Letters of War: A Creative Writing Activity for "All Quiet on the Western Front"

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Black and white photograph of German prisoners of war carrying a wounded soldier on a stretcher while wearing German made gas masks.

In this lesson, students are asked to go beyond typical character analysis and tie the experiences of the young men in "All Quiet on the Western Front" to experiences of our modern veterans (Vietnam and/or Afghanistan or Iraq) and the struggles they faced during and after their war experience. This lesson asks students to write letters as characters from the novel, while considering the experiences of all soldiers at war.