All Quiet 6 - Black Pudding - A Vertext Discussion 2-3(4)
"Revenge is black pudding"
All Quiet on the Western Front - Black Pudding - A Vertext Discussion - Chapters 2-3(4) : I love Vertexts (see my page on Class Discussions). Put the quote up - have a student read it (in turn) and everyone can comment on it and have a discussion. The text starts the conversation - the students continue it. The teacher just facilitates (along with choosing the quotes - which actually come from students). I am including three Vertexts here that have some variations. The first one below is the one that I mainly used. It picks up where the Group Work from the last lesson ended. The Second Vertext is if you didn't get to the Group Work and it includes many of the ideas that the group work focused on. The third Vertext, in addition to what the first one has - goes into Chapter 4, in case you are short of time or you have a long time (Block Schedule). So many big ideas covered here, but none is bigger than the idea of the soldiers being seen as " helpless animals that are at the mercy of others.
Lesson Overview
I am including three Vertexts here that have some variations. The first one below is the one that I mainly used. It picks up where the Group Work from the last lesson ended. The Second Vertext is if you didn't get to the Group Work and it includes many of the ideas that the group work focused on. The third Vertext, in addition to what the first one has - goes into Chapter 4, in case you are short of time or you have a long time (Block Schedule). So many big ideas covered here, but none is bigger than the idea of the soldiers being seen as "horses". Helpless animals that are at the mercy of others. Please look over these and see which you want to go with - also look over the Class Discussion Page to see more on Vertexts.
Some main points covered in the Chapters 2-3 Vertext
The men are a product of their training.
The men's missing youth
The subtle connection of the men to animals that may have been missed in an initial reading
How wars should be fought
The danger of thinking to hard on "home"
Himmelstoss and the nature of power
Revenge is Black Pudding
Vertext Variation 1 - Chapts 2-3
The most often done Vertext - it picks up where the Group Work left off and ends at the end of Chapter 3.
Vertext Variation 2 - Chapts 2-3 - includes last lesson's GW
Unlike the last Vertext - this version includes the ideas and points covered in the last lesson's Group Work - in case your students did not cover that material and did not do that Group Work.
Vertext Variation 3 - Chapts 2-4 - goes thru Chapter 4
This goes one more chapter than Variation #1 - it does not include the group work material (like #2) but does include Chapter 4's discussion. This includes the comparison of the men and the horses and what happens to the young recruit.
Audio Content
"Men in a War": Performed by Suzanne Vega
I will include this again - the Vertext Variation #2 has the lyrics and it's good to play the song as the students listen. This goes with Question #5 in the Group Work. Make sure you screen this version for appropriate language and content. You know your students best. They lyrics can be found on the Group Work above.
Remote Enhancements
All of these Vertext Variations work great in remote.
Links
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Video
All Quiet 7 - Chapter 4 - The Equation: Men & Horses - A Discussion: Though the lesson is designed (usually) as a Ringmaster Teacher - the most crucial part of the class is when the students are asked to examine a single page in the book and put the pieces together: The comparison of the men to the innocent horses - and then later the horses are shown to be innocent victims - much like the poor recruit (and all of the men really) that is shown at the end of the reading.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
I've always said that I would keep teaching a book until I stopped finding new things - new connections. There are at least two very new - very important connections that were put in this Group Work the last few years that I taught it. The M & M's and their connection to Franz - and the idea of the search from Candide.