You Ate What??
After reading the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, students will use primary sources to relate Paul's experience to the life of a North Carolina soldier. Students will create their own primary source journal entry.
A lesson plan for grade 10 English Language Arts
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Learning outcomes
Students will use primary sources to better understand the life of a soldier during World War One.
Teacher planning
Time required for lesson
2 days
Materials/resources
Blank paper and writing utensils
Magazines and/or photos from home for use in illustrating journal entry
Technology resources
Computers with Internet access for each student
Pre-activities
Students should have completely read the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.
Activities
- Have students locate and reread a section of the novel dealing with food, how the soldiers ate, rations, etc. There are examples in Chapters one, three, six, and elsewhere throughout the book.
- Using the computer, have students access the “Mess Kit, Canteen and Knife” photos. Students should record their observations about the pictures on paper.
- Have students read the October 6, 1917 entry from William Umstead’s diary entry on dealing with “mess” and record their observations on paper.
- As a class, discuss what it was like to be a soldier during World War One. Example Discussion Questions:
- What did soldiers eat on a daily basis?
- How did this food affect them?
- What special treats were soldiers able to give themselves during the war?
- How did these treats affect them?
- Would you have survived eating the food that the WWI soldiers ate?
- After previewing the primary source documents and discussing what soldiers ate during the war, have students reflect upon what they eat in their everyday life. Have students create a journal entry of their day, focusing on food. Pictures to illustrate their ideas should be included in the journal.
Assessment
Students should be assessed on participation in activities.
A final assessment can be given on the completeness of the journal entry.
Supplemental information
Remarque, Eric Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Little, Brown and Company, 1958.
Related websites
William Bradley Umstead’s Diary
Comments
This lesson is an extension of the novel, but could be used as a stand alone lesson.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 10 — English II
- Goal 1: The learner will react to and reflect upon print and non-print text and personal experiences by examining situations from both subjective and objective perspectives.
- Objective 1.01: Produce reminiscences (about a person, event, object, place, animal) that engage the audience by:
- using specific and sensory details with purpose.
- explaining the significance of the reminiscence from an objective perspective.
- moving effectively between past and present.
- recreating the mood felt by the author during the reminiscence.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
- relating personal knowledge to textual information or class discussion.
- showing an awareness of one's own culture as well as the cultures of others.
- exhibiting an awareness of culture in which text is set or in which text was written.
- explaining how culture affects personal responses.
- demonstrating an understanding of media's impact on personal responses and cultural analyses.
- Objective 1.01: Produce reminiscences (about a person, event, object, place, animal) that engage the audience by:
- Goal 4: The learner will critically interpret and evaluate experiences, literature, language, and ideas.
- Objective 4.01: Interpret a real-world event in a way that:
- makes generalizations about the event supported by specific references.
- reflects on observation and shows how the event affected the current viewpoint.
- distinguishes fact from fiction and recognizes personal bias.
- Objective 4.01: Interpret a real-world event in a way that:
- Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
- employing varying sentence structures (e.g., inversion, introductory phrases) and sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex).
- analyzing authors' choice of words, sentence structure, and use of language.
- using word recognition strategies to understand vocabulary and exact word choice (Greek, Latin roots and affixes, analogies, idioms, denotation, connotation).
- examining textual and classroom language for elements such as idioms, denotation, and connotation to apply effectively in own writing/speaking.
- using correct form/format for essays, business letters, research papers, bibliographies.
- using language effectively to create mood and tone.
- Objective 6.02: Edit for:
- subject-verb agreement, tense choice, pronoun usage, clear antecedents, correct case, and complete sentences.
- appropriate and correct mechanics (commas, italics, underlining, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, quotation marks).
- parallel structure.
- clichés, trite expressions.
- spelling.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
