Spread of Islam

Http://www.showme.com/sh/?i=92403

Architectural Influence

All of the buildings seem to by gigantic churches or monasteries. They look more functional than decorative over all. Some are decorative but are still in the style of something like modern day apartment buildings. The influence I see on American architecture is the size and idea of many "apartment" type rooms. One of the building even looked straight out of an American city.

Constantinople

Document 1 was the most credibal because it was just informative language, not opinion. It was written by rabbi Benjamin of Tudela. It seems like it is geared towards travelers visiting Constantinople. Document 2 was written by Robert of Clari. He was exaggerating Constantinople while trying to draw new people towards Constantinople. Document 3 was written by Nicetas Choniates. It Is biased while talking about the Latins destroying Constantinople. It seems to be written as a historical text. Document 4 is a drawing of a map of Constantinople. It is not credible while it is exaggerated and not to scale. It seems like a decoration for wealthy people, not as an actual map. Document 5 is a photo of a huge church. The size shows the importance of Constantinople. It could be shown to drawn people to Constantinople because of the religious influence. Document 6 is by George Acropolites. It is also very credible. It shows the importance of praying to emperor, not god. It is written as a historical text. Document 7 was written by Chrysobull. It is written about the helpfulness of the Venetians from the viewpoint of someone fro m Constantinople. It is an informative document to explain past events in Constantinople.

The Silk Road Project

Working with a partner made this project a good way to interact and review at the same time.  It was good to have multiple perspectives to compare.  It took some pressure off to be able to split up the work.  Having a clear rubric also made the project much clearer to complete.  If I had to do this project again, I would do pretty much the same thing.  The only things that were a problem were drawing the map to scale, organizing what each partner would do at home, and getting work done even when only one of the partners was in class and able to work.  All in all, the project went well and was a great way to review the silk road and trade in the Classical Era.