Written Tasks

1.- Interview (gotta look it up, has to be somewhere (: ) Part 1 Language and it's cultural context.
n° of word: still unknown

2.- The Letters basen on To Kill a Mockingbird, part of Part 3 literature text and context


3.- A Blog entry based on the "History of the Internet" activity. Part 2, language and mass comms

Poems

Ask me no more:

In the poem "Ask me no more", by Lord Tennyson, the theme is related to how difficult is to express feelings, that is not necessary to express it in words, there are lots of other ways to do it. Within the poem, we can realize that there's someone is asking him to tell them that he likes them, but it's to difficult for him, replying that as he can't explain natural phenomena, he can't explain what he feels. In the first stanza, he asks the inquirer not to insist, he just can't or won't give a reply, giving comparisons to natural phenomena, such as the moon's gravity. In the second stanza, his evasion towards the question is still seen, but he gives us evidence of his feeling towards the person, saying that he doesn't want to see that person dead, and sort of giving a half answer. Finally, at the third stanza, he is just reflecting in their fates, since he says that both are going to die, but he can't do anything to stop it, so as he can't express his affection towards that person. This is taken by him as a failure.

In each of this stanzas, made up of 5 verses each,we see a rhyme pattern, being the first rhyming with the fourth, and the second with the third. There are lots of repetitions used ("Ask Me No More") used at the beggining and ending of each stanza, and the first one always followed by a question. This structure is used by the poet to sort of emphasize the fact that he won't answer to that someone, so the inquirer should stop asking. In terms of tone, we see a pissed off person, obviously by a persistent person that's constantly bothering him with questions related to his feeling. Because of that annoying person, he's getting to the point of exhaustion, wanting to get rid of her.

In this poem, imageries are easy to spot, and there are lots of helpful guides within it. If we take the first three verses of the first stanza, we see descriptions of many natural phenomena:
"the moon may draw the sea; 
The cloud may stoop from heaven and take the shape, 
With fold to fold, of mountain or of cape"
Of those phenomena, little was known at those times. The fact that the reason behind those phenomena was unknown to man during those times, is used by the poet to ilustrate his situation, since he's got feelings towards that person, but since he can't explain them, they should remain a mystery.

The Kraken

In This poem, Tennyson plays with the idea of the sea monster of the same name, as a representation of fear towards death, just as much as death itself. In the poem, the monster inhabits the dark depths of the sea, and when it's enlightened, it dies. It might be a reference of "the light at the end of the tunnel", a common phrase to express death. When someone sees that "light", they realize that they're dying, so they shouldn't be afraid of death anymore, so the Kraken dies, meaning that those fears fade away. In the poem, the beast lays dormant most of the time. This might be a reference to the first stages of life, childhood and else. During those times, people doesn't realize the significance of death, so they don't fear it. As they grow, they get to know it, and that's when the beast awakens.

This poem is made up only of one stanza, which consists of 15 verses, has got different kind of rhyming throughout it. The rhyming pattern separates in three parts. The first part, which comprises the first four verses, has got an alternate pattern. In the second one, from verse five to eight, the fifth one rhymes with the eighth, and the sixth with the seventh. Part three includes verses 9 to 15, which separates in three rhymes, 9-11-15, 10-14 and 12-13.

The tone of this poem is of mystery and darkness, sort of an atmosphere that engulfs the whole poem, in order to represent the fear of death presented in this poem. For the reader to get this atmosphere, the poet uses lots of adjectives related to the depths of the ocean ("abysmal deep" and else), which are the darkest places of the earth, and are also absolutely unknown to mankind.

In terms of imagery, the poet uses the image of the kraken and it's habitat, in order to show us that the fear that everything has towards death lives within the darkest place of our minds. In the poem, the kraken represents, as a metaphor, that fear that we feel towards death, a fear that only disappears at our demise. Also, the poet describes the sponges at the creature's "home":  
"Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,"
This is used to show us how old the kraken (Fear) is, and how deep he rests, by saying that where he is, millenial sponges grow, so he lives as deep as the seas would get, since the sponges, for them to be that old, had to be at the oldest pieces of land of the sea, which are now really  deep into the ocean. Also, by refering to a sickly light, we can realize how deep it is, since it is shown that where light barely penetrates into the sea, is actually a lot closer that where the kraken lives.

