The not so great Alexander [Tony]

Alexander the “Great” was not great for some reasons

Including

-If his people did bad he killed them

-He slaughtered his own people

-He died in war even though he thought he was great at

Everything

He is not the greatest leader for some reasons with 3 of them being

-He did not care for his people1

-He conquered a lot, but his empire didn’t grow in population

-He was a tyrant.

You may think “Well that is just people in ancient times” I know It is but now it is barbaric, but is that what a good

Leader should be like?  He killed his own people, that should be enough.

Alexander the (not so) great [Kiersten]

Alexander. The name stings, at least to me it does. Hearing the name when I was younger made me think he was the “real deal”. After learning what he did, it simply stings. Obviously, the question has been debated many times. Was he worthy of his name, or is it misleading?

Source: http://www.orthodoxheritage.org

 ***This picture shows a sculpture of Alexander***

Ok, so I'm not going to lie to you. He did do some good things. For example, he did conquer 44% of the world’s population2. But, being realistic, the bad things outweighed the good. Being honest, conquering land doesn’t really make him great. If you’re reading this and you're totally for Alexander, I apologize. But the Alexander you might think is so great (hence the name“Alexander the Great”), is really not that great. First, he crucified 2,000 men.1  Still think he’s great? What if I told you he sold 30,000 people into slavery?1  Alexander also set fire to many buildings in Tyre (a small city in Greece)1.

Source: http://www.historyofmacedonia.org

***This image shows a building in Tyre being burned by some of Alexander’s soldiers***

As you have probably learned, this guy is pretty insane. He would kill everyone in his path!1 Talk about anger issues! I hope you believe me when I say a name can be very misleading. I believe only a great person should have the title “great”.  So next time you hear the name “Alexander the Great” remember he was actually NOT SO GREAT!

1 Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press, 1991

2 nationalinterest.org

Alexander The Great? [Gracie]

There’s obviously been some conflict as to whether dear Alex is really all that great. In my opinion, he’s definitely great. I mean, come on, he conquered the entire Persian empire.1 You should be able to look past the things he did that weren’t so great. Like, in the Legend Of The Hat Band. “One of the sailors swam off towards the band and snatched it from the reed. But he did not carry it in his hands because it would get wet while he was swimming. He therefore put it around his own head and brought it to the king.”2 So what he killed him because he wasn’t royal?2 You can overlook that in the legend of the helmet. “They scooped up the water with difficulty and hurried back to Alexander, then, just before they reached him, they tipped the water into a helmet and gave it to him. Alexander, with a word of thanks for the gift, took the helmet and, in full view of his troops, poured the water on the ground.”3 By dumping out that water, Alex showed that he could handle the thirst along with his men. If I could write a letter to Alexander (considering he was still alive), this is what it would be. 

Dear Alex,

You’re definitely great. You’re great for the reasons that,

• You were strong in the legend of the helmet3
• You conquered the entire Persian Empire1
• You had great strategy4

Sincerely,

(one of your many supporters)

Gracie

And I know just what my buddy Alex would say. “I know, I’m pretty great.” Because that’s just how Alex was.

1= A map of Alexander’s empire from various sources

2= Alexander The Great: Man and God, Ian Worthington

3= The Campaigns of Alexander, Lucius Flavius Arrianus

4= The Campaigns of Alexander, Lucius Flavius Arrianus

howgreatwasalexander.blogspot.com

Alexander The “Great” [Samantha]

commons.wikimedia.org

A Mini Document Based Question (Mini-Q)

Do you know the definition of “great”? Great is having an amount or intensity above the average, something Alexander never had. I strongly believe Alexander doesn’t deserve the title Alexander the “Great.” He killed a thousands of people, cruelly destroyed land and people, and made decisions that his people, especially his army, disliked.

I’m doing this review a little bit different. Above is my opinion about Alexander and below are my feelings towards him in the form of a letter to Alexander, which includes a list.

Dear Alexander-

Please don’t kill any more innocent lives or make any more rational decisions. I think you are:

• Cruel
• For the most part, a bad leader
• Too ambitious (in a bad way)
• Ruthless
• Repugnant
• Barbaric due to the fact that you would kill innocent lives for your selfish pleasures.

Thank you for stopping when your army, however only when your army told you to stop. You’ve already killed about 100,000 people in four major battles alone. If you hadn’t stopped, you might’ve burned more cities, made more people into slaves, torture people by crucifixion, or frankly go crazy. On the other hand, when you got back from eight years of war and started to make other races and cultures blend (which is extremely distasteful) against your people’s will, you should’ve known you took things too far. When I realized how horrible you had become, it took me a moment to recognize you, like coming out of a deep dream. You could’ve been better than this.

I loved watching you become the happiest person on Earth with every extra piece of land you conquered but not by the dead bodies scattered around me. For goodness sake, you beheaded one of your own men just for the flap of a hat! Utterly destroying buildings and forcing your army to keep on fighting is no way to rule. If not, you may crash and burn, and not in a honorably way.

