Wednesday, December 01, 2010

World History for Wednesday and Thursday, December 1 & 2

  1. Notes on World War I, including creating a powder keg with reasons WWI started.  Be sure to copy these notes from a classmate.
  2. Video: Arming for War.  About 10 minutes long.  No make-up possible for this.
  3. World War I poem, Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.  We read the entire poem except for the last four lines.  Students were then to write four lines of their own that would end the poem appropriately.  I will post the poem below without the last four lines.  If you leave a comment on this posting with the four lines you wrote, I will give you extra credit.  You may only receive extra credit once.
Dulce Et Decorum Est
(It is Sweet and Good)

From the Latin saying, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”  (It is sweet and good to die for your country.)

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 tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmet just in time;
But someone still was yelling and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or in 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 dream you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch his 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,-- 

Finish this poem with four lines that are consistent with the poet's tone and message, leave a comment with those four lines and get five points of extra credit!

29 comments:

Sutthida Torr said...

Then you'd wish you'd never turned you back on war.
And considered helping those who died.

Anonymous said...

Then you would have felt the rath.
Seen the horror of the Devil himself. Felt the pain of a thousand wounds. And stood there, in disbelief.

Ruby Lizette Ruiz said...

Then you would feel the guilt,
The guilt of just watching him suffer,and not being able to save him. You walk away with the guilt and his voice nothing but a silent,"Ehemm."

andrew lathrop said...

then you would pray that god would spare your life, hope that tomorrow comes that you can see your family once more and live with peace after that dreadful war

Carlos Gomez said...

Then you would desperately lament for it to cease
to eye your brother being slain
praying that these memories will release
has left me scarred with a pain

chris yang said...

Then you would run in terror to see them die, even if you help tears would free-fall from your eyes. Maybe wishing for an end to this war, probably praying to see your family once more.

FongHistory said...

Wow guys, nice work all of you!

Sutthida: nice job but is that four lines?

Anonymous: good work but I need your name if you want extra credit!

Ruby: yes, the guilt. War veterans always talk about the guilt they feel since they survived and their friends didn't.

Andrew: offering hope!

Carlos: yes, soldiers walk away with psychological wounds from war--good work.

Chris: very emotional--powerful!

Natalie Haley said...

With every breath that he takes
the guilt grows deeper and deeper
and with every sound that he makes
i know that i am his death keeper

kabrina speakman said...

Then you would have nightmares of the dead
You would never want to see what I saw
Seeing the war has left me scars
Till I die i will never forget why I cried

Brandon Lara said...

Then as I walk down the valley of death,
And see the perilous dangers,
the thought of being at war,
becomes stranger

Esteban M. said...

then and only then you would know war
you would realize its not some childish dream to go off to war
you would know there is no pride out here only shame
then and only then you would know war

Colton Campbell said...

then you would have that image burned into your mind. every night when you go to sleep you can't escape it. you wake up from the horribke nightmare. but the reallity is that what you are dreaming is what happened.

jordan trzepkowski said...

then you would regret going to war.
watching people die before you.
see people suffer as you beg.
then go to bed frightend.

Emily Haroutunian said...

There you would see,
and also you would agree,
how terrible this really is,
to see you friend die right before your eyes.

kerrigan gunter-mitchell said...

then you would feel how i feel
see what i see
hear what i hear. in the depth of pain you would feel like going into hell. his pain will stain my memory forever

Melody V. said...

Then feel my pain and fear
Which forever now haunt me
Just look at the cloud of tears
That I shall always see trembling beyond me.

Billy Yang said...

then you would see what i see spending my days dodging all these booby traps and mines and at night,praying to god i get back alive

Haley Korenak said...

1. then you would not sleep at night
2. imagining it happpening to you
3. you there dying as you see the end in sight
4. as fast as it satrted, it ended

Unknown said...

...Then you too would've wished and hoped
you'd never came to this place.
This horrible field where one can't cope
with the fate that stares him in the face.

Jackie Aguilera said...

then for the first time in my life I was scared to look and see who was hurt.
The soldier was in pain like if someone was pulling on the collar of his shirt pulling him.
I wanted to run and not look but I was frozen.
All the darkness surrounded me and I knew its was only the begging.

Savanah Peck said...

Then I would wake up in the morning
and hear the cry of soldiers dying
all the while wishing
that I could help them survive.

kyle owen(aka M&M) said...

Then you will feel the pain
Death, as plain as day
hop on Grims train
Only to go one way

Meng Lee said...

Then you would be scare until you tear in fear. But just be glade that you still had the time to run, it'll be fun just don't be dumb and sit like a dummy you'll look funny.

cole dietrich per 6 said...

Be set afire as you and our men grow weary and tire as we trudge on through this blood forsaken mire

Beau Bower (beau_jangelz_5) said...

An ugly painful photograph is burnt into my sour and mind.
The fine line dividing life and death is gone.
Now both seem one to another combined.
Guilty for living will be the tune of my only song.

Anonymous said...

F U Fong

Anonymous said...

Then you would sit in horror
You would stare in wonder
How did this all come about
Wonder when will this all be over

Brad Beekman (: said...

Then you would collapse to your scab-free knees,
Never knowing what it felt like to see what i have seen,
All my friends that use to be so lively,
War was nothing expect lifeless, dead bodies.

JOSHUA XIONG said...

THEN YOU WOULD WONDER IF IT IS A NIGHTMARE
OR EVEN WORSE, TRAPPED IN THE DEVIL'S HELL
ENSNARED BY DEATH, STUNNED BY FEAR
YOU WILL REGRET THAT YOU WERE EVER HERE