Flower in the Crannied Wall

In this poem, we can see how Tennyson reflects upon the industrialization his country is passing through, by showing the struggle between nature and the industrial man. We see that in the poem, he sees a flower, struggling to survive in a crannied wall. In the poem, he plucks it out, literally killing it. As he sees the flower's life fading away, he realizes how powerful man is, because they can extinguish life that easily, As he gets this idea, he simultaneously realizes the power God has got over mankind, and over every little creature. This whole analysis can be evidenced at the only stanza it's got.

This poem, made of six verses, has a rhyming pattern of 1-5, 3-4, but shows rhyming as unimportant, keeping the poem as simple as possible. This poem's tone is of it being a mere reflection of mankind's effort to destroy nature (possibly Tennyson's thoughts of the industrialization of the UK at his times.):
"Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, "

This here shows a flower, an image of life and nature, and how it struggles to live in an artificial, man-created place, a wall, and how man kills it,sort of showing man's responsabilyty and power over the subject, as he holds it in his hand seeing how it dies, and reflecting on why did he plucked it out, why did he killed it, and of the power he's got to take something elses life with ease. This is one of the images that also shows us the tone of the poem.

Along with the recently shown, there's another imagery presented in the poem, of how he reflects upon how little we understand about nature, And a self reflection of the relationship between the two and with God:

"Little flower—but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, all in all,
I should know what God and man is."

In these three verses, the poet thinks that if we get to know nature a little bit and actually understand it's importance in the world, we would finally understand the relationship it has with us, and the true meaning of our existence and of God's intentions with mankind.

Crossing The Bar

In this poem, the main theme is the journey from life to death, being the bar a symbol representing the barrier that separates the two. When he "sets out to sea", being the sea the said journey, being dragged towards the bar by the tide, dragged towards the "boundless deep" a deep that could reference the non-existence, because he says that it would become his home once again. Then, he realizes that this journey is one way only, there's no way back, and asks that there would be no sadness or a mere farewell. At the end, he hopes to meet his maker, face to face, to finally rest in peace.

In the first stanza, there's a figure at the beginning. Sunset could mean that he's approaching the end of his days. He then hears death's calling, so he sets out to sea, embarking into the journey to his final rest. This could be a reference of the greek myth of Charon, because he took people to Hades in his boat. In the second stanza, he states that the tide is dragging him forward, forcefully and aggressively, evidencing it in the sound and foam. He is dragged towards a "boundless deep", meaning the non-existence, materially speaking, or it could also mean oblivion, since he is going there again. In the next stanza he evidences the end of his life by comparing it to the night and day, meaning that he is reaching the "night of his life", and refering to death again by portraying it as the dark, and meaning that there's nothing further on ("and after that the Dark!"). He also pleads for no sadness at his passing, when he embarks to his final journey. Finally, he states that when he has passed into the afterlife, or the dark, he will meet his maker, showed as a Pilot, and says farewell to his existence and to the world.

The poem is made of four stanzas of four verses each. In every stanza, there's an alternate rhyming pattern. In terms of tone, it is like some sort of story-telling and self reflection of dying:
"Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,"

Here we see the poem's rhyming and the tone, since through this stanza he refers to death calling on the evening of hid life, sort of the end of his life, and the journey towards death, that could be agonizing.

Among other imageries in the poem, we see at the end and imagery of an encounter of the poet with God (the Pilot):

"I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar."

This is a sort of reference of him rising to the Heavens when he as crost the bar, being the bar a metaphor of the line between life and death.

Duet

This poem's theme is related to love, especially of how love comes from within. It's basically a Q&A, between two subjects, obviously the reason why this poem is called a Duet. These two subjects could be two parts of a whole, of only one person, meaning an inner battle, or a monologue based on what he feels.

