All Quiet On The Western Front Trench Journal

Political Cartoon

2007-11-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

In the League of Nations, the United States is being torn between an alliance with the different members of the League. This cartoon shows that there is a dispute in the League of Nations and every side wants the United States to support them. This is unfortunate because the United States is unsure of which side to choose. In the cartoon, the United States, represented by Uncle Sam, is standing in the middle of all of the opposing sides, tied up. This shows that the opposing sides constrict the United States due to their opposition. This unfortunate situation negatively affects the United States rather than the parties involved.

Interview Questions

2007-11-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

Question 1: What kind of food did you get to eat?

Question 2: What kind of entertaining activities, if any, did you participate in?

Question 3: How long do you get to sleep for every night?

Question 4: Do you make lots of friends?

Question 5: Are the generals nice to you?

Letters: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~rstaley/wwlettr1.htm

Self Reflection

2007-11-12T17:52:00.000-05:00

Review:

I think my project overall was pretty good. Not the best, but fairly good. If I were to give myself a grade it would be a B. I would give it a B because it is better than average yet just not quite good enough to be an A.

Enjoyment:

I did enjoy this project. I thought it was a very unique project as opposed to other project we have at Isaac Bear. I definitely don't think anybody else in the county will do anything anywhere similar to this. Also I didn't have a problem doing this project. I didn't go into the project feeling like it was busy work.

Learning:

This project reflects my learning in this class by giving me a format to review this book. This project allowed me an outline for analyzing this book which always helps. I think I learned more from this project than just self analysis.

Personal:

I feel that this project taught me a lot about myself. I didn't think I would be able to accomplish such an interesting project with a positive outlook, yet it didn't seem so bad. When I started this project I was doubting my ability to make an interesting layout and the ability to cover all aspects of the project, but in the end I am satisfied.

Life:

I learned a lot about life from this project. Until I completed this project I didn't know much about World War I, or any War for that matter. I learned about how depressing a soldier can be in war and how easy it is to be persuaded to join.

Writing Extension - Art

2007-11-12T14:28:00.001-05:00

C. R. W. Nevinson, French Troops Resting, 1916, oil on canvas, 71 x 91.5 cm, Imperial War Museum, London.

I feel that this piece of art effectively reflects the feeling of the book. This piece of art shows French troops resting and it helps show how tired they must've been. So tired that they needed constant rest from their tiring jobs as soldiers. This helps reflect the book because the book describes the job as a soldier as being tedious and never-ending. This connects with this piece of art because the soldiers are resting for what seems like eternity due to their constant activity and exhaustion.

Writing Extension - Lyrics

2007-11-12T14:22:00.000-05:00

"Welcome to the soldier side
Where there is no one here but me
People all grow up to die
There is no one here but me"

"Soldier Side" by System of a Down

This part of the song mimics Paul's feelings in the way that he feels alone. Although he has friends who play a major part in his role, he feels lonely in the war. He feels as if he was tricked into signing up and he should've just ignored the opportunity. He also feels that he is going to die eventually, which unfortunately, he does.

Writing Extension - Letter

2007-11-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

Dear Mother,

Hi mother. How have you been? War isn't what I thought it would be. It's horrible here. No man should have to be put through what I am. This isn't the place for honest men of America, this is the place for criminals deserving a punishment. Yesterday my best friend died. I couldn't believe how upset I was. All I can hope for now is to return home. At this point you shouldn't be wondering "when" I come home, you should be wondering "if" I come home. I hope I do. However, if I do not please don't let it hold you back. Continue your life as normal and leave me behind. I don't want to be remembered as a hero, just a victim in this war.

Love,
Paul B.

