What Is the Ancient Silk Road

The Silk Road is actually many routes from the Roman Empire through the steppes, mountains, and deserts of Central Asia and India to China. By the Silk Road, the Romans obtained silk and other luxuries. Eastern empires traded for Roman gold, among other items. Besides the deliberate acts of trade, culture diffused throughout the area. Silk was a luxury the Romans wanted to produce for itself. In time, they discovered the carefully guarded secret. Peoples Along the Silk Road The Parthian and Kushan Empires served as intermediaries between Rome and the silk they so longed for. Other less powerful Central Eurasian peoples did as well. Traders who passed through paid taxes or tariffs to the state in control, so Eurasians profited and prospered far beyond the profit on individual sales. Silk Road Products Eliminating the very obscure objects of the trade from Thorleys list, here is a list of major products traded along the Silk Road: [G]old, silver, and rare precious stones, ... corals, amber, glass, ... chu-tan (cinnabar?), green jadestone, gold-embroidered rugs, and thin silk- cloth of various colors. They make gold-coloured cloth and asbestos cloth. They further have fine cloth, also called down of the water- sheep; it is made from the cocoons of wild silkworms. —J. Thorley Cultural Transmissions Along the Silk Roads Even before there was a silk road, area traders transmitted language, military technology, and perhaps writing. During the Middle Ages, in connection with the declaration of a national religion for each country came the need for literacy for the book-based religions. With literacy came the spread of texts, learning of foreign languages for translation, and the process of book-making. Mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and more passed via the Arabs to Europe. Buddhists taught Arabs about educational institutions. European interest in the classical texts was resurrected. The Decline of the Silk Road The Silk Road brought East and West together, communicated language, art, literature, religion, science, and disease, but also made trade and merchants major players in the history of the world. Marco Polo reported on what he saw in the East, leading to increased interest. Nations of Europe financed sea voyages and exploration that allowed trading companies to bypass the middleman-states that had been supporting their socio-political systems if not getting rich, on taxes and to find new routes to replace newly blocked sea routes. Trade continued and grew, but the overland Silk Roads declined as the newly powerful China and Russia devoured the Central Eurasian nations of the Silk Road, and Britain colonized India. Source The Silk Trade between China and the Roman Empire at Its Height, Circa A. D. 90-130, by J. Thorley. Greece Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 18, No. 1. (Apr. 1971), pp. 71-80.

Popular Culture As Defined By Alexandre O. Philippe

Much of what we know comes from popular culture. It’s inescapable and it shapes our modern society. In simpler terms, popular culture could either offend or challenge social norms brought on by society on what is new, hip, and trends to be followed. Popular culture as defined by Alexandre O. Philippe, â€Å" is a universal language that manages in all of its seemingly trivial glory to make us dream and smile. To connect us across racial, political, and social divides, it is part of our fabric as human beings. It says something about us, about our better nature and isn’t it time for us to respect it, cherish it, and learn to preserve it?† Growing up in the modern age, popular culture has had a huge impact on my life. Being a part of the new technology generation, society seems to be driven by what’s new, what’s the latest trend, or what’s the latest issue. Now more than ever, popular culture seems to have taken over the new medium for how peo ple understand news and media worldwide within the numerous social platforms such as YouTube, television, Facebook, and popular magazines, as a newer and sometimes more effective way to share and understand news and ideas. To some, popular culture serves to over exemplify the ridiculousness of a culture. However, popular culture does not aim to destroy or diminish the values set up with what’s new, popular, or trending; but aims to strengthen the cultural differences valued upon each country by offering new and creative insights that may seemShow MoreRelatedPopular Culture As Defined By Alexandre O. Philippe944 Words   |  4 PagesMuch of what we know comes from popular culture. It’s inescapable and it shapes our modern society. In simpler terms, popular culture could either offend or challenge social norms brought on by society on what is new, hip, and trends to be followed. Popular culture as defined by Alexandre O. Philippe, â€Å" is a universal language that m anages in all of its seemingly trivial glory to make us dream and smile. To connect us across racial, political, and social divides, it is part of our fabric as humanRead MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 PagesDIEGESIS: Not in the vocabulary of linguistics or semiotics, the term was coined by the French writer Étienne Souriau to indicate the denotative material of a film. (See Chapter 4 in this volume, pp. 97 ff.) SEME: A basic semiological concept variously defined in the writings of the French semanticists Bernard Pottier, Émile Beneveniste, and Algirdas Greimas. Greimas sees it as a property of a lexeme, where the meaning of that lexeme is a function of the lexeme s semic integrity (ensemble semique)

