Back to School Night

Back to School Night: 29 January 2008

World History I and AP Government according to the Social Studies Standards of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

COURSE GUIDELINES AND INFORMATION

a) Lesson Plans, Homework, course information can always be found on my blog:
http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

b) World History Online textbook, notices, assignments:
http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/

c) World History Textbook Code/Student Information
Period 1: TBA

d) Page for collaboration:
http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/gmicksmith/gmicksmith.cfm

e) Course information and additional content can always be heard on my Podcast:
http://www.gcast.com/u/gmicksmith/

f) Grades can always be found on:
http://www.gradeconnect.com/

Listed below are expectations for the class.

1. Be in your seat and prepared for class when the bell rings with pencil/pen, notebook, and textbook(s), or any other assigned materials.
2. Obtain permission by raising your hand before speaking, or leaving your seat for any reason once the bell rings.
3. Follow directions and complete all assignments on time.
4. Remain alert, awake, and on task during the entire class period.
5. Above all, respect yourself, your teacher, and others and their possessions.

Grading Calculation is a “Straight Point Based” system. I do not calculate grades on GradeConnect, the programming algorithms perform this task automatically, and all I do is accurately enter the student points earned.

I adhere to a policy of PDP (Positive Daily Performance), which is based on my understanding that lifetime success arises out of what you do, day in and day out. Being prepared and ready to apply yourself with your school materials everyday is crucial.

Absence Policy on Test Day or any class work:
If you are absent for a test/quiz it is your responsibility to make arrangements with me to take it. This is scheduled the day after you return to school. Points will be deducted each day you fail to do make up work.




Contact Information and Brief Biography

Dr. G. Mick Smith, Room #267, and contact info: gmicksmith@muchomail.com (fastest and direct contact), 215.276.2300 (slower, indirect contact).

Dr. Smith earned his PhD in History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was also awarded a Masters degree in History from UCLA, and he obtained a second Masters in Theology. Smith was a Johannes Quasten Scholar in Patristics at The Catholic University of America and he holds a Distance Learning Administrator’s Certificate from Texas A&M University and the Center for Distance Learning Research. He has published over 110 mostly peer-reviewed publications in history, technology and education, and computing. Dr. Smith has been President of the American Association for History and Computing. Smith has also taught at colleges on the Left and Right Coasts as well as locally at Northeast Catholic High School, Lansdale Catholic, Villa Maria Academy, Phila Academy, and Hahnemann University. At Cardinal Dougherty Smith is Assistant Chair of the Technology Committee and Moderator of Mock Trial. Dr. Smith is a widower and a full-time single parent; he wrote his first novel about parenting the greatest daughter ever born.

Intro to Ottoman Empire

An introduction and summary of the Ottoman Empire.

"Teach the Children," Crosby, Stills, and Nash: A Contemporary Application

"Teach the Children" is an anti-war song made famous during the Vietnam conflict by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. This is the same group who memorialized the four students killed at Kent State by National Guardsmen in the song "Ohio."

India Transformed

India does not need to be considered a developing country but one that is transformed.

In The Words of Muslim Clerics

The ideas of Muslim clerics in their own words.

Middle Eastern Children

The children are our future.

Material to Finish Course: Cold War and Following

In addition to Chapter 30 The Cold War 1945-1991, you should be prepared to consider Chapter 31 Section 4, The Modern Middle East; Chapter 32 Section 3 Conflicts in the Middle East; Chapter 33 China and India: Two Giants of Asia; Chapter 34 Section 2 Globalization; and, Chapter 34 Section 4 Security. With these sections, we will finish the course.

