1. Background and interpretation

2. “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen 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 disappointed shells that dropped 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 floundering 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 *a wonderful and great honor to fight and die for your country.  * DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is

3. “Dulce Et Decorum Est”  Discuss: What does this poem suggest about a soldier’s experience in WWI? Give four examples of their hardships. How does the speaker of the poem feel about the war itself? How do you know? How could the experience of being a soldier in WWI, our first modern war, have impacted our authors from the stories we are about to read?  Read “In Another Country’ by Earnest Hemmingway and look for commonalities.

4. Developing a Hypothesis What do the poem, “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and story, “In Another Country’” have in common? Hypothesis about what it was like for an individual post WWI/ in the “Lost Generation”

5. F. Scott Fitzgerald

6. Your Thoughts…  Did Caroline Make the Right Choice?  Will Michael truly ever get over her?

7. The Power of Money  What role does money play in social functions and relationships? How does money bring people together and how does money divide people? How do perceptions about the importance of money shape our values, actions and attitudes?  As an author in both a prosperous and depressed economic time in history, Fitzgerald was both attracted to an repelled by wealth and social status. Many of his works explore this issue. In “The Bridal Party,” Michael voices these conflicting attitudes. Using Michael and other characters as examples, discuss the power of money. How does it divide people and bring people together? What does the perception of the importance of money do the individual? Do you think Michael's money will make him happy over time? Do you think Caroline and Hamilton will be happy?

8. Create a graphic organizer and Explanation about:  As an author in both a prosperous and depressed economic time in history, Fitzgerald was both attracted to an repelled by wealth and social status. Many of his works explore this issue. In “The Bridal Party,” Michael voices these conflicting attitudes. Using Michael and other characters as examples, discuss the power of money. How does it divide people and bring people together? What does the perception of the importance of money do the individual? Do you think Michael's money will make him happy over time? Do you think Caroline and Hamilton will be happy?

9. Testing your Hypothesis  How does your hypothesis that you created about the impact of the WWI era on the individual hold up after reading “The Bridal Party?” Use the behavior of the characters, in particular Michael Curly, to explain your ideas.