Paragraph One
- What are your overall feelings about life in your social class?
- Choose at least FOUR of the following aspects to illustrate what your life is like (food, recreation, housing, education, religion, law and order, health care, trade and travel, etc.).
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages about living as a member of your social class.
- What might be the positives and negatives about living as a member of the other social class?
- What suggestions do you have for the Roman government to improve your life?
The assignment must be submitted by Wednesday March 24th to earn up to ten points of extra credit in Western Cultures. Please come see me with any questions you may have. Good luck and have fun!
~ Miss Lorenzini
Alexa S.
ReplyDeletePeriod: 3
Diary of an Ancient Roman Teenager
Dear Diary,
I am sick and tired of being treated like this. Being a poor teenager in ancient Rome is hard, since you don’t get as many rights as a wealthy teenager. I often get sick because I live in a small apartment with a huge family. The apartments are cramped little places that are very noisy and dirty. When we try to cook dinner, the smoke from the small grill rises and goes everywhere. That is why fire is a big hazard. Most poor teenagers, like me, don’t have any kitchens to eat our dinners, or to cook our meals. Most of our food is eaten from quick “take out” restaurants. On our way to school, we walk into little shops to buy our breakfast. After we purchase our breakfast, we continue down the streets to our school. The students usually have to go into school early, so the streets are busy with cars and people. In school I learn a lot of subjects including, literature, math, science, and public speaking. Today for homework I had a couple of math problems and an essay to write. My favorite time of the year is summer because all students get a three- month vacation. During my free time I like to be entertained. I would go to gladiator fights or chariot races. These events are bloody, and mostly involved people dying. While I sit on wooden benches in the upper decks of the Circus Maximus, the wealthy sit on cushions closer to the action. I also enjoy going there because you don’t know whom you will sit next to. It could be someone very attractive. Overall I don’t like being poor. The rich has more freedom, and better things to do. They enjoy meals, while we enjoy “fast food.” I would love my life if I were a wealthy Roman girl. My life would have been so much easier.
As I have already said, the wealthy gets a lot of rights, while the poor works for theirs. An advantage for being a poor teenager is that in the area of law and order we could accuse someone else of crime. However, the disadvantage of that is if the poor actually did commit a crime we would receive harder punishments. Another advantage is that we get to go to school. Every kid gets to go to school, but we start later and stop learning around age sixteen. If we lived in the wealthy social class an advantage would be that the housing is bigger. There are gigantic rooms and dinner tables. They also have big grills where fire is not a threat. They eat very expensive appetizers and dinners. They have all different kinds of animals with a dip or sauce. It would be very delicious if I ate dinners with the wealthy. Even though they are the wealthy they do have some disadvantages. Robbery happens very often to them. People try to steal expensive jewels or money from them. They wear dirty togas to stop it though. So if I had a say in the government, I will definitely change the way the poor families live. They think that the lives of the poor is fine. For them to understand they have to be in our shoes, and try living like us. I would change the education. If someone wanted to get a better education or learn more then they have been, they should be able to. I would tell the government to let the poor continue past age sixteen. I would also make the housing better. They should let the poor have bigger houses and better grills to cook with. They should at least give us a kitchen to prepare our meals. I would love if the government changed some things to benefit the poor, but they only care about what the wealthy has to say. Farewell until next time, Diary.
Alexa S.
Dear Diary,
ReplyDeleteToday was another long day of work. I hate being poor. We get terrible food, have to live on the streets and watch the wealthy just sit and eat bread, grapes, and drink fine wine. We also never get to travel when the rich travel all the time. And we don't get tutored as long as the rich, we have to go to school, but it is better than nothing.
The good parts about being poor though is that we don't get mugged unlike the wealthy people. Also the Rich Romans cannot go outside at night. Hahahaha! Bad parts about being poor though are that we live in bad houses, practically empty of furniture, and other luxuries. Also we have no money so all we do is work and never stop. I wish I were wealthy. I'd have all the money in the world, have good food, travel a lot, and have fun in life. The government should try to help us poor people out. Maybe by loaning some money, or supplying food for us, or giving us a little higher of a pay. I hope my life changes for the better soon.
Diary of an Ancient Roman Teenager
ReplyDeleteI am in the richest family ever throughout the world . That means I could do what I want when I want. I love being rich because I also can make people work for me. I am the smartest kid in Rome because I am tutored by the smartest man in Rome, my dad. I also can eat all kinds of food like meat, bread, and many others. My dad is also king of Rome, that mean we get all rights. I also have a personal nurse, so if I get sick I get the bet care.
Everything in my life is perfect. The only thing I worry about is if all the slaves got away I would have to do work. That I the only downfall. If you are a lave you would have it better if you all got away and ran the empire. I wish my dad made it so every Sunday we did the work. If that happened we would accept the lave more. I love my life as a rich Roman teenager.
