Just before Spring break we were learning all about World War Two, the causes and effects, specific battles, notable political figures, etc, and we were tasked to showcase all of our in class work through a series of baseline assignments, designed to aid with our learning, and to help manage school related stress. In class, we completed a series of 5 different note formats (standard, memory key, Cornell, mindmap, concept map) to give us a wide overview of history spanning from before World War One, through the Russian Revolution, to World War Two. Through doing this we were able to get a good sense of early 21st century conflicts, and the political dynamics of the world around the time of the Second World War.
To start off, we did a lot of work on the subject of appeasement, and whether or not it was the correct foreign policy for the allies to adopt during the Second World War. Appeasement, followed first by the British and later by the French, meant avoiding war with aggressive powers by giving way to their demands – provided that they were not unreasonable. As an assignment, we had to fill out a desision making model that addresses the growing concern of Germany and the Axis powers in Europe. In class, we had to come up with four alternative options to appeasement as Britain’s foreign policy, along with a few positives and negatives to each idea. After coming up with four ideas and pondering the positives and negatives, we had to make a decision on a new foreign policy and give some reasoning on how it would potentially stop a war from escalating in Europe.
As another assignment from this unit we were tasked to research an event from World War Two, present it in front of the class, and argue its significance in the course of history. We were selected randomly to present any of the 10 events below.
1. The Phoney War
2. The Western Front and Operation Overlord
3. Fall of France
4. Battle of Britain
5. Operation Barbarossa and the Eastern Front
6. Northern Africa
7. US in WWII
8. Battle of the Atlantic
9. Italy and the Second Front
10. The Pacific Theatre
Michael and I were tasked to present the significance of the Battle of The Atlantic, the longest lasting conflict of the war, with only 20 minutes to research it and become experts. Through doing this I felt like I learned a lot in a very short amount of time and retained the knowledge well.
On top of presenting our own topic, we listened to the other groups present, while taking notes, to similarly assess the significance of all ten events. Then, once outside of class, we were tasked to write a paragraph arguing the significance of one specific event, and why it was more notable than the rest. In my opinion, the conclusion to draw from this lesson wasn’t that one event was more significant than the rest, but that every event we were looking at was significant in some way or another, depending on how you analyze it, making it relevant to study and learn as a part of History 12.
For this unit I decided to take on one of the 5 challenge assignments by creating a podcast movie review for Hacksaw Ridge. Ever since it’s release in 2016 I’ve been meaning to watch it, but I’ve just never got around to it. However, after experiencing the work of art that is the movie Hacksaw Ridge, I have to say that it was the best war movie that I’ve ever seen. It’s not only a movie that accurately showcases the severe brutality of war, but it’s a movie that truly highlights the power of a single individual who’s dedicated to a cause greater than himself, Desmond Doss, who selflessly puts his life on the line to save over 75 men without firing a single shot.
This is my first time using the Opinion application to put together a podcast, and I have to say that I enjoy the software a lot better than any other application I’ve used in the past. It was simple, quick, easy, and dare I say FUN putting this podcast together. I’m proud of my work and I feel as though I’ve made massive improvements in putting together and editing podcasts. Overall I enjoyed this assignment a lot because I thoroughly enjoy watching movies, and I share my ideas best through talking, so it felt less like work and more like something that I actually wanted to do because it was more personalized to me.