Cairie



** Hi, my name is Cairie and i am nearly 14, I LOVE the beach and try and spend as much of my time there in the summer. ** ** I do drums every Monday and dancing every Tuesday. This year in hums I would like to improve as much as I can especialy in my spelling and grammer. **

** This is my first writting task for this year. Hope you like it! **

** Private Bill Nugent ** A rifle was carelessly thrown to the ground. I looked over to see Walter Dury disappearing into the woods. I called after him to comeback. I admire him but I couldn’t stand seeing someone else have the guts to do what so many of us wish we could. The voices inside me were screaming, for me to follow Walter, but my legs were frozen in fear of what we were about to do to these innocent men. I couldn’t look at the men standing in front of us. I kept my head low to avoid eye contact, and started thinking about how this war had changed every single man involved. We were all different men to the ones we were before this war and I couldn’t stop myself thinking that in a few minutes time, we would all have blood on our hands. Before I knew, Sergeant Pelton gave the signal to fire. I took aim and forced my eyes closed. The blasting noise of the bullets reminded me of how ashamed I was and will be for the rest of my life, but I couldn’t stop, I’d gone too far. When the deed was done, our squad left the ravine and back to the trench. Food was passed around, but I was disgusted that anyone could eat after what we’d done. Thinking of food caused me to empty the contents of my stomach. ‘What’s the matter with you, bill’ asked Foster. “Nothing” I replied. “They’ve pulled that trick on the French a thousand times, and got away with it, too!” said Foster. ‘These Germans are smart hombres. You got to watch them all the time.”

I noticed the absence of Richard Mundy, so in attempted to find him, I went to the most obvious place to go. I found him where I thought I would, in the ravine next to the deserted prisoners, hoping to see something other than the damage we had caused these soldiers. I heard him mumble, but when he gradually got louder I heard the words coming out of his mouth, and recognised the heavy regret in his voice. My knees fell weak, and I dropped to the ground sobbing and disappointed at my lack of control earlier that day. I will never get over that experience and I will never get over the feeling I now have inside. //**reflection**//
 * //In my writting peice I tried to capture what the experience would be like for someone going through what these men went through. I really tried to get the right language of the time and place.//**
 * This is my second writting task for this year. Enjoy**

// The //

// Bayeux //

// Tapestry //

// By Cairie Whelehan //

Background to the tapestry ** __Who made the tapestry?__ ** The amazing Bayeux tapestry used to represent the battle of Hastings was designed by the Normans. It was then taken to England where it was hand sewn by many nuns. It is unknown exactly how long it took to create; it may have been finished months before it was seen to the public eyes although it is also possible it was only completed seconds before. __** When and who made the Bayeux tapestry? **__ Taking nine years to make, the Bayeux tapestry was roughly started in 1068, made by many nuns In England. A replica was created by 35 women and took one year to finish. Even though the purpose of the Bayeux tapestry was the knowledge of the battle of Hastings, in some ways this was an unreliable source. It was designed in Normandy therefore showing the right of the Normans invading. What kind of evidence is the tapestry? __**In what ways is the Bayeux tapestry primary evidence?**__ Just looking at the Bayeux tapestry you can discover all types of primary evidence, you know what material they used, how they stitched and even all of their techniques; although this wasn’t made exactly at the time of the battle of Hastings. It is not evidence of the battle itself but it is telling the a version of the story only two years after from which you can look back and see how it was made.


 *  ** The Bayeux tapestry on display ** ||

__** In what ways is the Bayeux tapestry secondary evidence? **__ This is the story of the battle of Hastings made quite near to the time, it is not the most accurate version of what really happened but it is the Norman version of the battle. It was understandable for most people then and now. If you didn’t read Latin which very few did, you could see what happened from the pictures sewn. The Normans showed in this their legitimacy to rule, this is their interpretation of the battle so in this way the Bayeux tapestry is very much secondary evidence.

First possible cause of death. The Normans may have designed the tapestry to show how Harold suffered the fate of a perjurer. In the Bayeux tapestry, it shows Harold placing his hand and swearing on the bones of a saint and after he said he would be loyal to king William and broke that oath, god punished him by allowing an arrow fly into his eye.


 *  Harold’s death from arrow ||

Second possible cause of death. It is also possible that Harold died from a sword through his stomach, although the first possible cause of death does make sense, it has been said that an arrow in the eye will not completely kill him but only injure him. So this is also another version of Harold’s death. Conclusion It is possible that the most likely cause of death was a sword through the stomach which would entirely kill him because unless the arrow followed straight to the brain, it would not harm him extremely. And so the conclusion of Harold’s death is possible either way but most likely the second cause of death.

