All Quiet Study Guide Packet
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All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Independent Reading Guide
Background: This guide is designed to:
- Help you better understand the basic plot of All Quiet on the Western Front
- Help you analyze Remarque’s feelings about the effect war has on the generation who fights in it
Directions: Before you read a chapter, read the focus statements and questions. Check your comprehension of a chapter by answering any questions that are included. Avoid reading all of the focus questions at once; otherwise, you’ll reveal too much of the plot. You will not turn in the answers to these questions because they are solely designed to help you improve your comprehension. However, if you can answer the questions you will do well on any pop-quizzes or reading checks we will have in class during this unit. Remember, you can’t become a better reader if you don’t want to become one. Make the most of this activity; your brain will thank you! Note: We will use these as discussion questions.
The Author:Remarque was a WWI veteran, and wounded 5 times during the war. Most of his novels are about how war wrecks youth.
Translator:Your book was translated by A.H. Wheen, a Brittish man, so there will be many non-American English spellings – i.e. flavour instead of flavor, or strange words for our common ones – i.e. lorry instead of truck
The Preface: Consider as you read the preface and the book that this generation of men was called the “lost generation.”
Chapter 1 Be ready to cite examples of how Remarque describes the horror and waste of war juxtaposed to nature and its innocence.
Chapter 2Be ready to cite examples of how Remarque has characterized Paul Baumer, and how the stress of being on the front makes the men’s moods erratic.
Chapter 3Be ready to explain how the men feel about Kat, and what Himmelstoss has done to deserve the hate the boys feel for him. Reflect on how the desire to get back on Himmelstoss lowers the boys to his level.
Chapter 4Dramatic Irony occurs when what you know about a situation is greater, or more complete, than the characters’ understanding. We know the Germans loose the war, but the boys don’t know this. Be ready to cite examples of how dramatic irony and the use of imagery heighten the tension in the story leading to your understanding that bad things will happen.
Chapter 5Consider how Remarque brings humor into this chapter. Be ready to cite examples of the humor and be able to explain what makes it funny.
Chapter 6Draw a picture, or series of pictures, of one of the following: war juxtaposed to nature as portrayed in this chapter; the bad conditions in the dugouts so close to the front line; parallels of the rats and men; the allied soldiers response to saw-edged bayonets.
Chapter 7Melodrama is marked by the use of stereotyped characters, exaggerated behavior and emotions, simplistic morality and conflict. Mentally note as you read the melodrama in this chapter. Be ready to share your impressions and examples in class.
Chapter 8Once again, Remarque juxtaposes images of the innocence and beauty of nature, with surrounding conditions that are neither innocent nor beautiful. However, this time the natural images also have ghost or spirit- like overtones. Be ready to cite examples of this “ghostly” imagery.
Chapter 9At the end of this chapter, Paul dismissively says “After all, war is war.” Be prepared to answer the following question in class. Do Paul’s actions match his words?
Chapter 10Be ready to cite specific examples that show Paul has seen yet another way the war is a waste, and explain how this furthers his alienation from civilian life.
Chapter 11Think about the many ways Paul’s life has been crushed by the war. Mentally note the images that Paul uses to describe war, and the injustices suffered by the soldiers. We will discuss this in class.
Chapter 12First of all, reflect on who’s left from Paul’s original group. Secondly, notice how the story rapidly became less objective and more details are left out of the descriptions. Finally, notice how Remarque switches from the 1st person to the 3rd person at the end of the novel. Why would Remarque employ these tactics? How do these tactics reinforce what Remarque is trying to convey?
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
STUDY GUIDE CHAPTER QUESTIONS
For each chapter, answer 5 in complete sentences, using the wording from the question in your answer. Each question is worth 2 points: 1 for grammatical/spelling correctness, 1 for answering the question completely (vague answers will earn a zero). Study guides will be collected in 4 chapter increments: Chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-12. If you fail to separate these questions you will be expected to redo them for credit as you will not receive credit for them.
Chapter 1:
- Where are the men “at rest”?
- Why is there such an abundance of rations?
- Why do the men feel hostile toward Ginger?
- What is unusual about the latrine facilities?
- What has changed about these men?
- Who is Kantorek?
