Hitler inspecting one of Albert Speer's designs.

In the first third of Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Albert Speer presents the diaries of his time in prison as a criminal of war, which allow a glimpse into the troubled psyche of Hitler's Minister of Armament as he struggles with his guilt and responsibility of the Nazis' atrocities. The journals mark the time from his sentence in the Nuremberg trials to the end of his 20 year sentence. Speer writes as he's going through his struggle, and we see his attempt to cope with his responsibility for the Holocaust. In the Nuremberg trials, he told the court that even though he didn't even know about the killings, any official of a regime must take at least partial responsibility for all of the regime's actions. Speer reflects often on the personal qualities of Hitler, recounting in detail conversations of his with Hitler, which explain to some degree how so many people followed him. Speer struggles internally with this and frequently asks himself in his journal how he couldn't see the signs of Hitler's atrocities in the moment. Speer also tells of the daily occurrences of life in the jail. Although it is freezing and they are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, the men don't complain excessively. The prisoners are allowed books, paper and pens, and magazines to keep themselves entertained. The author also reminds the reader on occasion that his family has it off much worse than he.When Christmas time, he gets no presents, other than pieces of cut paper from his children, and the other prisoners share with him from their packages. Speer concludes the section not much different than he began, still questioning his own guilt, pondering Hitler, and still being anxious about being moved to a Russian jail.

Speer, Albert, Clara Winston, and Richard Winston. Spandau, the Secret Diaries. London: Fontana, 1977. Print.

Survey on war

Survey

Discussion Question #3

Discuss whether the climax has already passed with Mcwatt's killing of Kid Sampson.

Although the author uses confusing chronology, the story has not yet reached its climax. Mcwatt flying into Kid Sampson is a crucial point in the novel, as it brings home to the men the fact of death in the war. However, it is a tool to set up more conflicts in the book, and not as the climax of the novel. For instance, Kid Sampson's death set up existential trouble for Doc Daneeka because he was falsely written on the flight log, and thus considered dead. "'Doc Daneeka's up there, too.' 'I'm right here,' contended Doc Daneeka, in a strange and troubled voice, darting an anxious look at Sergeant Knight" (Heller 338-339). This quote is from the group on the beach watching as Mcwatt kills Kid Sampson and then himself. From this point, nobody seems to acknowledge Doc, which is obviously setting up some bigger conflict. Mcwatt's mistake can't be the climax of the book because it is used as a plot device to set up bigger conflicts.

Catch-22 Discussion Question

Discuss the significance of the man in white and what he represents.

Faceless man - how bureaucracy seems us
according to Catch-22

In the book Catch-22 by Josef Heller, the man in white, while not a major character, is used as a tool to establish and reinforce a few of the book's major themes including seeming worthlessness of man in war and the inefficiency of bureaucracy in war. The man in white is first introduced while Yossarian is in the hospital in the beginning of the book. The man was sneaked into Yossarian's ward in the middle of the night while everyone was sleep. Covered completely from head to toe in white wrappers, none of the men in the ward know anything about the man in white. Yossarian describes the man in the first chapter:

"Sewn into the bandages over the insides of both elbows were zippered lip through which he was fed clear liquid from a clear jar. A silent zinc pipe rose from the cement on his groin and ... carried waste from his kidneys and dripped it efficiently into a clear, stoppered jar on the floor. When the jar on the floor was full, the jar feeding his elbow was empty, and the two were simply switched quickly so that the stuff could drip back into him. All they ever really saw of the soldier in white was a frayed black hole over his mouth" (Heller 4).

A stop motion, artistic video depicting the man in white's story.

The men in the hospital ward were all terrified of the man in white. He is intended to highlight how men are viewed by bureaucracy as dispensable. The man in white remains faceless and nameless, a direct symbolization of the lack of individual from the viewpoint of bureaucracy. Later in the book, it is hypothesized by Yossarian and others that there might not even be a man in there at all. Months after this man dies, another man in head to toe bandages is brought in. The second man is treated the same as the first, which leads the men to believe that it is the same person inside. The man remains representative of the worthlessness of the individual to a government in war. He remains a mystery; even whether or not he's alive is a mystery. He symbolizes bureaucracy's apathy toward the life of individuals in an attempt to push them through the system and secure a win for the bureaucracy.

War Ad

War

Glendale School District's Online Student Monitoring

Political cartoon in response to Glendale Unified School
District's new monitoring policies

Recently, the Glendale School District in Los Angeles made a decision to start monitoring their students' online activity, a decision which ended up sparking a nationwide debate.They will monitor students by contracting a private company called Geo Listening, which will monitor the public feeds of students' social media. The company scans for such things as controlled substances, self-harm, disruption of class, hazing, hate speech, and racism, among other things. The school justifies this with the fact that it's posted publicly, saying, "...if they are advertising it in the public domain, it's no different than if they're standing in front of a teacher." Geo Listening stresses that it does not violate any privacy laws. Personally, I agree with student Young Cho, who said, "We all know social media is not a private place... but it is not the same as being in school." The argument of the students is all the same. The monitoring is an invasion of privacy, legal or not. The students don't see the school's power as extending any further than school campus. I understand that the school's job is to educate and keep students safe, but when taken off campus, I believe it's a little too far.

Self-promoting chart on Geo Listening's website

If this were to happen at San Ramon, I think many kids and parents would protest. Let's face it, kids do things on their own time that many teachers wouldn't approve of, but at high school age the kids' have to be accountable for themselves. The schools don't need to "protect" kids from their own decisions, nor be actively searching for things to get the students in trouble for. On campus, children are under the care of the school, but off campus they or their parents are responsible. The school's chief job is to educate, and I believe we should worry about fixing our education system before attacking the privacy of students.

If you are interested in learning more, here is just one of many videos on the subject:

Animal Farm Discussion Groups

The first discussion my group had, on Tuesday the 3rd, went well, but there were many things we could improve on both as a group and as individuals. My personal goal for improvement was greater preparation for the second discussion. This includes both a better understanding of the reading, with important passages marked, but also a better discussion question to lead to a deeper conversation. I think I did well fulfilling these goals, as I came with a question which lead to a very in depth analysis and opinionated discussion. I also had bookmarked places of import within the chapters. As a group, our first discussion was very much unequal in terms of contribution as well as having several awkward silences. These too improved for our second discussion; everyone not only participated, but had something thoughtful to add to the conversation. We also talked almost the entire time, going well over the timer for almost every segment. The only thing we could really improve on is staying on topic, as our conversation did wander off a few times. To fix this, we just need to be reminded the question we're discussing by one of the members whenever we start drifting off.