Peter+Samuel+Block+A+2011

**2011~2012** **World History A Block**
 * Peter's Wiki**

February 1st



November 21st

French Revolution Ant Farm Block A Peter Samuel Kim

October 26th UNIT III Peter Kim

October 11th An Age of Exploration Peter Samuel Kim

October 8th


 * As you continue reading write down any instances of ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION done as a result of the emperor's ambitions.**

-Thousands and thousands of trees were cut down to create huge fleets of armadas. -By building the gigantic canals, lots of the terrain was destroyed.


 * DIPLOMACY is the art of talking and negotiating without having to resort to conflict. On pg. 60, there is a discussion on how Chinese diplomacy was different than later European diplomacy. Explain this difference. **

-All envoys were required to do kow-tows (Bowing) to Zhu Di. -The Chinese prefereed to pursue their aims by trade, influence and bribery tather than by open conflict and direct colonization. - Zhu Di also dispatched huge fleets ships to the world bearing gifts and trade goods. -The rulers who accepted the emperor's overlordship were rewarded with titles, protection and trade missions.

**Explain how Zhu Di strived to make Beijing the world's INTELLECTUAL capital.**

Zhu Di build huge libraries, astronomic observatories, and housed scholars at his capital. There were numerous numbers of books, and astronomy observatories everywhere, full of scholars studying.


 * The Grand Canal and the Forbidden city were engineering marvels of the 15th century, and HUGE accomplishments for a a single ruler to achieve in less than 2 decades. But they were not his most important legacy.**
 * Look at this visual of the GRAND CANAL and just be AMAZED at this marvel! In your reader's log, jot down a few facts about it. **

-It was built to have fluent transportation and communication from the capital to other places. -It was a passage for trade goods to come in, and go out. -The canal supplied the workers who were building the forbidden city with rice.

October 6th
 * Day 2 Map Questions**

What route might they have all taken? Describe it...

 * Holy Roman Emperor:** The Holy Roman Emperor would first, embark on his ship on the coastal area of the North Sea and the Holy Roman Empire. His ship would enter the English Channel, and then sail by the Portuguese coast. His ship would then sail by the west coast of Africa, and go around the Cape of Hope. Then, he would sail to the Indian Ocean, and reach the Bay of Bengal. After reaching the Bay of Bengal, he would have to sail through the Strait of Malacca, sail northward, and arrive at China.
 * Emperor of Byzantium:** The Emperor of Byzantium would start his long journey at a port at the coast of Constantinople. He would sail southwards, and reach the Mediterranean Sea. Then, his ship would sail westward, arriving at the Atlantic coast of the Kingdom of Granada. After he reaches there, his journey would be identical to the Holy Roman Emperor's, from there.
 * Doge of Venice:** The Doge of Venice would begin his voyage at the coast of the Adriatic Sea. He would then exit the Mediterranean Sea by traveling to the Atlantic coast of the Kingdom of Granada. After arriving there, his journey would be equal to the Holy Roman Emperor's until he arrives at China.
 * King of England:** The King of England would start his route to China, from the southern coast of England. Then he would sail southward, arriving at the Kingdom of Marinds. His journey would also be the same as other monarchs from there.
 * King of France:** The King of France would start sailing from the western coast of France. Then, he would sail southward until he reaches the Kingdom of Marinds. As other monarchs, his journey would be the same from that point.
 * King of Castille:** The King of Castille would begin his voyage at the northern Atlantic coast of his kingdom. His journey would be identical to other monarchs from that point.
 * King of Portugal:** The King of Portugal would start his route to China, at the southern coast of his nation. His journey would be identical to other monarchs from that point.


 * Examine the following map which shows the history of the Chinese dynasties. Look carefully at the Yuan and Ming Dynasties and make some generalizations about China under those dynasties. Size? Change from previous dynasties? From your reading, make any observations you can about the two time periods. **

The size of the two dynasties are extremely different. The vast territory of the Yuan Dynasty drastically diminished in size. The Ming is only about the Yuan Dynasty's half in size.