"China: Emerging Powers" Video

China: Emerging Powers video

1. communist
2. capitalism
3. IBM
4. CPB
5. standing army
6. restrained
7. Beijing
8. modernization
9. represssion
10. contradiction
11. superpower
12. nuclear
13. Cultural Revolution
14. Mao
15. Red Guard
16. commune
17. peasant
18. will power
19. fortitude
20. endurance
21. social status
22. crux
23. wisdom
24. legacy
25. nostalgia
26. revolution
27. investment
28. Gobi Desert
29. backbone
30. destiny
31. Shanghai
32. cosmetics
33. corridors
34. skyscraper
35. country bumpkins
36. investors
37. chaos
38. commodity
39. aspirations
40. regulator
41. market economy
42. innovation
43. PhD
44. socialism
45. monument
46. assembly line
47. utopia
48. cradle to grave
49. "jumping into the sea"
50. pioneering
51. radical
52. reform
53. dislocation
54. private sector
55. state sector
56. abject poverty
57. enterprises
58. national college entrance exam
59. cropland
60. residency
61. migrants
62. harvest
63. defraud
64. insignia
65. racketeering
66. license
67. disparity
68. hazardous
69. structures
70. covenant
71. bankrupt
72. manufacturing
73. conglomerate
74. poultry
75. incubator
76. charcoal
77. mechanized
78. feed (for animals)
79. traitor
80. kilometers
81. ration
82. patriotic
83. undermining
84. uncensored
85. environmental protection
86. dialogue
87. ideology
88. disco
89. waltz
90. foxtrot
91. rock 'n' roll
92. decadent
93. dissidents
94. Tianamen Square
95. alienation
96. corruption
97. human rights
98. Gallup Poll
99. reverberate

How Many U.S. Troops Are On Okinawa?

Okinawa measures 454 square miles, almost exactly the size of Los Angeles. Although World War II ended with the Japanese surrender in 1945, the island still contains 39 U.S. bases.
42,962 Americans troops inhabit the island (Source: Okinawa: Asia's Last Colony, pp. 34-64.
Chalmers Johnson, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire).

For comparison's sake, the U.S. Troop level in Iraq during December 2007 was 160,000.

The United States maintains 3,731 military installations worldwide.
Source:
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
BASE STRUCTURE REPORT, 2006.

Please comment on the "Impossible Journey"

I noticed this thoughtful piece on YouTube and I am eliciting your comments.

It was posted on YouTube by: Luis Lomeli, MD.

From the ghetto to medical school is an impossible journey.

For a long time, I have studied our failing inner city public schools. It is a social tragedy that half of Latinos and African Americans fail to finish high school. There are many elements that contribute to the academic failure of so many students. Of those that graduate, when tested by me, most cannot add ½ + ¼. The usual response is 2/6 when it should be ¾.

When students are asked to solve X to the third power, when X is equal to 2, the students too often seem lost. When educated that 2x2x2 can be written as 2 with the exponent 3 and therefore the solution is 8, they begin to readily see the need for exponents. If E = MC squared, I then explain that it means that energy contained in a very small amount mass gives a lot of energy since C is the speed of light (300,000 miles per second). When I add that this equation, E = MCxC, was first described by Einstein circa 1905 as a fundamental physical law, they become intrigued. If I ask why is it that we first see lighting and only later we hear the thunder, the curiosity heightens when I explain that sound travels very slowly, at .2 miles per second. Therefore we see lightning almost instantaneously due to the fast speed of light.

Too often history and government are taught in a manner that would make most of us say, "forget it." Last week I met a student that was doing well in the sciences but failing U.S. History. It didn't make sense. Apparently, she had been asked to memorize the names of all U.S. Presidents. What was the point? This student knew very little about how important Alexander Hamilton, a founding father, was in the development of the United States. The student knew nothing about Vietnam or the current Iraq war. When I asked this student to tell me about a few important constitutional amendments, she was clueless. When I discussed the importance of the First Amendment in regard to the freedom of speech, press and right to peaceably assembly, she was keenly interested. When I added that if she were arrested, the Fifth Amendment gives her the right not to self incriminate, she said, "Why don't they teach us those things at school?"

I ask students that are failing, "How does it feel to fail each test you take?" "It doesn't feel good" is the usual response. Therefore, if students aren't properly educated and engaged, how are they to thrive?

If we were to assume that a student's home environment is not suitable for learning, we would make big a leap in public education. Family dysfunction in the inner cities and ghettoes is problematic and leads students to under achieve. If a schools cannot properly teach the required subjects during the school time, when help is available, then they should reassess their function.

