Lesson 1: History

[Damien Hampton]

Damien Hampton walked into class, a neutral look on his face. This was going to be his first year teaching at Hogwarts, so he was still very nervous about the outcome. He made his way over to his desk and put down a pile of papers over on one corner of it, clearing his throat softly. He smoothed out his shirt and smiled brightly. He thought it would be kind of interesting to attend class today dressed in muggle clothing, simply for entertainment purposes. He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms, and watched the students make their way into his classroom. "Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Muggle Studies. This is a class on muggles, just like the name states." He grimaced slightly, chiding himself internally for stating the obvious.

"My name is Professor Damien Hampton. I'll be honest with you...this is my first time teaching, but that does not in any way mean you'll be able to do whatever you wish in this class." He pursed his lips and let out a breath, looking over all of his pupils. "This class does not require the use of a wand. Instead, we will be working with muggle devices, figuring out how they work, learning about famous muggle people, and learning to live as they do, even if it is for a short period of time." He began pacing back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back.

"First things first, Muggles have to get around. Can anyone offer me a method of transportation that Muggles use?”

A Gryffindor girl’s hand rose into the air after a moment's hesitation. “Cars” she said quietly.

“Yes, well done. The most commonly used method on the roads and very dangerous if in the wrong hands,” he replied, his smile fading a little. He cleared his throat and looked up at the students. " OK, your assignment today will be quite simple. You'll pick a famous muggle. Doesn't matter who, as long as he's fairly well known. It could be a singer, an actor, a famous leader...anyone. You'll write a short biography on them, no more than 2 paragraphs--although you're more than welcome to do more if you wish. All right, get to work." With that, he walked over to the chalkboard and manually wrote down the instructions.

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Choose a famous historical Muggle and write two to three paragraphs on who they are. For example, why are they famous? What did they do? You may include a picture. You are to RP walking in and listening to the lesson and then handing in your homework. A total of 35 points can be earned for this lesson; 20 for the RP and 15 for the homework.

[Elena Davis]

Elena Davis walked into Muggle Studies class, cracking her kneck. It'd been a long week. She glanced over at the professor, noticing that he was in jeans and a t-shirt, looking rather relaxed. She couldn't help but smile. He was kind of cute. For a professor anyways. He had an awkward shyness about him that she thought was rather endearing. He reminded her of one of her older brothers. She sat down in one of the front desks and unloaded her supplies, listening to him as he explained the lesson. She smiled softly and wrote down the instructions. A famous muggle? She knew exactly who she was going to write about. Taking out a fresh parchment, she began scribbling furiously.

Adolf Hitler: April 20 1889- April 30-1945

Hitler was born in a small town in Austria, Branau, close to the German border. His parents both came from poor backgrounds. Although his background is slightly unclear, it is known that his father was born illegitimately, the father unknown. There have been rumors about Alois Hitler’s father being a poor mill worker, or even a Jew, explaining why Hitler had dark hair, eyes, and a rather large nose, but these are, of course, unconfirmed. Adolf was born to Alois and Klara Hitler being the fourth child that they had tried to have, and the first to survive. Upon survival, he was baptized as a Roman Catholic, and was given a lot of attention and care. When he was five, Klara was able to have another child, and soon after, yet another.

As a teen, Hitler did almost whatever he wanted, dropping out of school when his father died and wandering around streets aimlessly, often visiting museums and attending operas. It was around this time that Hitler decided he wanted to be an artist, and would often stay up late drawing and sketching things out. Finally in October 1907, after flunking out of school, he decided to make a career as an Artist. He withdrew all of his inheritance money and travelled to Vienna where he attempted to enroll in the prestigious Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. But upon rejection, he returned home, shaken, only to discover that his mother was dying of breast cancer. After she died, he returned to Vienna, set on trying out the school again, but he was once again denied and was forced not only to sleep on park benches, but eat at charity soup kitchens. His years of misery though were what caved the way in his mind about politics and race.