 * On p. 53 Menzie notes that the new walled capital was to be "fifteen hundred times the area of walled London at that time and housing fifty times the population". SO, using your math skills, refer to the following map and figure out how big that new capital would be. **

The population of the new capital would have been around 200,000~230,000 people.

**Can you find the old city in the modern city? Where is it? What is there now?**
 * Compare the map of the great walled capital Zhu Di built (above) to the map of modern China (below). The Forbidden City is now the Palace Museum, and is located at the centre of the map below: **

Yes. Remainders such as, the lake in the center, temples, bell towers, and lots of gates are still present in modern days.




 * On p. 54, Menzies writes that Zhu Di extended the Great Wall (which is actually many separate sections of wall created over hundreds of years) from 5,000 kms to 6,400 kms. You'll notice, that doesn't mean that the wall was 6,400 kms long. If it WAS, where would it reach if it began at the Yalu River? Use the map in MWH Atlas p A18-19 to estimate where you would end up if the wall really extended 6,400 kms due west of Beijing. **

It would reach the modern day city of Urumai.

It could reach modern day Kyrgyzstan.


 * Also on p. 54, Zhu Di sent expeditions along the The "Silk Road", along which Chinese traders journeyed to sell their silks, spices, porcelain and other valuable commodities. This was actually a web of many routes that extended from Xi'an into the heart of the Islamic world. It was clear he wanted to recreate teh earlier trading empire of the Chinese.**


 * Question: Through what MODERN countries did the silk roads go? **

China, Tibet, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, parts of Russia, Turkey, Greece and Syria.

October 4th
 * China: A Missed Opportunity for Global Dominance**
 * Questions**

His assumes that all officers should be morally correct, and follow Confucianism rules and studies. Confucianism states that officers should be clean, and honest. Since the Hongwu emperor states that he would punish or execute the "corrupt, villainous and oppressive" officers, we can see that he has strong faith in Confucianism.
 * 1. On what philosophical assumptions are the Hongwu emperor’s words and actions based?**

I think it would not. Since the communication between the vast territory of China was not fluent, I think the emperor would have been impossible to find out every single corrupt officers. Also, that kind of severe punishment would trigger rebellions among the officers.
 * 2. Do you think that his actions will solve the problems he refers to? Why or why not?**

The answer to such problems given on the first passage is very extreme. The emperor announced that he would punish such crime with death penalties, while on the second passage, the writer states that to solve evil behaviors, you have to keep away from music, beautiful girls, and valuable objects.
 * 1. Does the emperor’s approach to solving the problem of evil behavior in this excerpt differ from that in the first? If so, how?**

I think this is also based on Confucianism. Since Confucians taught his disciples to always become a good model for people under you, his behaviors and words would be based on Confucianism
 * 2. On what philosophical assumptions are Hongwu’s words here based? Think Chinese philosophy.**

Since he did not state any punishment for performing lavish actions, I think I wouldn't really care. However, I would try to imitate his behaviors. Setting a good example in front of my citizens would also help me build up a better reputation among the people, and other officials.
 * 3. As an official, what would be your reaction to the emperor’s admonitions?**

I would think that he is showing a good example, and I would follow it. As explained above, trying to restraining myself from lavishly spending money and being corrupted would help me build a better reputation. My citizens would have more faith in me. It would give me an advantage on promotion to a higher place.
 * 4. The emperor clearly holds himself up as a model of self-restraint for his officials to emulate. As an official, how would you take this?**

My reaction would change. Having dozens of concubines and consorts, with 42 children, would prove that he was a hypocrite. It suggests that he tried to disguise his luxurious life style, with lies and fallacy.
 * 5. Would your reaction be changed if you suddenly learned that the Hongwu emperor had dozens of concubines and consorts, with whom he fathered twenty-six sons and sixteen daughters?**

