Islam Questions

1) The selections tell you that Muslims value both math and science because it implies that both of them are important. But they should be valued in different ways.

2) Al-Ghazzali is saying that mathematics and religion should not be separated. He says that they should both be followed together because one is not greater than the other.

3) Al-Ghazzali and Plato's Allegory are similar in that they both believe that a person would eventually see the truth. They are different in that Al-Ghazzali believes that god will lead a person to the truth, while Plato does not specify who would lead a person to the truth and that Al-Ghazzali does not believe that a person will know it when they see the truth, because there is no sure way to see if it is the truth or not, while Plato believes that a person will know when they see the truth. 

Islam Pocket Map

Literary Connection Blogpost

Sullied Hero- 1) Holden Claufield (Catcher in the Rye)

2) Lennie (Of Mice and Men)

Common Man Hero- 1) Willy Lowman (Death of a Salesman)

2) Jack (Lord of the Flies)

Protest Literature- 1) House on Mango Street

2) Of Mice and Men

Allegory- 1) Young Goodman Brown 

2) Romeo and Juliette

Archetypes- 1) House on Mango Street (The main character escapes poverty and becomes successful in life).

2) Romeo and Juliette (These two love each other no matter what obstacles come in their way).

Homework Question 11/8/13

1) Q: According to the prologue, what was the purpose of creating this code?
A: The purpose of creating this code was to collect and revise the whole body of Roman theory of law, and to assemble in one book the scattered works of so many authors which no one else had ventured to hope for or to expect.

2) Q: What does this text cite as the source of Roman law?
A: The text sites that the Lex Regina, which states that all the rights and power of the Roman people were transferred to the emperor.

3) Q: What, if anything, does this text teach us about Byzantine society?
There are a numerous amount of references to God throughout the prologue, which leads me to believe that people in the Byzantine Empire were very religious. By stating phrases such as "lower animals", it is clear that the Byzantine Empire had distinct social classes. And lastly, the Byzantine's had a very fair justice system in my opinion, because it stated that "civil law: those rules prescribed by natural reason for all men are observed by all people alike, and are called the law of nations".

Byzantine Spice Chart

Decline of the Roman Empire

I do somewhat agree with the Monocausal Decay Theory. But, there are parts of this theory that I do not agree with. One part that I do not agree with is enviornmental degradation. This states that gradual environmental degradation caused population and economic decline, and this includes deforestation and and excessive grazing. Lead poisoning seems to be another part of the theory that I'm not too sure about as not everyone drank wine or cooked in lead-based pottery, but I do see how those who did were affected by the poisonous lead. But the part of this theory that I 100% agree with is the spread of disease. This was definitely a huge factor in the decline of the Roman Empire as diseases such as smallpox, measles, and even plague ravaged the empire. So all in all, I do agree with this theory of Monocausal Decay.