Age of Enlightenment and Course Materials Free Essays

Candide worksheetName: Huy Dang Khac The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop the critical thinking skills necessary to write a basic, college-level analytical essay. You may type directly into this file and then upload when finished. Remember that you need to connect what you read in the book to what you are learning from other course materials to complete you answers. We will write a custom essay sample on Age of Enlightenment and Course Materials or any similar topic only for you Order Now Step I: Basic, factual analysis of a reading 1. List three examples of events/methods from Voltaire’s Candide which you believe best illustrate the issues related to the Scientific Revolution and to the Enlightenment. . The reaction of the Portuguese Inquisitor about the earthquake. b. The lifestyle of people in El Dorado. c. The despair of Paquette and the monk Brother Giroflee 2. Now for each point above, explain why this example illustrates these issues. a. Tsunami and earthquake’s acknowledgement are proof of developing science. The reaction of the Inquisitor for trying to kill Candide and Pangloss because of the earthquake is a typical example of the abuse of the church on people. It’s used to prove that what the church said is wrongful and people foolishly believe in what they are told. b. El Dorado is essentially the utopia of nobles, people living during the Enlightenment era. Street are covered with precious stones No Priests All of the king’s jokes are funny. Nobody care about gold or fighting over gold in the kingdom. King is kind and helpful. c. It’s the freedom of expression about their philosophies in life. They are noticing the ugly truth of their life as a sexual object and obeying religion against the will of person. . Finally, place each point above into the historical context (this means to make direct connections of this point to other specific information you have learned about the era from the other course materials) a. The Lisbon earthquake in Nov 1, 1755. b. French revolution in 18th century. c. The Seven Years War. 4. Compare Candide to the Appendix from Theodicity by Wilhelm Gottfried Leibnitz (found in the course mate rials under Assignments and Quizzes / Candide Assignment). List one example where the two sources agree. God did not choose the best course. . List one example where the two sources differ from each other. Every event is predetermined. 6. What do you think it means if the materials agree? It’s consistent among authors about the philosophy of religion belief/ life. Therefore, it’s a creditable source of outcome for further studies. When a material is proven to be true in two or more sources, its defense is stronger to believe in. It’s easier for readers, scholars to utilize in debating an issue. It opens way for discussion of an idea from multi perspectives. 7. What should you do with information that differs? First, I don’t pick which side I’ll support and which I’ll not. Search for facts (if possible), logical reasoning. Evaluating idea from my own experiences. Asking other people about their thought on both sides, then I compare and contrast both idea against each other’s. The result could end up be one side over another or a combination of both. PART II: How to use a period piece of literature (here answer the questions using your common sense and critical thinking skills) 1. List two reasons why students should be cautious in using a piece of literature in historical analysis. a. Piece of literature consists of belief and opinions, which are strongly opposed to historical analysis requiring good use of data, event. b. Piece of literature is written in a mocking way of the real society. Students should pay attention to the reliability of author of such piece to avoid bias in historical analysis. 2. Give an example from Voltaire’s book for each of the reasons raised a bove. a. Candide and Pangloss’s optimism – which are reflecting the belief of Voltaire They are opinion not facts. There are uncertainties about the truth of the society behind this thought. b. Voltaire’s idea of El Dorado: Once again, this is the utopia of Voltaire, which may or may not be the haven of other people. Believing in such event is over generalizing the thought of people in the society. 3. List two reasons why students should use a period piece of literature. a. It gives the idea, thought of people who are living in the society at that time. It’s more relevant than assuming the life condition base on dry facts. b. It’s useful when students want to do a compare and contrast to the theory they are studying. It gives students various perspectives to view an issue. 4. Now give an example from Voltaire’s book for each of the reasons raised above. a. The tsunami, earthquake in Lisbon and the reaction of the Inquisitor. b. Life of labor in the society during the whole stories. PART III: Sketching out an Essay In this section of the worksheet, you will see how all the course materials start to come together. If you were writing an essay, you would want to draw your conclusions and make your inferences using a wide variety of examples to make your points and provide supporting evidence (which would likely lead to an â€Å"A† paper). Keep this in mind as you answer the rest of the questions here. Now, suppose I were to assign the following essay topic (DO NOT WRITE AN ESSAY): In the period between the middle of the seventeenth century and the French Revolution Europe underwent a period of transformation in terms of scientific and social thought with had far-reaching implications in legal issues as well. Examine the impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European politics, law, and society. What examples would you use from Candide book (taking into consideration the concepts we have just worked with in Parts I and II) to back up/illustrate your analysis of each of the following points (give one example per each). Once again, you need to consider ALL that you have learned from the course materials, not just from reading this book. 1. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European society: 2. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European politics: 3. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European law: Now broaden out your analysis to use other documents/textbook/readings or other non-textbook materials/lectures. Give two examples for each of the three categories above: 1. Scientific Revolution like Copernicus’s theories about the earth and sun, which the earth is not the center of our solar system. This went against the way that churches were teaching (Before, Plato believed that Earth was the center of the universe). Also, Galileo Galilei with the discovery of telescope and the law of the pendulum, both prove that Aristole was wrong. Both of them prove that Church could be wrong in science by their scientific method and reason. In the end, people began to ask themselves that what if they can understand other things in life by using scientific method and reason. Started back in 1500s, people went on to use reason, experiment, and observations to develop and progress. . John Locke was a philosopher. He believed that people were able to govern themselves; therefore he did not like the absolute monarch. He wanted more power for ordinary people (because everybody is born free and were right to life, liberty, and property. Later, his book had a big effect on what we think about politics and government today. Voltaire was one of the most important philosophers of the Enlightenment. H e spent much of his life to criticize the church for freedom of religion and speech. In Voltaire’s idea, the best ruler would be an enlightened monarch, who studied the science of government and protected the basic rights of the people. The philosophes were concerned about social and religious issues. They encouraged education as the way to end ignorance, and superstition. 3. Deism was the idea that universe was created by a higher being (God). According to deist, there are no supernatural acts, such as miracles, manifestation, messages; they considered it as religious superstition. The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu, who argued that power of the king, came from people, not from God or Divine Right. In conclusion, the Enlightenment changed the way that people thought about science, religion, politics, and laws. We can still see those effects in our lives today. Now, if you were really writing an essay, you would have organized all of your strong examples to use in supporting your â€Å"big picture† analysis that comes from the text and lecture materials. You are ready to write a well-organized, critical thinking analytical essay on the above topic (DO NOT DO THIS). How to cite Age of Enlightenment and Course Materials, Essay examples