September 29th

__ ** KEY SKILL: Paragraph writing ** __
= Using the prompt below and the template provided, write a detailed body paragraph based on your readings, class discussions and the video clip above. = = //**The three Muslim Empires of the 1300-1700 time period each made significant contributions to their worlds and the rest of world history. Why did the Muslim world not come to dominate world affairs during this time period? **// = == Step One: Plan a paragraph for an essay using the template below (dot-points are appropriate for this step) == -But still could not dominate the world. || -Emperors killed their own children, afraid of abdicating their throne. -Religious conflicts. -Quarrel over power. || -After deaths of the monarchs, lots of people fought over for the throne, and more power. Wives of the monarchs, sons and other people resulted great confusion in the country. -Several Muslim leaders had religious tolerance in their country. These policies did attract a lot of people, and gained support, but could not form unity among the citizens. Also, as the heirs of the throne did not continue with such policies, the citizens were confused. ||
 * || ==== Paragraph Writing: Using TEEEL Structure  ==== ||
 * ==== Topic Sentence  ==== || ====There were lots of other civilizations more prosperous than Europe. The Muslim world was an example of those civilizations. However, they could not come to dominate world affairs during that time period.==== ||
 * ==== Elaboration  ==== || ====Several Muslims kingdoms, such as the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals came to hegemony over the territory, economy and culture of the Muslim world. They had influence over several other civilizations, which we could still find in the modern world.====
 * ==== Examples/Evidence  ==== || ====The Muslim empires could not dominate the world affairs because.====
 * ==== Explanation/analysis  ==== || ====Muslim powers failed to spread their dominance over the world, because the monarchs got rid of their own sons, afraid that they might seize power from them. Without any gifted heirs, the Muslim empire could not have talented leaderships, who inherited the throne.====
 * ==== Link Sentence  ==== || ====From these reasons, the Muslim world could not come to dominate world affairs. While Europe gained prosperity, the Muslim powers started to decline.==== ||

September 27th

__Key Skill: Comparison/Contrasting Information (Charting information)__

 * FIRST, I think it is important that we look at the basics of two of the world's great religions, ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY. It is impossible to understand the tension and interactions between the two worlds without this background knowledge.**
 * SO, half the class will be assigned ISLAM and the other half CHRISTIANITY to research. For your homework, fill in the RELIGIONS CHART for your assigned religion and be ready to share with a partner the basics of the faith. Note that you must cite your sources used in MLA format - THIS IS NOT AN OPTION AND NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN IF THEY ARE NOT RECORDED PROPERLY.**

-Roman Catholicism -Protestantism -Lutheranism -Anglicanism -Episcopalian -Baptist -Methodist -Pentecostal -Calvinism -Presbyterian -Reformed || Eastern Mediterranean Area. || Jesus Christ Martin Luther St. Paul Charlemagne John Calvin || -Monotheism -Trinity -Holy, immutable, superior God. -Jesus is sinless. -Everyone is a sinner, and sin separates us from God. -Salvation is a gift from God. || Almost everywhere around the globe. || MLA
 * Your chart (an entire wikipage for this assignment) will have to follow the following design**
 * **Name of religion** || Branches of it || **Area where it started** || Key people in it || **Tenets** || Regions of the world where it is found ||
 * Christianity || -Eastern Orthodoxy
 * St. Peter**
 * [[file:9A-Christianity MLA-Peter Kim.pages]]

September 26th

**In light of what you have heard above during the Trial of Galileo Galilei, the presentations on controversial topics in science and what you might be able to download from the internet consider the following question.** **//Should there be limits to our access to information?//** **Take a position on the above question and be prepared to defend it in a //well// written paragraph.****Be sure you follow the same ideas introduced by using TEEEL.**
 * **Topic sentence** || == Should there be limits to our access to information? This topic had been an extremely controversial subject for a long time. Information had been, is and will be a crucially important aspect of our lives. However, there should be restrictions on our access to information. == ||
 * **Elaboration** || == Having access to immeasurable amount of information would cause multitudes of chaotic events. It would violate rights of people, ethics, and  == ||
 * **Examples/Evidence** || == There are lots of types of information that should be limited. Two big examples are private information, and governmental secrets. == ||
 * **Explanation/Analysis** || ==Exposure to of these information to the public would offend people, nations and institutions. Private information such as medical records, financial records, and social security numbers are very critical in out social lives. The limitless access to private informations could destroy one's life. Also, the exposure of governmental secrets to the public would make nations vulnerable in warfare, and economic competitions.== ||
 * **Link sentence** || ==To conclude, there should be limits on access to information. The aftereffects of getting rid of these limits are too catastrophic.== ||