After World War I ended with Germany’s defeat, Hitler, who upon joining the military had become Corporal, was ordered to investigate a small party in Munich called the German Worker’s Party, attending a meeting undercover sometime in September. Close to the end of the meeting, one of the Workers stood up and claimed that the Bavaria region of Germany should align itself with Austria, forming Southern Germany. Enraged by this, Hitler formed an immediate protest, speaking against the man with no interruptions for several minutes. After his rant, one of the leaders, Anton Drexler, approached him and asked him to formally return to the next meeting, handing him a packet to read as well. Though the Worker’s Party was nothing extraordinary, Hitler decided to join it, envisioning not just a political party, but a complete movement.

From this small political party, originating with only seven people, was born the Nazi party. After several attempts to publicize the meetings, Hitler struck it somewhat big by placing an ad in an Anti-Semitic newspaper and was able to move the meetings to a small beer cellar. There, just over a hundred people came, showing the beginnings of a movement that would forever chance history. Hitler at this point was only a secondary speaker and many of the original members were afraid because he had no background in public speaking. However, each time that Hitler gave a speech, more people would flood in to listen to him. By February of 1920, there were over 2,000 members attending, and Hitler became the main speaker at each meeting. By the end of the year, Hitler was not only crowned leader of the Party, but it was renamed the National German Worker’s Party, (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterparteior), also known as the NAZI Party. It’s infamous symbol, the swastika, was input in as well as their flag. The party also grew to have over 3,000 followers.

With the party well established and known, Hitler was soon named Führer. Shortly after that, he became a force that was all but impossible to diminish. With the help of the German military, he began ordering the tracking and collection of the Jews, organizing concentration camps for them. Hitler ended up committing suicide April 30th by ingesting cyanide and then shooting himself in the head. No one is really sure where the remains were because there were unclear reports of his whereabouts.

Sources:

www.historyplace.com/worldwar...tler/joins.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Adolf_Hitler

When she was done, she scanned over it to make sure she hadn't made any spelling or grammatical errors. Seeing it was perfect, she got up and handed the professor her assignment, smiling proudly. She walked out after gathering her supplies and made her way back to her common room.


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Nicely done Ms. Davis, 35/35. Keep up the good work.

[Griffin Sosario]

Griffin was exited about this class, unlike the others he had attended that day. His father was a muggle and his mother rarely used magic, so he knew plenty about muggle life; more than the magical way of life he was hesitant to admit. The teacher was cool, he made the class seem simpler than it actually was. When he discovered that the assignment was to write about a famous muggle, he was pleased to have an assignment so easy.

John Lennon (1940-present)

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on October 9, 1940. As a teenager, he started a band with Paul McCartney called The Quarrymen. They added George Harrison and Ringo Star to their band. After a few years, their band evolved into the famous rock group, The Beatles. After reaching fame in England, they moved their music to America. When they became famous in America, they became one one the most famous rock groups in history. But, in the late 1960's, the Beatles broke up and Lennon launched into a solo career.

After his songs, "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine", he became an activist in the American peace movement. Currently, there are protests against the Korean War in America. John Lennon has become one of the leaders of the fight against the Korean War, even though he is not American but British. The American President, Richard Nixon, has tried many times to get him departed back to England to calm down the war protests, but he has yet to succeed. Right now, Lennon is about to release his come-back album "Double Fantasy".

Grffin smiled at his nearly perfect paper, stood up, and turned it in to the Professor at the front of the class.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon

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The RP could be a bit longer. Try harder on that next time. But good job. 20/35.

[Carter Yeardley]

Carter walked in and the first thing he saw was the teacher in muggle clothes. Something he really didn't miss at all. He walked to the second row of desks and sat down. He took out a piece of paper. He really didn't need to take much notes for he knew a lot about muggles considering the fact his adopted parents are muggles. But though he knew a lot about muggles doesn't mean he knew everything about muggles, he really didn't pay much attention to famous people.

