EB3

World War I strongly affected literature. Countries from all over Europe fought in World War I, and many significant poets (American, British, and Continental) emerged from the hardships of war. Life in the trenches was extremely difficult, and for many men, deadly. A remarkable number of soldiers resorted to writing in order to overcome their troubles or to try and make sense of the chaos around them. Because of their writings, historians were able to capture the emotion and the impact of the first modern war. Without war, poetry and literature would have been different today. Poetry proved that we're all really the same, no matter what country we're from. It proved that no soldier truly wanted to be out on the front—and yet many fought there and resisted coming off the line. Although we may speak different languages, there is one language that is common throughout all humans, the language of emotion. The First World War was mainly fought between countries who had no distinct quarrels with one another. The poetry of the soldiers showed how little soldiers on the front lines felt a nationalistic spirit and why they never should have been fighting. Poets such as Wilfred Owen wrote many striking poems about the war, and his poems were directly based off his experiences in the war, similar to many other trench poets from Europe. [|Wilfred Owen] was a British soldier who had first hand experience in the war. He became famous for his ability to capture sensory details about the war in the trenches. The most brutal experience Wilfred wrote about was a new horror that originated during WWI -- gas attacks. Wilfred witnessed a few of his comrades in the trenches suffocate right in front of his eyes. In “[|Dulce et Decorum est]”, he describes, "In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning (Hughes, 164)." This was the most effective way Owen captured the emotion and the physical reality of the war. Owen uses harsh words such as "helpless" and "plunges" to bring the harsh emotion of the war into the reader's mind. Similar to the experiences described in All Quiet on the Western Front, Owen was also in the hospital for a good amount of time. While recuperating, he became acquainted with another famous British war poet, Siegfried Sassoon. Owen also wrote a poem called, "[|Anthem for Doomed Youth]." Siegfried Sassoon, a fellow poet, aided him in writing the drafts. This poem compares soldiers with cattle, similar to All Quiet's relation of horses and soldiers. Just like a cow, when a soldier dies, it's no big deal. There are "no prayers nor bells." Wilfred wrote this poem while he was in the hospital recovering from Shell Shock. This directly relates to the part in All Quiet when the horses get bombarded by artillery. Both Owen and Paul comment on war’s brutality and dehumanizing effects. Owen and Paul came from similar places. Both of them came from schools; however, Owen was a school teacher before the war. Unlike Paul, Owen was not in the war for long. He only spent 5 weeks out on the front, and the rest of his time was spent in the hospital. Again, this is where he bonded with fellow war poet, [|Siegfried Sassoon]. Siegfried could relate to many of the people Paul met in the hospital. Owen was only alive to see 5 of his poems printed. However, today there are hundreds, and Owen is recognized as perhaps the greatest British poet to experience WWI. Paul and Owen, although fighting for different countries, have many remarkable similarities. In fact, both of them died around the same time. Owen died “just seven days before the Armistice. (Emory)” Without the uniform, we’re all the same. The Allies may have won the war, but both sides lost lives all the same. Wilfred Owen was, of course, not the only famous World War I poet. [|Rupert Brooke], another English poet, also became famous for his poetic description of the war. However, Rupert Brooke never had any combat experience on the front. Instead, he joined the Navy. Many people underestimate the Navy. It’s true you’re protected by a large ship, but many soldiers during this time lost their lives at sea. This was the first war that included not only battle ships but also submarines—a mainstay of the German navy. Brooke allegedly had a very tough life before the war, and his poems capture his emotion of depression and anger. Even though he was never out on the front, Rupert became one of the most renowned World War I poets. In Brooke’s “Peace”, he writes about sarcastically thanking God for everything he’s done to us. This is an example of Rupert trying to blow off steam through his poems, giving his poems an angry, ungrateful emotion. Rupert Brooke too lost his life out at sea, but his ship was not shot down. He became extremely ill and died on a hospital bed out at sea. Unlike Owen, Brooke was very renowned even before his death. His obituary even contained a poem written by [|Winston Churchill] that was dedicated to him. Both of these poets teach a certain aspect of World War I that you can’t find in the textbooks. These poets were skilled enough writers that they could perfectly catch the emotions—from fear and horror to resignation and acceptance, and their poetry teaches us the most important aspect of the war—its wanton destruction of irreplaceable human lives.

media type="youtube" key="DJgv_vedpfE" height="344" width="425" This is a video that reads my personal favorite of Owen's poems, "Anthem for Doomed Youth".