September 25th
 * And then answer the following questions:**

The Ottomans ruled them kindly. They required non-Muslims to pay tax, instead of going to the army.
 * 1. How did the Ottomans treat non-Muslims?**

Suleyman expanded the empire's territory to its greatest size, and accomplished the greatest achievements. Also, he encouraged and supported architects to build multitudes of fascinating architecture.
 * 2. What were Suleyman's major accomplishments?**

Suleiman and Shah Abbas both killed their own sons, fearing that they might seize power from them.
 * 3. Despite their brilliant rule, what critical mistake did Suleiman and Shah Abbas make?**

Local languages, Urdu, and Hindi blended Persian were evidences of cultural blending in Akbar's rule. Those languages are still spoken widely now.
 * 4. What evidence of cultural blending can you find in Akbar's rule?**

His son, his wives and successors had been fighting for more power, and they did not follow Akbar's policies, such as religious tolerance. All of these quarrels contributed to end the Mughal Empire.
 * 5. How did Akbar's successors contribute to the end of the Mughal Empire?**

September 9th With the rebirth of thinking and questioning their world in the Western European Renaissance, people began to really "think outside the box". They questioned their lives and how they were governed, they questioned the authority of leaders and the Church and they questioned how things WERE. All of this challenging also led to what is known as the **SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION. FOR NEXT CLASS, read pages 189-194 and answer the following questions thoughtfully and carefully.**
 * __ Key Skill 5: Analytical Reading/Thinking __**

As European explorers traveled around the globe, they found new lands and new people. Explorations to other territories and other lands made the Europeans think that there could be more new discoveries and ideas to be found. I think these explorations were the most significant to the cause of the Scientific Revolution. The explorations to foreign lands fueled the Europeans with new ideas and other scientific research. Also, the need of development of navigation technology allowed Europeans study mathematics and astronomy.
 * 1. What were the CAUSES of the Scientific Revolution? Which one do you think is MOST significant AND WHY?**

First of all, quite a lot of new ideas were opposing to what the authority thought. For example, the bible said the universe was geocentric. However, it turned out to be the universe was heliocentric. The authority was worried that the people who used to be under their control might lose faith in them, and leave.
 * 2.Why might those in positions of authority at the time (Church and government) tend to reject new ideas?**

He was a very intelligent man. And for him to keep on his work, at least secretly, and to make more significant discoveries, survival would be a priority. I think his actions during his trials could be justified.
 * 3.****Do you agree with Galileo's actions during his trial? Explain.**

-Galileo discovered that jupiter has 4 moons, and the sun has dark spots. Then, he discovered that the moon had a rough, uneven surface. Galileo also disproved some of Aristotle's theories about movement and energy. All of his new ideas were opposing to the teachings of the church and authority. Galileo was a supporter of Corpenicus's work. His beliefs made him go under trial of the church. At the court, Galileo had to kneel down to the church, and say all of his ideas were false.
 * 4.Make a list of the major figures of this revolution in thinking and what they did.**
 * Galileo**

-Corpenicus supported heliocentric theory.After gaining interest from ancient Greek ideas that the sun was in the center of the universe, he started to study planetary movements. He wrote a book for it, but did not publish until before his death. He thought that the church would reject his ideas.
 * Corpenicus**

-French mathematician, and thinker. He was interested in science, and thought that scientists had to reject old stereotypes. He also insisted people to rely on science and logic. He doubted everything until it was proved. The modern scientific method comes from Descartes.
 * Descartes**

-English scientist. Newton discovered gravity. Newton is famous for writing the book //The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,// which is one of the most important scientific books ever written. He also developed theories for motion and energy.
 * Newton**


