Media Representations of Trench Warfare in WWI

Transcription

1 Socials 11 Name: Ms. Ross Date: Media Representations of Trench Warfare in WWI As directed by the teacher, visit the four stations set up around the classroom. At each station, you will examine a specific type of media that represents the horrors of trench warfare in WWI. Examine the handouts at each station and use them to answer the questions related to each type of media. After you have visited all 4 stations, you will be asked to reflect and draw connections and conclusions amongst all forms of media. STATION #1: POETRY WRITTEN IN THE TRENCHES 1. What is the message of Wilfred Owen s poem Dulce et Decorum Est? 2. The poem Survivors by Siegried Sasson addresses the aftermath of war. The symptoms he describes we now call post traumatic stress disorder. How do you think WWI soldiers dealt with the events they witnessed and experienced on the Western Front? 3. Laurence Binyon s poem For the Fallen pays tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Do you think Canadians do enough to honour fallen soldiers? Why or why not?

2 STATION #2: WAR SONGS FROM THE TRENCHES AND PRESENT DAY 1. In the lyrics to Oh it s a lovely war!, what is the sarcastic message? To whom do you think this song is directed? 2. Why did Canadians at home write and sing songs, such as Keep the Home Fires Burning? 3. Dire Straits, and many other modern bands, have written songs about warfare during times of peace. Can a war song written during a time of peace have the same effect as a song written by soldiers during a time of war? Explain.

3 STATION #3: PAINTINGS OF TRENCH WARFARE Over the Top Alfred Bastien 1. List 5 words that capture the feelings of the men in the painting as they go over the top. 2. Is this painting an accurate portrayal of trench warfare? Explain. No Man s Land Maurice Cullen 1. Why has the artist chosen not to include people in his painting? For What? F. H. Varley 1. What do you think the upright figure slightly left of center is thinking? 2. How do the title and images in this painting compare to the mood of men who volunteered in 1914? 3. Many Canadians questioned why they were fighting in WWI. What were Canadians fighting for?

4 STATION #4: LETTERS FROM SOLDIERS 1. Read the sample of letters written by soldiers on the front lines and sent to loved ones back home. Many of these letters were censored by the army. What would be the reasons for censorship? 2. What types of information, comments, or statements do you think were censored from letters that came from the front lines? What are your views on this censorship?

5 DE-BRIEFING THE HORRORS OF TRENCH WARFARE After looking at different media representations of trench warfare (video, poems, songs, paintings, letters), which type(s) of media had the most impact on you? Explain why. As a class, we have had the chance to preview primary and secondary resources about WWI. Which type of resource (primary or secondary) has the most impact on you? Why? Why is it important to include both primary and secondary resources in the study of history?

6 Dulce et Decorum Est By Wilfred Owen Survivors By Siegfried Sasson Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on blood-shod. All went lame, all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime. Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. No doubt they ll soon get well; the shock and strain Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk. Of course they re longing to go out again. They boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk. They ll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died, - Their dreams that drip with murder; and they ll be proud Of glorious war that shatter d all their pride Men who went out to battle, grim and glad; Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad. In all my dreams before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil s sick of sin If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs Bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, - My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.* * It is sweet and proper to die for one s country

7 For the Fallen By Laurence Binyon With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall not grow old, as we are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England s foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felts as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.

8 Brothers in Arms Dire Straits These mist covered mountains Are a home now for me By my home is the lowlands And always will be Someday you ll return to Your valleys and your farms And you ll no longer earn to be Brothers in arms Through these fields of destruction Baptisms of fire I ve witnessed your suffering As the battle raged higher And though they did hurt me so bad In the fear and alarm You did not desert me My brothers in arms There s so many different worlds So many different suns And we have just one world But we live in different ones Now the sun s gone to hell and The moon riding high Let me bid you farewell Every many has to die But it s written in the starlight And every line in your palm We re fools to make war On our brothers in arms

9 Why do I have to fly over every town up and down the line? I'll die in the clouds above and you that I defend, I do not love. I wake up, it's a bad dream, No one on my side, I was fighting But I just feel too tired to be fighting, guess I'm not the fighting kind. Where will I meet my fate? Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate. And when will I meet my end? In a better time you could be my friend. [chorus] I wake up, it's a bad dream, No one on my side, I was fighting But I just feel too tired to be fighting, guess I'm not the fighting kind. Wouldn't mind it if you were by my side But you're long gone, yeah you're long gone now. Where do we go? I don't even know, My strange old face, And I'm thinking about those days, And I'm thinking about those days. I wake up, it's a bad dream, No one on my side, I was fighting But I just feel too tired to be fighting, guess I'm not the fighting kind. Wouldn't mind it if you were by my side But you're long gone, yeah you're long gone now. A Bad Dream Keane

10 Oh It s a Lovely War! Up to your waist in water, up to your eyes in slush, Using the kind of language that makes the sergeant blush, Who wouldn t join the arm? That s what we all enquire. Don t we pity the poor civilian sitting by the fire. (Chorus) Oh, oh, oh it s a lovely war. Who would be a soldier, eh? Oh it s a shame to take the pay. As soon as reveille has gone we feel just as heavy as lead, But we never get up till the sergeant brings our breakfast up to bed. Oh, oh, oh it s a lovely war. What do we want with eggs and ham when we ve got plum and apple jam? Form fours. Right turn. How shall we spend the money we earn? Oh, oh, oh it s a lovely war. When does a soldier grumble? When does he make a fuss? No on is more contented in all the world than us. Oh it s a cushy life, boys, really we love it so: Once a fellow was sent on leave and simply refused to go. (Chorus) Come to the cookhouse door, boys, sniff the lovely stew. Who is it says the colonel gets better grub than you? Any complaints this morning? Do we complain? Not we. What s the matter with lumps of onion floating around the tea? (Chorus) Keep the home fires burning While your hearts are yearning Though your lads are far away They dream of home. There s a silver lining Through the dark clouds shining, Turn the dark clouds inside out Til the boys come home. Keep the Home Fires Burning