A socialized public education is not punished retroactively if students fail to learn or graduate. I was exposed to dismal public school systems in Compton, Lawndale and later in Highland Park California. So how did I educate myself?
There were two public school teachers that greatly influenced me. Mr. Stiff at Walton Junior High School made me stay after school so that he could teach me grammar. In high school, at Franklin Senior High School, the math teacher, Mrs. Gainder, once said to me, "Young man, educate yourself; the physical work you do in construction will wear your body down before you're 40."

While in the U.S. Army I decided to memorize a small dictionary. Since I had not read much in the United States, I figured that my vocabulary had to be limited compared to those kids raised in affluent homes. In addition, I taught myself algebra and grammar.

I remember how frightened I was when I learned that I had to learn to convert cubic inches to cubic centimeters. "There is nothing to fear more than fear itself." Soon I fell in love with the physical sciences, but I always had a disdain for some non-scientific courses.

So to get from the ghetto to a medical school, there is a lot you need to learn. For instance, what is XX÷ X? It is X. Let's give X the number 2, then 2x2 ÷ 2 = 2. What is X ÷ X? It is 1. How do we apply the latter question into a general scheme? Any number X divided by itself is one as long as X is not zero. Therefore, 7 is divided by 7 is 1; 9 divided by 9 is 1; we can say that 7/7 = 9/9 = 1. Let's use this information in science. If one inch is equal to 2.54 cm, how many centimeters (cm) are equal to 8 inches? 8 inch x 2.54 cm/1 inch = 20.32 cm. You must notice that the inch units cancel each other out and you end up with centimeters only. You can see me using this logic when I work out the amount of medicine I must give to a very sick patient.

In closing, most of what I do today is self-thought, including the Art of Medicine. Develop a passion for learning and you'll surprise yourself. Most ghetto schools are failing society.




Luis Lomeli MD/Beta

Author: Employers Must Ease Way for Next Generation

Author: Employers Must Ease Way for Next Generation
Heather Havenstein


December 17, 2007 (Computerworld) In his 1997 book, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, author Don Tapscott predicted that the children of baby boomers would become enormously influential as the first generation to grow up surrounded by high-tech tools and toys.

Tapscott’s latest book, Grown Up Digital, revisits the so-called Net generation — those born between the late 1970s and early 1990s — and finds that their unique attitudes and aptitudes are already invading the workplace. The book is due out next year.

Tapscott said his research has found that the Net generation offers unique talents to employers, who will have to adapt hiring and workplace processes to effectively recruit and retain them.

The research included interviews with more than 11,000 of the 80 million members of the Net generation in a $4 million study.

Tapscott contended that high-profile knocks against the children of baby boomers — that they are a generation that’s uninformed, lazy and looking to move up the corporate ladder without putting in the required blood, sweat and tears — are wrong.

The group’s work habits, he said, are just different from those of their parents, because they have been profoundly influenced by technologies like instant messaging, video games, mobile phones and search engines.

“These kids’ brains are actually wired differently,” Tapscott said. “Their IQs are up by all the measures we have. This is the smartest generation ever. They are highly motivated and bring a new kind of culture.” And some, he noted, are quitting their jobs when they bump up against a traditional corporate culture.

Tapscott said that the research showed that companies must accommodate the new generation’s need for speed — real-time instant messaging conversation is its core communication method. The preference for quick, peer-to-peer interaction can be stifled by a traditional corporate hierarchy and work processes, he said.

The new workforce also wants to take advantage of mobile technology, which provides a freedom that “has become like oxygen” to them, Tapscott said.

The desire for freedom and balance can be exploited for competitive gain, he noted. Companies, for example, could use collaboration technologies in virtual teaming arrangements, allowing Net generation workers to satisfy their need to socialize with peers worldwide.

Based on the research, Tapscott also suggested that companies do the following:

* Provide a healthy amount of project work that offers cyclical, intensive projects.

* Set up opportunities for young workers to quickly present their ideas to managers.

