Steve Jobs's Stanford Commencement Speech

As we all know, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs died this past week. Jobs's accomplishments are massive and many, and it is impossible to imagine the modern world without his technological contributions; how many of you could live without your iPods or MacBooks?

To commemorate his life and achievements, I am posting the link to the commencement speech he gave to the graduating class of 2005 at Stanford University. You can find both the text and video of the speech here: http://tweentribune.com/content/how-live-you-die

After you read/watch his speech, consider and respond to one or more of the following prompts:

1. In your opinion, what makes this speech good/bad? Provide evidence to support your opinion.
2. After reading/watching this, what is your opinion of Steve Jobs? What about the speech made you think of him that way?
3. What about Jobs's speech made it effective as an address to students graduating from college? Why or why not?

A Commandant's View

http://www.facinghistory.org/commandants-view

This link will connect you to an interview between journalist Gitta Sereny and Franz Stangl, the commandant of the Nazi death camps Sobibor and Treblinka in Poland, who was arrested in Brazil in 1961 and was sent to Germany to be tried for the murder of 900,000 people during the Holocaust. In it, Stangl talks about how he dealt with the "liquidations" of Jews he oversaw and the affects his experiences had on him later on in his life. After you read the article, consider the following questions and post any thoughts, comments, or questions you might have.

1. After reading this article, do you think it is fair to view people like Stangl - that is, men in positions of power within the Nazi death camps - as inhuman and evil? Do Stangl's responses change your opinion of the Nazi officers? If so, why?
2. How did Stangl cope with his job at the death camps? In other words, how did he detach himself from what was really going on?
3. Based on Stangl's responses, do you think he regrets what he did? Provide evidence to back up your opinion.