**.Source: Alexander the Great Mini-Q

            Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press, 1991

            Lucius Flavius Arrianus, The Campaigns of Alexander circa 130 CE

            Table Displaying Alexander’s Legacy

Helpful Hints for Blog Writing!

Writing a Blog: Checklist to Live By

#1 Is your blog post title catchy and appealing to your readers?

#2 Voice - talk to your audience!  Yes to using I, You, Me, My and asking questions of your audience!

#3 Background Info & Clear claim - don’t make your reader guess which side of the argument you are on!  This means, you have a thesis, but it doesn’t look like that perfect thesis equation some essays make you use.

#4 Assert your point with a bang!  A little attitude goes a long way!

#5 Do not be afraid of using bullet points, font styles, and center justified text when appropriate.  Blogs are NOT MLA!

#6 Include one image to support your blog post.  Under the image include the source - website name is all you need.  Google images is not your source, click on photo to find where it came from!

example:

 

Source: http://www.historyofmacedonia.org

#7 Facts - still required! Must include three reasons with evidence from your mini-Q as to why Alexander was GREAT, or NOT.  Sources must be cited.

our task...settle the debate!

How Great was Alexander the Great?

Historians aren’t sure, and history buffs can’t seem to agree: How great was Alexander the Great?  To state your side, you will be creating a blog post that offers up your OPINION on the topic, using textual evidence and reasons from the documents in the Mini Q and textbook to support your claim. 

Please use the Writing a Blog checklist to make sure you are meeting the requirements of this genre.

Language and Literature Criterion C: Producing Text

Achievement Level	Level Descriptor
0	The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below.
1-2	The student:       I.         Produces texts that demonstrates limited personal engagement with the creative process; demonstrates a limited degree of thought or imagination and minimal exploration of new perspectives and ideas     II.         Makes minimal stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating limited awareness of impact on an audience   III.         Selects few relevant details and examples to support ideas.
3-4	The student:       I.         Produces texts that demonstrate adequate personal engagement with the creative process; demonstrates some thought or imagination and some exploration of new perspectives and ideas     II.         Makes some stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating some awareness of impact on an audience   III.         Selects some relevant details and examples to support ideas.
5-6	The student:       I.         Produces texts that demonstrate considerable personal engagement with the creative process; demonstrates considerable thought or imagination and substantial exploration of new perspectives and ideas     II.         Makes thoughtful stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating good awareness of impact on an audience   III.         Selects sufficient relevant details and examples to support ideas.
7-8	The student:       I.         Produces texts that demonstrate a high degree of personal engagement with the creative process; demonstrates a high degree of thought or imagination and perceptive exploration of new perspectives and ideas     II.         Makes perceptive stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating clear awareness of impact on an audience   III.         Selects extensive relevant details and examples to support ideas.

Individuals and Societies Criterion D: Thinking Critically

0	The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below.
1-2	The student:       I.         Identifies the main points of ideas, events, visual representation or arguments to a limited extent     II.         Uses information to give limited opinions   III.         Identifies the origin and purpose of limited sources/data    IV.         Identifies some different views.
3-4	The student:       I.         Identifies some main points of ideas, events, visual representation or arguments     II.         Uses information to give adequate opinions   III.         Identifies the origin and purpose of sources/data    IV.         Identifies some different views and suggest some of their implications
5-6	The student:       I.         Identifies the main points of ideas, events, visual representation or arguments     II.         Uses information to give substantial opinions   III.         Identifies the origin and purpose of a range of sources/data    IV.         Identifies different views and most of their implications.
7-8	The student:       I.         Identifies in detail the main points of ideas, events, visual representation or arguments     II.         Uses information to give detailed opinions   III.         Consistently identifies and analyses a range of sources/data in terms of origin and purpose    IV.         Consistently identifies different views and their implications.

Total: _________/50              Grade:      A      B     C      D     F

Comments:    

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All ‘blog posts’ will be typed on Google Docs and final drafts must be shared on Google Drive with your teacher by: FRIDAY, April 28th!

*Students will have their ‘blog posts’ published on our blog with only their first name attached to their post.

url:  http://howgreatwasalexander.blogspot.com/

Alexander the not so great [Kai]

http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/

   Alexander the great? How about Alexander the cruel? Or Alexander the Not so great? You have probably heard of alexander the great but have you thought about how great he really was. Now you're probably thinking “Well hence the name alexander the great so he must really be great, right?” Wrong.

   Alexander was not at all great. Most people who think he is… there wrong. He (alexander) killed 100,000* innocent men women and children! Still think he is great? But wait, there's more, He crucified 2 thousand people and because of this sent 30,000 men into slavery1). All of this for more land and people to rule over? Talk about power hungry.

   Now Alexander wasn't all bad, his empire was 2,200,000 Sq. miles give him some credit. But in doing so he killed thousands. One legend states* Alexander lost his royal headband in the water and one of his men swam out, grabbed it and came back therefore returning it. Long story short alexander the ‘great’ killed him (what a nice guy) as a way of saying “thank you”. Still think he's great?