Poetry And Other Stuff

The poems of the Tanand Song dynasties are similar in that they both use a lot of nature. Especially in Tang poetry, nature is a highly recurrent symbol. Additionally, the moon is a large symbol in both types of poetry. Song poetry seems to be a bit more solemn, and I prefer the Tang poetry. Tang poetry is happier, but it talks about getting drunk a lot. I don't think poetry can reflect a society, because there are so many different types of poetry.

Vladamir vs. Constantine - A Debate of Epic Proportions

Both Prince Vladamir of Kiev, Russia and Constantine of Rome converted to Christianity. But in my opinion, these moments in history are very different. For one thing, Constantine believed that he had received a message from God as his soldiers went into battle, and embracing this message of Christianity is what allowed his soldiers to win the battle. In this way, Constantine's conversion could be described as very grand-or epic, even. He changed Rome's official religion to Christianity, which brought about concern and questioning since the Romans were the ones who crucified Jesus in the first place. But in the case of Prince Vladamir and Kiev, Rome, he converted in a downgraded, "less epic" way. But, he ordered his subjects to convert as well, while Rome still had some tolerance for other religions and practices. In Rome, Christians were invited to come out and practice freely, which wasn't the case in Russia where people were forced to convert from their religion. Also, there were no questions or concerns for Kiev becoming Christian. In fact, it helped the city greatly. Byzantine culture spread to Kiev, and Kiev helped spread this culture throughout Russia. So, because the conversions to Christianity of Prince Vladamir and Constantine were so drastically different in their causes and effects, these moments in history differ greatly.

The Ages of Architecture

The Byzantine buildings seem to have a very modern style to them. Many of the buildings resemble apartment buildings and hi-rises you would see in cities today. Although they look like the more run-down buildings you'd see in the city, they still have the modern, present-day style. In this sense, because they greatly resemble modern American buildings, they don't have a very distinctive style. They tend to be very tall with lots of windows. The monasteries, on the other hand, are a little more distinctive. Their features seem to be curved rather than the straight lines and rectangles of the other Byzantine buildings. These buildings don't really have andy American ties.

Istanbul Was Constantinople

1) Document 1 is somewhat credible, but I think it is exaggerated. The document is from a rabbi (Benjamim of Tudela), so he is most likely exaggerating the lavishness of the places of worship in Constantinople. He is most likely proud of the places of worship (being a rabbi), so it is extremely possible tha he exaggerated here. I think is document was written for the general public's knowledge of Constantinople.

2) Document 2 was definately written for the general public. The use of the informal pronoun "you" when talking to the reader supports this. I think Robert of Clari had loved in Constantinople, which is why he wrote this document. This document doesn't seem very credible; he isn't able to give a straight answer. He says "at least two hundred chambers, or three hundred". He doesn't seem sure of himself when it comes to his facts, which drastically lowers the credibility of this document.

3) For the most part, this document seems credible. It is not until the document starts discussing the statue of Hercules that it starts to get a bit unbelievable. The size of the statue seems to be greatly exaggerated. Because this was from a source about art, the author was probably someone who greatly appreciated art. So, it was probably geared toward art appreciators as well.

4) This seems to be a somewhat credible document, as well. It is from the British Library, so it must be somewhat accurate. But, the size of the city seems to be under exaggerated. For what is supposed to be a huge city, this map makes it look small. Again, being from the British Lbrary, it is probably directed towards the general public.

5) This document is probably the most credible out of the seven. It is a real photograph, not an illustration or a document. In that sense, we know that the information it presents is legitimate. It is not exaggerating or under exaggerating because it is a photograph. It is from an art recourse, so it is probably for art appreciators.

6) This document seems to be written by a historian for the general public. It seems pretty credible because it presents historic information about religious services in Constantinople. It does not discuss the city's wealth, which I think adds credibility to the document. It does not come across as over or under exaggerated as the documents that talk about the city's wealth do; rather, it presents factual information.

7) Document 7 seems to written by a historian as well, again for the general public. This document also does not discuss the city's wealth, but I don't think it is as credible as document 6. It's information doesn't seems as factual as the previous, and it seems a bit exaggerated. It discusses the topic from the view of an upper class merchant or government official, so it may not be as accurate as would be a document from an average citizen.

Silk Road Project

The mapping part of this project was definately a challenge. Tracing the routes of the different influences and goods was one of the easier aspects of the map, and so was labeling the different empires. Including the different geographical empires on the map was another easier part. I wasn't very happy with the outline of our map; it was difficult to do and there were a lot of erasings. Also, I wasn't happy that we outlined all the countries without realizing that wasn't one of the requirements. That was a good 20 minutes gone to waste. I also wasn't happy with the amount of time we were given. If we'd had a little more time, it would have been a lot less stressful. The hardest part of this project was trying to collaborate with my partner while I had no power for 2 days. It made collaboration difficult and took a lot of time away from our project. On the topic of collaboration, I thought we collaborated well until I lost power. My partner ended up doing extra work since I couldn't exactly be working on the research part from home. If we had to do it again, I'd make sure it wasn't due a couple days after a storm that wiped out 75% of the town's power. Also, I'd make sure that we didn't have to outline the countries before starting the project.