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the glencoe literature library study guide for all quiet on the western front by erich maria remarque i

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meet erich maria remarque during his wartime hospital stay remarque continued to write short pieces that were published in a popular german magazine after the war remarque finished his education but remained unsettled by his wartime experiences he worked briefly as a teacher and at various odd jobs in 1925 he became an editor for a sports magazine the financial success of all quiet on the western front an international bestseller published in 1929 allowed remarque to quit his job and write full time in 1931 he moved to a villa in switzerland on lake maggiore the publication of all quiet on the western front brought controversy to remarque as well as fame and wealth many readers viewed the novel which stresses the wasteful destruction of the war as a humanitarian antiwar statement to the nazis the rising political faction in germany at the time the book was unpatriotic and subversive in 1933 all quiet on the western front was one of the first books that the nazis burned in public declaring it a betrayal of the soldiers of the first world war the successful american film of the novel made in 1930 was also banned by the nazis had remarque remained in germany he would have faced certain persecution the nazi government later revoked his german citizenship in 1938 in 1939 remarque moved from switzerland to the united states living first in hollywood and then in new york city there he continued to write novels several of which were made into films though none were as greatly admired as his first most of them focused on the lives of germans in the aftermath of the two world wars meanwhile remarque moved in glamorous circles acquiring well-known friends and acquaintances including greta garbo charlie chaplin and ernest hemingway remarque kept his apartment in new york city but divided his time between new york and hollywood his villa in switzerland and several european cities after years of heart problems remarque suffered a fatal heart attack in switzerland in 1970 i write by ear i hear everything that i write i choose words for their sound my novels all sound good when they re read out loud i find easy what other authors find most difficult writing dialogue erich maria remarque l copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc ike the main character in all quiet on the western front erich maria remarque served as a german soldier in world war i drafted in november 1916 at the age of eighteen he was sent to the western front in flanders now belgium there he worked in a support unit behind the lines laying barbed wire and building bunkers and dugouts to help fortify gun sites his work often took him within range of enemy gunfire in july 1917 he was wounded while retrieving an injured soldier during an attack he was sent to a hospital where he spent most of the rest of the war recuperating later he would incorporate some of his own war experiences into his popular war novel im westen nichts neues or all quiet on the western front remarque whose ancestors were french was born in osnabrück germany in 1898 although his family was poor remarque s childhood was happy interested in music at an early age he played both the organ and piano by the time he was seventeen he had begun to write essays and poems and had started a novel all quiet on the western front study guide 9

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introducing the novel this book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession and least of all an adventure for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it it will try simply to tell of a generation of men who even though they may have escaped its shells were destroyed by the war erich maria remarque preface to all quiet on the western front the subject of all quiet on the western front is the worldwide conflict of 1914­1918 called then the great war world war i as we refer to it today was a shockingly intense conflict that not only transformed the political landscape of europe but also changed forever the values and perceptions of civilized western society in the years before the war s outbreak the major countries of europe had formed alliances that divided the continent into two hostile camps on one side were the central powers which included germany bulgaria and austria-hungary on the other were the allies which included france great britain and russia among others the tinderbox of europe ignited when the assassination of archduke ferdinand of austria sparked a series of threats and counterthreats that drew the two alliances into war germany the leading military and industrial power in europe quickly embarked on a war of expansion the german plan which its leaders had worked on for decades called for fighting on two fronts first the germans planned to launch a massive offensive against france in the west they thought their offensive would be completed in six weeks allowing them time to turn east and invade russia on a second front german forces quickly swept through belgium but they were halted just outside paris from that point on germany s plan for a quick victory in the west unraveled newly developed weapons of war especially modern cannons and machine guns with tremendous firepower made the battlefield so violent that traditional organized attacks quickly disbanded for shelter the soldiers had no choice but to burrow into the ground as a result by 1915 a strategy called position warfare developed both sides 10 dug a series of trenches that ran all the way from the belgian coast to the swiss border from these trenches the armies fought a stationary war of defense rather than a war of movement and offense their aim was to hold their ground at any cost the war thus became a stalemate as each side tried to wear down the other military leaders trained in nineteenth-century tactics continued to stage countless small frontal offenses ordering infantry soldiers to go over the top of the trenches but the results were murderous and success was rare with gains measured only in yards trench warfare was incredibly costly in terms of human lives the war had far-reaching political and social consequences it broke up the four great empires of europe the german austro-hungarian russian and turkish empires leaving europe unstable the war also brought more deaths and casualties than any war in the previous one hundred years some 8.5 million people died and 21 million were wounded by 1916 few families in europe were left untouched by the death of a son husband father cousin or friend the war also had a profound psychological effect on those who survived it like remarque and those who came of age in its wake sometimes called the lost generation many of these young people developed a pessimistic and uncertain outlook on life and society after the war the traditional social values that had led to the war honor duty glory and discipline seemed hollow and many survivors blamed the older generation for permitting the war s ghastly and wasteful destruction they felt the old order was morally corrupt and no new order had risen to provide a sense of hope and stability remarque s novel published in 1929 some ten years after the war s end spoke to and of this generation as one critic noted all quiet on the western front seems to encapsulate in popular form the whole modern impulse the amalgamation of prayer and desperation dream and chaos wish and desolation the novel also speaks to readers who wonder what the war was like for the average soldier narrated by a young german infantryman all quiet provides a picture of the war that all quiet on the western front study guide copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc.

