M4 English Portfolio, Literature, Poetry

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 4

Literature- Poetry

Goals:

At the end of this lesson you know more about:

- World War I (1914- 1918)

- Siegfried Sassoon, a War Poet (born in 1886)

- His poem 'Does it matter'

When did WW1 start?

1. 1912
2. 1916
3. 1918
4. 1914

01:40

Who declares war to whom?

1. Serbia vs Hungary
2. Germany vs Serbia
3. Serbia vs France
4. Germany and allies vs Serbia

02:30

Why does Germany go through Belgium?

1. Because of the mountains
2. They are afraid of the French
3. France has loads of forts and defences along the border
4. The Germans don't have the right equipment

05:05

Who changed tactics?

1. General Henry Joffre
2. General Joseph Joffre
3. The British government
4. The German government

06:10

How many people have died in this war?

1. tens of thousands
2. hundreds of thousands
3. thousands
4. millions

War Poets

Sigfried Sassoon & Wilfred Owen

Propaganda

Siegfried Sassoon was born on 8 September 1886 and died on 1 September 1967 in Heytesbury, Great Britain. He studied at Cambridge but never graduated there. He enlisted after the war had started and left for France in May 1915. Sassoon turned out to be a courageous soldier and got wounded twice for which he received the honour of the Military Cross. Despite of that, he became more and more angry about the needless loss of young lives and the severe conditions these young soldiers had to endure. After getting wounded a third time, he was sent to England where he started writing poetry about his experiences. That's when he met Wilfred Owen whose work he started promoting fairly soon after. After some debate he did return to France to fight until the end of the War. His written work named Counter- Attack which was published shortly after the War impressed many who read it. The bitterness it portrayed was something not many had dared to write and/ or publish.

Propaganda played a big role during this war. Because of pamflets like the one that's shown and many others, young boys were being temped (and felt obliged) to serve their country. What they often didn't realise is that they could die in the trenches. 

Show video and after reading it again together (or reading along) explain the sarcasm in this poem, especially because of society's reactions to the soldiers they've sent to war themselves (see picture slide 4)

Wat is de 'toon' van dit gedicht?

1. blij
2. verdrietig
3. sarcastisch
4. overdreven

The sarcasm explained

Questions 

1. Dit gedicht is een sarcastisch gedicht. Leg uit waarom (minimaal 20 woorden)

2. Wat zou de schrijver hebben willen bereiken met het schrijven van dit gedicht? Leg uit. (minimaal 30 woorden)

3. Zou jij je geroepen voelen om deel te nemen aan een oorlog voor je Vaderland? Leg uit waarom wel of niet. (minimaal 30 woorden)