 * 5. Explain the significance of these terms:**
 * **Geocentric Theory**
 * The geocentric theory states that the Earth is the center of all matter. Believers of this theory thought that all planets, including the sun, orbited around the Earth. The church and authority expected their people to believe this theory.
 * **Heliocentric Theory**
 * The heliocentric theory states that the sun is the center of the planets' orbit routes. The church and authority classified this theory as a heresy. Scientists and people who supported this gone through trial, and were forced to reject their beliefs.
 * **Scientific Revolution**
 * The scientific revolution is a new way of thinking. Europeans started to reject old prejudices, stereotypes and ideas and focused their beliefs on careful observation and questioning. Lots of scholars and educated people replaced old ideas to new ideas.
 * **Scientific method**
 * The scientific method is a logical step-by-step procedure for gathering and testing ideas. Thinkers such as Bacon and Descartes developed this, and scientists started to approach knowledge and science in a different way.

September 7th

September 5th

September 3rd


 * How did the Renaissance contribute to the opening of the mind in Europe?**

The Renaissance affected Europe in many different ways to open up their mind. People's opinions, religion, politics, arts and lots more. New ideas were thought, discoveries were made, numerous inventions, and arts flourished. Patronage allowed numerous artists and architects to study and develop their art works. Also, arts and literature started to show secular characteristics. Artists such as Michelangelo started to express nudity in his art work, which was a revolutionary action in that period of time. People started to think more, and question everything. From this procedures, the idea of humanism started to emerge among the people. Rather than focusing on religion and gods, the Europeans actually started to focus more on human lives and themselves. Europeans started to question the church and what they had been believing so far. Discoveries of Galileo such as the heliocentric universe made people be skeptical at the church, which has always been arguing for the geocentric universe. Escaping from stereotypes and prejudice, the Europeans were able to open up their minds to a new world.

August 31st Why did Europe gain dominance? -Before Renaissance, Europeans were in their dark ages. After the decline of the Roman empire, people did not know what to do, barbaric tribes were invading everywhere, and leaders were going through numerous battles for more territory and power. Europeans were desperate for knowledge, power and enlightenment. They were not ashamed of being desperate, and tried to absorb ideas as much as they could. Through this process, they started to gain more scientific knowledge and new ideas. Through communication of commerce and ideas between lots of countries, Europeans could discover more, and gain more ideas. With these new knowledge, Europeans started to question the church. Is the church able to control us? Why is the church allowed to have so much dominance over us? While other parts of the world were still very involved with religion and giving much respect to it, Europeans could escape from the restrains of religion. After that, Europe was able to spread their dominance without restrictions of the church.

August 26th Assignment : Read pages 37-39 in your text (including the box on bottom of p.39 dealing with "Renaissance man and woman") and answer the following questions. Please, UPLOAD these answers into your WIKI WORK PAGE!

1. How did the cities of Italy help create the Renaissance? Lots of Italy's cities were wealthy and well developed due to fluent overseas trade. While the Italian cities were flourishing with wealth and new ideas, lots of other places in Europe were rural. Since lots of people came and went to these prosperous Italian cities, people could share different ideas and new discoveries. So, the Renaissance was able to start. 2. What is your opinion of the Medici family? I think the Medici family was very successful, but corrupted. I think the Medicis would have done anything and everything for the increase in their own power. 3. How did Humanism influence Renaissance ideas? While previous ideas and beliefs were based on god and religion, Humanism changed people's thoughts a lot. As people started to focus on "humans", their art and architecture changed. 4. Why did church leaders and wealthy merchants support the arts? When the church leaders and wealthy merchants supported artists, they could get their portraits painted or donate art to public places, which showed their own fame and importance. 5. What were the similarities and differences between upper-class Renaissance men and women? Similarities -Both men and women are expected to admire and inspire art. Also, they are expected to get educated well, know lots of classics, and be charming.

