1. Introduction
This quest contains all the information you need for studying the poetry written during World War I (1914-1918). It is the final part of your English literary history curriculum. It will also be study material for your Literary History SE which you will sit this year.
2. Literary History SE
Overview
In the Literary History SE, you will be tested on your knowledge of the main events and works of English literary history, starting with the Middle Ages and up to the modern day. You will study the following eras and disciplines:
- Literary eras
- Middle Ages (4V)
- Renaissance (
5V 4V)
- Romantic Poetry (5V)
- Victorian Age (5V)
- Early 20th Century (6V)
- Disciplines
Organisation & SE
Organisation
We will study literary history at various points in your school career, so it is important that you organise your materials properly. I urge you to start a Literary History File, either in paper in a new notebook or digitally in a Pages document. I also advise you to create a separate Literary History File tile in 
Egodact where you can keep track of what you are doing over the years.
SE
In 6-vwo, you will sit an SE on Literary History. In it, you will answer questions about literary terms and eras, and you will analyse fragments of literature using the knowledge you have gained over the years.
This SE is a written test lasting 100 minutes and counts for 10% towards your final PTA mark.
3. Historical background
4. World War I Poetry
4a. The poets
Due to the popular belief that this war would be "the war to end all wars" and to the high levels of patriottism, many boys and men volunteered to be enlisted into the army. Not volunteering was seen by many as an act of cowardice and treachery. Therefore, many people who you would not normally expect to sign up for a military career now embarked on one, including artists and poets. They processed both the ideals based on which they enlisted as well as the horrors they witnessed in their art. Below you will find some brief biographical notes on the poets whose works we will study.
Rupert Brooke 
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) was a talented English poet, educated at Cambridge and a member of a famous literary circle referred to as the Bloomsbury Group. His most famous collection, "1914 and Other Poems," included the beloved sonnet sequence "The Soldier," which conveyed a sense of patriotic duty during World War I. Brooke's literary career was tragically cut short when he died of sepsis in 1915 while serving in the Mediterranean during the war. Despite his relatively brief life, his poetry remains a testament to the idealism and romanticism of the pre-war era and continues to be celebrated for its beauty and eloquence.
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) was a prominent English poet during World War I. Initially, he embraced the patriotic fervour of the war but later became disillusioned by its horrors. His powerful anti-war poetry, collected in works like "Counter-Attack" and "The Old Huntsman," criticized the senseless violence and suffering of the conflict. Sassoon's outspoken opposition to the war led to his famous "Soldier's Declaration" in 1917, which he published in a letter and earned him a reputation as a conscientious objector. After the war, he continued to write and became a leading voice in the literature of the period, reflecting on the human cost of war and its psychological impact.
Wilfred Owen 
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was a renowned British poet of World War I. Owen enlisted as a soldier in 1915 and was sent to the Western Front, where he experienced the brutal horrors of trench warfare. He met the established poet Siegfried Sassoon when they were both recovering from war injuries at a Scottish military hospital, and Sassoon proceeded to mentor him in his writing. His war poetry depicted the grim realities of combat. Tragically, Owen was killed in action just one week before the Armistice in 1918.
John McCrae
John McCrae (1872-1918) was a Canadian physician and poet who made a significant impact during World War I. During his service as a military doctor in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, he penned one of the most famous war poems, "In Flanders Fields," which has become an enduring symbol of remembrance for those who sacrificed their lives in war. Because of the popularity of this poem, the red poppy has become a symbol for remembering the fallen of World War 1. McCrae contracted pneumonia and died in 1918.
4b. Poetry
Rupert Brooke - The Soldier
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Siegfried Sassoon - Does it Matter?
Does it matter?—losing your legs?...
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter?—losing your sight?...
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?...
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.
John McCrae - In Flanders Fields
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.
Wilfred Owen - Anthem for Doomed Youth
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
— Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est
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 flound’ring 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.
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,
Obscene as cancer, 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.
4c. Analysis assignments
In class, we will analyse the poems using a reader.
Did you lose your reader? No fear, download it below and print it out, you silly sausage ;)
5. Assessment
5a. Rubric
Your work for the Literary History File is self-study work for your Lit Hist SE in 6v.
Below, you will find a rubric to self-assess your work.
| |
Good |
Pass |
Insufficient |
| Assignments |
- Your work is complete;
- You've paid attention to the lay-out and design of your work, adding images where necessary;
- You've made an effort in your study questions, showing your literary insight.
|
|
|
| Class participation & interaction |
- You've attended all classes (Deo volente);
- You've taken notes during classes;
- You've shown an interest in participating in class discussions and/or asked questions to further your understanding and insight.
|
- You've attended all classes (Deo volente);
- You've answered questions during class discussions if prompted.
|
- You've skipped classes;
- You've been mentally absent during classes and often didn't know what was being discussed.
|
WWI poems + analysis reader.pdf
