Assignment:
PART ONE : ANSWER THIS QUESTION in min 5 to 7 paragraphs:
A.What have you learned that has changed your ideas about Italy and Europe the most - and how? Please give me constructive responses. Personally, I am mindful of the brutality of war & death, human live had no value, lawlessness, corruption & class distinctions that are repressed in the effort to distract with focused references to art, economics, politics & religion?
BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE COMPETITION's answer to the discussion question?
B.What I Have Learned; SEE THIS EXAMPLE, check out this response from intellectual nemesis! RESPOND TO THIS discussion answer BREIFLY
Without rehashing Italy's Globalization in one discussion post, I would like to say that this course opened the doors to a bunch of new ideas about Italy and its history for me. In my previous world history courses, I knew that Italy and Germany became unified countries based off of smaller city-states and regions, but that was the extent of my knowledge.
Little did I know that the above statement was quite the understatement. This course taught me much more about the regional differences, especially between the people of northern Italy and southern Italy. I also had an understanding about Rome and its vast network of roads and trade, but I honestly did not have as much of an understanding on why Rome worked like it did. Now, I know some of the sectionalist differences between Rome and conquered city-states. Knowing more about Rome and how the different areas of Italy fragmented afterwards help me to understand the political basis of what would happen afterwards in history.
I was not aware of some of the political differences throughout the Middle Ages. During my previous Renaissance and Reformation class, I became familiar with the government structures of Florence and Venice. However, this class really honed in on the differences with Milan, Pisa, Genoa and Sicily, among others. The Renaissance was a nice review of what I had previously learned. There was a good balance of learning about art, architecture and the changing beliefs of the time.
One of the key things that helped me understand more about Italy was the Risorgimento. This resurgence led toward nationalism and put Italy on the European stage with other growing nationalist states. I was unaware of previous French involvement in Italian politics at the time, and I certainly was not aware of the Young Italy Movement. The unification of Italy surely had its ups and downs, eventually paving the way for fascism to take hold under Mussolini. I also wasn't aware of how much Italy played a role in the post-World War II landscape of Europe with its growing economy. I appreciate the opportunity to write the course paper on something that interested me, and I greatly learned about Italy's Economic Miracle in the 1950s. The political landscape of Italy could have made it particularly susceptible to communism, but government leaders and Marshall Plan aid took care of that issue.
As far as improving the course from a graduate student perspective, I enjoyed each of the books that we read. I actually think that Campbell's book The Romans and Their World should be considered for undergraduates moving forward. It really did help with understanding Rome and provided a good foundation for the history of Italy. I did think Gilmour's overall text was good at times, although he does get tedious and technical at other times. That is not to say that it isn't a valuable text - I think it is a good foundation for the course. I already mentioned visuals and films in the other discussion post, and that really is the only improvement I feel would help students in future versions of the course.
PART TWO- Discuss in 5 to 7 paragraphs:
Modern humanity and Literature, USE THIS TITLE
A.Discuss how modern literature is a reflection of modern humanity?
RESPOND TO THIS POST, briefly, PLEASE Title the response "Identity and Empowerment?
• B. Identity and Empowerment
In the work "A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, by Joyce, "Stephen's quest for identity and freedom, he finds himself grappling between two extremes of religion and sin. As his thoughts logically progresses through his stages of life, his experiences teaches him how to think rationally and learn from his mistakes. Stephen's obsession with language; religion, family and culture; and his devotion to looking at the man in the mirror in which Joyce related to various tensions in his life. Stephen also learned that being a genius requires a lot of work and considerable sacrifice. Even though religion and sin are extremes that are false and harmful, his struggle with independence and perfectionism create a burdensome load that he had to endure. Stephen finally realizes and makes a decision to embrace life and celebrate humanity after seeing a young girl wading at the beach. To him, the aura of the girl is a symbol of freedom and living life to the fullest.