Abraham Lincoln was the present that lead American's through a battle that will forever change America. He is the most known for his Tall hat, tall figure, suit, and black beard.
Abraham worked hard to become president. He started out as a lawyer. He was elected for president in 1860. His election soon lead to the American civil war. He fought for the slaves he wanted them to be freed.
Throughout the war both sides lost battles but in the end Lincoln came out on top, freeing the slaves. After the war was over. Him and his wife were watching an opera when he was tragically assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. A strong man fought for rights for every American no matter the color.
Carter was very proud of his work. He quickly scribbled his name on the top. He got up and handed his paper to the Professor. He smiled at his clothes. He looked liked he shopped at the same place his parents shopped at for clothes. He went and sat back down in his chair.

www.biographyonline.net/politicians/american/abraham-lincon.html

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Good RP, the work was short, try too stretch it more next time. 25/35.

[Rylee Goldshanks]

((OOC: So, like, nobody is playing Ted Tonks. And I want a Ted Tonks. So I'm going to make him a character that I can control. Any complainers can stuff it; I own this site. XDD))

Andromeda stepped into the Muggle Study's Classroom, blinking around at the other students and taking in the crowd. It was a rather small one, she could see. Ah, well, it was to be expected. Muggle studies wasn't especially fascinating for most students, but Andy found muggles to be surprisingly intriguing. She loved learning about the ways they learned to compensate for not having magic to help them with everything.

Not that her family understood that. Bitterness swelled up in her as she thought about most of her family; pureblood snobs, they were. She couldn't see any way that Muggles, or muggleborns, were any less important than purebloods. True, muggles didn't have magic. But they still managed to survive, and they worked hard every day to make life more convenient, and she admired that.

Shaking her head to rid it of the random thoughts, Andy once again looked around. And there she spotted him: Ted Tonks. She blushed brightly when his eyes met hers. Ted was in her year and her House, and he was the brightest person she'd ever met. She still hadn't been able to get up the bravery to talk to him much, though. Apparently, she and Cissy had that in common.

And Merlin, she bet Bella and Cissy would just die if they knew about this crush. She'd almost blurted it out when Cissy had told of her crush, but thought better of it. Lucius Malfoy was a respectable, pureblooded match. Ted was no such thing; Ted was a muggleborn. She knew this because she'd been paired with him in one of her classes and he was the sort that blurted everything out, not thinking that his words would have any impact. He probably didn't know about the discrimination that, even now, ran rampant throughout the magical world. And she didn't want to ruin that for him.

Bringing herself back to thoughts of the class, she tuned in just in time to catch the assignment for the class. An essay? Well, who should she write about? Ah! She knew who she'd write about. Shoving any thoughts concerning anything non-essay related, Andy began to write.

Emperor Napoleon:

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the son of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte. Through his military exploits and his ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Empereur des Francais (Emperor of the French). He is both a historical figure and a legend—and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The events of his life fired the imaginations of great writers, film makers, and playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend.

Napoleon decided on a military career when he was a child, winning a scholarship to a French military academy at age 14. His meteoric rise shocked not only France but all of Europe, and his military conquests threatened the stability of the world.

Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror. Napoleon denied those accusations. He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts.

Emperor Napoleon proved to be an excellent civil administrator. One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes. The new law codes—seven in number—incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. Napoleon also centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided.

All in all, Napoleon was a strong and powerful leader for France, even if a lot of people know him primarily for his rotten temper and misogynistic views of women. Sometimes, I feel that people spend too much time concentrating on a leader's personal life, and not enough giving recognition to them for the work they do that is important; who cares about his personal life, as long as he does his job well?

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I

Satisfied that she was done, Andy stood and handed in her assignment with a bright smile. She waved lightly at Ted, and then scurried out of the room, intent to go and get in some more studying before her next class.

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Extremely well done Ms. Black. Keep up the good work.
35/35