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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 25, 2007 10:20:54 GMT -5
Zea can be found, once again, waiting for her students, sitting in her chair with her feet up on the desk, drinking a cup of tea. She is clearly wearing jeans and hiking boots under her navy blue robes.
Bandersnatch is snoozing on the windowsill.
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 26, 2007 14:10:59 GMT -5
Arcturus made sure to come to class as early as possible, remembering last week's ... problem. He showed up in school robes, with an extra fleece, a scarf, and a furry hat that would have looked Russian were it not for it's resemblance to a dead raccoon.
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 26, 2007 21:14:59 GMT -5
Zea smiled as Arcturus rushed into the room.
"I see we learned our lesson, didn't we? Well, choose a seat! We'll wait for everyone else, then we'll get started."
She tilted her head and studied him closely.
"Is that supposed to be an ushanka? Hmm. Do you find it that cold in here?"
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 27, 2007 18:40:31 GMT -5
Arcturus grinned at her. "Well, I don't know much about Russian wear, but it definitely is a very Russian design, with the ear flaps that you can pin up. It's very warm. It's not that cold in here, I'm just always chilly in morning." Arcturus was impressed that she knew the actual name of the type of hat. He walked to a desk and took a seat. He unpacked his stuff, but did not take off any of his layers of clothing.
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 19:11:35 GMT -5
"My father had a hat pretty much like that. My mother always gave him bizarre Russian things to wear. She used to make me wear silly traditional costumes on Christmas and stuff. Anyway, blathering on again."
Some more students filtered in.
"Well, we'll begin in a few moments, so take your seats."
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 27, 2007 19:27:54 GMT -5
Arcturus leaned back in his seat and observed the other students filing in. He waited patiently for class to start as he just sat and observed people. It was significantly more entertaining than you would originally think. Some of it was inane blather: "...so then I told her to tell Kathy to tell Jane, and she said that that was totally, like, not cool...", but some of it could be interesting: "That's none of your business! Maybe I like to walk in the Forbidden Forest for a couple days! Ever think of that?" And there was the utterly bizarre: "...is definitely going to start bouncing. The amount of guns, I mean, it's really inevitable...", and the possible spy-talk: "Jimmy says he can probably move the king to the soccer field as soon as chicken says so." What the heck?
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 19:46:46 GMT -5
Zea smiled as the students finally all came in and took their seats.
"Okay, we'll begin. I want you lot to take notes, because they will help you in research later on."
"Today's lesson is on the History of the Alphabet, and with it, the history of writing itself."
"Language, obviously, is something necessary to communication. Without language, how could we work together as a community?"
"There are many different kinds of languages. Some are only written, some only spoken, some require no words at all."
"Writing began to evolve in the Bronze Age, about 2500 BC."
"Now, who can give me some examples of early forms of writing?"
[[OOC note: All students may blatantly steal information from Wikipedia.]]
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 27, 2007 20:21:46 GMT -5
Arcturus quickly scribbled down what she said, abbreviating it as much as possible without making it illegible. Almost a Runic exercise in itself... he mused idly. Once he was done scribbling, he raised his hand. "Isn't the first known written language the cuneiform writing? I think the Sumerians used it first. It's a style of writing that basically just uses pictures for objects and scratches for numbers. It was used mainly for economic purposes."
((OOC: I didn't actually look this up, I already knew it. I doubt anyone will believe me, looking back on how I wrote it I wouldn't believe me either. Maybe I'll be wrong. That'll prove it. Yes, I am vain ... and a little arrogant.))
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 22:12:58 GMT -5
Zea seemed a little taken aback, then grinned.
"You're certainly upholding Ravenclaw's reputation for the smarts, Mr. MacDougal. You're right on the money. In fact, we'll be studying Cuneiform next week."
"The system began as pictographical, but gradually the pictographs became more abstract, turning into a system of triangles and lines."
She scribbled an example on the board.
"It originated in Mesopotamia, so you're right about the Sumerians, too. Five points to Ravenclaw."
"Any other scripts?"
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 28, 2007 21:57:11 GMT -5
Arcturus thought of several others but other students beat him to it. Besides, he'd gotten the first remark, so he was fine with letting them have their crack.
"Well, there's the Viking runes, right?"
"There's the English alphabet."
"The Greeks had an alphabet too ... I think."
"There's the Egyptian hieroglyphics."
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 29, 2007 11:45:44 GMT -5
"Good, good, that's all excellent."
"Well, our class for today is drawing to a close, so I'll set the homework. First off, I hate giving homework, so you'll never have anything that takes more than half an hour to do."
"So, just read chapter one, it's only seven pages, on the history of the alphabet."
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Post by Arcturus MacDougal on Nov 29, 2007 21:44:35 GMT -5
Arcturus gathered up his stuff and left. He made sure to gather his stuff slowly, so he didn't get caught in the press by the door.
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