This week, we looked at ways to make our Show and Tell projects look more engaging and professional with new tools, such as timelines or videos. I was particularly interested by the ability to embed videos, since it is entirely possible that I will find a video that I want to incorporate into a future project. Unfortunately, I am one of those luddites that Dr. D referenced in class on Friday, so I doubt that I will be delving too far into using new tools for my projects. However, I did take away from the presentation that a “hinge” is very valuable for presentations. This hinge, as I understand it, should be something visual that keeps the audience engaged or draws them into a piece. In my Show and Tell projects for both this class and my Traditional Japanese History course, I have tried to insert an image to serve as my hinge. Although it is not anything particularly impressive, I did try to be mindful of using it to make my writing a bit more exciting.
For Friday, we read about the Boxer Rebellion. One of the interesting points that came out of the readings and podcast was that the “rebels” were often actively encouraged by the Qing authorities. On a different note, in class we looked for the statistics on the numbers of people involved in the Boxer Rebellion, and I came across an interesting source that described the various motives of both the great powers, as well as the Boxers themselves. The paper included a very interesting section about the way that both sides demonized their opponents. As part of this, it included examples of cartoons, both by the western powers, but also some by the Boxers themselves. Among their charges against the westerners, the Boxers took advantage of the fact that Lord and pig are homonyms to try to say that Christians worshipped pigs. Moreover, they took advantage of the fact that the Christian practice of communion involves wine that is ceremonially considered blood to say that Christians drank blood. These facts, among others, led me to a thought that I did not get to share in class. In class, we thought about ways to describe the Boxers, and I would say that an interesting comparison could be made between the Boxers and modern conspiracy theorists or Qanon members. Both were or are comprised of people who feel left out by new advancements and both rely or relied heavily on propaganda to attract support and legitimize their claims. While there are also obvious differences, the comparison was one that I found interesting and that might be interesting to others as well.
Melvin Bragg and guests “The Boxer Rebellion”. In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, March 19 2009. URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j4hmv
Perdue, Peter C, and Ellen Sebring. “The Boxer Uprising l,” n.d.
Leave a Reply