 In the first question, he asks about what he's hearing, thinking that it is a whispering wind coming from the pines, but the counterpart says that it's actually a voice coming from the deep. This could mean that he is reflecting about a feeling that he doesn't recognize yet, and is confused about what it really is. It could be love, he's not aware of it yet. This situation could be related to a new encounter with this feeling, because he's showing his lack of good experiences, since he doesn't know for sure how love feels, maybe because in his past he might have felt it but it came to be nothing. Then, part one asks if that voice is with another voice of the deep, a voice that he once heard accompanied with a song, both coming colourfull and filled with joy.The counterpart replies that it is love coming from the deep, so is the sun, and both of them coming up together. This might mean that love, as the sun, can light a man's life, in different ways, and both of them have to eventually rise, being represented as the sunrise of but love and obviously the sun. After the reply, part one asks if this is a love that can shape life, or shatter it to the point of demise, and the counterpart answers back saying that is a love that can bring the dead back to life, and that they should welcome him. This means that is a strong, pure love, and that he shouldn't be afraid to embrace it, since it wont hurt him. To continue, we see part one's uncertainty to let this love approach, and that it should be left aside and away from him. The counterpart disagrees to this, telling part one to relax, embrace that love and let it reign over his whole. At the end, we realize that these are parts of a same person. They are fighting about a decision on a new love, so one, the more shy and thoughtful, questions about this new love, and when he knows how it is, he shows himself reluctant to accept it, possibly because this person may have suffered heartbreaks by similar loves. On the other hand, the counterpart is more in favor of accepting this love, probably being this the most naive and emotional part of the person.

This is a poem made of one stanza and 20 verses. Theres one repetition of a couple of verses (verses 9 & 10 - verses 19 & 20 [would eventually be counted as rhyming]) The tone is of self debate, since he is having second thoughts about a new love, but one part of his inner self is telling him to go forwards, but at the same time, another part is asking why, sort of having both parts of himself struggling to make a decision:
"1. Keep him away from the lone little isle.
Let us be, let us be.
2. Nay, let him make it his own, let him
reign in it - he, it is he,
Love that is born of the deep coming
up with the sun from the sea."

Here we see the struggle between the two parts, therefore, the tone of the poem.

In terms of imagery, we see how he refers to that feeling as wind, voices and else, coming from far away to please that person (wind from the pines overhead, voice of the deep), probably meaning that love is not created by ourselves, that it transcends our existence by being, not from us but from what surrounds us. It also refers to the warmth and light that comes with love, relating it with the sun:

"2. Love that is born of the deep coming

up with the sun from the sea."

This means that love is a source, that brightens man's life and fills it with an uncommon warmth, metaphorically speaking, and by comparing it with the sun, the literal way.

In Memoriam 3

This poem's theme is Sorrow, personified in it and referred as her throughout it. In the poem, it is shown the connection of Sorrow with death, being her as one of Death's priestesses, and a bittersweet experience, part of the grief process one faces at a given time in life. She's found whispering something that , at first, he can't hear. He gets closer and realizes she's talking about the sky and the stars, and how, if linked together, can form a web. Then he listens on how she refers to nature, a phantom, hollow and empty-handed. Finally he reflects on what to do with her, to embrace her as something good and natural to him, or crush her and remove her of his mind, like an vicious infection or poison.

The poem is made of 4 stanzas of four verses, each of those stanzas carry the same rhyming pattern, 1-4, 2-3. It's tone is mainly of despair, since he doesn't know what to do with her, to take her in, or to pluck her out of his thoughts. In terms of imagery we see how the poet imagines Sorrow to be like:
"O Sorrow, cruel fellowship,

O Priestess in the vaults of Death,
O sweet and bitter in a breath,
What whispers from thy lying lip?"

