All Quiet on the Western Front

12/20: If your group did not get to the close reading passages yesterday, that's o.k. You do not need to complete those reflections. Move on to the project..Work on finding the two you will use for your project. My recommendation to you is that you use this link to get to the novel online, then use find from the Edit dropdown menu and type in a keyword form your passage (choose a word that doesn't appear frequently in the novel - for example, I wanted to find the pass when Kat dies, so I typed in splinter and clicked through the other 8 to get to Kat). You will need to copy and paste the section into Google Docs in order to print, but I find it easier to close read on paper arther than in the book (you do not have to do it this way - it's been my experience that students are more careful about close reading when they can physically mark it up.

When you are ready, here are some links to scenes online (you should be able to watch them on the chrome books): Here's the execution scene. Here's the trench scene before the assault on the anthill (it includes some of the assault as well. . Here's the scene between Broulllard and Dax + final scene. Here's the scene when Mireau orders the battery commander to fire on his own men. Here's Mireau's stroll through the trenches. Here's the bayonet or machine gun conversation. Here's the scene where Dax orders Roget to lead the firing squad. Here's the trial and here's the verdict. Here's the cockroach scene. Here's the scene where Broulard confronts Mireau at the end of the film (about the order to fire on his own men). If you want a different scene, please just ask Mrs. McTigue for the DVD and use the computer that Mrs. Stern reserved for us.

When you are ready to start pulling everything together, there are supplies in the MC (if they are not out where you can see them, ask Mrs. Stern or Mrs. Flynn to help you). If you are storyboarding, you might need to use front and back to get all your frames in (please number the frames.

I put some examples of WWI propaganda posters on the Propaganda and Art page (link below) so you can use them for inspiration. I also posted a few of Goya's drawings from his series Disasters of War. These are definitely propaganda of a different sort (one that critiques the very nature of war) so I thought they might help you more than the traditional posters. If you look at these, please pay attention to the title (that's his "slogan"). It reveals much about Goya's attitude.

If your group has questions you cannot resolve email me (I believe you can do anything after To the Lighthouse, so I am guessing you can figure most things out together). Make sure you have both Winesburg Ohio and the Winesburg handout.

12/19: HOMEWORK: Please read the Roger Ebert review of Paths of Glory and follow the prompt at the top of the review. Also, read the "AQWF and Paths of Glory Group assessment attached below. Email me with questions/concerns.

In class: You are going to be working in pairs or groups of three (no more than three, really) later in the period, so decide that now. To start, reflect on the end of the novel. You can do this on google and share with me or you can choose to write on paper (if you are not in class, please have it ready when we come back). Please be specific - write about you saw as most important and why, make thematic connections to other sections of the book, to the title, to the film, ask questions, etc. Strive for at least a page. Then, get into your groups and talk - first talk about the end of the novel together (make SURE you all read to the very last page, where the narrative voice changes), then, choose a total of three close reading sections from the ;last 4 chapters of at least 2/3 of a page (at least two of these should be chosen because they are tie thematically to the novel and the film (you can use the theme idea you worked on last week when we drew the posters OR you can choose another thematic idea). Work your way through the close readings and on ONE person's google docs (preferably someone who shred his/her reflection with me already, so s/he can add to that reflection document), tell me WHO is in your group, what sections you chose, what thematic idea you are working on and what you noticed. You are going to be working with the novel and the film tomorrow and Thursday on a group assessment and these close reading sections should help.

12/18: HOMEWORK: Please finish the novel for TUES. Keep track of where the boots go, of deaths, of connections thematically to the film (read to the very last page of the book). We finished Paths of Glory. Please see "Paths of Glory 2017" for more (including writing prompts). If you are out, you can find the film here.

12/15: HOMEWORK: Please finish the novel for TUES. Keep track of where the boots go, of deaths, of connections thematically to the film (read to the very last page of the book). In class: We continued Paths of Glory. Please see "Paths of Glory 2017" for more (including writing prompts). If you are out, you can find the film here (we stopped after the court scene).

12/14: We started Paths of Glory today. Please see "Paths of Glory 2017" for more (including writing prompts). If you are out, you can find the film here (we stopped today after the discussion at night about the best way to die).

12/12: HOMEWORK: Finish the StoryCorps papers for Thursday. Read 9 +10 for Friday. Finish the novel for Monday. In class, see "AQWF chapter 6 impression + expression" attached below.

12/11: READING SCHEDULE (keep up whether or nor there is snow): chapter 8 for Tuesday, chapters 9&10 for Friday. finish the novel for Monday. In class: we worked on examining thematic ideas Remarque's novel is exploring: brutality, loss of innocence, corruption of character/morality, brotherhood/bonding, dehumanization

12/7: Please go to the StoryCorps page.

12/6: HOMEWORK: Continue to read chapter 7 of AQWF. As you do, thin back to the beginning, make connections. In class: Please go to the Art page (link below).

12/5: HOMEWORK: Go to the StoryCorps page (it's a link on the"Novel and Film" page and read the revised assessment assignment. Email me tonight with questions. Read through chapter 7 by Friday...In class, see "AQWF reading chapter 6" attached below.

12/1: HOMEWORK: Work on your StoryCorps + TTLH project this weekend. For Tuesday, read chapter 5 in AQWF. In class, see "AQWF 4" attached below.

11/30: In class: Please get into the groups you have been working on and open a google docs page that you share with each other and me. Start by sharing your best ideas from the last two days' discussions, ask questions, tell me what insights you gained from close reading. Talk about chapter 3 together and add the best ideas and questions from that discussion to your notes. Then, revisit these three chapters to explore at least two of the thematic ideas that Remarque is wrestling with so far: war's brutality and dehumanization, loss of innocence, nationalism and power, etc. For each, line up the best evidence from these chapters. Next, I'd like you each to take a look at some of the art created during the war. Remember that the timing of this novel and To The Lighthouse overlap, so that the art world gradually begins to reflect some of the modernist tendencies that we saw in Woolf's novel. Look at the art by yourselves first (here's the link). Choose four paintings from different periods (the page arranges them chronologically and gives you a brief guide to the developing artistic view). In your journals, write down the title of each painting, describe what you see and reflect on how the painting portrays war (make connections where you can to the novel). When you are finished, get back together and share what you see. Add the very best ideas about the art, its changing aesthetic and connections to the novel to your group notes (you can finish this on Friday if you run out of time). HOMEWORK: Read chapter 4 tonight.

11/29: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 3. In class: see "AQWF chapter 2 + and "Dulce et Decorum Est - Owen" (attached below).

11/28: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 2 in AQWF. In class: See "AQWF chapter 1 in class" attached below.

11/27: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 1 (see "AQWF beginning 17" attached below). Here's the text online. In class, we examined Luhrmann's techniques by looking at scenes from Moulin Rouge! We talked about cross-cuts, use of color, especially blues (we looked at paintings from Picasso's Blue Period) and reds, and at Satine's inner thoughts.