Emory University. “Wilfred Owen (1893-1918).” __Emory__. Emory University. 24 Nov. 2008 . Hughes, John. “Owen’s DULCE ET DECORUM EST.” __Explicator__ 64.3 (2006): 164-166. __MasterFILE Premier__. EBSCO. Pascack Hills HS Lib., Montvale NJ. 24 Nov. 2008 . Owen, Wilfred. “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” September - October 1917. __The Wilfred Owen Literary Estate__. London. 24 Nov. 2008 . - - -. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” September - October 1917. __The Wilfred Owen Literary Estate__. London. 24 Nov. 2008 . Wilde, Robert. “Rupert Brooke.” __European History__. The New York Times Company. 25 Nov. 2008 .


 * Assignment: Do memories hinder or help people in their effort to learn from the past and succeed in the present? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.**

Memories act as both a help and a hinderance to the success of someone. Many people advise you to learn from the past and apply those memories so that you can effectively succeed by avoiding repeating your past mistakes. On the other hand, people who get too caught up with the past are unable to move on to the future.

Elie Wiesel's memoir Night perfectly exemplifies the double nature of memories. Wiesel, a Jewish man, suffered heavily throughout the Holocaust and Night is rife with horrific descriptions of his experience. These memories help to spread the view of what life was like. Through recounting these memories, Wiesel is able to educate world readers about the atrocities committed in hopes that the same blatant violations of human rights are never repeated again. Through reliving the Holocaust through his writing, Wiesel was inspired to become proactive in the battle for civil rights. Some would point to his peaceful actions and the sales of his book and label him a success.

Despite the importance of recounting such memories, Wiesel acknowledges the damage that memories can also cause. Following his liberation from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Wiesel was a bitter, jaded man. He could not even write Night until several years later. The end of the novel describes Wiesel's gradual but absolute loss of faith throughout the experience. His past experiences haunted him for several years, rendering him passive. It was not until he set aside his past that he could even focus on the future. Had he remained so consumed with the pain and damage caused in the past, he may never have achieved the success that he has attained.

Overall, Wiesel's experiences exemplify the importance of the past as a guide. Wiesel's past experiences helped to guide him in later life, but it was not until he pushed them aside that he could move on. To me this means that you should rely on your past without letting it control you. Allow your past to act as a guide, while making sure that you are also living in the present and looking to the future.

I give this essay a 4. The author uses some sweet vocab words, and he also has a point of view. However, the essay is not extraordinary in any way. The author does not provide enough details. The author does not use any unique grammar either.

Joseph Stalin was born in Georgia in 1879, which was part of The Russian Empire at that time. Stalin joined the Socialist party of Russia. He was originally not a key factor of the party, but he quickly rose up the ranks (BBC, paragraph 3). His friend and mentor, [|Vladimir Lenin], helped him rise to the position right under him. When Lenin died, Joseph Stalin promoted himself to the leader of the Russian Communist party. Hitler is extremely well known for the concentration camps he set up. However, it is less known that Stalin took a similar action among Russia. Stalin purged Russia of people he thought were hurting the economy. Stalin killed as many or more people in [|concentration camps] as Hitler.
 * Joseph Stalin**

Stalin’s famous Five Year Plan made Russia a superpower. Since World War II was stating, Russia needed to build a military to defend from western countries. Stalin’s Five Plan almost tripled the production of Russia towards coal, iron, steel, etcetera. Many politicians in Russia criticized his plans and policies. Stalin demanded that these people be arrested and executed (Spartacus Educational). One of his most prominent critics, [|Leon Trotsky], was hit in the head with a pickaxe by one of Stalin’s hitmen, but survived. Stalin would erase all evidence of politicians ever existing shortly after executing them. Because of Stalin’s tactics to secure power, Stalin was always in complete control of Russia. Russia became one of the major Allied powers of World War II, and eventually defeated Hitler when he attacked Russia. Although Russia was known as a threat to democracy, Russia, England, and the U.S. remained strong allies in order to defeat Hitler. Roosevelt and Churchill did not trust Stalin one bit, but it was the only way they could defeat Hitler and save Europe. Works Cited "BBC - History - Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)." BBC - Homepage. 06 Feb. 2009 . "Holocaust Timeline: The Camps." Florida Center for Instructional Technology. 06 Feb. 2009 . "Joseph Stalin." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. 06 Feb. 2009 . "Leon Trotsky." Fbuch.com. 06 Feb. 2009 . "Vladimir Lenin biography." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More. 06 Feb. 2009 .

