All Quiet 14 - Death of a Soldier - Group Work Chapter 9
"Today you, tomorrow me. But if I come out of it...I will fight against this, that has struck us both down; from you, taken life--and from me--? Life also. I promise you, comrade. It shall never happen again."
All Quiet on the Western Front - Death of a Soldier - Group Work (Chapter 9) : Having just come off of a Vertext Whole Class Discussion - it makes sense to get students into small groups. Especially given the intimacy of Chapter 9. There are two things that happen in Chapter 9 that especially lend themselves to smaller groups: 1) Paul killing, by hand, Gerard Duval - and the aftermath of that act; and 2) Paul making it back to his own trenches only to see a sniper cold-heartedly shooting enemy soldier after enemy soldier - and the discussion that ensues from that act about the varying degrees of morality within the world of the "front". Please see my page on Group Work for more on how and why it is given so often in my classroom.
Lesson Overview
As always the class begins with a quiz. Reminder: Grade or glance through the quizzes right away - students that have not done the reading, should not be in a group. They can finish their reading in class and do the Group Work for homework (in addition to whatever reading is assigned). In this particular Group Work - I let the students know (we may have a shortened period) that they can get together on their own (in my classroom - lunch or before school) and finish their work.
Please see the actual Group Work below for precisely what's in it and my page on Group Work for more of the "why" do it. Here are some of the points that the Group Work goes over.
Some main points of the Group Work
I give the students four quotes from the chapter to connect with what's come earlier.
A literary illusion to the death of Christ with the death of Gerard Duval.
The movement of the abstractions of war and violence into the realm of the real.
The metaphor of sand and soil - men and columns...
Paul desiring a sense of purpose.
A comparison between Chapter 9's killing of Gerard with Tim's killing of the fair young man inThe Things They Carried. An appropriate excerpt from that book is given on the back of the Group Work.
How Chapter 7 & 8 prepares the reader for Paul landing in "no-man's land".
The difference between what Paul did (a hand-to-hand killing) and that of a sniper. Complete with the song "Sky Pilot"
Of course there is much more in the actual Group Work.
Row Reading for Chapter 9
For my comments on the pertinent rows - please see the next lesson which is a Row Reading of Chapters 9 & 10 For more on how to conduct a Row Reading Discussion - please go to this page on Class Discussions.
Remote Enhancements
Group Works are great for Remote Learning - but they do take a lot of logistical preparation. You can also do the Row Reading - which I've also posted here. See the illustration to the left for how to manage Row Reading, remotely.
Music played today
The music we play in class - when the students get to (the first group to get there should let you know) question 6 is "Sky Pilot" by Eric Burdon and The Animals. The lyrics are on the back of the Group Work - and the reasoning for its inclusion are in question 6 of that Group Work.
All Quiet Chapter 9 & 10 (part 1) - The Idyll - Row Reading Discussion: We go over Chapter 9 - though they have done it in groups - there are parts we need to talk about together. And we go over the first part of Chapter 10 (and that's what the quiz is on). Once again - like the French girls - we see Paul and the men enjoying an idyll (it's even called that in the novel). Time off - parts of the reading actually have the students (and their teacher) in laughter.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
All Quiet on the Western Front 13 - Chapter 7 to 8 Vertext Discussion
Thoughts on the Lesson
The death of Gerard Duval is a pivital point in the novel - and in the students' reading. For so much of the book - the "enemy" has been such an abstract idea - and now like Paul, we come face to face with him - and the words from Chapter 8, "a word of command has made these men the enemy" now come into fruition.