All Quiet Western Front

11/1: HOMEWORK: Continue to work on the war assessments (due Monday). In class, students read and responded to Clarence Darrow's defense of Leopold and Loeb.

Paths of Glory. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, performances by Kirk Douglas and Ralph Meeker. MGM, 2006.

Remarque, Erich. All Quiet on the Western Front. Ballentine Books, 1987.

10/31: HOMEWORK: Continue to work on the war assessments (due Monday). In class - we worked on the assessments.

10/29: You can have the period to work on the projects. Make sure that you have read and understand the project grading criteria. If you have questions, email me during class and I will do my best to respond as quickly as I can. Projects are due by Friday.

10/26: HOMEWORK: Read the project grading criteria and work on your ideas. In class, we talked through "38" and Phil Klay's essay.

10/25: HOMEWORK: 1) On the back of the TED Talk notecard, give today's discussion and the end of the book, explore at least one word that illustrates Lewis' idea that language is deployed as a powerful weapon before/to get nations into war, but the experience of war changes the meaning of the word. Choose at least ONE word (think about Elise's example using patriotism) - write about how that word is used/romanticized before war, and how the experience of war (Paul's experince, could be the experience from the TED talk, frm the film, etc.) turns that word into a victim of war. Fill the back of the card. 2) READ and mark up Phil Klay's essay.

In class, we wrote and talked about the end of the novel.

10/23: HOMEWORK: Finish the novel for Thursday (all the way to the end). In class, see here.

10/22: HOMEWORK: Read through chapter 10 for Tuesday. Finish the novel for Thursday. In class: see here

10/19: HOMEWORK: Read through chapter 10 for Tuesday. Finish the novel for Thursday. In class: we talked about the TED talks and looked at words that in some ways illustrate Lewis' quote: Language is one the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of its first victims.

10/18: HOMEWORK: Read through 9 + TED . See here for more.

10/17: HOMEWORK: Continue to read (through 9 for Friday). In class, we talked about homefront and its view/interaction with war, misunderstandings, losses both at home and on the front, etc. We looked at the end of Paths and in groups at chapters 6&7 to explore this.

10/16: HOMEWORK: Continue to read.Through chapter 9 for Friday. In class, we did some close reading work and revisited the end of the film. You can find the work here.

10/12: HOMEWORK: Read chapter 7 for Tuesday and through chapter 9 for Friday.

In class, read and respond to Roger Ebert's review of Paths of Glory.

10/11: HOMEWORK: Finish chapter 6 for Friday, chapter 7 for Tuesday and through chapter 9 for Friday. In class, we worked with close reading quotes (finishing the notecard from yesterday by taking notes on a close reading of the quote on the front of the notecard, and reflecting on what you discovered about patterns in word choice, about thematic ideas, about Lewis's quote about language in war, etc. Then, we finished the film.

10/10: HOMEWORK: Keep reading. Aim to finish through chapter 6 for Friday. In class: to start: On the front of the notecard: choose a quote from chapter 4 that show Remarque's view or war AND that is worth exploring because it connects to the idea that language gains and loses power during war (Lewis' quote). Copy down the quote and the page number, write a few lines about the context and some ideas about why you chose it. We watched the film (anthill + charges brought).

10/9: HOMEWORK: Make sure you read through chapter four for tomorrow, We started Paths of Glory. You can find the handout here

10/5: HOMEWORK: ALL projects due by Tuesday. Read through chapter four for Wednesday.

In class, we worked on close reading sections of All Quiet. Close read

10/4: HOMEWORK: Keep working on the projects. Rolling due date (due on Friday, but I will accept anytime until class on Tuesday without penalty).

We started with this quote: "Language is one the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of its first victims." We'll use the quote (and Remarque's epigraph) to frame our discussions.