Within these verses, he portrays Sorrow as part of his deepest memories, maybe because is closely related to sad events like funerals and else, that's why he says that she is a "Priestess in the vaults of Death". He also says that Sorrow is sweet and bitter at the same time, maybe meaning that as much as it is a sad feeling, it actually help us realize the value of our losses, the sweetest that life can get is through sorrow, since it heightens positive feelings in a way we get to actually enjoy them.

News Analysis, Part II

As film-making and technologies evolved, so did the techniques used on them, to capture different perspectives, in order to achieve more in-depth connection with the people watching them. From manipulating the lights on a recording, to adding sound to the recording itself, are some of the techniques perfected nowadays in order to astonish modern public. In these fews days, we were supposed to analyze two pieces of news from two different types of news programmes. A prime-time news programme, and a News Channel. Based on the concepts studied in class, we had to identify and compare the different aspects included in the aforementioned news, to see any difference between those. The two news broadcasts used were BBC News at Six (Prime Time) and FoxNews (Obviously, 24hrs)

To begin the analysis, the news pieces are going to be analyzed in relation to a specific aspect, which is shooting and framing, that refers on how the recording of a film is made. The prime-time began with a medium shot at the correspondent, in order to give an introduction to the event itself, a car-bomb incident in Newry, Northern Ireland. Then, some long shots were shown, for the viewers to see the destruction caused by the bomb. An interview to a couple that were nearby the event, making a close up to them, to focus the viewer's attention at them. It finishes with a medium shot to a businessman that gave his opinion towards the subject of terrorist attacks. This one focuses a lot more on the peoples opinion of the event, and on portraying this terrorist strike to a specific group, the IRA. On the other hand, the 24hrs’ news that was selected, about two rescues made by a man on his holidays, there were some long-shots of the man on his boat, the driver in the river and his car, to show to the audience the place of the events, of the two rescues made by the aforementioned man. Then a medium shot (a little closed up) is used to show the rescuer, to be identified, and a long-shot at the people carrying the second injured one to the ambulance. This news piece focuses more on the awesomeness of the story, since they repeatedly show, for example, the car in the river and the rescuer.

Another aspect to analyze was Camera Angles, needless to explain. In the prime-time news, when showing the crime scene, lots of high angles are shown within the shots, to the viewer to see the  degree of destruction caused by the device, like in the case of the church, which lost each and every one of it's windows. One other type of camera angle is the eye level, in cases like the interviews shown, as a standard camera angle. Instead, in the 24hrs, there was a high angle to the driver in the river, since he was a few feet below the cameraman, and an eye-level angle to the man that rescued the driver. Also another eye-level to the second injured when being carried to the ambulance. In both cases, the angles used are part of a stardard procedure, and given by the occassion, like in the case of the high angle at the car in the river, since the only way at the time to record it was that. But nonetheless, there’s a bit of meaning in the angles used in the prime-time since they want to worsen the mess caused, by showing the place at a smaller scale, form higher ground.

Other aspect of analysis was camera movements,also needless to explain. Within the PT news, there are few camera movements, since there are many cuts in between to show enough footage. Little pan is shown, in order to show larger areas that can’t be covered by the current stance of the camera. There's a crane movement to show the white-suited people at the scene and the church. There's also a zoom in to the bomb itself, to enhance it's definition and viewer's amazement to it. Instead, in the 24hrs’ one, there's also few camera movements. It begins with a bit of non-mounted tracking, then a zoom to the man in the boat, some tilt to show the injured driver.

To continue, there’s the lighting to analyze. The PT didn’t use any lighting effects, those weren’t needed, since shots were taken at morning, and the shots that weren't, had natural lighting by the car's leftovers. Also, at the 24hrs, no lighting effects are used since both accidents occurred at midday, so there was enough light at the scenes.

One of the most important of the aspects to analyze are Editing Techniques, since those are the easiest way to identify bias. At the PT, mostly cuts are done, since their objective is to show as most content as possible, mostly because they have limited time to show every piece of news available, since it is another of the scheduled programs in the channel, not specified in news. Also, a little flashback is used to refer to another terrorist strike by dissidents 12 years ago that left 29 dead, and another one 2 years ago by the IRA. Again, as a way to focus on portraying the IRA as guilty of the bombing attempt. On the other hand, in the 24hrs, only a couple of cuts are used to show the different rescues made by the man (the second one only shows the plane's pilot being carried to the ambulance.)