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in one critic s words is unsurpassed for vividness for reality for convincingness which lives and spreads and grows until every atom of us is at the front seeing mingling suffering written in a clear and lively style remarque s fictional account has an eyewitness authenticity that still engages and moves readers today the time and place all quiet on the western front takes place during the last two years of world war i between 1916 and november 1918 the action occurs in the trenches behind the lines and away from the front in paul bäumer s hometown remarque however does not give exact place names suggesting that what paul experienced was typical of many soldiers on the western front regardless of their location indeed many foreign readers who fought in the war have confirmed that paul s experiences were essentially the same as those of soldiers from other nations did you know the daily scenes encountered by soldiers at the front were nightmarish in the trenches men fought and lived among the dead and pieces of the dead for the new weapons of war could shatter human bodies corpses were also strewn across the narrow stretch of ground known as no man s land which separated enemy trenches that faced each other the sights sounds and smell of death were everywhere because conditions in the front line were so horrific soldiers generally were not placed there for more than a week at a time they were sent from the front line to a support trench then farther back to a reserve trench and then to a quiet base camp at the rear for rest trenches typically about ten feet deep were built in zigzags this pattern limited the destruction caused by bursting shells and protected soldiers from gunfire if the enemy entered the trench short lengths of trench jutted into no man s land to allow better listening and observation of the enemy in addition narrower communication trenches used to bring up supplies troops and orders connected the main trenches from front to rear soldiers in the front line were not always under attack days in the trenches tended to be boring although the danger of sniper fire and random artillery shelling always lurked in the daytime the men cleaned their rifles and wrote letters most work was done at night when the men could move about more safely creeping on their bellies soldiers ventured out into no man s land to string barbed wire scout enemy positions or rescue the wounded much time was also spent repairing trenches damaged by shellfire raids or rain as one veteran recalled the men slept in mud washed in mud ate mud and dreamed mud copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc all quiet on the western front study guide 11

