Forgotten Fire

The novel discusses the Armenian genocide of 1915. It follows the life of a young boy who comes from a wealthy family, Vahan Kenderian. He describes how his life has changed from a life of servants and comfort to a life of begging for food and struggling to survive to the next day.

This topic affected me more than I expected. My stepmother's sister who I am close with is half Armenian. After I read this book, I went to her house and talked to her about it. She told me that she had family who were around during the genocide and had a few members killed because of it. It was an incredibly sad story but made this incident more real. Her account on in incident is what makes history more real and secure. History is all about word of the mouth and through time the story changes depending on the person telling it. With live accounts, it makes history more believeable and gives justice to what really happened and credit to those who survived it.

Janissary Tree

Prior to break, we read a book called the Janissary Tree. It told the story of a stream of murders through the Ottoman Empire. Investigator Yashim was set to figure out these murders. It is discovered that they were done by the Janissaries during the Janissaries' revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

The Auspicious Incident is what the novel was based on when Sultan Mahmud II was in power and made changes throughout the empire. His major change was to destry the janissaries for they were no longer protecting the people of the Ottoman Empire but causing chaos. Mamud II created a new army that was fashioned after the Europeans and ambushed the Janissaries which led to their downfall. After this time, some of the Janissaries that survived went into hiding and were forced to live te life of the rest of the people in order to simply survive.

This novel was written through the eyes of a historian who traveled the lands of the Middle East. He knew what the lands were and te customs of the people. His experiences made is novel more realistic feeling with accuret descriptions of how the people of the Ottoman Empire lived and the positions of the Janissaries and eunuchs which was what Investigator Yashim was.

Red Apple

A few week ago, we read a book titled The Red Apple. It showed the transition of a Janissary from the moment children are taken from their families, through their journey as a soldier for the Sultan and to the end when Janissaries began their revolt. It follows one child, Miguel, as he realizes that the Janissary life is not a life meant for him.

To become a Janissary, one must be between the age of 7-about 14 and of Christian decent. Muslims were not taken because the teachings of the Janissaries wanted all their soldiers to be under the same path of the faith of Islam. Taking other Muslims would cause major conflict within the army because many would have different beliefs they follow and they would not be unified.

The book was quite interesting and it was written if a fashion that was easy to read. It was written by a historian so the book held a lot of historical content that was quite accuret. I really enjoyed it.

Suleyman the Magnificent & his "Golden Age"

I went to the Metroplotian Museum of Art this past week and noticed some artwork that greatly related to our class discussion of Suleyman the Magnificent.

At the museum, I was walking through the exhibits and saw some amazing work. One piece that really interested me was the image I attached to this post. From the card I read at the site, it is a war helmet made for the sultan. That sultan was Suleyman. It is beautiful and well crafted for a time that is not as advanced as today with limited resources and tools. However, what I learned at the museum that Suleyman's reign was often called a "Golden Age". While walking through the rest of the room that held art from his reign, it is clear that his reign was a Golden Age. Another piece that was beautiful it the plate I also attached to this post. This piece not only shows the Ottoman Empire's increasing wealth and status but how they achieved that status. The plate looks very similar to the plates from China. The oriental style of the Ottomans suggest that a lot of their influences were caused by cultural diffusion and military campaigns through neighboring countries and empires. This makes clear that in order to have a successful empire, it is important to create forgein relations with neighboring empires which is exactly what Suleyman did, making him "magnificent" and creating a Golden Age for the Ottoman Empire during his rule.

Post for February 4th

A little late on last week's post but I've had a tough few days.

In class the week of the 1st, we mostly focused on the religion of Islam. Islam is the dominate religion of the Middle East and has spread rapidly throughout the world. It is easy to learn and follow and focuses on one's personally growth with God with direct connection to Him.

I think it is important to understand Islam, whether you are a part of the faith or not. I am a part of the Roman Catholic Church and understanding Islam for me helps me better understand Christianity. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are branches from one another. They share the same God and same important religious figures. The father of Islam was Ishmael who was a son of Abraham. While understanding Islam, it really broaden my view of the culture of those in the Middle East. Their religion is a great part of lives and plays a huge part in the way they live. It not only controls how they live their lives, but also controls how their government works. Without religion, the culture of the Middle East would not be as unique as it is from the rest of the world.

Peace, Propaganda and the Promise Land

On Janurary 25, I saw a film in class titled "Peace, Propaganda and the Promise Land". It was by far very difficult to watch. It depicted the hardships of those involved in the Arab-Isreali Conflict and showed how the media can target one group while creating sympathy for another. In such situations, it makes the public that more confused about this issue and may create a false sense of understanding about the issue. This can ultimately make the situation worse. Those who feel targeted will lash out to the media and the other party to show that they are the victims, where the "victims" feel as if they are justified in their actions and continue to do them and even do worse.

That film changed my view on the media greatly. I was never a fan of media news because I always felt it was one sided and only portrayed the views of the media versus the truth. But this film has engraved in my mind that that is EXACTLY what they are doing; it truly makes me sick. I like to learn and understand what is going on around me but I am so turned off to find out because no matter where you turn, there is someone who will throw their beliefs in my face and "force" me to see that their ideas are the truth and the best. Nowadays it is hard to find the truth. I believe because of media, our youth are less informed about the important causes of our world and only get the lies or bias opinions of their sources.

I think it is about time something is done about the news that the media is feeding to the public. It is difficult to do something about a situation if you are not getting the whole UNBIAS truth. With a situation like the Arab-Isreali Conflict that has be occurring for years, it is important that the proper information is given so something can be done to help them see that peace is the best solution.