Macchiavelli (extra credit)

Please read Chapters 15-19 of Machiavelli's The Prince (either pp. 84-104 of the Signet edition or at the link below).

Add a comment or two here giving your impressions of Machiavelli. Try to say something that would help another students trying to prepare on essay on Renaissance achievements.

http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/basis/machiavelli-prince.html

Pico Della Mirandola (extra credit)

Renaissance humanists had a very positive view of mankind. They greatly appreciated past human achievements, and had an exceptionally high view of human potential . Read through some of Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man at the link below. Cite a line or two that particular well illustrates Pico's "humanism," i.e., either his appreciation for the past or his optimism about human potential. As an alternative, just cite a line that you particularly like from this work and explain why you like it.

http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Mirandola/

Boccaccio (Extra Credit)

Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in Florence at the link below. What can you tell about Boccaccio's values and concerns from this account? In what ways might seeing the kinds of things he describes affect his writing and his general view of life?

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/decameronintro.html

Student Center ideas (extra credit)

Of the ideas presented Tuesday at the Student Center input session, which seemed to you the most important? If you did not attend the session, comment here on what you would most like to see included/changed if the Student Center is renovated.

Daniel (Extra Credit)

Please read Chapter 1-7 and Chapter 12 of Daniel. Cite here a verse or two from that book that shows how the Book of Daniel might have helped provide either ethical guidance or emotional fulfillment to the people of ancient Israel or just a verse that seems to you particularly interesting, difficult, or important. Explain why you chose this particular verse.

State of the Union (Extra Credit)

You should be able to listen live to the 2010 State of the Union Address on C-SPAN at 8:00 tonight (Wednesday). If that time is not convenient for you, you should be able to find the address in the C-Span library. Add a brief comment here summarizing your impressions. What was upbeat about the address? What was not so positive? Anything that particularly surprised you in the address?

Welcome!

Welcome to Inherently Interesting 2010, the most wonderful, most interesting, and most important blog at this particular URL. Your comments and questions on this blog will help make the class even more wonderful and interesting--and occasionally earn you a bit of extra credit!

To get started, here's a test of the History 121 extra credit system. Click the "comments" link below and give me your honest answer: what's the first thing that comes into your head when you here the word history?