April 2015 – Inside The Mind Of Gabi

Month: April 2015

Metaphor Machines: The Process!

So, recently we have been beginning to form plans and ideas for a new project we are starting in class. We are creating Metaphor Machines based on a revolution that we studied: The French Revolution, The English Revolution, The American Revolution, or The Industrial Revolution.

My group originally planned to base our machine on The French Revolution, because we were all very interested with all the famous events going on during that time. But sadly, we were downgraded to The English Revolution, which none of us really wanted to do, well, except for Zak.

First, we had to make a timeline of all the important things that happened during The English Civil War. Then we had to figure out if it linked to Crane Brinton, Jack Goldstone, or George Lakey’s opinions and theories of “What a Revolution is”.

I think our group has really great thinkers and we can all work together as a group. I have work hard, along with everyone, to contribute to our timeline and the sketches of our ideas for the machine. When we started to draw and make the timeline, we did a really good job of connecting our ideas to others on the timeline. I think we should try to use our class time a bit more efficiently – we don’t always focus and sometimes only two or three of us end up doing most of the work.

So I feel as though we should try and all put a bit more effort into our group and our project, then we will be the “Dream Team”!

How Did Napoleon Bonaparte Have Trouble Conquering Russia?

April 20, 2015 / gabrieller / 0 Comments

We have just finished our French Revolution topic in class, and (once again) were asked to come up with a question to research the topic deeper than we had in class.

Anatolia, Marley, and I were having a water fight on Saturday afternoon, and we suddenly came up with an idea that we could turn our fight into one of, the French Emperor, Napoleon’s battles or invasions. We came up with a main question: “Why and how did Napoleon’s invasion of Russia end badly for France?” So then we turned on the camera, put on some French and Russian accents, and reenacted “Napoleon Bonaparte’s attempted invasion of Russia.”

So after watching our short movie, you are probably thinking “well that’s not really what happened” or “those aren’t the same facts that I’ve read in a much more informative primary source”. After watching our video, Anatolia and I were thinking the same things. We made the mistake of not doing a thorough researching job before we started filming, and then after we filmed we found some information about the invasion and realized we got a few of the facts quite wrong.

So the main reason Napoleon wanted to invade Russia is because he had almost all of Europe under his control and wanted to make Alexander I hand over Russia into his open arms. We kind of messed up on our dates and the period of which Napoleon was attempting to invade. We said that it took a couple of weeks, but the whole expedition actually lasted about 5 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days. Russia realised that France had a very strong army, and they could only hope to defeat them, so they decided to, pretty much, go into defensive mode and retreat each time France would try to strike. Every time Napoleon would advance towards them, Russia would retreat, but leave little traps and “surprises” to slow the French.

As time went on, and France still had had no direct combat with Russia, they began to disintegrate due to extreme fatigue, hunger, and small attacks made by the Russians. Finally, the Russians realized that if they didn’t stay and fight with the French, then the whole of Russia could potentially fall into their opponent’s arms. So they battled in Moscow, on September 7, then found that it was useless because no side had really “won”. Russia abandoned Moscow days later, leaving the French with hardly any resources.

At last, the realization sunk in that Russia wasn’t about to offer to negotiate any deals, and the Franch began the journey home, but were caught in the midst of the cruel Russian winter. Food was basically non-existent, cossacks were attacking the stragglers, and in the end, 10,000 men survived out of the 600,000 men to start.

And that pretty much sums up Napoleon’s invasion and how things went downhill!

French Invade Russia Information

What is a Cossack

America and France: Since When Were They Allies?

April 12, 2015 / gabrieller / 0 Comments

So, I’ve recently been focussing on the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War in class. It was primarily between Great Britain and The United States of America, but America made an interesting ally along the way; France!

In this short video, I will be explaining the alliance between France and America, and “How this alliance aided America in the defeat of Britain during the Revolutionary War”.

http://youtu.be/uu_Q0cBQ0Qs

I chose to make an Explain Everything to portray my ideas and research in a clear and simple way (even though it took me , like, 4 hours to finish. But hey… what can I say? I’m slow with this kind of stuff). I also used some interesting animations to grip the watcher into my presentation.

Sources

America and France Allied Information

French and Indian War Map

World Map (Black and White)

Blank Picture of America

1700’s War Ship

The Battle Of Naseby: How Did It Lead To The Capture Of King Charles I?

April 7, 2015 / gabrieller / 0 Comments

This week in class, we researched the English Civil War, and focussed in on one key figure to do with it. We dug deeper into our chosen topic, and mine was primarily based on the Battle of Naseby and how it lead to King Charles I being captured.

The Battle Of Naseby was a key turning point in the English Civil War. Where King Charles I, and the influential leader of the Parliaments, Oliver Cromwell, face each other in a battle that leaves the King’s Royalists side without a true leader. The battle took place on June 14th, 1645, and eventually lead to the final pursuit and capture of King Charles I.

In May of 1645, Charles I was marching northwards to retake Marston Moor, after their defeat. And the New Model Army was on it’s way to Oxford for an attack. Charles planned to divert the Roundheads from the Oxford attack, and so the Royalists marched southbound from 60 miles north of Oxford, in Leicester. But, on June 12th, Charles soon found out that the New Model Army and commander Thomas Fairfax were marching northbound towards the Royalists, and that the Roundheads had quite a numerical advantage over Charles and his Royalists.

Finally, on June 14th, both sides stood poised at Broad Moor near the town of Naseby, and at ten o’clock in the morning, Prince Rupert (Commander in Chief of The Royalists side) was the first to lead a charge into battle. A little while into the fight, the Royalists suddenly had both of their flanks open for the Parliaments to attack. Prince Rupert’s infantry was upholding against Parliamentary attacks, but most of the Royalists, including King Charles, ran from the battle. They were pursued by Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Fairfax, and the New Model Army, almost until they got to the city of Leicester once again.

Oliver Cromwell Leading The New Model Army

There were battles following the battle of Naseby, but none under the command of King Charles, as this battle seemed to put the Royalists in a position where they were unable to recover from the defeat. A few years later, in 1648, King Charles surrendered himself to the Scottish Army where they then handed him over to the English Parliament after nine months. Charles told the Parliament commanders, “you cannot be without me: you will fall to ruin if I do not sustain you.” He saw the monarchy as a sense of stability and believed that England could not survive without it.

So I know that, for me, the Battle of Naseby lead to the capture, and eventually the execution of King Charles I. It was the turning point where King Charles was overthrown and the Royalists fell apart and couldn’t put the pieces back together.

Oliver Cromwell In Battle

Oliver Cromwell Portrait

King Charles I Portrait

Information About King Charles I

Information About The Battle of Naseby