OVERVIEW
There are two main requirements for this quarter:
1. An extensive research essay on a controversy related to World War II
2. Reading a WWII-related book to discuss with members of a book group and to complete a packet of questions and activities related to the book.
3. There is also weekly homework, generally 2-4 readings with short answer questions. These are posted on Classroom on Fridays, due the following Friday.
1. An extensive research essay on a controversy related to World War II
2. Reading a WWII-related book to discuss with members of a book group and to complete a packet of questions and activities related to the book.
3. There is also weekly homework, generally 2-4 readings with short answer questions. These are posted on Classroom on Fridays, due the following Friday.
RESEARCH ESSAY
The research essay will primarily be done in class
This is not an open-ended research essay, but research about a topic of WWII that could be argued more than one way. Students have chosen from topics pre-determined by me which are available on the link below. Students have been repeatedly warned about not searching images related to the Holocaust, reading comments sections on almost any site related to WWII or Nazis, and the controversies that may cause emotional distress are marked and have been reviewed in class. Please review the topic your child has chosen to write about, so you can track if they are being affected by the horrific man's inhumanity to man that can accompany certain topics of WWII. Expectations for this essay are: 1. Using a variety of sources, research the topic to gain enough understanding to decide which side of the controversy to support and comfortably make a claim. (Research must include books to be proficient). 2. Introductory paragraph(s): Assume the reader knows nothing of this topic. What background information is necessary before making a claim? 3. Supporting/Evidence paragraphs: Well-developed paragraphs that explain major supports for the claim. Evidence should include: a. Data (numbers) b. Primary sources: quoted material from first-hand accounts, government documents, letters, anecdotes, material from the time period. c. Facts, notable personalities d. Analysis of the evidence 4. Recognition of the counter argument 5. Conclusion. Relevance and larger meaning. Why is this topic still controversial? Why should readers care about this? What can we still learn/use/improve from this information? 6. Bibliography. This needs to be MLA style, as much as possible, but students will use Easybib or BibMe to create the entries, rather than spending time writing tedious entries. BooK CLUBSStudents have chosen a WWII-related novel, memoir or non-fiction book, that comes with an extensive packet of questions and activities that I have written to accompany each book. The packets are online, or available for printing.
Expectations for the book club book 1. The members of book groups will create and manage a schedule of chapters to read and answer in the packet for each Tuesday and Thursday meeting. The goal is to complete the entire book and packet by March 3. 2. Book clubs will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for part of the period to review answers to the chapters they assigned. The reading and packet for that reading must be complete and available for use during the book club for students to receive a proficient grade for this. A missing or unfinished packet assignment is a U. Parents will receive a phone call after the second U. 3. Most of the kids are using a google doc or texting to maintain communication between meetings, so your child should be able to tell you what their book club assignment is for each Tuesday and Thursday. Book Club selections Bomb Code Talker Dawn of Fear Diary of Anne Frank Farewell to Manzanar Hiroshima Left for Dead Night No Pretty Pictures The Book Thief The Boy in the Striped Pajamas The Hiding Place Unbroken |
Controversies Relating to WWII that Students may Choose
Events leading up to the war The victors of World War I (England, France, US) were/were not to blame for conditions in Germany that led to the rise of Hitler and WWII. Related ideas: The Treaty of Versailles, punishing countries for starting wars, how the Marshall Plan at the end of WWII was an attempt to avoid repeating this The US government did/did not have advanced knowledge that the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor. The US was right/wrong to participate in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Christians, particularly in Europe, particularly the Catholic Church and the Vatican, did/did not have a positive role leading up to the Holocaust or during it to help Jews. Related ideas: individual actions vs institutions; the history of anti-Semitism in European and Russian Christian communities. The international community/US /civilians knew/did not know about the increasing threat to Jews in Europe concentration camps and could/could not have done something. Related idea: The US had its own problem with Anti-Semitism at the time. Germany did/did not have legitimate claims to pursue ways to recover from WWI. Related idea: Germany did/did not have legitimate reasons to start WWII. Totalitarian governments do/do not have an advantage in building war technology and military (You would be looking at the war build-up in Germany and Japan to see if their type of government affected their ability to arm and wage war.) Events of or during the War The US should/should not have entered the war sooner. Related ideas: isolationism, the Great Depression in the US, the standing of the US in the world at the time was not that of a superpower The US was/was not truly neutral before joining the war. Related ideas: the relationship between US and Europe, particularly Great Britain, President Roosevelt’s interest in/connection with helping England, German bombing of England and France, German U-boats effect on trans-Atlantic travel The US did/did not “save Europe” from fascism. Related ideas: the US image of itself before and after WWII, the change in US global status WWII created a new sensibility about the US and war that affects our current culture negatively/positively. Related ideas: US as world police, Spreading democracy, war-based economy German war technology was/was not better than that of the Allies (or, you could argue that the Germans should/could not have won the war based on their technology.) Using the atomic bomb on Japan was right/wrong. Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. Development of the atomic bomb was morally right/wrong. Internment of US citizens of Japanese descent after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was/was not justified/moral. Related ideas: racism and reactionary behavior in the US vs security; minimal such action with German or Italian populations Colorado’s role in the internment of the Japanese is/is not commendable. (You could also look just at Colorado Governor Ralph Carr’s role in Camp Amache makes him a hero or not.) The behavior of the Allied forces was as bad as/better than the behavior of the Axis forces. Related ideas: firebombing of Germany (Dresden in particular), bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, German and Japanese atrocities (treatment of prisoners of war, the Holocaust, the Japanese atrocities in China). Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. The Dresden firestorm caused by incendiary bombs dropped by the US over German cities was/was not justified. Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. Someone other than the captain of the USS Indianapolis should/should not have been held accountable for the deaths of the men on board. Warning: Details for this research can be disturbing. When the Enigma code was cracked by the British, it was morally wrong/strategically correct to accept certain loss of life to keep the Germans from knowing the code was broken. The attack on the French navy by the British to prevent it from falling into German possession was right/wrong. The International community knew about and was/was not indifferent to the Holocaust, concentration camps. Related ideas: International Red Cross being duped by Nazis at Theresienstadt, role of the Vatican and other major churches, information given to governments like the US, the sheer number of concentration camps across occupied Europe, collaboration of occupied governments like France, Poland vs resistance movements in France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway The US did/did not mistreat animals in the war effort. Related: program to have people send their dogs to the war effort and what happened to those dogs The role of Muslims throughout the world was/was not helpful to Hitler. China’s role as an ally to the US is/is not sufficiently honored today. The role of or contributions to the WWII effort by (subgroup of your choice, such as: women, African American men, Asians, Mexican American women, Native Americans, etc.) are/are not sufficiently honored or understood currently. After or as a Result of the War The lives of (subgroup of your choice, such as: women, African American men, Asians, Mexican American women, Native Americans, etc.) were/were not improved by WWII and/or their contributions to the war effort. World War II led to problems/benefits for (our nation as a whole, particular subgroups like women or African Americans) today. The Marshall Plan (helping reconstruct Japan and Germany after they surrendered) was right/wrong. Related ideas: should victors pay for the economic rebuilding of countries that lost the war; non-economic aspects such as women’s rights in Japan, establishing constitutional governments, preventing Japan and Germany from having standing armies The German people should/should not have been sanctioned for supporting Hitler. The Nuremberg trials did/did not provide a satisfactory judgment on the crimes of individual Nazis. Related: psychology of sociopaths and perpetrators of mass violence In countries occupied by the Nazis, the many people who collaborated with the Nazis should/should not have been punished. Related ideas: How should the regular people who participate in crimes and murders during upheavals be held accountable? What is the psychology of perpetrators of violence who remain at large or unpunished? How many similar (but smaller) events of genocide have occurred since Nazi Germany? Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. The genocide of six million Jewish people is/is not the only or most important genocidal story of Nazi Germany. Related ideas: the other groups targeted by Nazis (physically disabled, mentally disabled, homosexuals, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Poles, intellectuals and artists) Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. There should/should not be laws against Holocaust denial and/or neo-Nazi groups. Related ideas: Free speech, fake news and propaganda, white supremacy movements in the US and worldwide, the role of racist/otherist propaganda leading up to genocidal events Governments should/should not pay reparations (money) to survivors of genocide or actions like the internment of the Japanese Americans. Related ideas: The Japanese Americans did eventually receive a small amount of money; compare this to the persistent effects of genocides in the US--slavery, purposeful extermination of Native Americans. Art stolen by the Germans and sold to unwitting individuals or institutions should/should not be returned to descendants of the original owners of those works. Individuals and corporations that economically profited from the Nazis and/or used concentration camp labor should/should not be punished. Related ideas: current laws in Germany that forbid publishing the family names of Nazis and Nazi collaborators to prevent shame to descendants; certain companies that still exist were well-known Nazi regime collaborators and profiteers (some using Nazi concentration camp labor) such as Bayer, Volkswagen, Bosch, Mercedes, BMW, Siemens, Deutsche Bank The US is/is not susceptible to a dictator like Hitler. Related ideas: homogenous versus heterogeneous cultures; the strength of government structures to resist takeover; role/power of media and propaganda; economic conditions that lead people to accept or participant in abuse of whole categories of people. Nazis as the current symbol of ultimate evil is/is not useful to getting at the roots of what allowed that evil. Related ideas: Nazi symbols in pop culture (Darth Vader), role/glorification in white supremacy movements particularly among young men and white prison populations, free speech, education, continued issues around race. The data from Nazi medical experiments should/should not be used. Warning: Details for this research can be really disturbing. The effects of WWII still reverberate positively/negatively in the US. Related ideas: US self-concept, our relationship with world structures that did not come into existence until after WWII (NATO, United Nations, World Health Organization, etc), borders changed or countries created by US/England/France that continue to cause problems (Iraq, Israel, the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia), The Cold War, communism and relations with Russia, China, even Cuba; war-based economy |