12 of Daniel. What do you see in the stories that might have helped Ancient Israel provide ethical guidance or emotional fulfillment?  What do you see here that show something about how Ancient Israel taught the world "new ways to dream"?

Stories from Genesis (extra credit)

The stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families have played an important part of Western culture.  Most of you have heard at least some of these stories, but a bit of review might be useful.  Please read through two or three of the stories in Genesis 25-50. Explain how these stories might have helped Ancient Israel with ethical guidance or emotional fulfillment.  Do you see anything here that shows how the people of Ancient Israel helped teach the world "new ways to dream"?

Remaining Human (extra credit)

Dr. Robert Fisch, a Holocaust Survivor, will talk about "Remaining Human Even in Inhumane Conditions" on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Johnson Center.  For extra credit, note here what you thought was most memorable and most important in what Dr. Fisch had to say.  How was listening to a Holocaust survivor different from reading about or watching videos on the event?

Dr. Fisch will be talking about the same subject Wednesday at 10.  That presentation is for area high school students, but I think you would be welcome to attend that presentation if you can't be there Wednesday evening.

Welcome!

Welcome to Inherently Interesting 2012, the most wonderful, most interesting, and most important blog at this particular URL. Your comments and questions on this blog will help make the class even more wonderful and interesting--and occasionally earn you a bit of extra credit!

To get started, here's a test of the History 121 extra credit system. Click the "comments" link below and give me your honest answer: what's the first thing that comes into your head when you here the word history?