* Encourage informal relationships between managers and workers.

If You Do Not Resemble the Young People in this Story, You Will Have Difficulty in the Workforce

IT Faces Stiff Challenge From Emerging Workforce
Heather Havenstein


December 17, 2007 (Computerworld) Chris Scalet realized that the next generation of workers will likely require drastically different IT tools and policies as he watched his 20-year-old daughter studying for college classes recently.

Scalet, senior vice president and CIO at Merck & Co., noticed that she simultaneously studied, listened to her iPod, sent text messages and browsed through pages of the Facebook online social network.

“How she will work in the future will be very different from how we work today,” Scalet said. “She is going to expect [collaboration] tools... to be able to work. We don’t think that way today as corporations. We think, as baby boomers, [about a] very traditional, structured, formal [work process].”
David Berry
David Berry
Scalet is among a growing number of IT executives looking at what changes need to be made to adequately meet the needs of the 80 million children of baby boomers, who are just now entering the workforce.

Businesses must quickly find a way to adapt to new technologies that will be essential in what Don Tapscott calls “the next-generation enterprise.” Tapscott is co- author of Wiki­nomics (Portfolio Hardcover, 2006), a book about how the Internet and mass collaboration are about to dramatically affect the global economy.

“Collaboration models are going to dominate the 21st century marketplace,” he predicted. “If you don’t understand that, you’re going to fail.”

Though Scalet said it’s too early to say exactly how technology will have to evolve, he agreed that CIOs must “think very differently about how to build future capabilities.”

“This next generation of employees will pull corporations toward it,” he said. If companies lack the technology demanded by the new workers, “they will pack up and go someplace that does. IT has to take a leadership role.”

But, warned David Berry, senior vice president and CIO at cosmetics company Coty Inc., such new technologies still must fall within corporate IT parameters in areas like security and governance.

Berry said he is already working to determine which of the new collaboration technologies can fit into a corporate environment — and which cannot.

“Social networks, for example, in a nonworkplace environment might be OK, but what about managing it when litigation steps in?” Berry said. “Most companies are not geared to handle [social networks]. It is hard enough to handle inappropriate use of the Internet in the workplace.”

New York-based Coty is using instant messaging and online forums, and it is gearing up to roll out a corporate portal with access to instant messaging, e-mail and company news, Berry said. He acknowledged that the effort so far is “sort of a Yahoo” first-generation Internet approach to technology that may seem “stale” to the younger set. Therefore, he added, the company is also integrating forums, wikis and RSS feeds into the mix.

Berry noted that as time goes on, IT managers will have to play the “good guy, bad guy” role in managing the rollout of these technologies. “It is also our responsibility to train the younger people in the proper use of technologies, to respect policy and process, and not only have fun with the new technologies,” he said

Managers must also consider the cost of rolling out the new technologies. “The younger folks haven’t had to deal with ROI or capital investments,” Berry said.

‘A Lot of Cool Stuff’

Brian Fetherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy­One Worldwide, said that the New York-based direct marketing firm is looking for ways to blend traditional work methods and new technologies through its three-year-old entry-level associate training program.

Fetherstonhaugh acknowledged that he had underestimated the needs of younger workers until he began meeting monthly with new employees in the associate program.

“The issue of talent and finding and keeping it is critical,” he noted. “Their patience is different. Their appetite for work and play is extremely high.” The new workers “know a lot of cool stuff we don’t know.”

At Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck, some workers maintain that the emerging technologies will be “a huge part of our business in the future,” said Scalet. Others, however, believe that the new tools are “a fad that will pass,” he added.

But while Merck is trying to identify the middle ground between those two camps, Scalet is sure that the company will have to find a way to support the technology demands of the baby boomers’ children. “There are 80 million potential workers who are coming at us with these types of capabilities,” he noted. “We’re going to have to deal with that.”

Executives are encouraging Merck employees to experiment with social networks, which Scalet said could lead to a dramatic change in the company’s method for solving problems.