Day 13

2007-11-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 27th, 1915
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I wish I had joined a pal battalion. To be fair, I didn't even know of the concept when I signed up. However, now that I am out here on the front line I have heard stories of how old friends had been united through the pal battalion service. It seems that if you sign up through a pal battalion service you can join the army and fight alongside your friends and colleagues and such, a great idea in my opinion, but bad in the end. I wish I could fight alongside my pals, but I wouldn't want my pals to die alongside me. I would be so emotionally torn. Would it be my fault they died? Could I handle the pressure of having my friend lying next to me dead? I think it would tear me apart.

Day 12

2007-11-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 26th, 1915
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Today we had story day again. This time the general spoke of a woman known as Helen Burrey, one of the first official nurses of World War I. He spoke of her as a kind, honest woman who cared about nothing more than her work; healing soldiers. He said that she was one of the first nurses to volunteer and that she worked on a hospital train with two other nurses. If I ever suffer a fatal injury, all I can hope is that I'll be on the hospital train with her as my nurse.

Day 7

2007-11-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 21st, 1915
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I remember why we started this war. It's all Princip's fault. He assassinated Franz Ferdinand. Then again, that shouldn't have started a war, but when Austria demanded him to be punished, and Serbia had no reaction, war was declared. How childish. Two countries fighting over who has the bigger power. The only people who actually suffer are the soldiers, me, we, us! This is nonsense.

Day 6

2007-11-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 20th, 1915
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The Schlieffen Plan has failed us. I am sitting here now, in my trench, wondering why I even came into this war. All they told me over there in America was how the Schlieffen Plan was going to make this war so quick, so easy, yet we've been in trench warfare for months. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Not much, that is. We need a NEW plan. We NEED to take action.

Day 5

2007-11-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 19th, 1915
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Today was story day. Every soldier from the second company got separated into several groups. I still don't understand why we have "story day", but my general says that we need to know the history of our military. Regardless, he spoke today of the Red Baron. "The Red Baron's real name was Manfred von Richthofen", he said, "and he was the best pilot we have ever had. He was our best man, and yet it seemed that he died from bad luck. While he was pursuing an enemy pilot, he was shot in the chest area, and died soon after. That one bullet, that one shot....shall forever be known as the 'fatal shot'". I had never met this man, yet I felt so connected to him. I felt so bad for his death. It was at this moment that I realized the significance of story day.

Day 4

2007-11-12T10:39:00.000-05:00

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Date: June 18th, 1915
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Today I thought I wouldn't make it. This morning I ran out of the trench to fire some shots at the enemy, when my nose felt like it was on fire! I immediately ran back to the trench in fear of my life, when my captain handed me a gas mask. He described to me that the enemy had placed some mustard gas near our trench and we would need to stay in for a while. As I walked over to my friend to tell him what happened, I over heard some fellow soldiers speaking about another gas known as "phosgene". I was getting more nervous by the moment so I just decided to sit down rather than discuss this new weapon with them. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel more safe than I have today.

Day 3

2007-10-29T13:34:00.000-04:00

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Date: June 17th, 1915
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Today was the most horrific day I have experienced in my life. Our enemies crossed no man's land armed with the most advanced weapons I have ever seen. One man, armed with a tank on his back, was running faster than a wild goose, spraying FLAMES as far as the eye can see! Our men where frying in the night, like roasted chicken. It was horrible. Then I looked off to the left and saw a gigantic metal box rolling towards us! I wasn't so alarmed until it nearly started an earthquake when it fired a missle toward us! Unfortunately, we lost many men today. These new advances in militial technology have proven very effective against even our best men. One of my closest friends even told me he has heard of a "submarine" which travels underwater and can even attack underwater! Yesterday I even saw an airplane! Until then, I had only heard of airplanes when we would talk about the war, our old school, and being drafted etc. Luckily we fought back using a revolutionary weapon known as a mortar, used to fire shells at the enemy. Although we have a very innovative weapon, it seems that the enemy always has more. I don't know how long I'll be able to survive. Where I am now, this isn't the "land of the free", but it's deffinitely the home of the brave.

-Paul B.