Another aspect was sound, whether diegetic or not. In the first one, It was totally diegetic, since it isn't a film, but a news piece, so seriousness is required, so no background music or else is used. But, in the second case, the sound could Non-diegetic, since there's no real sound in the footage (not necessarily music), and the only sound in the video is the anchorman's voice narrating the news, which obviously can't be heard by the people in the video.

The last concept to develop was Bias. In the first case, its bias is represented in how they manage this piece of news, only showing interviews about their disgust towards this terrorist strikes (second one) or about people affected by the explosion, and cutting possible interviews of people supporting N. Ireland's emancipation from the UK. That's mainly because it is a British news channel, so naturally it has to show it country's interests overall. On the second one, since there's mostly footage of the story, bias can be attached to the anchorman's narration, since he emphasizes the humor of the situation, mainly because the man that made the rescues was on holiday leave with his family, and also the feat accomplished by the man.

I can conclude with the fact that prime time news favor time over content, since them have a lot less time to present than others (like a 24hr News broadcast). In the other hand 24hr news try to capture the viewers' interest with more humorous comments or developments of irony on their storys, maybe because of the fact that they have to transmit on a 24 hour basis, so they have to get as much audience as possible, since they only rely on news to maintain the channel "rolling".

News Analysis

As film-making and technologies evolves, so did the techniques used on them, to capture different perspectives, in order to achieve more in-depth connection with the people watching them. From manipulating the lights on a recording, to adding sound to the recording itself, are some of the techniques perfected nowadays in order to astonish modern public. In these fews days, we were supposed to analyce two pieces of news from two different ypes of news programmes. A prime-time news programme, and a News Channel. Based on the conceps studied in class, we had to identify and compare the different aspects included in the aforementioned news, to see any difference between those.

Prime-Time News: BBC News at Six

Shots and Framing

It began with a medium shot at the correspondent, in order to give an introduction to the event itself, a car-bomb incident in Newry, Northern Ireland. Then, some long shots were shown, for the viewers to see the destruction caused by the bomb. An interview to a couple that were nearby the event, making a close up to them, to focus the viewers attention at them. It finishes with a medium shot to a businessman that gave his opinion towards the subject of terrorist attacks.

Camera Angles

When showing the crime scene, lots of high angles are shown within the shots, to the viewer to see the  degree of destruction caused by the device, like in the case of the church, which lost each and every one of it's windows. One other type of camera angle is the eye level, in cases like the interviews shown, as a standard camera angle.

Camera Movements

There are few camera movements, since there are many cuts inbetween to show enough footage. Little pan is shown, in order to show larger areas that cant be covered by the current stance of the camera. There's a crane movement to show the white-suited people at the scene and the church. There's also a zoom in to the bomb itself, to enhance it's definition and viewer's amazement to it.

Lighting

No lighting effects were needed, since shots were taken at morning, and the shots that weren't, had natural lighting by the car's leftovers.

Editing Techniques

Mostly cuts, since there objective is to show as most content as possible, mostly because they have limited time to show every piece of news available, since it is another of the scheduled programs in the channel, not specified in news. Also, a little flashbck is used to refer to another terrorist strike by dissidents 12 years ago that left 29 dead, and another one 2 years ago by the IRA.

Sound

The sound is totally diegetic, since it isn't a film, but a news piece, so seriousness is required, so no background music or else is used.

Bias

In this case, it's bias is represented in how they manage this piece of news, only showing interviews about their disgust towards this terrorist strikes (second one) or about people affected by the explosion, and cutting posible interviews of people supporting N. Ireland's emancipation from the UK. That's mainly because it is a British news channel, so naturally it has to show it country's interests overall.