The Circus Essay Sample free essay sample

As clip passed. everyone became more dying for the show to get down. I look about at the craze of the crowd. filled with many people of all ages. Siting front row. I wait impatiently. grinning from ear to ear. Just so the visible radiations dim. and the degree of my exhilaration increases vastly. it’s eventually clip ; the circus has begun! A topographic point visible radiation comes on and Begins traveling rapidly in every which manner. A man’s deep voice comes over the talkers. â€Å"Ladies and Gentlemen. delight take your seats. We welcome you all to the circus and hope you enjoy the show† . Once the announcer had finished. the topographic point light zeroed in on centre phase. where a big gold king of beasts sat. Hearing the cleft of a whip. a really tall skinny adult male walks into the now turning topographic point visible radiation. Another smack of the leather whip is released by the tamer and the slayer animal opens his tremendous oral cavity and lets out a great boom. We will write a custom essay sample on The Circus Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The crowd begins to hearten aloud. The adult male so guides the king of beasts through legion Ag basketballs. which amazes everyone including myself. After a few more fast ones. the king of beasts tamer takes a bow and both he and the king of beasts walk side by side off phase. Following the lion’s act. two adult females dressed in bluish beady frocks appear on the trapeze. Very high in the air and with no net about to catch them if they fell. I watch mesmerized with every somersault and turn made. cognizing the littlest error would be them their modus operandi. Next was an dumbfounding contortionist. In complete silence everyone tickers as their heads are blown by the bending and show of such unusual and alone flexibleness. When each act ended. I applaud for the unbelievable public presentations. Just so I smell popcorn popping. elephantine pes long hot Canis familiariss grilling. and conceive of the cotton confect being spun. It seemed as joy and amusement rapidly got the best of me and before I knew it. the first half of the show had finished. Smelling the mouthwatering nutrient. it wasn’t long before everyone could no longer strip their hungriness. On the 15 minute intermission. the nutrient booths were filled rapidly with people stuffing their faces with downy pink and bluish cotton confect that melted as it touched their linguas. and popcorn that left everybody’s custodies greasy from the sum of butter on every piece. The faces of the crowd displayed merry and pleasance with the exceeding nutrient they had purchased. Intermission passed so rapidly. it hadn’t felt anyplace near 15 proceedingss and the circus started up once more instantly. While the dark progressed. I find the public presentations more entertaining. Silly clowns with colossal ruddy olfactory organs and banging places were siting in autos much excessively little for them. Elephants danced. blades were swallowed. and a adult male was shot out of a cannon. Following the expansive coda. all the performing artists were brought to the phase to bow to the bright crowd. still full of exhilaration and ginger. I stood to demo to my grasp to the performing artists who arranged a fantastic and unforgettable show that was perfect for everyone who had come.