Guns, Germs, and Steel is an award winning film and book series by Jared Diamond. this series tells about how these three forces have shaped the world we live in today and explains how Eurasia developed "faster" than the Americas. Jared Diamond argues it is due to environmental changes that Eurasia developed faster. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a highly enjoyable nonfiction series.
I watched the movie based on the book last year and I could easily relate it to topics we've learned in History this year.The biggest connection I found was that we learned about the Columbian exchange in class and Guns, Germs, and Steel had a whole part devoted to the Columbian Exchange, explaining it in detail. Also, another connection I made to our History class is about the slave trade. In class we learned about the horrors of the slave trade and the people involved in it. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond talked about how disease was spread by the slave ships from Africa to America. Finally, the film showed how with their superior technology and help from diseases, the Spanish were able to take over a whole empire with less men than a city, exactly like we learned about in class.
This film not only taught me a lot of great information, but, I also enjoyed watching it. It was extremely interesting to see how the Americas developed alongside Eurasia without discovering each other for thousands of years! Another great part of the movie was when they had actors depicting Pizzaro taking Atahulpa captive, it made me feel like I was in the middle of it all. Finally, I enjoyed the overall professional attitude of the film.
“Much of human history has consisted of unequal conflicts between the haves and the have-nots.”
― Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
quote: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2138852-guns-germs-and-steel-the-fates-of-human-societies
pictures: #1 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/the-situation-of-inequality-guns-germs-and-steel/
#2 http://apworldhistory2012-2013.weebly.com/414-the-colossal-impact-of-the-colombian-exchange.html
Mark-
ReplyDeleteYou wrote about a topic which I find very interesting, and you did a very good job doing it. Although your piece was fairly short, it contained enough information to thoroughly get your message across. Since you referenced Guns, Germs, and Steel (something we watched, at least part of, in class), I was able to more easily understand your point about the Columbian Exchange, slave ships, and the slave trade. The only recommendation I would make is to make your thoughts a little more cohesive (connect your thoughts a little better with one main theme). Otherwise, great work!
-Travis
Mark, great job! This is an excellent connection to class. I have seen part of it last year too and I found it interesting, like you. I especially like the quote you had at the end. It was very powerful and I thought it wrapped up your connection nicely. The paragraphs were just the right length for a blog, and the picture were great too. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI felt that this writing sums up Guns, Germs, and Steel quite well. I like how you paid attention to detail and made sure not to leave anything out. I can definitely tell that you spent a lot of time on this because there are no errors and, and because it flows very well. You arranged it in a very readable and accessible format, with pictures sprinkled in. Graphics really made this less of a 'wall of text' type thing and much more interesting.
ReplyDelete10/10