History is usually taught is chronological order, from the beginning to the end of time. Well, it's the summer, so let's do things a little backwards!
Do you all know who Billy Joel is? For those of you who don't know him (shame on you), he's one of the most famous singer/musicians ever (was biggest in the 1980s -- you know, back in my day). Anyway, Billy Joel often said that he wanted to be a history teacher, mainly because being a history teacher is waaay cooler than being a famous musician. OK, I made that last part up, but he did want to be a history teacher. Because of this, in 1989, he decided to write a song called "We Didn't Start The Fire." In this song, he writes about what he feels are the most important people/events of the past 40 years of history (1949-1989). Basically, it's a stream of consciousness list of events that Billy Joel thought were the most important events of the past -- events for which he didn't feel his generation was responsible. Thus the chorus of the song, "We didn't start the fire, It was always burning since the world's been turning." Many of the references are to the Cold War, a problem that his generation inherited, which we will study toward the end of next year.
Here is what you need to do to get extra credit. You need to pick five different people/events/things from the different decades (one from the 1940s, one from the 1950s, one from the 1960s, one from 1964-1989, and whatever other one you like). The event has to relate to WORLD history, NOT U.S. history. There are many references to U.S. history, actors, musicians, baseball players, etc. - I'd like you to focus ONLY on the references to things that happened outside the U.S. (the same way that you can't write about the U.S. on the regents exam next year!) There are a few things I'd like you to do with this video:
Pick a total of 5 people/events. For each one, answer the following questions:
1. What is the person/event/thing Billy Joel refers to?
2. What year does it take place?
3. What is the historical significance of the person/event/thing? In other words, what was special/significant about it?
4. Why do you think Bill Joel chose to include it in his song?
5. (Only answer this once, not for each) Think about events that have occurred since 1989 (the year the song was written). If you were to continue his song, what 3 events would you add? Why?
Please answer ALL questions for the event/person you've picked. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE from wikipedia or any other source. Answer the questions in your own words. You'll get extra credit for every event/person that you answer ALL of the questions for -- no partial credit.
All answers should be written on this blog, as a posting. In order to post something, click on the "0 Comments" at the upper right hand side of this posting (under the heading of this post). You will need to put in your name and comments in the comments section. Then hit "submit." If you have any problems figuring this out, just email me at [email protected].
I STRONGLY suggest that you write down your answers somewhere else first (by hand or in Word) and save them there. Then cut and paste them onto the blog. That way, if the posting doesn't go through for some reason, you'll have it saved to cut and paste again. You will all be able to see one another's answers. I will email you to confirm that I received your comments and add in any other comments I have.
The deadline for this assignment is midnight on September 7.
Below are links to two different versions of the video -- you might want to look at both of them before you begin:
http://www.teacheroz.com/fire.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50p-XScreM&feature=related
NOTE: The odds are pretty slim that I'll be giving you any extra credit during the year (it's 11th grade now, so I just expect you to do your work and get a good grade, without extra credit), so you should take advantage of the extra credit while I'm in happy-go-lucky summer mode! Enjoy the summer (and if you haven't started your English journals, start them! Let's surprise the heck out of Mr. Lamb and all hand them in on time!)
Do you all know who Billy Joel is? For those of you who don't know him (shame on you), he's one of the most famous singer/musicians ever (was biggest in the 1980s -- you know, back in my day). Anyway, Billy Joel often said that he wanted to be a history teacher, mainly because being a history teacher is waaay cooler than being a famous musician. OK, I made that last part up, but he did want to be a history teacher. Because of this, in 1989, he decided to write a song called "We Didn't Start The Fire." In this song, he writes about what he feels are the most important people/events of the past 40 years of history (1949-1989). Basically, it's a stream of consciousness list of events that Billy Joel thought were the most important events of the past -- events for which he didn't feel his generation was responsible. Thus the chorus of the song, "We didn't start the fire, It was always burning since the world's been turning." Many of the references are to the Cold War, a problem that his generation inherited, which we will study toward the end of next year.
Here is what you need to do to get extra credit. You need to pick five different people/events/things from the different decades (one from the 1940s, one from the 1950s, one from the 1960s, one from 1964-1989, and whatever other one you like). The event has to relate to WORLD history, NOT U.S. history. There are many references to U.S. history, actors, musicians, baseball players, etc. - I'd like you to focus ONLY on the references to things that happened outside the U.S. (the same way that you can't write about the U.S. on the regents exam next year!) There are a few things I'd like you to do with this video:
Pick a total of 5 people/events. For each one, answer the following questions:
1. What is the person/event/thing Billy Joel refers to?
2. What year does it take place?
3. What is the historical significance of the person/event/thing? In other words, what was special/significant about it?
4. Why do you think Bill Joel chose to include it in his song?
5. (Only answer this once, not for each) Think about events that have occurred since 1989 (the year the song was written). If you were to continue his song, what 3 events would you add? Why?
Please answer ALL questions for the event/person you've picked. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE from wikipedia or any other source. Answer the questions in your own words. You'll get extra credit for every event/person that you answer ALL of the questions for -- no partial credit.
All answers should be written on this blog, as a posting. In order to post something, click on the "0 Comments" at the upper right hand side of this posting (under the heading of this post). You will need to put in your name and comments in the comments section. Then hit "submit." If you have any problems figuring this out, just email me at [email protected].
I STRONGLY suggest that you write down your answers somewhere else first (by hand or in Word) and save them there. Then cut and paste them onto the blog. That way, if the posting doesn't go through for some reason, you'll have it saved to cut and paste again. You will all be able to see one another's answers. I will email you to confirm that I received your comments and add in any other comments I have.
The deadline for this assignment is midnight on September 7.
Below are links to two different versions of the video -- you might want to look at both of them before you begin:
http://www.teacheroz.com/fire.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50p-XScreM&feature=related
NOTE: The odds are pretty slim that I'll be giving you any extra credit during the year (it's 11th grade now, so I just expect you to do your work and get a good grade, without extra credit), so you should take advantage of the extra credit while I'm in happy-go-lucky summer mode! Enjoy the summer (and if you haven't started your English journals, start them! Let's surprise the heck out of Mr. Lamb and all hand them in on time!)