Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Islam

Islam - means "submission"
imams - prayer leader
Five Pillars of Islam
1. There is no God but God and Mohammed is his prophet.
2. Salat - pray 5 times daily, facing toward Mecca
3. Zakat - give to charity
4. Ramadan - to keep the fast during this lunar month.
5. Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca

Life of the Prophet
Hejira
Gabriel
Women in Islam
Mohammed's wife
Sunni
Shiia
Abu Bakr
Koran or Qu'ran
Shariyah
Abraham
Isaac
Ishmael
Hagar
ablutions

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

One Source for Info on Islam

http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_intr.htm

Invented Cultures: Detrimental Practice

Remember the culture you're inventing? Remember the environment you put it living in? Now we want you to invent a habit or activity of your culture that has a negative impact on that group.

For example, Europeans that invaded North America learned to smoke tobacco from the indigenous peoples living here. It became very much a part of European culture to smoke tobacco. Of course, we now know that smoking tobacco contributes to the development of lung cancer.

This cultural habit can be a food, a drug, an activity, or a taboo that has a negative influence on its practitioners.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

For Monday, September 17

Read the section from Palomar World Cultures
"Characteristics of Culture"
http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/

Components of Culture

Food
holidays
clothes
transportation
weddings
biases
funerals
superstitions
ritual
music
dwellings
domesticated animals
symbols
language
technology/tools
religion
phrases/colloquialisms/slang
thinking
art
sports
gestures
greetings
rites of passage
Family Cultures

COUNTRY REPORTS FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

Afghanistan - Bob ** Bahrain - Iza ** Iran - Bob ** Iraq - Marguerite
Israel - Landry ** Jordan - Jacob ** Kuwait - Marguerite
Krygystan - Raina ** Lebanon - Mindy ** Oman - William
Pakistan - Landry ** Qatar - Allen ** Saudi Arabia - Jacob
Syria - Iza ** Tajikistan - Raina ** Turkey - Frankie
Turkmenistan ------------ ** United Arab Emirates - Frankie
Uzbekistan - William ** Yemen - Allen

HOMEWORK for Thursday, September 13, 2007

Finish and type the stories from class, Tuesday, Sept. 11

Terms and concepts from class:
in medias res = "in the middle of things"
present tense (one way of making a story feel "immediate")
story, plot, character
beginning, middle, and end
brainstorm = collecting as many ideas and details as possible. When a writer brainstorms, she then chooses from the material gathered for her story.

TEST SEPTEMBER 14

On Friday there will be a test covering the countries studied so far. The test will cover information on the nations including geography of the Middle East.