All Quiet on the Western Front Theme Project
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You have been following and annotating at least one theme and identifying symbols and patterns throughout the novel. Now that we have come to the end, you will complete a project that will establish meaningful connections between the novel's themes and the history and/or art of World War I. This assignment is due Thursday, February 15th, and you will have two class periods to prepare.
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You have three options for this assignment:
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1. WRITE
Write a traditional 3-5 page analytical essay which explores your theme. In this essay, I expect you to not only identify and analyze the novel's theme, but to connect your findings to history.
2. TEACH
Create a 10- to 15-minute lesson that you will deliver to the class. This is NOT merely a Google Slides show--you need to actually teach us something! Connect your lesson to the theme you followed in the novel. Prepare and practice. Lessons that are under 10 minutes or over 15 minutes will receive a significant score reduction.
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3. PERFORM
Memorize and recite a poem about WWI that was by someone who experienced the era. You will preface your recitation with an introduction to the author and an explanation of how the poem exemplifies one of the themes of the novel. Once a poem is claimed by a student, it is off the table for everyone else, so tell me your choice as soon as you can! Acceptable poems for this project:
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In Flanders Fields by John McCrae CLAIMED (A.B.)
Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
Joining the Colours by Katharine Tynan
How To Die by Siegfried Sassoon
Rendezvous by Alan Seeger
To Tony (Aged 3) (In Memory T.C.P.W) by Marjorie Wilson* CLAIMED (T.T. & K.L.)
Back by WIlfred Gibson CLAIMED (J.P.)
MCMXIV by Philip Larkin* CLAIMED (C.F. & J.G-W.)
Marching Men by Marjorie Pickthall CLAIMED (E.D.)
My Boy Jack by Rudyard Kipling
To Germany by Charles Hamilton Sorley CLAIMED (A. Ch.)
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*Asterisked poems can be recited by two students, and will share the grade as a group project. I recommend you only work with a partner that you can count on to memorize their half of the poem! Each person will need to present their own introduction to the poem before the recitation, but they can explore different themes as well as different information about the poem and author.
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