PART 1

You Will have 30 minutes to complete the writing task. Take a Few Minutes to think about the task and to plan what you want to say before you begin to write. You may use the prewriting/planning space to plan your text, but your prewriting will not be scored. **Only your writing on the lined pages of your answer sheet will be scored.** Do your best to make your writing clear and well organized. Keep your purpose in mind as your write and use your checklist. You must use a No. 2 pencil. You may either print or write your final copy. You may //not// use a dictonary or any other reference materials during the test. However, you may use the Writer's Checklist. If you finish before the time is called, review what you have written using the Writer's Checklist to read critically and improve what you have written.
 * Directions:** Today you are going to take part of the High School Proficiency Assessment for Language Arts Literacy. The assessment contains different types of text and different activities. In the first part of the test, you will look at a picture and then complete a writing task. In this activity, you have an opportunity to demonstrate how well you can organize and express your ideas in written text. Refer to the Writer's Checklist of important points to remember as you write. Educators who read your writing will consider these important points when they read and score your writing.
 * An ancient proverb says, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Regardless of the artist's original intent, what we see in the picture can be very different from what others can see. What story does this picture tell you? Use your imagination and experience to speculate about what is happening. Then write your story.**


 * Part II: Persuasive Passage:** In this part of the test, you will read a persuade passage and then respond to the multiple-choice and open-ended questions that follow it. You may look back at the passage and make notes in the margin if you like, but you must record your answers on your answer sheet. You will have 50 minutes for this part of the test.

"**The Art of Ordering a McDonald's 2 Cheeseburger Extra Value Meal With No Cheese"** by Jay Slatkin Why won't McDonald's sell the 2-hamburger extra value meal (henceforth called the 2HEVM) anymore? Yeah, I know why- they'd have to charge less than a 2-cheeseburger extra value meal (2CEVM). Paying extra for cheese I don't want ticks me off, but the worse thing is that half the time I can't even get a 2HEVM! Have you ever tried to order a 2HEVM? It confuses the heck out of the register drones. There's no button for it, and as you know: At McDonald's, if there's no button for it on the register it doesn't exist. Some restaurants have it as a "hidden menu" item, so I always ask for it first. The answer is usually "no" (or the clerk doesn't know, which amounts to the same thing). So I have to ask if they will substitute hamburgers for cheeseburgers. Sometimes I'll get lucky, and they'll do that. More likely, though, they'll tell me they don't do sandwich substitutions. Actually, the usual response is "there's no button for that." As a last resort, sometimes I have to ask for "Two Cheeseburgers, No Cheese." Don't ever do this. As many McDonald's order takers have tried to explain to me "cheese burgers without cheese are just hamburgers." In other words, they are a non-item. A thing that cannot exist. Anathema. They tell me this so patiently, as if I'm on the verge of a mental break down or might burst into tears when confronted with this apparent contradiction. I've tried getting clever, but it doesn't help. Asking for the cheese "on the side" (even with the utterly believable explanation that I "don't like my cheese to be melted") is useless since there is no button for "cheese on the side" on the register. Asking for a Kosher cheeseburger will only be met with a blank stare or a puzzled/confused glance at the register just to be sure that "there's no button for that." If I'm lucky, I'll be able to cajole them into ordering the 2CEVM and pressing the "grill:no-cheese" button. They'll be nervous about it though. Afterward, they'll stare at the register as if they expect it to blow up or start waving robotic arms around and shouting "DOES... NOT...COMPUTE...." This will kick off a bizarre chain of events. The guy nuking burgers and condimentizing buns in the back will see a grill order for cheeseburgers, hold the cheese. Fellow employees will be asked for advice. Manuals and build-a-burger charts will be consulted. Finally, two decisions must be made: Will there be cheese? And what color paper will be used to wrap the tasty little paradoxes? You just never know. It's sort of like Christmas that way. Usually, I just get a couple of cheeseburgers wrapped in orange paper. Bizarrely enough, I've even received a couple of cheeseburgers wrapped in white paper. Either way, I consider this a necessary step, the follow-up to which is to change lines and tell the next clerk "I ordered hamburgers but got cheeseburgers." They happily exchange the sandwiches. Exchanges are something they know how to do. I think there's even a button for it. Everyone's happy, and I go on my way cheeseless and a better man for it. On other luckier occasions, I actually get a couple of hamburgers. Cause for rejoicing, indeed! Sometimes they'll be wrapped in orange paper, sometimes in white. I don't really care, except it's a pain to have to check every fricking time. The one thing I try to look out for is when they wrap my hamburgers in orange paper, and then the kid serving the drive-thru window will snatch them up and send them out the window. I don't want some poor schmuck to get drive-thru rage from a case of missing cheese. All this to get the extra 10cts for always up-selling to the cheese level probably costs them a good $1 per order in salaries (since the whole damn restaurant has to get involved) not to mention the cost of the discarded food. Seriously, what's so hard about adding another fricking button to the register?


