All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.”
Erich Maria Remarque
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque: I taught this book every year that I taught World Literature. And while it may seem overkill to do this novel right after The Things They Carried, both of these books do analyze war and humanity from two very different perspectives. The overriding theme for teaching this book, for me, was: "How do you write about war without romanticizing it?" As good as The Thing Things They Carry is - I feel that this book does a better job of achieving just that (though not perfect, as you will find out when you get to the story of the man of the man on the bus).
I also believe this book and the previous one compliment each other wonderfully. This story is written by a German - the "enemy" - though it is quite interesting that most students think he is American until it is explicitely pointed out that he is not. That in itself makes this book teaching time and time again.
One last thing - there was a movie made from this book a few years ago that was just horrible (though it was nominated for an Academy Award). I missed the greatest thing that this book does - and here I'm quoting from William Ruehlmann who wrote one of the great books on Journalism (that I used in my World Literature Journalism class for years). Here's his quote: "If you want to tell the story of an army - tell the story of a single soldier." Yes - and this book does just that.
All Quiet Bookmark with Reading Schedule: (Docx PDF) that we read with due dates and references to poems and other related material that are, then, available at a glance - It allows them to plan their time and for students that need more time for reading - they can begin early (I try to give them the bookmarks a week early. This picture to the left shows both the front and the back. Besides the due dates - this book mark also includes things to take notes on and quotes from the poems and songs we listen to beforehand.
This story about a group of passengers on a train in Italy - during World War 1, is a great way to introduce students to the idea of Home vs. Front that will be so pervasive in their next novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. It is also short enough, that it can be read and discussed in a single class period. And as the icing on the cake - at the very finish of the school year, we read another story by the same author - "The Jar". There are four different ways to teach this story - that are included here: 1) Read Aloud & Discuss 2) Read silently (AP) & Discuss 3) Group Work 4) Ringmaster Teacher Led Discussion.
I am not sure - if this lesson or the next goes first. Looking them over, I can see there are advantages to going either way - and I may have switched it up over the years. Today's lesson is a traditional (well - traditional in my class) collection of poems that is read before a novel. Poems & Songs that are related thematically to what we will be reading together. Rather, than breaking the class up into small groups (partners) like we usually do for these poems - we will read them - mark them up as we read - discuss briefly and move on.
Three front-loading lessons may seem like a lot for this novel - and yet (as Leo Gursky would say) if you count the previous book, The Things They Carried - it's really four. This was the first - and I still think - most important prologue of a lesson that we do. Why does this book stand out among so many war novel? Why has it been called the greatest antiwar book of all time. I believe there is a reason - there is a very specific way to make a text "anti-war", to take away its power to romanticize. And this is the question that I want in the back of my students' heads as they read.
There are so many important things to cover (and don't forget what we've set up with those 3 prenovel classes); some of those are: how it was a good day, the power of adults over their charges, their friend Franz and his terrible predicament, and perhaps most important: The idea that there are two sets of RULES - one for the front, one for home. We will try to cover it all through Ring-master type teacher led discussion.