All Quiet
on the Western Front
The Essay
On Wednesday, March 10, you will be asked to write on one
of these questions:
- Remarque certainly illustrates the dehumanizing aspect
of war in his book. How, though, does he show the soldiers to be more
human as a result of their war experience? Are there certain
experiences that Paul and his chums have that actually show them in a more
human way?
- All
Quiet on the Western Front paints a picture of war that is full of
terrifying, grotesque details in an attempt to persuade readers of the
horrors of battle. What are Remarque’s most significant condemnations of
war? In other words, what are the most powerful criticisms about war that
Remarque presents?
- World War I was referred to as “total war” because it
involved civilians. Think about the civilians in All Quiet on the Western
Front. What seems to be their function(s) in the book? What is
Remarque’s opinion of civilians? What is his comment about their various
roles?
- Hitler banned this book prior to World War II. Why
would he not want young Germans to read it? What seems to be the most
damaging aspect of Remarque’s work to any country that might be faced with
war?
- This book is a very “literary” work of literature;
that is, Remarque uses quite a bit of figurative language and literary tools
such as imagery in his writing. Discuss the effect of literary devices in
terms of how they contribute to the overall meaning and development of
themes in this novel.
Non-honors students will be given some choice of which
topic to write on; honors students may be more limited in the choices.
In preparation for this essay, you may want to create brief
outlines for each of these topics, but you will only be allowed to use your book
(free of any marks, tabbed pages, Post-It notes, etc.) and nothing more on the
day of the essay. No pre-writing, essay outlines, or notes will be allowed.
Good essays will use specific details from the book, so try
to be as familiar with the book as possible. Read some chapter summaries so that
you can remember the contents of most chapters.