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before you read all quiet on the western front chapters 1­5 focus activity what are the general characteristics of your parents generation or grandparents generation how would you describe your own generation freewriting take ten minutes to freewrite about your impressions of the older generation and younger generation in general do you respect the opinions of persons older than you do you think older people have the same values or perspectives that younger people do do you think all young people have the same values and points of view explain setting a purpose read to discover nineteen-year-old paul bäumer s ideas about his own generation and that of his elders background time and place the scenes in all quiet on the western front take place in three basic locations the front itself settings near the front but away from the fighting such as a camp or hospital and settings away from the front such as paul s hometown or the army training camp by shifting between calm and violent scenes remarque emphasizes the contrast between life at the front and life everywhere else did you know soldiers in the trenches could distinguish the different kinds of shells being fired by the sounds they made in the air in world war i artillery or cannon-like weapons were used in far greater numbers than ever before these long-range and close-range guns fired large missile-shaped shells of different types of these shrapnel shells were especially deadly because they contained a large powder charge and hundreds of sharp metal bits when the charge exploded over enemy trenches the deadly projectiles flew through the air making a singing sound large shells nicknamed jack johnsons after a famous heavyweight fighter of the day made a high-pitched whistle the whizz bang a lighter shell buzzed briefly just before it arrived at its target copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc vocabulary preview barrage [b razh n curtain of heavy artillery fire just in front of friendly troops to screen and protect them billets [bil its n lodgings assigned to soldiers helter-skelter [hel tr skel tr adj in disorder or confusion insubordination [in´s bord n a´shn n disobedience to authority ¯ laconically [la kon ik le adv with few words ¯ queue [ku n line of people ¯ rail [ral v to scold or denounce harshly ¯ restive [res tiv adj restless satchel [sach l n small bag with a shoulder strap windfall [wind fol n unexpected sudden gain 12 all quiet on the western front study guide

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name date class active reading all quiet on the western front chapters 1­5 chapters 1­5 introduce most of the major characters in the novel as you read make notes about each character s traits actions and attitudes in the chart below character traits actions and attitudes p baumer aul narrator a former student who enlisted because of his sense of patriotism now disillusioned bitter toward elders cool in battle values comradeship copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc all quiet on the western front study guide 13

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name date class responding all quiet on the western front chapters 1­5 personal response based on paul s description of the front what part of the experience do you think would be the hardest to bear what could provide consolation analyzing literature recall and interpret 1 in the opening scene why does paul s company have extra food to eat why is franz kemmerich dying how are müller s feelings about kemmerich s dying different from paul s feelings 2 how does the schoolmaster kantorek refer to his former students why do paul and kropp scoff at the term kantorek uses how do the young men feel about corporal himmelstoss why copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc 3 what mission at the front is paul s group sent to perform what do the men rely on to survive 14 all quiet on the western front study guide

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name date class responding all quiet on the western front chapters 1­5 analyzing literature continued evaluate and connect 4 what scene provides a contrast to the tension and horror that the men experience at the front 5 what does kropp mean when he says of himself and his classmates the war has ruined us for everything literature and writing bulletin from the front imagine that you are a newspaper reporter accompanying paul s group on the night they perform their mission in no man s land write about the scene in a news bulletin for your readers include details of sight and sound to convey the dangers the men face during the bombardment describe the actions of the men and their emotions and attitudes before during and after the fighting after you have written a first draft review it critically does your report have an interesting lead does it give readers a feeling of actually being present in the situation you are describing does it convey human interest revise and proofread your report extending your response literature groups remarque often uses vivid images as well as symbols in his description of a soldier s life at the front an image refers to something that can be perceived by the senses a symbol is something an object place character or action that stands for something else in your group assign one chapter to each person and skim the text to find two or three passages that contain striking images or symbols write the sentences on a separate sheet of paper take turns reading your sentences aloud to the group by chapter for each sentence briefly discuss the effectiveness of the image or symbol invite others to give comments on your examples then as a group select the most significant image or symbol from each chapter compare your selections to those of other groups learning for life paul s teacher kantorek persuades his students to join the army by telling them that they will be fighting for the glory of the fatherland many military recruiting posters at the time did the same recruiting posters were one form of propaganda because they were designed to influence public opinion on social or political issues create a military recruiting poster aimed at young people select a strong visual image for your poster and a complimentary slogan or message your poster may appeal to emotion or to logic copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc save your work for your portfolio all quiet on the western front study guide 15

