Part 1: Initial Reflection (5 marks)
Read the again book in its entirety and write a reflection. To help guide your writing, reflect on something that stood out to you in the book, something the book made you think or wonder about, and how the book made you feel. After this reading, what is your overall impression of the book? (150-200 words
Part 2: Character Study. What’s beyond their story? (10 marks)
Choose one character from the book other than Joe and George Smith. Identify the character and briefly describe their story in the book. Then, consider what is ‘under the surface’ of their story. What other historical issues and events are illuminated by the character’s story in the book. (200-300 words)
Part 3: Write a Letter (20 marks)
Use informed creativity to write a letter home from the perspective of one of the soldiers the World War I Graphic Novel by Cowsill and Sharma
In Cowsill and Shamas’ The War to End all Wars: World War One, 1914-1918, we get soldiers’ views of the war as the events and battles unfold. For the first part of the The Great War Project you are going to write a letter home from the perspective of one of the soldiers. This will involve using your informed creativity. Choose from one of the following soldiers:
• George Smith
• Joseph (Joe) Smith
• Khudadad Khan
*Be sure to indicate what page from the book you are using for the context of the letter
You need to state your soldier’s name, rank, regiment, age, and hometown at the top of the letter along with the date and place where the letter was written. Also, indicate which page in the graphic novel inspired your letter. A quality letter should reflect the soldier’s personality and experiences.
You can write and structure the letter as you wish, but you will need to address three topics in some detail.
1) The letter must detail the soldier’s impressions and capture the sights, sounds, and smells around him and use language from the times. Look closely at what’s happening around the solider. Look at the proximity to other men, machinery, weapons. What do you think it was like to be experiencing life at that very moment?
2) The letter must have the soldier ask about life back at home and make detailed references to the actual town or city (streets, buildings, geography). You can do this by reminiscing and/or asking about the current situation. This will take some research. For the Smith brothers, you can choose any town or city in England. Khudaddad Khan was from a village called Dab in the Punjab province in India. Look up the town or city. It has undoubtedly changed over the past 100+ years, but what would likely be the same? Some reading into the town’s history can also help.
3) *Be careful not to be too critical of the army or say too much about any plans as letters had to pass through army censors.
Remember, that the soldier’s regiment should conform with the soldier’s hometown.
The letter should be 300-400 words in length. You are welcome to write it by hand if you like or use any font you wish. There will be no extra marks for using old or cooked/burned paper. Keep your focus on the content.
