Friday, September 3, 2010

The Thumb Trials of The Centuries --the results are in** See the last blog entries for the results. Thank you to everyone the trials went very well

Next Week we will have trials for five famous figures from History and Literature. Each trial will take about 20 minutes and participation in the trial will be worth 50 points. The trial will be on
Thursday the 9th of September.

Your role in the trial will be determined on a first come/ first served basis. Sign up below stating the figure and the role you desire.

The Roles:

Each trial will have:

4 defense attorneys and 4 prosecution attorneys who will:

  • Prepare the case (defense or prosecution)
  • Present witnesses (act them out)
  • Question witnesses

The Defendant

A Reporter who will interview and write a short summary of the trial to be published on this blog.

The Figures:

Gilgamesh- charged with murder, assault and dereliction of royal duties

Enkidu - charged with murder, and assault on a Royal Person, slander

Socrates- charged with corrupting the youth of Athens and treason

Alexander the Great- charged with conducting an unjust war, murder and incompetence

Okonkwo- charged with distubing the peace, violation of parole, assault on a British officer

Up to 15 points Extra Credit for dressing appropriately (in costume). (Additional 10 points for wearing costume all day.)

55 comments:

Isis :) said...

Heyy Mr. Parker! Isis calls dibbs on Socrates :D

Maranda a.k.a. Squishy said...

dibs on Okonkwo!!!!!!

Justin s said...

Justin has Gilgamesh!

Letzy said...

Leticia wants to be prosecution attorney for Alexander the Great

eric kaufman said...

hey i call being a defence attourney for okonkwo, but if miranda and i work it out for me to be okonkwo can i do that

Paola Salas said...

i wanna be a reporter for okonkwo's trial
-paola

Unknown said...

I call okonkwo defense attorney!

-Liana-

Unknown said...

i call being a defence for Okonkwo!

-Acey B.

Anonymous said...

i want to be a defense attorney for gilgamesh!

Sabrina Hepper said...

I would like to defend gilgamesh

♥dReA said...

I want to be a prosecution attorney for Alexander the Great.

- Andrea Rocha

Perlita said...

i'd like to defend the Socrates!

Never_Give_Up said...

I'd love to be Okonkwo's prosecutor :D

Bozwell Bueno said...

I call being a prosecutor for Okonkwo!
-Boz

Anonymous said...

Dibs on Alexander

Andrew I. said...

Andrew Irino for Socrates' reporter.

Arnulfo Rocha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
valentina said...

i call defense for alex the great

Mariah Rogers said...

prosecution, all the way!!! I don't care who for, i just wanna be a prosecutor. :]
-Mariah

Mariah Rogers said...

just kiddingggg... i wants to be prosecution for Okonkwo!
-Mariah

Mykel :) said...

I want to be a prosecutor for Okonkwo please!

euriekim[: said...

defense attorney for okonkwo(:

Tamara said...

I would like to be the reporter for Alex the Great
- Tamara

~*ely*~ said...

I would like to be the reporter for Enkidu's trial

-Estela

KelseyDeann said...

Kelsey wants to be on Okonkwo's defense =)
If not him then Enkidu's

Evan P. said...

I want Enkidu please!

Evan P. said...

I would like Enkidu please!

Evan P. said...

i would like Enkidu please!

Evan P. said...

I would like to be defense attourney for Enkidu please

Evan P. said...

i would like to be defense attourney for Enkidu please

Lynsey23 said...

Lynsey wants to be reporter for Gilgamesh's trial. :)

Anonymous said...

Prosecutor or defense for Enkidu :)

Kam Kam said...

Kameron would like to prosecute the barbaric Enkidu!

charlie said...

uhhh, i guess i'll prosectute enkidu, thanks

Isis :) said...

i wonder who evan wants to be.

Cassie D. said...

I want to be a prosecution attorney for Alexander the Great

Arnulfo Rocha said...

I want to be a prosecution attorney for Alexander the Great
---- Arnulfo Rocha :D

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eric kaufman said...

ok so me and miranda switched im okonkwo shes a defence attourney for okonkwo
eric

Never_Give_Up said...

Laura Acevedo is "Never_Give_Up"!! (by the way xD)

8U_Ohaider said...

prosectue gilgamesh :D yes please. Pirate gir. My dad still wont lemme put my name down. 8D

Maranda a.k.a. Squishy said...

im defence attourney for Okonkwo!

Anonymous said...

I call prosecutor for Gilgamesh.

jazzbee26 said...

Jasmine Ball will prosecute Alexander the Great

Unknown said...

May I be the reporter for Enkidu?

Unknown said...

I call defense of Socrates

valentina said...

hey is anyone defending alex the great or am i just doing it alone

Bianca Ojeda said...

Bianca wants to be prosecutor for gilgamesh.

Paola Salas said...

The Trial of Okonkwo

Okonkwo was on trial for disruption of peace, violation of parole, and assault. The first charge was mainly based on the incident in which Okonkwo beat one of his wives during the Week of Peace. The prosecutors claimed that no fine could erase the past, and they believed that the fine Okonkwo had paid was not enough punishment. The defense, however, argued that he had already paid for that offence; therefore, Okonkwo was found not guilty for the charge of disturbing the peace.