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before you read all quiet on the western front chapters 6­8 focus activity does it help or hurt to talk about traumatic experiences discuss with a small group discuss whether talking about traumatic experiences is a good idea under what circumstances might communicating about trauma be helpful under what circumstances might it be counterproductive share your opinions with other groups setting a purpose read to find out whether paul bäumer can communicate with his family and former friends background time and place world war i was a total war meaning the populations of entire nations were caught up in the conflict factories produced weapons ammunition and military supplies women replaced many male workers in industry and civilians sacrificed food and supplies to help support the war effort near the battlelines civilians were also exposed to the dangers of shelling in some cases entire villages were obliterated as the fighting wore on all of the participating nations experienced food shortages in response wartime governments in europe instituted food rationing which led to long lines at stores for what little food was available in germany shortages were especially severe because the allies had blockaded german ports with little grain available turnips and potatoes were used to make krieg war bread and acorns were gathered and ground up to make coffee by the winter of 1916­1917 german citizens were becoming weak and thin and some were dying from starvation did you know the germans were the first to use poison gas on a large scale at the second battle of ypres in april 1915 german soldiers in a front-line trench released chlorine gas from more than five thousand pressurized cylinders timing the release with a westward-blowing wind chlorine gas visible as a greenish-yellow cloud is a lung irritant that causes extreme pain in the nose and throat and slow suffocation death results if the concentrated gas is inhaled for more than a few minutes many people thought the german s use of poison gas was barbaric but the british and french quickly developed their own gas weapons the most widely used gas mustard gas was introduced in mid-1917 odorless and colorless it burned the skin eyes and respiratory tissues gas attacks caused at least one million deaths during the war after gas masks were developed few men were killed by gas but gas attacks were still used to unsettle the enemy copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc vocabulary preview chasten [cha sn v to punish to make humble ¯ devastated [dev s tat d adj overwhelmed ruined ¯ listless [list lis adj lacking energy ludicrous [loo d kres adj ridiculous laughable ¯¯¯ melancholy [mel n kol´e adj depressed in spirit sad ¯ obliquely [o blek le adv indirectly in a slanting or sloping direction ¯ ¯ ¯ parapet [par pit n low wall of stone or earth to protect soldiers rave [rav v to speak wildly or angrily ¯ remnant [rem nnt n small surviving part solace [sol is n relief comfort 16 all quiet on the western front study guide

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name date class active reading all quiet on the western front chapters 6­8 chapter 6 gives a vivid account of life in the trenches from the common soldier s point of view as you read this chapter use the cluster diagram to note the sights sounds smells and feelings described you may not fill all the circles in some categories and you may need to add circles to others long nude tails of rats sounds sights copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc trench warfare smells feelings all quiet on the western front study guide 17

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name date class responding all quiet on the western front chapters 6­8 personal response paul says that every soldier believes in chance and trusts his luck if you were a soldier in combat do you think you would find yourself trusting chance or trusting something else instead do you feel differently about chance as it relates to your everyday life explain analyzing literature recall and interpret 1 why are paul and his company moving back to the front how does the battle progress over the two weeks the company spends at the front 2 when paul tells kemmerich s mother about her son s death why is he surprised at her grief copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc 3 at the training camp what sights seem to soothe paul s mind what thoughts does paul have as he observes the russian prisoners of war 18 all quiet on the western front study guide

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name date class responding all quiet on the western front chapters 6­8 analyzing literature continued evaluate and connect 4 were you surprised that the three young french women were willing to spend the evening with paul kropp and leer why or why not 5 how does paul s classmate mittelstaedt taunt and humiliate kantorek do you think this treatment of kantorek is justified explain literature and writing lost in thought in chapter 6 paul daydreams about his home what specific things does he recall in his daydream how do his memories affect him why does he say of himself and his friends i believe we are lost reread paul s reflections in chapter 6 then write a paraphrase of the passage that is restate paul s ideas in your own words in your paraphrase use the third person he and they rather than i and we in your concluding sentence explain the significance of paul s daydream extending your response literature groups review the section in chapter 7 in which paul returns home how does he act when he is there how does he feel why does he make the statement he does at the very end of the chapter then recall the discussion you had as part of the focus activity for this section of the novel does paul s homecoming experience affect your opinion of whether talking about traumatic experiences is a good idea why or why not psychology connection when people are under severe stress or dealing with strong negative emotions they often fall back on certain coping strategies also called defense mechanisms these strategies may temporarily protect a person from painful situations or thoughts but they usually do not work as long-term solutions common coping strategies include denial or refusing to recognize an emotion or problem compensation or making up for a weakness in one area by excelling in another daydreaming or inventing situations to escape unpleasant facts displacement or transferring emotions from the true source to some other thing or person rationalization or making excuses for one s actions or feelings and regression or returning to immature behavior to express emotions find examples of these strategies as used by paul or other characters in the novel what other strategies do the soldiers in the novel use to cope with the unbearable stress of war save your work for your portfolio copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc all quiet on the western front study guide 19