 * The author talks about his experiences ordering at McDonald's.**
 * What are 2 examples he uses to get his point across?
 * Why does the author have to order a cheeseburger without cheese?


 * According to the author, it is cheaper to buy a cheeseburger without cheese than to buy a hamburger.**
 * Do you think the author is making the right choice in ordering a cheeseburger without cheese?
 * Have you ever had a similar experience in dealing with cashiers at fast food restaurants?

1. Jay Slatkin was very bothered by McDonalds being so brainless. First, what really bothers him is that there aren’t enough buttons to fully customize your meal. If he asked for cheese on the side, that question would be “useless since there is no button for “cheese on the side” on the register.” All Slatkin wanted was to not have cheese, but the people behind the register don’t have minds of their own, which is Slatkins other dilemma; the cashiers are brain dead. If Slatkin wanted a cheeseburger without cheese, the cashiers won’t ask a manager, or use common sense, but instead the question just “confuses the heck out of the register drones.” Unfortunately, the logical thing to do would not just order a hamburger because a cheeseburger without cheese is actually cheaper than a regular burger.

2. Slatkin is making the right decision by ordering a cheeseburger without cheese because it is cheaper. I would rather hassle a little for a cheaper price than pay for the expensive one, especially if I eat at McDonalds regularly. I personally know how Slatkin feels, at Wendy’s they always forget to not put mayonnaise on my burger; it is extremely annoying, but I enjoy the burger more and it is worth a little bit of arguing to get the meal suited best for me.

**"Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu"**
by John Updike The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights were turned on--always a wan sight in the daytime, like the burning headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom, Fisher was slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the seventh. He was second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park, and instead of merely cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of us, and applauded. I had never before heard pure applause in a ballpark. No calling, no whistling, just an ocean of handclaps, minute after minute, burst after burst, crowding and running together in continuous succession like the pushes of surf at the edge of the sand. It was a sombre and considered tumult. There was not a boo in it. It seemed to renew itself out of a shifting set of memories as the Kid, the Marine, the veteran of feuds and failures and injuries, the friend of children, and the enduring old pro evolved down the bright tunnel of twenty-two summers toward this moment. At last, the umpire signalled for Fisher to pitch; with the other players, he had been frozen in position. Only Williams had moved during the ovation, switching his bat impatiently, ignoring everything except his cherished task. Fisher wound up, and the applause sank into a hush. Understand that we were a crowd of rational people. We knew that a home run cannot be produced at will; the right pitch must be perfectly met and luck must ride with the ball. Three innings before, we had seen a brave effort fail. The air was soggy, the season was exhausted. Nevertheless, there will always lurk, around the corner in a pocket of our knowledge of the odds, an indefensible hope, and this was one of the times, which you now and then find in sports, when a density of expectation hangs in the air and plucks an event out of the future. Fisher, after his unsettling wait, was wide with the first pitch. He put the second one over, and Williams swung mightily and missed. The crowd grunted, seeing that classic swing, so long and smooth and quick, exposed. Fisher threw the third time, Williams swung again, and there it was. The ball climbed on a diagonal line into the vast volume of air over center field. From my angle, behind third base, the ball seemed less an object in flight than the tip of a towering, motionless construct, like the Eiffel Tower or the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was in the books while it was still in the sky. Brandt ran back to the deepest corner of the outfield grass, the ball descended beyond his reach and struck in the crotch where the bullpen met the wall, bounced chunkily, and vanished. Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs--hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn’t tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted "We want Ted" for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he refused. Gods do not answer letters.


