Mr. Goetz s Non-Fiction Reading Skills Class

Mr. Goetz s Non-Fiction Reading Skills Class

In the Wicked History Project, you will take on the persona of the character you are reading about. You will write interview questions that will require indepth answers. You will perform this interview in front of the class around the last week of the quarter for a grade. You will also create a PowerPoint to support the interview, which must follow the Requirements for the Wicked History Interview PowerPoint worksheets that you will be given.

The title slide will have the title of the book on it. It will also have the subtitle. It will have the author(s) of the book. It will have your name. It will have a picture of the historical figure on it.

Title Subtitle Author

By Enid A. Goldberg & Norman Itzkowitz As Retold by John Goetz

A section titled, Timeline of Terrors, is in the back of each book. On this slide, create a timeline with: The date your historical figure was born. The date your historical figure died. Three events spread out evenly over your historical figure s life between their birth and death. You must make sure that the events state who, what, where, and when.

Tomás de Torquemada is born in the city of Valladolid, Spain in 1420. Torquemada becomes the leader of the monastery at Santa Cruz near Segovia, Spain in 1452. Pope Sixtus IV gives the order to set up the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Torquemada becomes the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, the very first man to hold this title in 1483. Torquemada was buried in the Chapel of Avila in 1498.

At the beginning of each book, there is an introduction that gives a place and a date. You need to read the introduction and need to summarize it. You need to analyze the introduction, stating why you think your historical figure deserves to be in the Wicked History series of books.

Summary: The Jews of Spain were being forced to leave their homeland around 1492 in spite of the fact that they helped the Spanish king win a war. Tomas de Torquemada was a big part of that because he hated and feared the Jews. His actions would force thousands of Jews from their homes. Analysis: Tomas might have deserved his place in the Wicked History series. He picked on one particular group of people, the Jews, showing he was racist. He also forced thousands of people from their homes. These are evil beliefs and actions, possibly earning his place in the series.

Throughout the books, there are pictures. Select one picture that interests you and read their captions. Analyze the picture, stating why you think the historical figure deserves to be in the Wicked History series based on what you see on the picture.

Picture Caption

Tomás de Torquemada would subject people to the toca, or water torture. They forced water into the lungs to cause pain to the victim. Torture is an inhumane way treat people. If Torquemada had people hurt in this way, he probably deserves his place in the Wicked History series.

For each chapter, you will need to create an interview question from the chapter heading. You will answer the question in depth, requiring three or more sentences to answer it. You ll need a picture to go along with this slide.

Early in your life, there was some question of the purity of your blood. Could you tell us about that, and how it drove you to live a pure religious life?

Interviewer: Early in your life, there was some question of the purity of your blood. Could you tell us about that and how it drove you to live a pure, religious life? Torquemada: Supposedly, I am descended from the Jews. These impure people do not believe in the laws of the Catholic Church. I wanted to live by the strict laws of the Catholic Church so that I could live a pure life. So, I entered the Catholic School of San Pablo when I was young to learn to learn the laws of the Church and be cleansed of my impurity.

In your books, you will find several gray-shaded vignettes. You will need to summarize each vignette three to four complete sentences.

Vignette Title

Vignette Title: A Divided Spain Summary: When Torquemada was a young boy, Spain was a divided country. It was divided into three Christian kingdoms, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre. Before that, the area was ruled by the Muslims, who let Jews live freely within what would later become Spain. In Torquemada s time, Jews and Muslims still lived across the area, but the Christian kingdoms wanted the land to be purely Christian.

On this final slide, you will ask your historical figure if he or she truly deserved the title of wicked. You will answer yes or no, and then will give three good reasons to support your answer. Each of your reasons will be expressed in two to three sentences.

Tomas de Torquemada, you were placed in the Wicked History series of books. Do you think you deserve to be called wicked? No, I don t believe I should be called wicked. Reason #1: Yes, I did use torture on my victims. Some of these tortures inflicted injuries that did not heal over their lifetime. It was the only way to get to the truth. Reason #2: I drove many people who did not believe in Christianity out of their homes. This, however, made Spain a purely Christian place. I believe this was a good thing. Reason #3: I gave people who confessed a merciful strangling before they were burned at the stake. This was a good thing to do.