The Merchant of Four Seasons

appreciation or payment. In the 1600s, the Dutch were experiencing a fortunate golden age, and rich merchants were interested in controlling the spice trade in the East. They formed the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in order to overtake the Portuguese, who were in control of the spice trade at the time. Once they had control of the trade route, they faced another problem: scurvy. The sailors and merchants on the VOC ships were suffering from terrible disease due to lack of fresh food and water…

One instance in particular was when the civil rights community “decided to set [their] direct-action program around the Easter season, [...] knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, [they] felt that this was the best time to bring pressure on the merchants for the needed changes” (King, 1963, p. 2) Even though they chose not to go along with this plan and would do something instead after election day, it shows the…

cultural studies. Eco-criticism has gained increasing recognition as an important new field of research and teaching that opens up a broad spectrum of new perspectives and that can help to reaffirm the relevance and responsibility of the humanities and of literary studies. Eco-criticism, which has developed especially in Europe, is the approach of Cultural Ecology. Eco-criticism is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between culture and nature. Cultural Ecology considers the…

1 - Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not) Any trip can relate to a journey with some analyzing. A quester A place to go A reason to go there Challenges and trials The real reason to go there. “when a character hits the road, we should start to pay attention, just to see if, you know, something’s going on there.” Literally the title of the chapter  2 - Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion When people eat or drink together, it’s communion. Act of sharing and peace Shows…

kings and rulers were highly respected people, so there must have been a monarchy. Farming Sumer was not in the greatest area for farming, but they still could farm due to techniques. They used the Tigris and Euphrates River’s flood season to their advantage. Once it flooded, they used dams and levees to hold water. After the water was held, they irrigated it throughout the farms of the city-state. They also used natural waterways including tributaries of the two rivers.…

money could buy. A lover of reading and writing, Qiu spent her days writing poems filled with beautiful imagery. Ambitiously, she dreamed of becoming a professional writer. Early poems depicted nature and were primarily about flowers and the four seasons. As she grew, so did the messages in her poetry. As part of her education, Qiu learned about Chinese history, and the female heroes and warriors she read about became subjects of her writings. Their courageous…

Languages Whole sections of society are giving up speaking one language, French, and starting to speak another, English By 1350, noblemen are increasingly having their sons taught English die to the fact that King Edward spoke English and was very proud of the language. Even though many people spoke English it was very difficult to understand other people because of the many different dialects. French was the language spoken by the administrators because of the easy to communicate without…

their Italian and Spanish counterparts especially in the department of money. The Barclays Premier League currently is the biggest constant annual worldwide sporting event. For instance, last season almost 13 million fans attended their matches, and the stadium was occupied more than 92% for the past four seasons in a row. In addition, across nine months per year 380 matches are watched in over 212 territories globally.…

parties, secretly give gifts, and offer charity to those in need. People would even greet each other with the holiday expression of “Io Saturnalia!” The 7-day festival of Saturnalia was a time of pure celebration and relaxation after the harvesting season. If you think this whole Saturnalia business is a shameless imitation of Christmas, then you’re only half right; it’s the other way around. Saturnalia was celebrated as early as the 1st century CE, over three hundred years before the first…

From the beginning of the colonization on the new world, colonist thought that they would have landed on shore with gold under their feet but were surprised to see anything but gold. These Englishmen seek to find a new life of wealth and power. In sixteen-nineteen, the first Africans were imported and were sold for reliable servitude for a reasonable price. Before this significant year in history, slavery was not a consideration from the colonies. Individuals who became farmers in the colonies…