 * The author describes his experience at watching Ted William's final time at bat.**
 * What are two ways the author compares Ted Williams to a "god"?
 * What are some examples of how the author sets the mood as Ted Williams takes the plate?


 * Baseball has been a part of American culture for many years.**
 * Do you think Ted Williams shows what it truly means to be an athlete?
 * Do you think the author would have still written the story if Ted Williams had not hit a home run?

1. Ted Williams was compared to a God in two ways. First, Ted Williams acted like a God, by being like a true superhero in a way. Ted Williams didn’t react to the crowd; he did his last bat, hit a homerun, and didn’t come back out to receive the fame. He was very modest. By not coming out to see the crowd cheering for him, he was similar to God in the fact that, “Gods do not answer letters.” This means that Gods, much like Williams will do their job, and be thankful, but will never ask for respect, or fame in return. John Updike set the mood very well, everyone, even the opposing team fans were proud to see him go up to bat. They were all clapping, there was no yelling, shouting, and there “was not a boo,” in the crowd. If I went to a sports event, and there wasn’t one boo in the whole crowd, I would know this was an intense, and historical moment.

2. Ted Williams shows exactly how an athlete should be. For athletes, playing their sport is their job; why should they ask for fame? Doctors, lawyers, teachers, or any other profession doesn’t ask for fame; they just do their job, and this should be no different for athletes. Of course if Ted Williams hadn’t hit the home run John Updike would not have written this because it wasn’t an uplifting historical event. John Updike wrote this to show how great Williams was. I don’t feel he would have written this to show how bad he was.

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The C.O.R.E was founded in 1942. The purpose of the C.O.R.E was to do non violent activities against segregation, such as Jim Crow laws. The C.O.R.E. made a peaceful march to Washington in 1963. After the march, Martin Luther King gave his famous I Have a Dream Speech. Members of the C.O.R.E often tried to oppose segregation laws and were acted upon with violence. Many black men and women were beaten, jailed, and/or killed because of their opposition to these laws



[|Hippies] were a very large youth group who dramatically changed American culture. In the 1950’s, TV made culture very conservative. After World War II, people lived their lives very conservatively, and many people grew tired of it. Women wanted more in their life, and men wanted to live for something other than work. Through music and writing, the hippies came out strong in the 1960’s. Their philosophy was to do whatever you wanted just to have fun. Music drastically changed, and drug use became extremely popular. People began expressing themselves for who they are, and the 1960’s became a time of youth and fun

Hippies were well known for their music, clothing, and abundant drug use. One of the most famous bands of the 1960's was The Beatles. The Beatles played a large part in changing American culture. TV and music used to be written much differently before the 1960's. 60's music was often about drug use, women, and having fun in general. One of the most famous gatherings of Hippies was [|Woodstock Festival]. The motto of Woodstock Festival became, "3 Days of Peace and Music". Woodstock was a 3 day festival where many famous rock and roll bands performed. [|Jimi Hendrix's] performance is perhaps the most well known.

Hippies were also known for their clothing and appearance. [|Tie-dye shirts], long hair, and hemp clothing are a few famously worn pieces of apparrel. Hippies were also well known for their peace sign, which they often wore on their clothes. Hippies strongly protested the Vietnam War, and they would often lay in the streets, blocking all cars to protest the war and its morals. Because of actions like these, Hippies became the symbol of the 1960's, and eventually evolved our culture.