Writing from the trenches

Why might you write in the trenches of WW1?

Suicide in the Trenches, by Siegfried Sassoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLuTiITZykg#t=12

Suicide in the Trenches I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark.   In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. Siegfried Sassoon

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

Flanders

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead: Short days ago, We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved: and now we lie In Flanders fields! Take up our quarrel with the foe To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch: be yours to hold it high If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields

What do these poems mean? In your workbooks….. HEADING: War Poems, what’s the point? TASK: In relation to both poems, identify the: Tone Purpose Audience

Deeper meaning: In Flanders Fields Answer the following questions: 1. Who were the dead in the poem? 2. Why did McCrae choose to write the poem as if it were spoken by the dead? 3. Who are the dead speaking to? What if we forget what happened to them? 4. What does the quote ‘only the dead see the end of war’ mean? 5. Highlight all the words you are unfamiliar with and find their meaning e.g. foe, lark, quarrel and scarce.

Deeper meaning: Suicide in the Trenches Generate three questions relating to Siegfried Sassoon’s Suicide in the Trenches.