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"The day not half over and ten thousand slain, And now there's nobody remembers our names, And that's how it is for a soldier."
"1916" - Kilmister
Nobody Remembers Our Names - Poems Before All Quiet on the Western Front: 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. In many ways this works well - namely because the poems (and songs) here are very straight forward. Ballads really that require - most of all - a good listen.
Lesson Overview (see also poems with notes)
Lesson Overview (see also poems with notes)
No quiz today and you need to get started right away. I usually stand at the doorand give the handout with the poems to the students as they enter (and tell them to start looking at it right away). For more specifics on the actual poems and songs - see the notes below next to the Poems & Songs handout.
Unlike with previous "poems before" lessons - this time we will just read the poems aloud rather than having students break into small groups to break the poems down - we will read them together, having students take turns (I always start in the front of the room - if there are stanzas, that's a great and natural place to indiciate to the next student to continue reading.
As you read the poem OR listen to the song - remind students that they are to write notes directly on their handouts. Anything is fine - but as always with poetry - What is the story? What is taking place? They can link it to other things - but first we need to figure out what's happening in the poem. Here are the poems and songs (I haven't indicated the quotes - just read them in between at the right time). See the PDF of my copy of the Poems with my Notes - for my take on the poems - the things I'd be sure to bring up.
"Naming of Parts" by Henry Reed - poem 1
"Gun Shy" by Natalie Merchant & 10,000 Maniacs song 1 (this song so wonderfully follows the previous poem - comparing the orders soldiers get, to the parts of a gun). - song 1
"In Flander's Fields" by Lt. Col. John McCrae - a romantic view of war that you can use in the next lesson. - poem 2
"1916" by Kilmister - a very bleak but powerful song that will "pre-echo" what happens in the novel the students are about to read. - song 3
"Anthem for a Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen - poem 3
Three Poems on the Iraq Conflict written by Richard McGintry: "Wounds that Never Heal", Here, Bullet" and "Ashbah" - poems 4-6
"Dulce et Decorum Est" - SKIP THIS POEM IF YOU ARE DOING THE NEXT "PRE-LOADING" LESSON. Otherwise, a great way to do this in a powerful way is to have the teacher stand at the front of the class. Instruct the students that you will READ THE POEM TOGETHER - Chorally. When you stand in front of each row - that row will drop out of the reading. Count your rows - and figure this out accordingly. Stand in front of the last row when you get to that that final stanza - and read that last last line: "The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum...." by yourself - falling to whisper with the final word. It is powerful, effective, and will stick with your students.
"Everywhere" by Billy Bragg. WARNING - THERE ARE RACIAL AND ETHNIC SLURS IN THIS SONG (but they are an important an integral part of the story that Billy Bragg tells) - you know your students and you should censor, delete or proceed accordingly - Song 4
"A Song on the End of the World" by Czeslaw Milosz - poem 7
"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot - poem 8 (if you have time for this you will probably just have time to read it - with little comment).
The bookmark for this novel has lines from the poems on it - so it will bring this class - these ideas to the forefront as they are doing their reading. At the end of class, remind them of what is due (in this case the first reading from the book is due in TWO classes) - there will be a quiz - and to follow their bookmarks (which have excerpts from the poems on them) and read ahead. The prose quotes you will also do as a class.
The songs are so important to this lesson - I've included the Spotify Playlist (you'll need a premium account) - but I'm sure you can find them on YouTube as well. The lyrics are found on the handout.
The Poems (and songs) with my notes see below for student handout
The Poems (and songs) with my notes see below for student handout
The Poems with my Notes: PDF - Obviously, every teacher, just as every student will have a different take on these poems and songs (just as I would expect them to add and subtract their own verse). I believe these poems and song compliment what is happening in the next lesson - and also pick up from the poems we did before The Things They Carried.
Handout - Poems & Songs (most recent)
Handout - Poems & Songs (most recent)
Poems & Songs before All Quiet on the Western Front: Docx PDF
These poems have grown over the years and been adjusted. We rarely have time to get to the last page - especially if we listen to the entire songs. Remember to skip "Dulce et Decorum Est" if you are doing the next lesson. And don't forget the read the prose quotes too - they are powerful and will help students with their reading of All Quiet.
In most of my handouts that have text to be analyzed - I make sure to leave a wide margin for the students to write notes (both as they're reading and as we talk about the texts as a class). These are the most recent poems (andlots of songs) given out. I will usually have these on a desk by the door and students will grab or be given one as they enter the room. These poems are given plenty of room for students to take notes on.
Bookmark with Poem Excerpts on the Back Docx PDF
The Songs we play today
The Songs we play today
Here is the playlist for the songs we play today in class - though as I've said you can also the songs if you search on YouTube (you'll probably want to get these versions though). The songs are:
Gun Shy - 10,000 Maniacs
1916 - Motorhead
Everywhere - Billy Bragg
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
I have not found anything yet.
Links
Links
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Audio
Video
Video
DeRomanticizing War & The Guy on the Bus: 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.
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
No other book that I taught has TWO preloading activities. Perhaps, that's because this is the oldest Novel that I've taught (I taught it every year that I taught this course). Maybe because my course at one time was titled "War and Conflict". In any case - you can never have too many songs, too many poems.
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