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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

War and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
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Online Course
University of Oxford (UK)

U. Oxford: Virtual Seminars for Teaching Literature

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Seminars, lesson plans, publications, pictures, and poetry make this a very useful resource for language arts or social studies lessons involving World War I and its poetry.
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Handout
University of Oxford (UK)

First World War Poetry Digital Archive: Robert Graves Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
Although the collection of works by Robert Graves is of his war poetry, this biography will tell you about his writings throughout his life. Hyperlinks will take you to his poems and correspondence during his war years.
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eBook
University of Michigan

American Verse Project: Poems Relating to the American Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Although he was not, strictly speaking, a combatant in the American Revolution, Philip Freneau (1752-1832 CE) nevertheless spent time on a prison ship in New York Harbor. Some of the poems in this volume speak to that experience.
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Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: 20th Century and Modern Poetry: World War I

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson from a unit on 20th Century and Modern Poetry focuses on World War I and war poetry that resulted from the disillusionment and cynicism due to the high casualties and devastation. It features links to the Causes of World War...
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Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: 20th Century and Modern Poetry: Siegfried Sassoon

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson is part of a unit on 20th Century and Modern Poetry and focuses on Siegfried Sassoon and his realistic "trench poems" about the agonies of war. It provides links to "The Importance of Siegfried Sassoon," an article which...
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eBook
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg: Poems by Wilfred Owen

For Students 9th - 10th
Read Wilfred Owen's (1893-1918 CE) Poems where he recounts his experiences as an infantry soldier.
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eBook
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg: The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke

For Students 9th - 10th
The complete text of this literary work is available to download or read online in multiple digital formats. Includes an introduction, a biographical note and an appendix of poems about or to Rupert Brooke.
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Website
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Randall Jarrell 1914 1965

For Students 9th - 10th
A wonderful source on Randall Jarrell. There is an extensive biography, plus excerpts of letters Jarrell wrote about army life during WWII. Critics discuss Jarrell's following works: "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner", "2nd Air...
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Lesson Plan
British Library

British Library: Tennyson's the Charge of the Light Brigade: A Close Reading

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity, students will consider the context within which Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'. The poem immediately captured the public imagination, where it has remained, testimony to heroic failure,...
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Website
British Library

British Library: 20th Century Works: Anthem for Doomed Youth

For Students 9th - 10th
'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is a poem by the British poet Wilfred Owen, drafted at Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh in 1917. Read an overview and view additional resources such as articles, collection items, and teacher resources.
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Website
University of Toronto (Canada)

University of Toronto: Selected Poetry of Rupert Brooke

For Students 9th - 10th
The site offers a brief biography of Brooke with a bibliography of his works. Of particular interest are the full texts of his "1914" poems: e.g., "Peace," "The Dead," and "Heaven."
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Activity
University of Maryland

British War Poetry in the Age of Romanticism

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This annotated collection of poems focuses on the theme of war in the late 1700s. Good for an interdisciplinary look at British history or for a literary exploration of war as a theme.
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Unit Plan
Academy of American Poets

Poets.org: The Literature of War

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Eight day war poetry unit plan provided by The Academy of American Poets designed for tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade students. Originally part of a larger class on the literature of war, this unit contains an overview of the past and...
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Article
University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge: The b.e.f. Times

For Students 9th - 10th
While in the trenches during WWI, soldiers began to produce their own magazines. The best known of these was the Wipers Times, later renamed the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force) Times. It was printed on a printing press salvaged from...
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Article
First World War

First World war.com: Prose & Poetry Robert Graves: A Twentieth Century Life

For Students 9th - 10th
This detailed article covers all of Graves' work, not just his war writing. Although it lacks a bibliography, it is written by a Graves scholar from the University of Maryland, and mentions specifically the work of others studying Graves.
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Handout
First World War

First World war.com: Prose & Poetry Siegfried Sassoon

For Students 9th - 10th
This brief biography of Sassoon (1886-1967 CE) includes some thoughts about his work and his connection to other writers of the time.
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Handout
First World War

First World War: Prose & Poetry Wilfred Owen

For Students 9th - 10th
The First World War.com offers a very brief biography, this site touches on Wilfred Owen's (1893-1918 CE) work as well. Includes the text of his poem "Futility."
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eBook
Sonnet Central

Sonnets of World War I

For Students 9th - 10th
This unique page contains links to the sonnets of the title, as well as links to biographical information about the writers. There are even audio versions of some sonnets available. A bibliography is provided, but no actual commentary or...
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Activity
Other

Rupert Brooke on Skyros

For Students 9th - 10th
An interesting angle on the death of poet Rupert Brooke,including photos of the island on which he died, the memorial to him there, the text of several poems, a brief biography, as well as a bibliography and related web links.
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eBook
Other

Aftermath: The Poetry

For Students 9th - 10th
The poems of the war and its aftermath are presented here, some of them with commentary.
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Primary
Bartleby

Bartleby.com: Siegfried Sassoon (1886 1967 Ce)

For Students 9th - 10th
Bartleby has made available several volumes of the poet's work. Site includes a very brief biography, the collections themselves, quotations from his work, and several poems which appear in Modern British Poetry.
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eBook
University of Pennsylvania

The Project Gutenberg: Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this etext version of Brooke's work, including his war poetry. Be sure to read the fine print.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Alfred Lord Tennyson

For Students 9th - 10th
In 2003, NPR's Weekend Edition presented a series of reports based on readings of war poetry ranging from the Iliad to World War I reflections. Listen to the readings, including a recording of Alfred, Lord Tennyson reading "The Charge of...