1. War Poetry and Critical Writing Mr. Wilson - English

5. Grass – by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo, Shovel them under and let me work-- I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work.

6. What makes “War Poetry” Quite simple really, most classic war poets emerged during the First World War (1914- 1918). Their style was often more like the Victorians then like the Modernists, but because of the War – their tone started to change dramatically. As a result we are going to take a look at a few of the greats and discuss their use of tone.

7. Christopher Williams (1873-1934)

8. Tone? What do you look for when discussing a poem’s tone? Diction – Specific war vocabulary Imagery – positive or negative? Allusion – to specific negative events Metaphor – is there a larger symbol? Point of view – where is the author trying to put YOU? Emotion – how does all this elicit emotions from you?

9. Your Assignment You should have 4 poems in front of you. We will go through each one and then you will start working on your critical writing: Choose your favourite and write a critical essay on how the author builds a positive or a negative feeling about war using TONE. ~ 500 words You have 2 choices: either organized by the literary elements and author’s techniques OR you can go through the poem line by line. Cite your quotes!