Reflective Learning Journal

Introduction to Week 7 This week I had a lot of different assignments including a few quizzes, a test,  a discussion post, and a reflection assignment. I really had to apply all of the stuff I learned in the last week as well as learn all of the new concepts introduced this week.  Content This week the new stuff I learned about was about all of the new forms of Roman art. I learned about how it was largely inspired by the Greeks. The focused distinctive realism and fine tuning accurate details in sculptures. They also introduced coinage, new architecture, and high end jewelry to their societies. Another thing that I learned about was the Appian Way, Rome's ancient highway that facilitated trade along the Roman Empire. Chapter 3 Quiz This was the major test that was worth 72 points. Not only did it have a lot of multiple choice questions, it also tasked me with writing a few essay response questions. It turned out to be ok in the end, but it was a lot of work completing the ass...

Introduction to Week 6 This week I learned more about the history of the Roman Empire. Building upon the end of the Greek Empire, I learned about the transition with Emperor Caesar. It was really interesting to learn just how much influence the Greeks had upon Roman society,  they took their art, culture, religion, and even philosophy. Content I was always interested in Roman culture and history, so it really came as a shock to find how little I knew about them. This week I learned how the Roman spanned from Britain to North Africa. It was honestly insane just how massive the roman Empire was. Some of the key things I learned was about the  era of peace during Augustus's term which was also called Pax Romania under Augustus. One of the things I really liked about the Roman Empire were how religiously tolerant they were. I believe that this was the reason that their empire was so successful. They built cooperative coexistive relationships with the people and territory that they...

 Introduction to Week 5 There wasn't much new stuff that I learned from week 4 to week 5, It was more of a continuation week where I applied the stuff that I learned into a discussion post and a reflection assignment. The discussion post was really fun as I learned a lot more about art and its symbolism. Discussion Post This was the second discussion post that I was doing, so I had gotten more comfortable with the assignment and it was much easier for me to choose something and complete the assignment. For the discussion post I choose the "Dying Gaul", a marble sculpture from the Greek Hellenistic period (c. 230–220 B.C.E.), attributed to Epigonus, with Roman copies made in the 1st or 2nd century C.E. I find it interesting because it depicts a warrior in his last moments of life. It shows how he is slouched over and can't stand because of the wound he received. I like how descriptive the facial features and how delicately made everything is as it is made from marble. ...

Introduction to Week 4 This week I learned more about Ancient Greece and Classical Era which played a major role in shaping Western Culture. It was really exciting learning more about the rise of city-state culture as I have always liked to learn about the wars and rivalries between Athens and Sparta. Additionally we also covered some of the most influential philosophers such as Socrates and Plato. Content There was a lot of content that I learned this week particularly about Greek Culture. I learned about the distinction between Greece, and Hellas, which was that they simply just different names for the same kingdom in different languages but that the Greeks called themselves the Hellas. One of the most interesting things I learned about this week was about the role of women in Greek society. This was the first society that we learned about that major differences in gender roles. Men did the majority of the work, while women sat and tended to the children. One major difference between...

Introduction to Week 3 There wasn't much new stuff that I learned from week 2 to week 3, It was more of a continuation week where I applied the stuff that I learned into a discussion post and a reflection assignment. The discussion post was really fun as I learned a lot more about art and its symbolism. Discussion Post This was the first discussion post that we had had done, so I was extremely excited to write something especially interesting to try and intrigue my peers. The art piece that I had ended up choosing was the Blombos Cave painting from 75,000 years ago. It was really interesting learning about symbolism behind the rock, as without a closer look, it would look just like some random rock sitting around on the floor. The rock features some geometric patterns that challenge common beliefs back then. It was extremely abstract and unimaginative. According to Britannica Kids, before the Blombos discovery, historians thought that imaginative thinking in humans happened later, ...

 Introduction to Week 2 This week we dove head first into topics about the prehistory of humans and how collective learning has accelerated human progress over time. I learned more about we evolved from hunter-gatherer societies into more robust agricultural settlements. The main focus of this week was understanding the Neolithic revolution. Content The video "The Agricultural Revolution" shows how humans used to live nomadically, moving from place to place and following their prey which was their only source of food. However, after 10,000 years, Neolithic revolution allowed for the domestication for foods and plants. This allowed people to create long term settlements where they didn't have to worry about food. The influx of more food caused by the Neolithic Revolution led to and increase in population and the original blueprint for modern day society. It was really to learn how the first unequal gender role practices began in this era, and still haven't been complet...