Introduction to Great War Poetry Brainstorming, Images, Song and Poem Analysis

Prior Knowledge and Discussion  What do you already know about World War One?

World War One Background Info  Fought during between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria- Hungary, Ottoman Empire – sort of) and the Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia)  U.S. joined in 1917  Russian soldiers died at a rate of 22 men for ever one American man  Trench warfare created extremely bloody battles and long stalemates  9 million men were killed and 21 million were injured

World War One Background Info

 New weaponry made WW1 the most violent and bloody war- the first “modern war”  Barbed wire, machine guns, airplanes, and poison gas decimated both sides  The war was fought as a “total war”, meaning countries put all their resources into fighting

World War One Background Info  After the war, many soldiers were very affected by the violence they saw  They were diagnosed as “shell-shocked” at first, which later became “Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder”  Many of the returning soldiers felt disillusioned by society and the world  They started writing, and were known as “The Lost Generation” because they felt disconnected and disaffected

WWI Propaganda

Images of War

Poem and Song Comparison  We will complete three compare and contrast activities during which we will listen to three modern songs and read three WWI-era poems.  Fill out the discussion guide as we go through each pair of songs and poems  You will use these as a basis for a Venn Diagram that you will create to wrap up our study of World War One poetry

Song Links  WcA “Hero of War” WcA  aSA “Mama” aSA  VC4 “Hand Held High” VC4