M2: Exploring Medieval Europe

Due: November 3-A Group / November 9-B Group

Using the story arc, write a 5-paragraph blog post that demonstrates character change. Select ONE of the following problems:

1. The merchants, lords and ladies are rebelling. You are an adviser to a monarch who wants your help to save their throne.
2. The Bubonic Plague is spreading. You, or a friend, are exhibiting some of the symptoms.
3. You have assumed the role of a peasant. A knight has accused you of a crime.
4. The University of Paris needs instructors. You are invited to teach a class.
5. The 100 Years War is raging. You see that Joan of Arc is about to be captured.

Make sure that your story follows the arc and includes accurate historical information.


Include 2-4 hyperlinked vocabulary words from weeks 5-8.

If you choose to use dialogue, make sure you properly format it (new line for each speaker, quotation marks). Also make sure that the dialogue is unified together based on topic (just like a paragraph).

M1: Welcome to Medieval Europe

DUE: A Group Oct 13/B Group Oct 21

Greetings Travelers!

Before you start this mission, you need to copy and paste your Time Traveler Essay as a blog post. The title of your post should be the title of your essay. You should hyperlink the vocabulary words in your post. Depending on how you paste, you might need to play with formatting and appearance.

Your first mission for the year is going to be a fun one! For your first mission I need you to travel back to Medieval Europe and write about the sensory details. Don't talk to anyone. I just need five paragraphs describing what you see, hear, smell, taste, and/or feel. You might consider writing about the geography and the buildings/medieval towns. Your paragraphs can be five separate pieces of writing (they don't have to transition or flow into each other, they just need to be good paragraphs).

Make sure your paragraphs are strong and have unity. Include 2-4 hyperlinked vocabulary words (from weeks 3-6). Don't forget to read and comment on at least two other posts.

AND REMEMBER: If your blog layout does not meet the requirements described in this post it will be marked as missing and will not be graded! You also might want to double check the link to your blog on the TTI blog page, this will help to ensure that your classmates can read and access your exciting adventures.

Signor Volpe: A Man For All Time

It has often been said that “opportunity rarely knocks twice.” There are millions of stories about people who didn’t answer the door when opportunity knocked; the story of Signor Corsa Volpe is not one of those stories. Signor Volpe is an amazing man who rose up through the ranks to become one of the most powerful men in time travel history.

Corsa was born in Florence, Italy during the European Renaissance.  His initial interest in time travel began to germinate while working as an apprentice for the famous Leonardo daVinci. In a journal entry dated 1512, Leonardo wrote, “Never in my life have I met a more interesting young man…Volpe will certainly become one of history’s most loved men.” Some of Signor Volpe’s earliest time travels included riding war elephants across the Pyrenees with Hannibal and working as a slave to help build the Egyptian Pyramids. Signor Volpe loved time travel, yet he knew he would need to do more if he was to be truly happy

Volpe’s big break came in the year 2011C.E. It was in this year that one of the world’s most prestigious and popular time travel companies, Time Travelers’ Incorporated, had a sudden need for new management.  TTI was run and managed by the brilliant young Senor Zorro, yet Zorro was fired for reasons still unclear. Corsa Volpe knew this was his big chance. He put together an amazing résumé and presentation.  Until they agreed to hire him, he camped out in front of TTI headquarters day and night.

Although it is a lot of hard work, Signor Volpe knows that managing Time Traveler’s Incorporated is no trivial matter. Volpe has brought his personal area of expertise, the Medieval World and European Renaissance, to the company and they now offer intensive year long-travels throughout this time. Corsa is a more hands on CEO than Zorro and will often travel with his clients. Olde Time magazine has named him their “Man of the Year.” In the article describing their decision they said, “Never has one man been so amazing. It is our opinion that Volpe could easily be the man of any year he chose to live in.”

Starting life as a simple workshop apprentice and then building a career that leads to being one of the most powerful men in Time is undoubtedly an amazing feat. Many people have dreamed of doing this. Signor Corsa Volpe did more than just dream. He saw an opportunity, and he took it. Truly, this makes him one of the most powerful men in time travel history.

TTI Under New Management

Hello Time Travelers!

My name is Signor Volpe and I will be your new TTI director. I specialize in the Medieval World and will be sending you on all future missions. I'm excited to have this great opportunity to work with you.

I wanted to let you know of a few changes coming down the road for TTI blogs, just in case you have some time this summer and wanted to get a head start.

1-in your blog design/page elements you CAN NOT have any gadgets placed above your blog posts. This includes any overly large pictures you may have placed behind your header. Readers should not have to scroll down to find the start of your most recent post, it should be right at the top waiting to be read. This will help your readers find the most important part of your blogs: your travel writings!

2-the very first gadget on either the left or right side of your blogs posts should be the "About Me" gadget. This gadget should include your picture and 1-2 sentences about who you are. If your "About Me" gadget only says "View My Complete Profile" you need to edit this gadget. If your "About Me" gadget is under several other gadgets, please drag it to the top.

3-if you are running a poll, put the poll gadget directly beneath your "About Me" gadget. Remember, when your poll closes you might want to remove it from your blog (a tidy blog is a happy blog!)

4-as always, games and random picture/joke generators are not allowed. Remove these. Pets are okay, but don't go overboard. Time Traveling with pets can be very difficult, limit yourself to no more than 2 pets.

5-there are a few easy fixes for those of you with difficult to read blogs. If you have a photo as your background and you have to highlight your text in order for it to be readable, you should use the template designer to pick a different overall layout so that your posts always have a specific colored layout.

6-General site layouts must be 2-columns. 3-column layouts make your blog posts long and narrow and it looks a bit silly to squeeze a post in between two short columns of random items.

7-Finally, if you are going to change time traveler identity and/or create a new blog for the upcoming year's travels, please do so over the summer. This will ensure you are ready when the first mission arrives in the fall. (BE SURE TO SEND ME YOUR NEW BLOG ADDRESS AND/OR E-MAIL).

See you soon!
Signor Volpe