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before you read all quiet on the western front chapters 9­12 focus activity when your life seems difficult what keeps you going and gives you hope list think of some situations in which people might feel depressed or paralyzed by their troubles what thoughts feelings or ideas might help them to see things more positively and keep from giving up in a chart list some troubling situations and some possible sources of strength that could help people endure or see beyond their troubles setting a purpose read to find out whether paul bäumer survives the war background time and place during most of the period of the novel 1916­1918 germany was fighting on two fronts by late 1917 russia had withdrawn from the war after accepting harsh terms for peace with germany german troops in the east were then sent to the western front to try to break the stalemate there earlier that year however the united states had entered the war on the side of the allies strengthened by american troops allied forces stopped a massive german offensive launched in the spring of 1918 by october the allies had driven the german army back to germany s pre-1914 borders and crushed morale german troops were exhausted and replacements many younger than fourteen years of age were too inexperienced to fight a major war the armistice ending world war i was signed on november 11 1918 did you know the allies as well as the germans designed new weapons to try to break the deadlock of trench warfare the british thought that tank warfare would be the solution tanks could easily roll over barbed wire and cross trenches up to ten-feet wide clearing the way for advancing infantry tanks were prone to breakdowns however and often got stuck in the mud noisy cramped and hot inside tanks could travel at only six miles per hour and were stressful for the crew to operate british tanks were first used in 1916 at the battle of the somme looking like mysterious monsters that nothing could stop tanks incited fear in the enemy but there were too few of them to make a significant impact later in the war the allies launched two massive tank attacks both attacks used over three hundred units and were successful in breaking through german lines great britain deployed almost three thousand heavy tanks between 1916 and 1918 while the germans used only twenty although tanks proved increasingly helpful to the war effort their full potential would not be realized until world war ii copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc vocabulary preview banal [b nal adj ordinary lacking originality convalescent [kon´v les nt adj recovering health and strength gradually after a sickness forlorn [for lorn adj sad and lonely idyll [id l n carefree episode invulnerable [in vul nr bl adj unable to be harmed or wounded repulse [ri puls v to fight off an attacker shrewdly [shroo le adv wisely cleverly ¯¯¯d ¯ surreptitiously [sur´p tish s le adv sneakily secretly ¯ 20 all quiet on the western front study guide

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name date class active reading all quiet on the western front chapters 9­12 in chapters 9­12 paul frequently reflects on the strong feeling of brotherhood among soldiers using the chart list statements in which paul reflects on the importance of comradeship also note the situation he is in when he has these thoughts more than one statement may be attributed to one situation statements situation we must work the army medical sergeant-major so that we can keep together albert p and kropp are both wounded and will aul be sent by train to a hospital copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc all quiet on the western front study guide 21

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name date class responding all quiet on the western front chapters 9­12 personal response did you expect the novel to end the way it did why or why not do you think the ending is appropriate or would a different ending fit the novel better explain analyzing literature recall and interpret 1 why doesn t paul flee from his foxhole after he stabs the french soldier how does the incident affect paul how do you interpret his comment afterward after all war is war copyright © by the mcgraw-hill companies inc 2 what happens at the hospital after paul and kropp are each wounded in the leg what does paul see and think as he walks through the rooms of the hospital 3 after paul returns to the front what happens to his comrades what does paul learn about the progress of the war 22 all quiet on the western front study guide

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