- Why does Muller wish Kantorek were there?
- What different attitudes about war were held by the “poor and simple” and those “better off”?
- What is the double horror of Behm’s death?
- What is Muller’s plan for Kemmerich’s boots? Do you think this is cruel?
- Why is Kantorek wrong in referring to these young men as “Iron Youth”?
- Why is Paul bitter in his feelings word Kantorek?
Chapter 2:
- What did Paul often do in the evenings before the war?
- How do Paul and the other young men differ from the older soldiers?
- What did the men learn as new recruits?
- What were they forced to do in training camp?
- Describe Corporal Himmelstoss.
- How did the men finally get Himmelstoss to leave them alone?
- What attributes did the men gain from the training?
- What does death look like in Franz Kemmerich?
- What is the doctor’s and orderly’s attitude toward Kemmerich’s death?
- Why does Paul run away from the hospital? What does he feel?
Chapter 3:
- Why is it ironic that Paul and his comrades refer to themselves as “stone-age
veterans” when they compare themselves to the new recruits?
- Describe Katczinsky. What is his special talent?
- What is Kat’s philosophy of war? What is Kropp’s philosophy of war?
- Why does the author expand and discuss these philosophies?
- What is Kropp’s philosophy concerning power given to insignificant men?
Chapter 4:
- How does arrival at the front affect the soldier’s physical appearance?
- What symbolism does the earth have for the soldier?
- What allows man to survive?
- What must be done on a wiring fatigue?
- What does the cry of the wounded horses represent?
- What is ironic about using the cemetery for cover?
- What will gas do to a person?
- Where does gas linger?
- What happens to the corpses in the cemetery?
- What do Kat and Paul nearly do to the recruit with the hip wound? Why?
- Why does Paul say the rain falls in their hearts?
(Start a new sheet of paper here!)
Chapter 5:
- How do the men kill lice?
- What does Himmelstoss expect from the group of men?
- Why does Himmelstoss want to have Tjaden court-martialled?
- What is the status of Paul’s class?
- What does school have to do with their lives now?
- What will the men’s lives be like when they return to society?
- How does Kropp infuriate Himmelstoss?
- What types of arrests are used in the German army?
- What is the similarity between Kat and Paul’s goose escapade and the war?
- Why do they save the goose feathers?
- What is ever-present in the men’s lives?
- What special feeling does Paul have for Kat?
Chapter 6:
- How efficient is the German army?
- What are the men awaiting?
- How does Chance rule their lives?
- Why do they call the rats “corpse-rats”?
- What foreshadows a rough battle for the men?
- Why do the men use spades rather than bayonets?
- How does bombardment wear on the men?
- How are the attackers described?
- Why does Paul hesitate before throwing the grenade?
- How do the men react to the wounded?
- What are Paul’s memories while he stands sentry duty?
- How have Paul’s feelings toward his memories changed?
- Why do the soldiers search so thoroughly for a wounded man?
- What happens to the dead?
- How has nature reacted to the war?
- What happens to Himmelstoss during the attack?
- What is the result after days of fighting?
Chapter 7:
1.What feelings does the picture of the girl in the white dress provoke in the men?
- How does Paul feel about being home?
- What are his mother’s reactions to his visit? What are his father’s reactions?
- What has happened to Kantorek?
- Why is Paul repulsed by the conversation he has with his German master?
- Tell about Paul’s visit with Kemmerich’s mother. Why does he persist in lying to her?
- Why does Paul say he should never have had a leave?
Chapter 8:
1. Why do the soldiers at the camp on the moor become so close to nature?
- Describe the Russian prisoners. Why does Paul feel sorry for them?
- What is wrong with Paul’s mother? Why is his father afraid to ask the surgeon how much her operation will cost?
- Why is it hard for Paul to spend time with his family?
Start a new sheet of paper here!
Chapter 9:
1. How do the men prepare for the Kaiser’s visit? Who is the Kaiser?
- The men have a discussion about who starts war. What conclusions do they reach?
- What type of damage do trench mortars cause?
- What happens to Paul on scouting duty? How is he saved? How does he feel about his comrades?
- Who is Gerard Duval? How is Paul affected by his death?
