Unit 3 Blogging Reflection

Wow, Unit 3 was a lot of work and I'm kind of sad to see it go. The topic, Ancient Mediterranean Art, wasn't really my cup of tea but the approach we took did spruce it up a bit. Most teachers would ask us to analyze the pieces then write a 10 page paper about a vase. :-? I love vases as much as the other person, however, creating a website targeted toward kids is more my cup of tea. So, it's safe to say that Teacher's Pet did an awesome job, that's not to say there wasn't a lot of work put into it. I learned how to analyze a piece and what to look for when it comes to writing about these things. I had never done this before! Ahhh. I think the biggest problem I encountered was trying to update my website, since I had a virus on my computer. I tried to find another computer to complete my assignment but to no avail. It was a real pain. Much like the pain that my group had encountered when trying to find a tone for the project. Yeah, we ran into some bumps - like any group- along the way but like always, we worked through it and got it done. Thank God it's over!

In a ten-minute blogging exercise, reflect on how these assignments provided a way to "think" about these artifacts for the viewers. What burden/freedom did you feel when when putting your site together? How well do you think you did in shaping knowledge about the artifacts your group chose? How well did other groups do?

My group put an extensive amount of work and thought into this project. When taking these pieces of art into consideration, the purpose of these pieces is really important. "Thinking" about these pieces was pretty tough because it put us in such a place where he had to "think" about how to convey this to our audience and so forth. I think that was our burden,- trying to make sense of this whole ordeal and at the same time translate that to 8th graders. WOW,quite a feat to take on.

My groupd did an awesome job in thinkign about how to shape their knowledge about the artifacts. At one point, we had to give up Brittany's artifact because it did now tie in with our theme and that was something that we took into consideration. I think the other groups did extremely well- but we were just outstanding! Sorry, but i'm extremely proud of our page. lol Too much time went into it to let it go unnoticed.

Indiana Jones has nothing on this : the site.

old:

The art pieces on this tour fall into two periods of Mediterranean history: the Archaic Period and the Classical Period.

The Archaic Period lasted from 660 BCE to 480 BCE. During this era, sculpture was the main form of expression, though vase-art was also important. The art depicted mythological scenes as well as real-life illustrations. Also during this time period, artists explored the use of three-dimensional space and naturalness.

The Classical Period immediately followed the Archaic Period, lasting from 480 BCE to 300 BCE. During this time, artists and sculptors took a strong interest in the natural features of human beings and the world around them. They wanted their work to be as realistic and as ordinary as possible. The craftsmen used a white ground for the bodies of the vases and dark lines for the painted scenes to keep the art simple and genuine.

NEW:

The art pieces on this tour follow two periods in Mediterranean history: the Archaic Period and the Classical Period.

The Archaic Period lasted 660 BCE to 480 BCE. During this era, sculpture- the main form of expression- though vase art also important. The art depicted mythological scenes as we as real-life illustrations. Artists explored three-dimensional space and naturalness.

The Classical Period lasted 480 BCE – 300 BCE. Artists and sculptors took strong interests in human being features and world around them. They wanted their work to be as realistic as possible. White ground was used for body of vases and dark lines to keep the art simple and genuine.

Paramedic Method

The art pieces on this tour follow two periods in Mediterranean history: the Archaic Period and the Classical Period.

The Archaic Period lasted 660 BCE to 480 BCE. During this era, sculpture- the main form of expression- though vase art also important. The art depicted mythological scenes as we as real-life illustrations. Artists explored three-dimensional space and naturalness.

The Classical Period lasted 480 BCE – 300 BCE. Artists and sculptors took strong interests in human being features and world around them. They wanted their work to be as realistic as possible. White ground was used for body of vases and dark lines to keep the art simple and genuine.

ART WEBSITE

Touch ups

original:

Historically, this artifact was said to be sculpted during the reign of Amenhotep IV, who later changed his name to Akhenaten. Amenhotep was a ruler during the 18th dynasty and introduced the idea of monotheism, which is the belief in one god. He also brought obscure gods into more of a spotlight. Amenhotep also built the new capital of Amarna. Egypt seemed to have flourished in this time period, which would explain the relief being sculpted in this period. This relief shows very well how respected the pharaohs and royal families were in ancient Egypt.

revised:

The artifact, sculpted when Amenhotep IV reigned, came in the introduction of monotheism. Egypt flourished in this time period and the relief reflects it. This reflection shows how respected pharaohs and royal families are.

Egyptian Art here we go!

1. Now that you have seen some of the ways that an on-line encyclopedia interacts with its reader, what are some "print" equivalencies that you can think of?
2. What are some limitations to conveying "scholarly" information on-line? Some opportunities?
3. What ideas for your own web tour did you get today?


As I explored the "Art of Ancient Egypt" on Wikipedia, a web-based encyclopedia, I noticed quite a few "print" equivalencies. It's amazing how much is neglected when you're on the internet using sites for research. I often refer to wikipedia.org for various things, and yet this time I saw it in a new light. Part of the reason why it's grown to be so popular is the abundancy of information that it can offer. But beyond all that, Wikipedia goes in depth on a topic and elaborates some more on perhaps things that you are not famliar with within the text through hyperlinks. Much like a textbook, it defines anything and perhaps everything. It describes the origin, purpose- basically whatever you want to know about a subject, but most importantly in a unbiased tone.
The way the information is conveyed to the reader gives the source some credibility to a certain extent. The "scholarly" tone is perhaps one of its many strengths. However, since the source of information is found through the internet many are skeptical and consider this site to lack in credibility. "Wikipedia is a "ree based encyclopedia that can anyone can edit", according to the website. Therefore, in terms of citing this source for scholarly purposes this website is not considered to be ideal. The perk , however, is that it enables for people from all over the world delve deep into their minds and share with the world what they know. It's a great tool for people to learn.
After discussing the site with my group, Teacher's Pet, we noticed the great potential in hyperlinks and how to manipulate that to our advantage. Not only that, but the pictures are key when trying to explain to an audience what you are talking about.

aCkLanD

So what does this art thing really mean? Well, that's what my group wanted to find out. Yeah, true... this stuff is OLD, however we want to go deeper. Teacher's Pet would like to go beyond the surface and uncover the stories behind these artifacts. My artifact in particular is the Clazomenian Sarcophagus a Sphinx Flanked by Lions. It's pretty old and you can't really see all the images that were once there, but if you take a closer look you will notice the lions at the bottom of the sarcphagus. There are three lions and the one in the middle is part man and part lion. However, this isn't just ANY man. Instead, it seems to be prominent figure, perhaps the one who has died. A lion is known to a symbol of strength, power and a reflection of the deceased. Honoring the dead is just as, if not more important than the living and honoring the dead through a sarchophagus is just one of the many ways of doing such.

What do you think "archeology" is about? What influences your conception of the discipline?

I think the best thing to summarize my perception of acheology would be the Indiana Jones picture that was posted. Being a poli sci major, I'm not too familiar archeolgy and the things that come with that particular field. Therefore, like your average joe... I go by what I see in movies and pop culture. Archeology to me are people who dig through rocks to find fossils, or hidden treasures out in the middle of nowhere like a desert. Am I right? Probably not but that's all I have to go with.