Dear Diary,
ReplyDeleteI love being a wealthy teenager in Rome. I get better food, housing, education, less cruel punishments, and many more advantages than poor teenagers do in Rome. For example, for breakfast I enjoy bread, beans and porridge. On the other side, poor teenagers are stuck with fast food from the thermopolia. Also, my home is much nicer than their homes. Poor teenagers live in tall apartment buildings while I live in a spacious, airy home. Another advantage of being wealthy is that I get much less cruel punishments than the poor. They are treated much harsher than me. This includes the poor sometimes even being tortured. Also, I have better education than the poor. I was tutored until I was seven, and then I went to regular school. Unfortunately for poor, they work instead of going to school. These aspects support my opinion that I love being a wealthy teenager in Rome.
Although there are many advantages and disadvantages of living in my social class, I still enjoy being wealthy. Some advantages include not having to eat at the thermopolia, getting a great education, and living in a beautiful home. In addition, I have much less cruel punishments than the poor. On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of being a teenager in ancient Rome. For example, my father has to wear old, dirty togas when he travels at night. Also, I cannot leave my home by myself without being mugged. I cannot even leave by myself during the day! An advantage of being poor is that you do not have either of these problems. Some disadvantages of being poor in ancient Rome are that you have to eat food from the thermopolia, and you live in tall apartment buildings. Another disadvantage of being a poor teenager in Rome is that you do not get an education. Instead, you are working and trying to support your family. I would suggest to the Roman government to monitor all of streets at night and during the day including the ones that are closed to prevent wealthy citizens like myself from getting mugged.
Today I went to the Circus Maximus. There were gladiator races, and the people fought to the death. I sat in a comfortable seat that was close to the ring where the games were taking place. I was very content, and happy to be there. I was also very proud. I had just finished being tutored and tomorrow I would be going to school with my older sister. We will stop at a breakfast bar and get bread, beans, and nuts to eat while we are walking to school. At night we will have a feast of mice cooked in honey, salted jellyfish, and roasted parrots. The servants will pick up the bones off the floor and then we will have to go to sleep, for my mother, my sister, and I are forbidden to go outside at night. Even my father must wear a poor mans clothes to go out at night so he doesn’t get mugged. I would love to see what my house of stone and marble looks like, with the moon reflecting off it. Although I am not allowed to, so I will have to study the grand rooms and sit by the fountains in my house to stop my longing to see the moon.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many good things about being rich. I have a beautiful house and a good education. I also get everything I want, and my stomach is always full. I have a lot of time on my hands to learn to knit and sew and talk with my other friends. There are also some bad things about being rich. I am not allowed to go out at night and during the day I have to be with a man and a bodyguard. I am not allowed to run freely with my friends but I must meet them in the house and be proper. Sometimes I wish I were poor though. The poor always seem to be happy with what they have. They may not have that much time on their hands but the time they do have they seem to have a splendid time. When they are at home they are always laughing with their families. I wouldn’t want to be poor though because there are no bodyguards and there are so many crimes that are committed. There are a lot of people in a little space and the houses can burn easily because of the grills. I think that the government shouldn’t let any poor people into the rich communities, unless a rich man accompanies them. Then the women and children would be allowed to go outside at night and during the day without being accompanied by a man. This would make life so much easier for me, and all of the people of rich communities.
Join me…or them?
ReplyDeleteMy life has never been easy. Why should all of a sudden it change now? Everyday I ask myself,” Is it too late?” My family is defiantly considered the poor part of Ancient Rome. We are in the lowest class, as opposed to the “others”. Speaking of them… they always take advantage of us. We do the house work, prepare their food, and even perform entertaining events for them. I suppose next they’ll even want us to chew their own food. I guess I can’t complain, considering they provide us “food & circuses”. That’s their plan; they feed us and keep us entertained, so we don’t rebel against them. Anyway, its time to get back to my house. I don’t want to miss curfew! However, it’s not like I come home to anything. My family and I finish the night in the dark because only the rich receive lighting. We are forced to sleep in are small, noisy, one roomed apartment. Then, the next day we will wake up, and walk straight over to the “bars”. I personally choose the beans. Other than breakfast, the food is scarce. After hitting the “bars” some lucky ones receive the opportunity of education. Which include math, English, Latin, and, science. Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck doing our daily work, such as cleaning, cooking, and entertaining for the wealthy!
Speaking of working, my whole family is in the same working class. Considering this, it’s pretty hard to be optimistic, however, it means everyday no matter what we will always work together… as a family. As opposed to the wealthy, with there expensive and valuable collectibles, the chances of robberies are great for them. On the other hand you have our family with a zero risk of such a thing. Even though we work as families and have no risk of crimes occurring to our name, there are still some disadvantages. We perform strenuous labors for copious hours. Meanwhile, in the other class it’s hard to think of any disadvantages, beside the fact they have a chance of being robbed, however every night they receive a police man to watch over their streets/houses at night while they sleep. Besides the disadvantages, the positives that come along with being wealthy, is always having your own personal slave to do just about everything for you. Also, rich people are allowed the spacious houses with lots of lights and decorations. Even though it may sound better to be rich, being poor isn’t all that bad. All we ask from the government is to be respected as people, and given the freedom anyone else has.