What I Learned in English Class I feel this semester, only the first of many I will endure, was a successful one. The objective of the course was to make us better writers, and I certainly have improved. I learned what makes a paper good or bad, what makes it easier to write a good paper, and how the manner that the class is held makes a difference. However, I feel I should have taken my high school English class more seriously. The teacher graded rather leniently, which attributed to my lack of effort. The amount of work required to get an "A" paper in my high school was about equivalent to the work required to get a "C" paper here at Lehigh. It was a very difficult adjustment for me. I went through high school writing what I now know to be not-so-good papers, but received good grades for them. Then, I thought they were good because of the grades I got. Now, I find myself working over twice as hard for half the grade. This isn't a completely bad thing, though. It teaches me that my writing really wasn't very good. What I used to think deserved an "A" I now realize only does deserve a "C." Now I have to take my writing more seriously, and try much harder at producing good output. Also, my goal isn't to write a paper that will get a good grade. Now, my goal is to write better papers. I write to become a better writer. That is, I feel, a very important thing that I learned this semester. I don't think, "O.K., I have to get at least a B on this paper." Instead, I think, "O.K., I have to use this assignment to improve my work." This is a much better approach because it causes the writer to try to produce a well written piece. Writing for a grade often causes the writer to do just enough to get by. I also learned that it is much easier to produce a good piece of writing if I am kept interested. By choosing our own topics, rather than have the teacher give us topics to write on, we often are much more interested in
All Quiet On the Western Front By 1929, the example of Remarque's altered text of All Quiet on the Western Front, as Hemingway pointed out, gave further proof of greater intolerance in America than in England. Aldington's experience with Death of a Hero, however, would prove the exception. This war novel is actually an anti-war novel, tracing the lives and losses of a young group of soldiers caught in the brutality of World War I. Gripping, realistic, and searing with a vision inconsistent with post-war German character, this book caused Remarque to receive death threats and to leave Germany to live and work in Hollywood. (All Quiet on the Western Front) The differences between the English and American versions of Remarque's novel are instructive. Remarque originally had trouble publishing Im Westen nichts Neues in Berlin. It was rejected by the prominent and conservative Fischer Verlag before being accepted by the liberal house of Ullstein Verlag. It was the grim reality of Paul Baumer's victimization in the war, the disillusioned antiwar sentiments and pacifism of the characters that proved problematic for German leftists and nationalists alike, not the matter-of-fact language of the soldiers. But A. W. Wheen's translation for Putnam's English edition, retaining such words as shit, fart, piss-a-bed, turd, and masturbate had to be converted for Little, Brown's American edition. Skit became swine, piss-a-bed became wet-a-bed, cow-skit became cow dung, and the comical simile like a fart on a curtain pole became like a wild boar. Masturbate and turd dropped out of the American edition completely. (Firda, Richard Arthur 1993) Paul Baumer enlisted with his classmates in the German army of World War I. Youthful, enthusiastic, they ...
Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front is based on World War I; it portrays themes involving suffering, comradeship, chance and dehumanization. The novel is narrated by Paul, a young soldier in the German military, who fights on the western front during The Great War. Like many German soldiers, Paul and his fellow friends join the war after listening to the patriotic language of the older generation and particularly Kantorek, a high school history teacher. After being exposed to unbelievable scenes on the front, Paul and his fellow friends realize that war is not as glorifying and heroic as the older generation has made it sound. Paul and his co-soldiers continuously see horrors of war leading them to become hardened, robot-like objects with one goal: the will to survive.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a fictitious novel written by Erich Remarque that speculates the adventures and life of World War I German soldier Paul Bäumer. Paul is a young man of nineteen who joins the army voluntarily with his friends because they believe being in the military is very honorable and patriotic. However, after experiencing brutal and horrific training, him and his friends realize that their ideas of what nationalism and patriotism are are simply false. Over the course of multiple battles and confrontations with the French military, many men of Paul’s company are killed in combat. Towards the end of the novel, Paul and his group of friends are given what seems an easy task of guarding a supply depot from fighting for three
Because All Quiet on the Western Front is about among soldiers fighting on the front lines of battle, one of its main focuses is the disastrous effect that war has on the soldiers who fight in it. These men and women are subject to constant physical danger, as they are well aware that they could literally be blown to pieces at any given moment. This intense, physical threat also serves as an unceasing attack on their nerves, forcing soldiers to handle difficult situations with initial, instinctive fear during every waking moment. Additionally, the soldiers are forced to live in deplorable conditions—in filthy ditches full of rats, decaying corpses and lice. They frequently go without food and sleep, decent c...
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons-parents, elders, school, religion-that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it.
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war has an idealistic and romantic character. The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm. In the course of war, though, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope" (Remarque page #).
To sum up, Remarque wrote, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” to inform the reader about the unromantic and the painful reality of war. These young men in the story got themselves into, from suffering horrific injuries, attacks and abuse, to losing their innocence and ability to live peaceful lives as civilians at home who demonstrates Remarque's conviction of the truth about war. Remarque's personal experiences and reflections on war, as presented in this book, are a warning to other innocent young men who may fall prey to the false notion of war as glorious.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque promotes anti-war ideals by showing truth in his novel. Throughout the text Paul and his comrades experience all stages of the war that civilians would not be exposed to. The reader witnesses youthful soldiers turn old before their time. One can see the division that separates soldiers from everyone else. The anti-war theme present throughout the book shows the verisimilitude of war, through symbols, characterization, and other themes in the novel.
A person could clearly see that by simply looking at the grades that I have made on my final essays. On each essay so far this semester I have been able to earn a higher grade than the previous essay. One thing that I was able to correct by looking back on was usage of the word “it.” As stated by Schwartz, “It is a pronoun, so it must be replacing a noun or pronoun, what is it replacing?” By reflecting to my previous essays and reading this comment I was able to further understand the usage of the word it, and along with this I would be able to correct it in essays after that. Along with getting better grades on my final papers, I was able to further understand the purpose of pre-writing assignments. In the beginning of the year I would look at pre-writing assignments as almost a waste of time, but as I progressed through the course I would see just how much of an impact they could have. Whenever I would do badly on a pre-writing assignment it would usually translate over to a mediocre rough draft. Whenever I realized this I was able to grow off of previous mistakes and spend more time on the pre-writing. The more time I spent on the pre-writing the better grade I would get on that assignment as well as the rough draft. Despite me constantly reflecting to my previous essays, it is still one thing that I need to work on. During one of my essays I was making the same mistakes that I had made in previous essays, so much that my professor stated “See comments in previously graded assignments and apply them to the writing in this one” (Schwartz). I was making so many of the same mistakes that I had to go to my previous paper to see what I was doing wrong. After I read this comment I realized how vital it was to assess the comments made on my papers and apply it whenever I am writing. During the final parts of the course I was able to comprehend comments made by
Remarque accurately portrays all aspects of the war. However Remarque is best able to portray the effects the war has on the soldiers and the rest of the people and the scene of the battlefield compared to home.
The story of All Quiet On The Western Front centers on a young teenager, Paul Baumer the 19 year old German together with his 4 other classmates is persuaded to volunteer for the German army by enlisting at the beginning of World War I and find themselves fighting in the French warfare. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of an individual, Paul. Erich Maria Remarque creates the world of the ordinary German soldier in the Great War, spanning around late 1916 to just before the armistice of November 11th, 1918. It is a world of slaughter by gas burning ones lungs, by mortar shells tearing ones body apart, by bayonet and with wounded men caught on barbed wire, as well as hundreds of thousands dying of their wounds in the inadequate field hospitals where ruthless orderlies are in charge.
Time and good ideas will make for a good paper because when I begin writing a paper or an
The process of writing papers can be very frustrating. You must first get your ideas together. Getting your ideas together can be one of the hardest parts of writing because you could possibly not know what di...
Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.
Remember as a child people would tell you, "You are what you eat." When you are fed fat, you will become fat. When fed violence, you become violent. A diet of anger will make you hate. Hunger will make you hungrier, or so it would seem. I think it is ironic that we teach children at a young age to judge people by means other than the content of their character. Then, we expect children to be honest and loving after being labeled by how others view them. After all, how many people, besides your closest friends and family, can walk into your room and point to items that give a reflection of who you really are? The thought of being that shallow and simple is unthinkable for most of the human species. Instead of being labeled by the world as it sees me, I plan to introduce myself to the world for who I really am.