The future model could involve electronically sharing a business problem with anyone with Web access “and letting 15,000 people solve it in an hour,” he said. “That potentially is a very powerful model.”

Mock Trial Info

Dear 2008 Mock Trial Competition Participants:

Several passes were recently donated to Temple-LEAP for Mock
Trial participants to attend a special screening of the
exciting new movie "The Great Debaters". The movie is an
inspirational story of an debate team from a historically
black college during the Depression that overcomes odds to
participate in a national debate competition. The movie
will
surely be a good learning tool for Mock Trial participants.

Two students from each school can attend. The screening will
be held at the Pearl Theatre @ Avenue North, 1600 North
Broad Street (near Broad and Cecil B. Moore) on Wednesday,
December 19, 2007 at 7:00 pm. Preference for passes will be
given to students who have demonstrated a commitment to this
year's competition by attending the Mock Trial Camp in
October. The passes will be distributed on a first come,
first served basis.

Please contact the Temple-LEAP office via e-mail
(leap@temple.edu) with the names of the two students
attending from your school. One pass admits two students.
Passes will be available for pickup Tuesday, December 18 and
Wednesday December 19, 2007 from 3-5 pm at the Temple Law
School front desk. Please do not pick up passes until you
have received confirmation from the Temple LEAP office.
Temple LEAP Project
215-204-1887
215-204-8948
leap@temple.edu

Mickey Mouse Clone and Palestinian Children Advocate Violence and Death

New videos have been posted with a popular T.V. character Mickey Mouse clone and Palestinian children advocating violence and death.

"Emerging Powers: India"

India Vocabulary

“Emerging Powers: India”

Two quotes to consider from the video:
“You can’t just sit on your backside.”
“Perform or fail.”

1. Enlightenment
2. state-controlled
3. capitalism
4. competitors
5. populism
6. socialism
7. free-market
8. ex-patriots
9. optimism
10. opportunity
11. nostalgia
12. Silicon Valley
13. manpower
14. bureaucracy
15. liberalized
16. restraints
17. independence
18. colony
19. Gandhi
20. licenses
21. complacent
22. crisis
23. radical
24. export
25. bankrupt
26. Nehru
27. barriers
28. investment
29. monopoly
30. gracious
31. satellite
32. realm
33. conceive
34. media
35. global economy
36. multi-nationals
37. horoscope
38. BBC
39. cricket
40. cobras
41. fermentation
42. kabobs
43. tandori
44. curry
45. upwardly mobile
46. executive
47. grooming
48. etiquette
49. living standards
50. commercial
51. microcosm
52. shack
53. vendor
54. rural
55. urban
56. enterprising
57. transistor
58. prototype
59. components
60. saris
61. Sikh
62. private sector
63. MBA
64. “red tape”
65. import duties
66. cottage industry
67. abject poverty
68. rupis
69. protectionism
70. regulation
71. brokerage
72. capitalization
73. Kashmir
74. Bangalore

"Emerging Powers: India"

India Vocabulary

“Emerging Powers: India”

Two quotes to consider from the video:
“You can’t just sit on your backside.”
“Perform or fail.”

1. Enlightenment
2. state-controlled
3. capitalism
4. competitors
5. populism
6. socialism
7. free-market
8. ex-patriots
9. optimism
10. opportunity
11. nostalgia
12. Silicon Valley
13. manpower
14. bureaucracy
15. liberalized
16. restraints
17. independence
18. colony
19. Gandhi
20. licenses
21. complacent
22. crisis
23. radical
24. export
25. bankrupt
26. Nehru
27. barriers
28. investment
29. monopoly
30. gracious
31. satellite
32. realm
33. conceive
34. media
35. global economy
36. multi-nationals
37. horoscope
38. BBC
39. cricket
40. cobras
41. fermentation
42. kabobs
43. tandori
44. curry
45. upwardly mobile
46. executive
47. grooming
48. etiquette
49. living standards
50. commercial
51. microcosm
52. shack
53. vendor
54. rural
55. urban
56. enterprising
57. transistor
58. prototype
59. components
60. saris
61. Sikh
62. private sector
63. MBA
64. “red tape”
65. import duties
66. cottage industry
67. abject poverty
68. rupis
69. protectionism
70. regulation
71. brokerage
72. capitalization
73. Kashmir
74. Bangalore

Jobs in Government Technology

Get informed on the role autonomous machines will play in the future of the public sector. Will robots be making decisions in your agency?