24 Hrs News Channel: FoxNews

Shots and Framing

In the news I chose, there were some long-shots of the man on his boat, the driver in the river and hids car, to show to the audience the place of the events, of the two rescues made by the aforementioned man. Then a medium shot (a little closed up) is used to show the rescuer, to be identified, and a long-shot at the people carrying the second injured to the ambulance.

Camera Angles

There was a high angle to the driver in the river, since he was a few feet below the cameraman, and an eye-level angle to the man that rescued the driver. Also another eye-level to the second injured when being carried to the ambulance.

Camera Movements

There's also few camera movements. It begins with a bit of non-mounted tracking, then a zoom to the man in the boat, some tilt to show the injured driver.

Lighting

No lighting effects are used since both accidents occurred at midday, so there was enough light at the scenes.

Editing Techniques

A couple of cuts are used to show the diferent rescues made by the man (the second one only shows the plane crash's pilot being carried to the ambulance.)

Sound

It can be Non-diegetic, since there's no real sound in the footage, and the only sound in the video is the anchorman's voice narrating the news, which obviously cant't be heard by the people in the video.

Bias

Since there's mostly footage of the story, bias can be attached to the anchorman's narration, since he emphasizes the humor of the situation, mainly because the man that made the rescues was on holiday leave with his family, and also the feat accomplished by the man.

I can conclude with the fact that prime time news favor time over content, since them have a lot less time to present than others (like a 24hr News broadcast). In the other hand 24hr news try to capture the viewers' interest with more humorous comments or developments of irony on their storys, maybe because of the fact that they have to trasmit on a 24 hour basis, so they have to get as mch audience as possible, since they only rely on news to mantain the channel "rolling".

News Channels

Here is the 24 hr Tv News Channel, Fox News:
http://video.foxnews.com/
And the prime-time one, BBC One at Six:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvr-zUdbX9w&feature=related

Remediation Homework

Within this entry, I'm presenting a Cmap, as a remediation of the "History of The Internet" video

Fatelessness Chapter Six Presentation

This was the presentation made for the Further Oral Activity. I had to do a multimedia presentation, and here it is

Also, I had to show a couple of videos related to the theme in which I based my presentation, about how the Jewish prisoners were treated within Concentration camp
"A Small Pile of Hinges"
"Amon Goeth Shoots Liesek"

Chapter 6 Summary

This chapter begins with Georg's arrival to Zeitz, giving a little comparison between there and Auschwitz, like the train ride there. Next, Georg describes the Latvians he saw. He knew they were Latvians because of the letter L in their jackets, and that they were from the country's capital, Riga. These Latvians escape later on, and everyone gets called on Appell as punishment. Later on, He tries to trade with the Yiddish, expecting to get something more to eat rather than bread and coffee. From this trades, he got a bowl of potato scraps, a lot more that he would have expected, since he was treated by the Yiddish as a non-Jew. Among the important things that happenned in this chapter, there is the beating he got from a Todt (Yellow overalled serviceman).

Fatelessness Chapter 6 Presentation

Here it is, my powerpoint presentation about Nazi treatment towards overall concentration camp's population
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?pe492c6fqqx89yl
Also, I'd like to share the videos I used in this presentation
"A Small pile of Hinges"
"Amon Goeth Shoots Liesek"

Fatelessness: Chapter 2

 

1.- What characters are introduced?
Uncles Willie and Lajos


2.- Choose two characters and select a quote to describe them physically and psychologically
Uncle Lajos: psychologically; page 29, 1st paragraph
Annamarie: psychologically; page 33, 1st paragraph


3.- What is the narrative technique? Provide evidence
1st person and shown throughout the chapter, by mentioning himself as I and not as another character.


4. Describe the setting of this chapter
Summer, workplace, Fleichmann’s place, Georg’s place, war time.


Analyze the following quote (p.28)


"The workplace is in Csepel at a company called The "Shell Petroleum Refinery Works" As a result, I have actually acquired a privilege of sorts, since under any other circumstances those wearing  yellow stars are prohibited from traveling outside the city limits. I, however, was handed legitimate identity papers, bearing the official stamp of the war production commander, which provide that i "may cross the Csepel customs borderline."