Differences -Men were expected to always create art and do well in every fields. Women were expected to inspire art, but rarely create. Also, women were not supposed to seek for fame. 6. After reading the "Analyzing Primary Sources" box, respond to this question: Do the qualities called for in the ideal Renaissance man and woman seem to emphasize the individual or the group? Give evidence in the documents to back up your answer! I think the ideal Renaissance man and woman seem to emphasize the group. The behaviors that the society expect on them are, modesty and humbleness. A man is not to be ostentatious or self-praising. Also, people are expected to be sweet, charming, and gentle. These characteristics show that the people during Renaissance still sense the view of other people a lot, and try to satisfy their circumstances, not themselves.

August 24th

August 21st

Peter's Family History Project

August 12th

August 11th Answer 8 Questions from "The Many Hats of a Historian". And define vocabulary words.
 * Homework Assignment**

Vocabulary
 * heretical - Something that most people think is wrong, because it contradicts with beliefs that are widely accepted.
 * faggot - A bundle of sticks.
 * Eucharist - A religious ceremony, where Catholic believers eat bread and drink wine, thinking it as Christ's flesh and blood.
 * abstain - To hold back someone from.
 * penance - A punishment.
 * beseeching - To ask someone eagerly.
 * source - The origin of something.


 * 1.** **In section 1, //Heretical Beliefs//, the historian gives his account of a historical event. What is happening to Hogsflesh? What is the historian's “story” or main point of the article?**
 * Hogflesh is getting punished by the church, for having heretical beliefs. Hogflesh had to carry a bundle of sticks to the market place with out barely any clothes, for a few days. The historian is saying that having heretical ideas or beliefs can make a person end up with severe punishment. Also, the historian is telling us that the church had massive power over the society. **


 * 2. What are the roles of a historian defined by John Arnold? Do you agree or disagree with his assumptions? Can you think of any other roles?**
 * John Arnold says that the roles of a historian is to read historical records, and report them to the world. I agree with his assumptions. I think a historian could also be a person who spreads propaganda and mass media control, by distorting the views of people.. To say it in a positive way, historians could encourage people, by highlighting triumphant moments in history. For people, history could be a national identity for themselves. And they tend to pick out the shameful and ugly truths, and emphasize on glorious achievements. Historians could change around the originality and character of people and nations. **

It means that historians try to believe their sources, and trust them. It is important to remember to do this while reading historical references, because then we could understand or at least try to understand multiple points of view towards history. Since history always has multiple facets, it is hard to comprehend the whole story from listening only to one record of a certain event. By acquiring multiple sources of historic events, and trying to understand them, a historian is able to get a grasp of the whole picture of the event. Even though everyone is talking about a same event, opinions about it can vary widely.
 * 3. What is meant by “treat(ing) their sources with fidelity?” Remember to put your response in your own words. Why is it important to remember this when reading historical references?**

Some people like Hershey bars. Some people hate them. Some people might want it a little bit more sweet. Some might want it to be less sweet. Some people might want it to have a little more caffein. Others might want the Hershey bar to be larger. Like this, there could be a numerous opinions even about a chocolate bar. For the Hershey company, trying to get all the different opinions of their customers would be needed to understand their wants for improvements on the chocolate bar. And for historians, getting their hands on all these different historical records would be needed to understand better, what happened in the past.

A single event can be interpreted in multiple ways. Numerous wars and battles that occurred through out the history are good examples. The winners, losers and witnesses of the battles would all record different stories. Winners would record how they bravely fought the losers and gained victory triumphantly. The losers would record how rapacious and violent the winners were, savagely slaughtering everyone. And the witnesses would record another different story. Everybody has different thoughts and points of views, which creates a vast diversity of interpretations.
 * 4. How can a single event be interpreted in more than one way? Can you think of an event in your life that historians could interpret with differing points of view?**

I broke a big glass chandelier cover in my living room when I was in 5th grade. I was swinging this plastic sword toy, and it accidentally slipped out of my hands hitting the glass, and breaking it. Some historians might interpret this event, saying that my young age, curiosity and playfulness caused the trouble. Others might say my internal evilness had awaken.