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency thinks so.

Change the way your agency looks at recruiting and retaining public sector IT professionals via Missouri's virtual world talent search.

Watch Virtual Recruiting

Revolutionize your public safety with emerging technologies recently implemented by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Gadget Gurus

Fight climate change, improve the local environment and conserve energy in your city. 740 mayors have signed the Climate Protection Agreement. Is your city on board?

Watch U.S. Conference of Mayors Highlights

Philadelphia (Public) Schools Benefit from Wireless Computer Access

Philadelphia schools reap Wi-Fi benefits
Matt Hamblen


December 06, 2007 (Computerworld) Just as the Philadelphia public schools are starting to reap the benefits of a $40 million Wi-Fi project that puts wireless Internet access within reach of 170,000 students, an upgrade to new 802.11n technology is being contemplated for next fall.

The Wi-Fi deployment to all 268 Philadelphia schools, which was finished over the summer, is considered one of the largest Wi-Fi projects anywhere on the globe, according to Meru Networks, one of the vendors that has worked with Avaya Inc. on the project.

The wireless initiative started in early 2003. Updates, including faster 802.11n technology, were expected at the outset to occur every three to four years, subject to funding and technology advances, said Bob Westall, deputy CIO for the city's School District of Philadelphia.

Wi-Fi technology over the 802.11 a/b/g specifications has been instrumental in giving "functional 1 to 1" access of computing to all students, since it allows students to use laptop computers rotated from classroom to classroom on carts, he said.

In an e-mail, Westall called Wi-Fi a "powerful foundation of technology" that supports bandwidth intensive online curriculum, a curriculum management system, digital libraries and a parent-teacher collaboration portal.

A staff of 11,000 can also access operations and administrative applications. The applications include voice, data and video media, Meru officials said.

The district spent about $40 million to wire the schools and buy Wi-Fi gear, Westall said, with about 75% of the cost subsidized by the federal E-Rate program.

Westall said the district plans to incorporate 802.11n technology during the first cycle of equipment replacement, which is expected to start next fall. He did not provide any other details on costs or a deployment schedule.

A Meru spokeswoman said that "potentially" the faster speed 802.11n technology could be installed by Meru in about 170 schools of a total of 268 over one to two years. Meru recently announced it had provisioned 90 of the schools as of last summer with 14,000 access points contained in 7,000 Meru Network Radio Switches.

That switch, the RS4000, features air traffic control technology that Meru said has been ideal for converged voice, data and video applications especially in areas with many users.

Meru officials said they were also able to use the technology to help prevent interference from nearby Wi-Fi signals emitted from equipment used by the city government for its massive municipal Wi-Fi deployment.

The project was originally started with Avaya working with Proxim Wireless Corp., which led to wiring of about 178 schools, but the district and Avaya determined that Meru's technology "would better adapt and scale to the district's needs," Westall said. Proxim could not be reached to comment.

When Meru started on the project about two years ago, 802.11n and even 802.11 Draft N had not been developed as a specification, the Meru spokeswoman added.

Phil Belanger, an analyst at Novarum Inc., said Meru has been a strong leader in promoting Draft N Wi-Fi technology. The Meru Radio Switch is innovative for providing higher bandwidth capacity in zones with many users, unlike many competitors, he added, making it a suitable implementation at the Philadelphia School District.

Cf. Philadelphia Public Schools and Wi-Fi Access.

WW I information

A good source of information on WW I and Trenches on the Web are available online.

All Quiet On the Western Front, Video Worksheet

Originally posted: Monday, January 15, 2007
U.S. Navy video hit and "All Quiet On The Western Front."

