GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS
Modern World History Mr. Weaver
As we’ve discussed, were a lot of differing points of view during the time between the wars. Between Jiang Jeishi and Mao Zedong; Mohandas Gandhi and the British; and Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin, all of the world had some major misunderstandings to sort through between the World Wars. Many of the problems developed as a result of misunderstandings. Perhaps we could have avoided all of the fighting and hurt feelings, though, by simply getting to know each other. Our class will attempt to rectify that issue.
In our groups, we are going to create Facebook pages for the following world leaders: Gandhi, Mao, Jiang, Stalin, Trotsky, Lenin, Porfirio Diaz, Lazaro Cardenas, or Mustafa Kemal. Your group will be assigned one of these imperial people, and you will have to use your textbook and notes to get the information you need to complete the task.
Your Facebook page will have the following sections:
About Me
Picture
You must have a profile picture. The more clever, the better.
Favorite Song
What is it and why? What are some lyrics that make the song descriptive of you?
Favorite Movie
What is it and why? What about that movie sounds like it fits with you?
Religion
If applicable.
Political Affiliation
What party or type of government does your person support?
Relationship Status
Are you married? Engaged? Is it complicated?
Status Updates
How are you feeling? What are you thinking? (Example: “Mr. Smith is gassy. Too many burritos last night!)” You should update this at least four different times, each time for a different event that happened in your life. You have to phrase it like a status update. (For instance ,”Gandhi is sleeping after another long day on the Salt March!”) Unlike real life, these should be dated to show you know when things happened to you.
Here’s the trick: your friends – see the friends section below – will have to comment on your status. At least one friend must comment on each status update, and all friends must comment at least twice. (Short, responses that don’t tell us anything about them don’t count towards your total. For example, an “lol I no dood!” doesn’t get it done.)
Friends
What other people would you be friends with? Why are you friends with them? You need at least three friends – at least two of which must be other members of our nationalism Facebook community – and on a separate page you must explain why they are your friends. These can be family, fellow politicians, or even mortal enemies (a lot of people have friends that, in real life, they don’t like). It should be somebody they actually interacted with.
Groups
On Facebook, people always join different groups for totally random things (ex. “Save the Spotted Owls!” “I lost my cell phone and need your numbers!” “Flyers Fans!”) You need to create at least four groups that you would join. These groups must be themed for your person. (Ex. “I <3 Communism”)
An App for That…
It’s not all about computers anymore – cell phones are a big part of checking Facebook. And you want people to focus on your person on the phone. With that in mind, you’ll create three different game apps for people’s cell phones all dealing with your person. You will put an advertisement on your Facebook for the games with a small preview window (i.e. picture) and three-sentence description of the game. Game 1 should focus on your relationship with your people. Game 2 should be about your interaction with other countries. Game 3 is up to you.
Notes
From time to time people will leave notes on Facebook. These can take the forms of diary entries; rants against something; funny memories; personality surveys…the possibilities are endless. For our purposes, you will make three entries. They will be at least two paragraphs and will be written in first-person voice. They will address the following:
1) A time of struggle in your life. This should be a major event we talked about in class or the reading for your person. (For example, for Mao it could be the Long March, for Gandhi it could be the Salt March or protests).
2) While you were in power – or if you weren’t a leader, while you were relevant and affecting the course of history in this unit – what was the situation like in your country? You should look at things like the middle class, the peasants, the elite, what kind of rights they have…the kind of groups or situations that may lead to a revolution or may promote nationalism
3) What makes you happy? What sorts of things do you like? This entry is all about how you stay sane in such a hectic world. (Example: Does Gandhi like bungee jumping? Is Jiang a great croquet player?) This will probably require some good research to figure out the personalities of these people.
Bibliography
You’ll have to be doing a lot of research for this, because the amount you know about these people is limited. Your bibliography must include AT LEAST six sources. You should site these in your page. The breakdown must include at least two print sources and at least two library database sources. You need to include it when you hand in your project.