Bibliography Clare, J.D. (1997) __The middle ages__, Nelson

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||  The Aztec Report

8/6/2011    Cairie Whelehan ||

The Aztecs Report The time and place of the existing Aztec Civilization The Aztec civilisation was impressively advanced for their time including their wonderful lifestyle. It is believed that they settled the great city of Tenochtitlan in the 1200s. The great civilisation of the Aztecs stretched between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts but the centre of the empire was the valley of Mexico, which is where the amazing city of Tenochtitlan was located. The huge community surrounding this capital contained roughly 15 million people and nearly 500 towns. The Aztecs were quite unknown before the Spanish adventurers (led by Hernan Cortes) stumbled upon great cities and the “undiscovered” civilisation.

The Aztec timeline
 * 1250, the Aztecs arrive at the Valley of Mexico ||


 * 1345, the foundation of the capital city, Tenochtitlan ||


 * 1100AD, the Aztecs leave their homeland in search for a new place to live ||


 * AD1372-1381, the first-known Aztec ruler, Acamapichtli, takes control ||


 * AD900, Maya Empire begins to collapse ||


 * || 476, the Roman Empire collapsed ||




 * || 1066, when the Normans invaded ||




 * || 134, when the black death wipes out Europe ||




 * || 1400’s, the Feudal system falls as the Renaissance begins ||




 * || 1564, the birth of Shakespeare ||



Europe timeline

||
 * Map of the Aztec location

The society’s social and political structure The social structure was common to many societies. Rulers were usually men, while the women had the responsibility of the religious duties and rarely had any interactions with law-making or army life. There were few rulers, priest, and nobles compared to the number of peasants and slaves. Families were looked after by the women in the house and the average man’s job would involve farming, fishing or being a craftsmen. The education of children was quite hard and punishments could be brutal. This helped children to learn the consequences of challenging social norms. At the young age of four boys would help carry water and firewood until the age of six when they learnt how to fish and take goods to markets. Girls were involved in domestic duties. The family was the fundamental social unit of society. ||
 * A ceremony taking place

The great city of Tenochtitlan Over time, the city of Tenochtitlan grew into one of the largest cities in the world, holding over 200,000 people by 1500. The great city divided into four, Flowery place, Mosquito fen, Herons home and The Sacred Precinct. Tenochtitlan was surrounded by the Lake Texcoco, in the central valley of Mexico. There were three cause ways leading to the mainland. Each wide enough to fit ten marching soldiers side by side. There were small gaps for canoes to travel through. The homes on the land were often made by the materials gathered around the area. They were unfortunate with transport for the materials so anything carrying length was used. Religious buildings, palaces and tombs were usually made out of the stone; the most expensive and long-lasting material. The most common home material was sun-dried mud bricks because they were easy to get a hold of, cheap and quick to use. The Aztec religion Like many people around the world the Aztecs believed in a sun god. In order to maintain the sun’s strength they believed it was necessary to offer sacrifices for the god’s happiness. They believed god’s cursed the land with natural disasters, so they offered gifts such as human life, to keep them happy. Usually the sacrifice made, was a captive’s life although if desperate, one of their own would have their life taken away from them. One reason they went to war was to capture potential human sacrifices. This was a reason they were held in fear by surrounding communities. Humans were sacrificed in order to give the sun strength and therefore keep the world alive.
 * Mud-brick housing ||

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 * Ancient Aztec tombs

The expanded empire… The fight against the people already living in Mexico was won by the Aztecs as they took the land. They thought war was a logical option to gain land and took victory in many battle as new cities became under their control. It was a tradition for each new ruler to start with a battle and claim more land. With this tradition the empire grew increasingly within the 1400s until most of Mexico was under its control. There was three leader during this time; Itzcoatl from 1426 to 1440, Moctezuma Ilhuicamina from 1440 to 1468 and Axayacatl from 1468 to 1481. Without this many wins, the empire would have quickly collapsed. ||
 * A map of the expanded empire

The fall of the Aztecs The leader of the Aztecs, Montezuma, greeted the Spanish as friends and escorted them around the city of Tenochtitlan. Soon the Spanish (led by Cortes) discovered a bricked-up wall where they were staying and tore it down finding the goods they were after. Shortly after, Cortes heard two of his messengers were sacrificed and took Montezuma as hostage. Cortes ordered Montezuma to stop the human sacrifices and burned an Aztec chief for the deaths of the messengers. Hernan Cortes was threatened by another Spanish expedition for arrest and fled the city with some of his troops. The Spanish who had been left behind tried to interfere with an important ceremony. Cortes returned, his remaining men were overwhelmed by the Aztecs and ordered Montezuma to solve this problem. In attempt to calm his people, Montezuma was stoned to death by his own people. Many Spanish drowned in the lake the night of their escape due to the heavy treasures they carried. Before reaching the coast, Cortes lost half of his men and thousands of Mexican allies. Cortes decided to attack several Aztec cities and march against Tenochtitlan. When they reached the lake they built ships with large cannons fought against the Aztec capital. Eventually the Aztecs all suffered from this battle resulting in their death.

Bibliography Detrates, J. (1992). __What Do We Know About The Aztecs__, Simon and Schuster, London Macdonald, F., (1998). __Step into the Aztec world,__ Lorenz, New York. Wood, T., (1992). __The Aztecs__, Hamlin, London. [] []