What can you say about the perspective and mood of the narrator in this extract, and how is it in contrast with the title of the book?
In this situation, the narrator feels empowered at the moment he got the identity papers, because these papers allowed him to trespass city limits, so he get the feeling that he is no longer controlled and repressed (but he still is). This is a brief moment of hope in the narrator’s story, so it represents a contrast to the book’s title, because, to himself, he is no longer fateless

Concentration Camps

After September 1939, with the beginning of the Second World War, concentration camps became places where millions of ordinary people were enslaved as part of the war effort, often starved, tortured and killed. During the War, new Nazi concentration camps for "undesirables" spread throughout the continent. According to statistics by the German Ministry of Justice, about 1,200 camps and subcamps were run in countries occupied by Nazi Germany, while theJewish Virtual Library estimates that the number of Nazis camps was closer to 15,000 in all of occupied Europe and that many of these camps were created for a limited time before being demolished. Camps were being created near the centers of dense populations, often focusing on areas with large communities of Jews, Polish intelligentsia, Communists or Roma. Since millions of Jews lived in pre-war Poland, most camps were located in the area ofGeneral Government in occupied Poland, for logistical reasons. The location also allowed the Nazis to quickly remove the German Jews from within the German proper. In 1942, the SS built a network of Extermination camps to systematically kill millions of prisoners by gassing. The extermination camps(Vernichtungslager) and death camps (Todeslager) were camps whose primary function was genocide. The Nazis themselves distinguished between concentration camps and the extermination camps. The British intelligence service had information about the concentration camps, and in 1942 Jan Karski delivered a thorough eyewitness account to the government.

Internees

The two largest groups containing prisoners in the camps, both numbering in the millions, were the Polish Jews and the Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) held without trial or judicial process. Large numbers of Roma (or Gypsies), ethnic Poles, political prisoners, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholic clergy, Eastern European intellectuals and others (including common criminals, as declared by the Nazis). In addition, a small number of Western Allied aviators were sent to concentration camps as spies. Western Allied POWs who were Jews, or whom the Nazis believed to be Jewish, were usually sent to ordinary POW camps; however, a small number were sent to concentration camps under antisemitic policies.

Sometimes the concentration camps were used to hold important prisoners, such as the generals involved in the attempted assassination of Hitler; U-boatCaptain-turned-Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller; and Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who was interned at Flossenbürg on February 7, 1945, until he was hanged on April 9, shortly before the war’s end.

In most camps, prisoners were forced to wear identifying overalls with colored badges according to their categorization: red triangles for Communists and other political prisoners, green triangles for common criminals, pink for homosexual men, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, black for Gypsies and asocials, and yellow for Jews.

Treatment

After 1942, many small subcamps were set up near factories to provide forced labour. IG Farben established a synthetic rubber plant in 1942 at Monowitz concentration camp (Auschwitz III); other camps were set up next to airplane factories, coal mines and rocket propellant plants. Conditions were brutal and prisoners were often sent to the gas chambers or killed if they did not work quickly enough.

In the early spring of 1941, the SS – along with doctors and officials of the T-4 Euthanasia Program – introduced the Action 14f13 programme meant for extermination of selected concentration camp prisoners. The Inspectorate of the Concentration Camps categorized all files dealing with the death of prisoners as 14f, and those of prisoners sent to the T-4 gas chambers as 14f13. Under the language regulations of the SS, selected prisoners were designated for "special treatment (German: Sonderbehandlung) 14f13". Prisoners were officially selected based on their medical condition; namely, those permanently unfit for labor due to illness. Unofficially, racial and eugenic criteria were used: Jews, the handicapped, and those with criminal or antisocialrecords were selected. For Jewish prisoners there was not even the pretense of a medical examination: the arrest record was listed as a physician’s “diagnosis”. In early 1943, as the need for labor increased and the gas chambers at Auschwitz became operational, Heinrich Himmler ordered the end of Action 14f13.Many of the prisoners died in the concentration camps through deliberate maltreatment, disease, starvation, and overwork, or were executed as unfit for labor. Prisoners were transported in inhumane conditions by rail freight cars, in which many died before reaching their destination. The prisoners were confined to the boxcars for days or even weeks, with little or no food or water. Many died of dehydration in the intense heat of summer or froze to death in winter. Concentration camps also existed in Germany itself, and while they were not specifically designed for systematic extermination, many of their inmates perished because of harsh conditions or were executed.