U.S. Navy video a hit on YouTube

Blogger Victoria Revay writes:
"The U.S. Navy's latest propaganda video on YouTube was the third most watched video last week on the popular video site. It even beat out videos of Lonelygirl15, Britney and Donald Trump. But what is more surprising is the debate these series of videos have started. Since the U.S. government posted an anti-drug campaign video in September [2006], debates about terrorism, the war in Iraq, the U.S. and Europe have been left in over 1,600 comments attached to the videos."
http://www.nowpublic.com/u_s_navy_video_a_hit_on_youtube

I am seeking your ideas on the question of comparing "All Quiet On The Western Front," and this more recent Navy video. The comparison is worth ten (10) points.

What is the view of the military that emerges in each visual presentation?
U.S. Navy video

"All Quiet on the Western Front," Film Worksheet

Name: ____________________________________________________ Per.: _____

The film "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a classic Hollywood adaptation of Erich Remarque's novel. It takes a hard look at the tragedy of war using World War I as its backdrop. You may use the back of this sheet to answer the questions.

As you watch the movie, please answer the following questions:

1. What is the title of this film?

2. When was the novel written?

3. Who wrote the original novel?

4. Why did the students join the Army?

5. What job or occupation did the mailman (Himmelstoess) have?

6. Was he particularly cruel to these recruits? Give an example.

7. How did the solders get back at Himmelstoess?

8. How were conditions at the Western Front different from their expectations in training camp?

9. What was the impact of the shelling on the new recruits?

10. What happened after the bombardment?

11. What happened to Kemmerich's boots?

12. How did the doctors' react to Kemmerich's plight?

13. What sport did Kemmerich participate in before the war?

14. In the attack, what effect did the machine gun have on the recruit's ideas of the glory of war and individual heroism?

15. How many of the company died in this first battle?

16. How do you know?

17. Why were they able to eat so well finally?

18. In this film, what is Kat’ “baptism?”

19. During the war, is "God still in his heaven?"

20. Why was Kat going to shoot the new recruit?

21. What does the arrival of many coffins signal?

22. What was the pattern of a battle? What preceded the attack? What followed it?

23. What is Kat's rank?

24. During the war, which is a better weapon, a bayonet that the recruits got in training, or the shovel (spade) they got on the battlefield?

25. What is the Vocabulary word that describes the horrible things that happen during war?

26. How was Sgt. Himmelstoess received when he arrived at the front?

27. What do the men want Himmelstoess to jump into?

28. What is a latrine?

29. How did Himmelstoess react to battle conditions?

30. What happened to Paul Baumer when he found himself in a shell hole in No Man's Land with the French soldier?

31. Was it more difficult for Paul to kill the French soldier in the foxhole? Why or why not?

32. Why does Paul ask for forgiveness?

33. Who got a medal for his actions during battle? Paul or Himmelstoess?

34. Why did the French girls - ostensibly the enemy - accept the German soldiers?

35. After four years of war, how has the German home front been affected? Were there still the parades, crowded streets, and joyous sounds of going off to war?

36. What were the attitudes of the men in the beer hall? Did the men think Germany was losing the war? Were they willing to listen to what Paul had to say?

37. How does Paul Baumer confront his former teacher?

38. What was a Catholic infirmary (hospital) known for?

39. What does it indicate if the orderlies take a hospital patient’s clothes?

40. After Paul is wounded, what did his fellow patient, Albert, try do do?

41. What did Albert ask for?

42. What was he going to do with this item?

43. How has the company changed during Paul's absence?

44. How many students were in Paul’s class in high school? How many students from Paul’s class died in the war?

45. How many went missing?

46. How many went to the “nut house?”

47. When Paul writes, what is his “real home?”

48. When Paul meets with Kemmerich’s mother, does he lie to her? Why or why not?

49. What is ironic about the date of Kat's and Paul's deaths? [Note: The war ended on November 11, 1918.]

50. Describe the attitude of this movie towards World War I and all wars.





Extra Credit
Design a German WW I propaganda poster. Examples may be found at (and there is one class example by Eddie Lantigua): http://www.worldwar1.com/posters.htm.