History of the Americas reading tongiht! (Feb 27)

Hey guys. I would like yout o have finished the next chapter of our Canada handout by saturday, so make sure you begin now! i will be lecturing on this material tomorrow, so the more you've read, the better questions you will have!

TOK Faith Reading No. 2

Today (2/18) we will complete our discussion of St. Isaac the Syrian's perspectives on the relationship between faith and knowledge. Therefore, we must now move east, and examine a wholly (or holy) different perspective. I invite you all to read the following quote from Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), and then to read the first section (entitled "The Nine Ways not to accept something as true") of the webpage linked below it. We will be reading subsequent sections of the page later this week, so it may be a good idea to bookmark it! Cheers.

Do not believe in something because it is reported. Do not believe in something because it has been practiced by generations or becomes a tradition or part of a culture. Do not believe in something because a scripture says it is so. Do not believe in something believing a god has inspired it. Do not believe in something a teacher tells you to. Do not believe in something because the authorities say it is so. Do not believe in hearsay, rumor, speculative opinion, public opinion, or mere acceptance to logic and inference alone. Help yourself, accept as completely true only that which you test for yourself and know to be good for yourself and others.

-- The Buddha, The Kalama Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya, Sutta Pitaka

The Sight:

http://www.vipassanafoundation.com/favoritequote.html

TOK -- you gotta have faith!

Hey guys, as we dive headlong into our Ways of Knowing, our next topic will be a highly controversial one. A discussion of Faith and Knowledge can lead to some very impassioned responses. It shall then be my job to be both your teacher and moderator as we move into our next topic, and as such, I will attempt to provide you with a plethora of readings from our diverse world. Our first of these comes from an essay entitled The Theory Of Knowledge of St. Isaac the Syrian by St. Justin Popovich, and while it is an Orthodox Christian study of Faith and Knowledge, this essay provides us with a unique perspective in which to veiw the relationship between both. I do hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I have, as it is an extremely unique work. I would like you to have printed this out and read it closely for our next class. The essay can be found at the following link:

http://strannik.com/watchful_gate/node/22

History of the Americas, QUIZ REVIEW!

History of the Americas: Review Sheet on Jamestown and Plymouth!
Below are the topics which I expect you to discuss intelligently on your upcoming quiz (this Tuesday!)

1. Why and how was the Jamestown colony settled? What were the goals of its founders? How did these goals endanger the lives of Jamestown’s first colonists, and even, the existence of the colony itself?

2. After 1624, a massive change can be observed in the Virginia Colony. What was this change, and how did it manifest itself socially, politically and economically?

3. The switch from a labor reliance on Indentured Servants to African slaves signaled a massive social change in Virginia. Why did this switch occur, and what was its result?

4. Why was the Pilgrim experience in Plymouth Colony (1620) so radically different from that of those in Jamestown (1607)? What major differences created such dichotomous (use a dictionary) experiences?

5. As a mass exodus of Puritans from England resulted in a booming growth in Boston, and a land hunger drove farmers to Virginia, two very different societies developed in the British North American Colonies (hereafter referred to as BNAC). Please describe these societies, and the geo-economic features which helped define them!

History of the Americas Reading!

Hey guys, read up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony