I know that the professor asked this in class but some classmates are pretty shy and do not answer in front of other classmates and rather respond online. What did you like most? What text spoke to you the most? Why did it speak to you? What did you learn? After finishing this semester do you feel like you learned more or less than before this class?
Literature of the Great War
ENGL 348. Spring 2022. Dr. Scanlon.
I think I would agree with most people who said that this class gave them a new perspective on the war. Coming in, I had no previous knowledge about WWI. It was a topic that was often glossed over in high school, so it never seemed of interest to me. If I am being completely honest, I took this class purely because Dr. Scanlon was teaching it. I am not much of a history buff, so I was a bit worried about the content. I was nervous that we would be studying the war from a factual standpoint, which is never my preference. After the first class, I was still unsure of what I got myself into. Looking back now, I realize that we had to have a basic understanding of the war to be impacted by the texts. It wasn’t until we began reading the literature that I knew I had made the right decision.
All Quiet on the Western Front has changed my approach to history forever. Learning about the war through the perspective of someone on the front was jarring. I had no expectations going into the book, but I had a lot of thoughts coming out. It was so bare and vulnerable, which is not often aligned with the stoicism of war. It allowed the readers to see how different soldiers dealt with the trauma of the front. This novel was the first one that brought up issues of life and death holding opposite meanings. It complicated our understanding of humanity and what it means to survive. It was
simultaneously heartbreaking and enlightening. All Quiet set the tone for the remainder of the course, and what a course this was!
From this novel, not only did I learn about history, but I also learned about the individual mind. It brought up hard questions and even more difficult answers. I was humbled by the literature that we read. I loved this course for the perspective it gave me and the ways that it challenged my understanding of war.
Thank you for sharing, I was really worried about taking this class as well because I thought that I need more knowledge about the war since in high school they did not teach much about just the number of soldiers and people who died. I liked how at the end the professor added the porter story of Miranda about how the flu was the actual cause of many deaths as well during the war not the war itself. I would say my favorite story was the Porter story.
“Not So Quiet…” was definitely my favorite text we read this semester. First of all, it was written by a woman, so it already gets major props from me. I think what I enjoyed most was how unapologetically grotesque and angry it was. It wasn’t easy to read, obviously, but Nelly’s constant sardonicism and unyielding descriptions of what was going on around her and the way the war broke her were refreshing to read. Again, maybe I enjoyed it more because a woman was being unapologetic in her writing, but the text struck me in a way the others didn’t– although they all got close
for some reason mine was the very last story we read was my favorite because it emphasized more about the flu of how the flue infected so many people and what were the symptoms of them.
In a sense, it sort of gave a bigger picture towards many aspects of the war, primarily those who’d fought or served in any position that had you on the front lines. Works like “Not so Quiet” really expand that perspective, not just in the overall picture, but really changes how we view war in general. Before this class I had a basic understanding of war, as my dad is also an army veteran. After this class, it really puts a lot into motion in my eyes.