I dont have much of an event..
 * 5. Talk to a family member or friend about something that happened to you both a long time ago. Examine how you both remember the incident and write about it. With that in mind, when attaching meaning to history, is it possible for a historian to be completely objective? Use examples from the incident you just discussed to reinforce your response.**

If the historians practice practice subjective history, it would be extremely hard to only pick out the facts and push away the biased views. It might be beneficial to study of history, because we can listen to multiple voices and stories. However, when a record is overly biased, it would be extremely difficult to comprehend only the truths.
 * 6. What problems may arise when historians practice subjective history? In what ways may subjective history be beneficial to the study of history? Think back to the incident you just discussed with your family member or friend. Why did it make sense for you to remember the event the way you did and for the other person to remember it the way he or she did? What does this tell us about history?**

Historians are story tellers because in their interpretations and reports, we can find their opinions and views. It is impossible to be completely objective for anything. No matter what, people have thoughts and opinions on certain events. First of all, we all grow in totally different environments, have different experiences. Everybody has their own unicity. We've read different books, had different friends, saw different movies, listen to different music and go to different places. We are even born with different talents. Every single individual in this world is unique. And people act and think according to what they have experienced. Since everyone experienced different things, we would all act and think differently. We would all approach to objects differently. So, no one in this world can be totally objective. In some sort of way, we are subjective. The jobs of historians are to find historic records, and report them to other people. And in their reports, there are their ideas and opinions hidden behind the facts.
 * 7. Why is every historian "a storyteller?" If all historians are storytellers and there are myriad versions of every story, can we trust historians? Why or why not?**

The ironic part is, if you only know one point of view of a historic event, until you listen to multiple people's views, you would never be able to even imagine your point of view could be wrong. In order to affirm a certain historic event as true, I think we need to listen to multiple historic views.

Being a Korean, and knowing some facts about the Japanese history textbooks, it was not really surprising that historians often distort their past. However, I got a better sense of subjective recording and history. As more and more I get to know about this topic, I started to lose trust and faith in what I already knew. All sorts of conspiracy theories came in my head. What if I'm living in lies? Do I really know the truth? The Earth or the whole idea of the outer space might be lies. My life could be a lie. All my friends and family could be a lie. I, myself could be a lie. Nothing is trustable.
 * 8. How did your view of history and historians change based on this reading? How will you approach history now that you have explored these views?**

From now, I think I would have a more skeptic and careful view towards everything and history. I would be more suspicious approaching history, questioning myself if I'm supposed to believe this or not.

-Why is the understanding of culture necessary in order to understand history?
 * August 9th **
 * Homework Assignment**

It is very important to understand the culture of a civilization, society, or a nation, to understand its history. It is because culture differentiates civilizations from other civilizations. Culture molds and influences everything of a civilization, and its history. For instance, culture shapes the dressing of people, food, housing, beliefs, ideologies, and lots more. Due to an intense bond between culture and these aspects, it is impossible to separate them. When we try to understand or study history of a certain group of people, we would always have some sort of stereotype or prejudice towards them, since we come from a different type of society. Everyone has different point of views, and it is almost automatic for us to have a biased view towards other people.

In order to have a clear, unbiased view towards another group of people's history, we need to understand how they think and act. A person's actions and thoughts are influenced a lot by what culture they are from. So, having a good sense of one's culture would definitely help understanding their history.

For example, Japan has a very unique history. The emperor of Japan, is called Tenno, which means "heavenly sovereign". And until now, for several thousands of years, the royal blood of the Tenno had never changed since its origins. This means that Japan did not suffer much on civil war, or battles within their nation. These historic characteristics come from their culture, which they try to keep peace and harmony. Due to their geographic characteristics, such as having sea barrier and being isolated from the continent, the Japanese could not survive if war broke out in their lands. There would be no where to flee to, and everything would be devastated from continuous war. In conclusion, the Tenno, the Japanese emperor, was able to keep the royal blood, not suffering battles and wars over the position of the emperor.

From these reasons, it is important to understand the culture of a civilization, to understand its history.