Secondly, Okonkwo was being tried for the violation of parole. Okonkwo had been exiled in consequence of a previous incident, and the prosecutors argued that the parole was broken in his return. Breaking the law after his exile was considered a violation to his parole. On the other hand, the defense argued that a parole cannot be broken if said parole never existed. No evidence was found to set straight whether a parole was or was not in effect. As a result, the jury found Okonkwo innocent. Okonkwo’s final charge was assault. All in all, both the prosecutors and the defendants acknowledged the fact that Okonkwo had assaulted and killed a British soldier. For that reason, Okonkwo was found guilty for the accusation of assault.

-Paola

Andrew I. said...

The Trial of Socrates
By Andrew Irino
Sep. 9, 2010

Today’s trial of Socrates, a controversial Greek philosopher, was an interesting twist to the usual trial of thumbs. Enkidu, a character of a story written three thousand years before, and Michael Jackson, a singer that would not be born for another two thousand years, were both brought up in the trial. The jury found Socrates innocent of his two crimes: corrupting the youth of Athens and treason.

The trial started off with the prosecution questioning Socrates’ view of the gods. Socrates believed that the gods were made up by people and did not exist. The defense argued by saying that questioning beliefs was the job of philosophers and that science was god.

Later, the prosecution agued that Socrates corrupted the youth of the city by molesting them. Even though there was no evidence of this actually happening, the argument went on for some time.

After a short break, the case turned again to the issue of treason. The prosecution said that Socrates’ ideas would eventually lead to a war if his ideas were not kept to himself. The defense countered by saying that one has to question ideas that are not true, as in the case of the gods.

The discussion was ended by the judge, and the jury voted. Socrates was found innocent of both crimes. After the trial, Socrates said, “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.”

~*ely*~ said...

The Trial Of Enkidu
By;Estela Jimenez
September 9,2010
In the trial of Enkidu the defense said that Enkidu did not know any better than to kill Humbaba and The Bull of Heaven. The prosecutors said that ignorance was not a very good defense.Enkidu said that Gilgamesh was the real killer of The Bull of Heaven.He also said that Gilgamesh was under the impression that if he killed the Bull of heaven and Humbaba it would bring power to both the kingdom of Uruk and Gilgamesh.
Enkidu said that he was a happy man-beast who would never hurt anyone.He also said that everything about the civilizations was new to him.That he did not know any better about what he was doing.Then the goddess Ishtar said Enkidu was wrong of killing The Bull of Heaven because it was meant to kill Gilgamesh. At the end of the trial Enkidu was clear of all charges.

-Estela

Tamara said...

During todays trial for Alexander the Great, there were many interesting arguments. All of which were caused by Alexander being charged with: conducting an unjust war, murder, and incompetence. At the end, Alexander was proven guilty of only one charge; murdering his best friend with his own spear and the death of more than 30,000 innocent slaves, women and children. The other two, unjust war and incompetence, Alexander was proven innocent.

Also, during this trial there were many other intense arguements. For instance, a question was brought up, "Why was Alexander called "great" after all he had done?" Another discussion was deciding whether or not Alexander was a good man. One of his defendants mentioned that he was a good man because after the war was over, Alexander gave slaves a home, farmland, and provided labor. In addition, it was said Alexander was not liked by many due to his youth when he first took over, and that people beleived he would have been easy to take over. However, Alexander showed them otherwise and revolted; proving he was able to protect his kingdom.Also, Alexander was said to be a good man because he established many libraries and other buildings.

Lynsey23 said...

On September 9th, 2010, Gilgamesh was charged with murder, assault, and neglect of royal duties. The trail started with the prosecution stating a quote that Gilgamesh did in fact kill Humbaba. The defense came back and said that he was pressured into it by Enkidu. The defense even brought up a witness, and he stated that he saw Enkidu tell Gilgamesh " we have to kill Humbaba." The prosecution said " it doesnt matter, Gilgamesh still killed Humbaba, and that's murder." On the defense team, Cassie Hart said "Gilgamesh killed the monster for the city, and for his people." The jury asked the defendant " You say you defend your city and your people, but then desert them after Enkidu died." Gilgamesh's reply was that he was so sad over the loss of Enkidu, he didn't know what to do with himself.
They then moved on to the next charge, assault. The prosecuters said that Gilgamesh assaulted and offended Ishtar. Gilgamesh came back and said that Ishtar was the one who assaulted him, and he wanted nothing to do with her. However, the jury was not completely convinced.
Gilgamesh's last offense was neglecting his royal duties. I asked him myself he neglected any duties as a god, and his reply was "absolutely not." The jury then asked if Gilgamesh's journey was selfish or unselfish, and he said "both."
So after a very entertaining trial, the jury found Gilgamesh guilty of all three charges. I spoke with him after the trial and asked him how he felt about this whole situation, and he said "I feel wronged. This trial was completely unnecessary, and I'm not guilty of anything."

-Lynsey MacDonald

ruby said...

Ruby Ayala has read advice and looking forward to be in the class.My predictions about this class is that it will be challenging and fun at the same time. Anyways, I think this class will be fun and interesting!

ruby said...

Ruby Ayala has read advice and looking forward to be in the class.My predictions about this class is that it will be challenging and fun at the same time. Anyways, I think this class will be fun and interesting!