After much consideration, the extermination of the Jewish prisoners (the “Final Solution”) was announced to high ranking officials at the Wannsee Conferencein 1942.

 

Towards the end of the war, the camps became sites for medical experiments. Eugenics experiments, freezing prisoners to determine how downed pilots were affected by exposure, and experimental and lethal medicines were all tried at various camps. Female prisoners were routinely raped and degraded in the camps.

Nazi Propaganda

 

What political message(s) are these pictures trying to convey?

 These images are trying to show and spread the Nazi Ideology, by tempting the German population with the "benefits" that came along the Nazist "lifestyle", like a car accessible to all, a communist and Jewish-free world, and that the Nazis will finally bring absolute peace to the world.

What image of Germans are these pictures trying to convey?

These images are trying to portray Germany as a solid, idealistic nation, united under the same banner, the Nazi faction. 

How do they portray this image? 

Through portraits of their leader, Hitler, which is used as an inspirational model, and also as shown in the picture "Sower of Peace", depicted as a peacekeeper and the face of a brighter future. This and much more were used to attract people to folow his ideal, the party's ideals.

What colors are used?

Depends on the message tried to deliver. There are some pictures that show mostly light colours, because they are trying to present an atmosphere of happyness or related to. The others that present dark colours or black and white, are made this way to strike the viewer with a strong message (like the political campaign, for example)

How do the people look?

It also depend on the message. If they're trying to refer to themselves (German Nazis), they only show carefre, happy people. If it is about thier ideology or their leader, people are shown serious and devoted to their work. Sad and gloomy ambiances are shown when refering to Jewish population and communists

What characteristics of these men are similar?

They're mostly people of global importance (like Hitler or Stalin)

How do the artists convey these characteristics? 

By exalting the person's characteristics, like a posture that inspires power or dominance, or on his facial gestures, among others

Homework

1.-

1. The victims are the Jews, obviously.
2. The perpetrators are the Nazis.
3. The bystanders are the rest of Germany, those who didn't belong to neither parties

2.- Among the important factors that determined your "alignment" to one of these "factions", I may highlight race or nation, because if someone belonged to the Jewish community, he should be immediately be considered a victim. To split the rest of the German population, it should be considered political affinity, because there were Nazis and common Germans, so if considering his/her political affinity, one could determine whether he/she should be considered a perpetrator or a bystander.

3.- The largest group should be n°3, the bystanders. The term "Silent Majority" is appliable in this case because common German folk acted (ironically) as bystanders, just watching as they pass by through their common lifes, not helping neither side.

4.- Practically none, because of Nazi oversight, the bystanders were terrified enough to not try to interact with the Jews. There should have been a bit of help towards the Jews, in matters of supplying, housing, among others

5.- The Jewish couldn't use their passports (forced to stay), didn't own a proper place to live. They were stripped of all kinds of possessions, but more importantly, they were stripped of their freedom.

6.- Mansions, the consul, commitee, public meeting, politicians, the old yew and the birds singing in the trees. All of this are mere references to State bureaucracies, or at least related to the subject.

7.- A refugee is simply an innocent fugitive (most of the times). They are forced to be always on the run, hidding and seeking shelter, and they are being pursued by someone or something. In my opinion, someone might become a refugee at their own home. This is generally caused by social pressure, because when someone is mistreated by society for being different, this person gradually adopts this kind of behavior, fearing society and using their own home as a shelter to protect themselves with.