Focus Questions - Set D

Mar. 27: World War I (All Quiet chs. 1-3)

*1. Who is Kantorek, and what does he stand for in the story of the war?

2. What are the differences between the four school friends and the other men in the company?

3. Who is Himmelstoss, and what sort of attitude and ideas does he represent ?

4. Who is Katczinsky, and what is his explanation for the war?

Mar. 29: World War I (All Quiet chs. 4-7; Txt: 631-40)

5. What happens to soldiers when they go to the front line? What keeps them alive?

6. What is gained after the big battle described in chapter 6?

7. Why do the younger recruits die so much faster than the more experienced men?

*8. Why is Paul so irritated by his father and his father's friends?

9. Why did he decide to lie to Kemmerich's mother?  Was it the right thing to do?

Apr. 1: All Quiet on the Western Front (All Quiet 8-12)

10. Tjaden asks "What is the war for?" What answers do the men come up with?

*11. How does his time with the dead French soldier in the shell hole change Paul's outlook on the war?

12. What is the condition of the German army in the final months of the war?

13. How and why does Paul die at the end?

Apr. 3: All Quiet in Film

*11. In what ways does the film successfully present the main themes of the novel?

12. What, if anything, in the novel is not presented well in the film?

Apr 5: Modernism and Fascism (Txt: 618-24; 673-81)

13. What are three new countries created after World War I?

14. How and why did World War I affect the political rights of women?

*15. Why did Germans think that the treaty of Versailles was unjust?

16. What were two reasons the Nazis were able win the hearts and votes of many Germans?

Apr. 8: Hot and Cold War (Txt: 681-701)

17. Offer examples of how the Nazis sought to be a cultural, and not just a political movement.

18. What was the connection between race and nationalism in the Nazi view?

19. What groups did the Nazis wish to suppress, and why?

Apr. 10: Cold War (Txt: 707-14)

20. According to the Truman Doctrine, what does the US promise to do, and how?

*21. According to Marshall, why is massive assistance to European countries in the American interest?

22. What is the main threat that both Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan was meant to meet?

23. How can the Russians argue that US aid is a plot to dominate Europe?

Apr. 12: Integrated Europe (Txt: 715-17)

*24. What are three reasons Schumann believes that the unified French/German coal and steel production will help unite Europe?

25. How does this plan compare with the political economic relations of France and Germany after World War I?

Apr. 15: European Union (Txt: 718-25)

*26. What worries the US government the most about the situation in Europe in 1956?

27. Consider why British cooperation in unified Europe would be important

28, Why would the leader of France be especially interested in preserving the integrity of the nation-state? Think of the size and history of France.

Apr. 17: 1989 (Txt: 726-733)

*29. What evidence is there that the economy and poverty was not really a factor in the democratization movements?

30. How was global communications and the language of human rights connected in the 1980s?

31. Consider the links between the authors first cause of democratization (generational change) and the fourth (end of the cold war).

Apr. 19: Past, Present, Future (Fukuyama, End of History)

32. Who and what has won the battle of history?

33. What does Fukuyama say is ending, what is not ending?

*34. What will the future be like?