Chapter 10:
1. How does the troop manage to live well for a few days?
- What happens to Paul when he returns to the front? What happens to Albert?
- Why doesn’t Paul want to get into a clean bed on the troop train?
- How does Paul manage to get off the train with Albert?
- How do the men get nuns to stop praying over them at the crack of dawn?
- Why does Joseph Hammacher let the nuns know he has a shooting license?
- What is the Dying Room? Who returns from the Dying Room?
- Why do the men try to discourage the two young soldiers from having the doctor operate on their flat feet?
- Paul does a great deal of thinking while he was in the hospital. How does he feel about the war? How does he feel about the young men his age who are involved in the war?
- What favor do the men do for Lewandowski?
- Why is it hard for Paul to leave the hospital?
Chapter 11:
1.What is the central action in this chapter? What happens to the German army?
- What happens to Muller, Bertinck, Leer, and Kat?
- What is the only thing that helps these men endure their conditions?
- What new weapons used by the Allies contribute to the collapse of the Western Front?
- When Kat is wounded, what does Paul try to do for him? What is the outcome of this? What is Paul’s mental state afterward?
Chapter 12:
1.What point has been reached in the war in the fall of 1918?
- Why does Paul get a fourteen day rest?
- What does Paul predict for his generation? Does his prediction come true?
- Why does the point of view change to the third person for the last two paragraphs of the story?
- What is ironic about the novel’s ending?
THEMES AND QUOTES FROM
All Quiet on the Western Front, Ramarque
The Lost Generation
“All older men are linked up with their previous life. They have wives, children, occupations and interests. They have a background which is so strong that the war cannot obliterate it. We young men of twenty, however, have only our parents and some, perhaps, a girl.” page 23
“Our early life is cut off from the moment we came here and that without our lifting a hand.” page 28
“We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk.” page 18
War is Worse Than Death
“The stillness is the reason why these memories of former times do not awaken desire so much as sorrow. A vast incomprehensible melancholy.” page 121
“We see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces; we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death.” page 121
“If the fellows over there catch a man with one of those (bayonets), he’s killed on sight. In the next sector some of our men were found whose noses were cut off and their eyes poked out with their own saw bayonets.” page ?
War is Dehumanizing
“We are insensible dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and kill. We have lost all feeling for one-another.” page 116
“We have become wild beasts. We do not fight: we defend ourselves against annihilation.” page 113
“Tjaden wets his bed. Himmelstoss maintained that it was sheer laziness and invented a method worthy of himself so he could cure Tjaden…” page 46
War Brings People Closer Together
“Formerly we should not have a single thought in common…” page 87
“In the war the men became hard and tough…the finest thing that arose out of this war was comradeship.” page 27
“I believe we have more complete communication than even lovers do.” page ?
War Brings Out the Best in People
“Just look. I am giving a soldier coffee.” page 138
“Though he raves and his eyes roll, it can’t be helped. We have to give him a hiding to bring him to his senses.” page 99
“He tries to tear off his gas-mask with the other hand. Kropp seizes him just in time, twists the hand sharply behind his back and holds it fast.” page 69
War Brings Out the Worst in People
“ ‘You cow,’ I kick him in the ribs – ‘You swine.’ ” page 132
“No one felt kindly toward him, for it was his fault that the food came up to us too late and cold.” page ?
“Territorial Kantorek, do you call those button polished? You seem as though you can never learn. Inadequate, Kantorek, quite inadequate.” page 175
World War I Poetry
Poem 1: Rupert Brooke’s “Peace”
(1) Rupert Brooke, Peace (1914)
Now, God be thanked who has matched us with his hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping.
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!
Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep is mending,
Naught broken save the body, lost but breath;
Nothing to shake the laughing heart's song peace there
But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.
1914
Poem 2: Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier”
(2) Rupert Brooke, The Soldier (1914)
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Poem 3: Edward Thomas’s “Tears”
It seems I have no tears left. They should have fallen—
Their ghosts, if tears have ghosts, did fall—that day
When twenty hounds streamed by me, not yet combed out
But still all equals in their rage of gladness
Upon the scent, made one, like a great dragon
In Blooming Meadow that bends towards the sun