So, I just finished administering my Fall Trimester final exams and am now in the midst of grinding through the grading in order to maximize my holiday merriment. However, I stole an extra credit idea from one of my colleagues who had offered a few additional points on the exam for writing pertinent historical haikus.
This idea turned out great, as a number of students wrote very entertaining and some pretty insightful haikus. I’ve posted a number of them below, and for the sake of haiku fidelity, I omitted any that veered from the syllable pattern in spite of the fact that some of those were really good. Maybe next exam!
Sparta and Athens,
Fighting over their power,
Caused damage to both.
Away with the knights
And down with Feudalism
Renaissance begins.
An era of death
For political power,
Rome: as an Empire
Hellenistic art
Focused on realism
And showed ugliness.
The serfs did the work
But deserved more than they got.
A Feudal Contract
Feudalism has
Lords, knights, and vassals, too. Move
up? Nope! You are stuck!
Fiefs are land, kings own
The overlord shares his land
and serfs work for food.
The popolo cried
And a new day will soon come
Republic is here.
The Roman leaders
Like Constantine were Christians
Others were pagans.
Serfs, nobles, and lords
Made feudal contracts on fiefs
Gained power and wealth
Classical was stiff
Hellenistic had movement
Art grew over time.
The contract dictate
You’ll work this fief ’til you die
Poor, out-of-luck Serf.
The History Channel This Is Not... 