As we reach\u00a0Remembrance Day, World War One is everywhere.\u00a0 It is on the news, the TV, the radio, in your bookshops and at the cinema.\u00a0 If you\u2019re studying World War One in history or English, or even if you\u2019re interested in finding out some more about the war, this is an ideal time to capitalise on the huge wave of information out there to mark the centenary of the beginning of the conflict. Here is the pick of the wide range of activities available for you to take part in to commemorate those who died in the Great War.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0Read some war poetry<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n A-level English students are very familiar with lots of these texts, but if you\u2019re not, search for some online or in your library.\u00a0 It is really interesting to track the different viewpoints towards the war, ranging from the jingoistic patriotism of Rupert Brooke\u2019s \u2018The Soldier\u2019 to Wilfred Owen\u2019s graphic \u2018Dulce et decorum est\u2019. If you\u2019re into biting satire, read Siegfried Sassoon\u2019s poetry, such as \u2018The General\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s short but has lost none of its vitriol all these years on.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0Visit the poppy display at the Tower of London<\/strong><\/p>\n Much has been written about this incredibly emotional and visually stunning installation.\u00a0 I visited it last week, and was struck by how it seems to be the English version of the mass cemeteries in France and Belgium, such as the Menin Gate.\u00a0 It is truly spectacular and really brings home the huge<\/em> amount of loss during the war.\u00a0 The display will start to be taken down over the next few days, but the section called \u2018The Weeping Window\u2019 will be on display until the end of month, when it will go on tour.\u00a0 Don\u2019t miss your chance to see it!<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0Visit the Imperial War Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n The Imperial War Museum has permanent displays about life at the front and at home during the war, and so is well worth a trip to explore living conditions for those involved in the conflict.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0Read War Girls <\/em>by Ad\u00e8le Geras and others (2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n If you want to know about the lives of women<\/em> during the war, then this fantastic anthology of short stories by well-known writers is a must-have.\u00a0 Published earlier this year, War Girls<\/em> explores WWI through the eyes of the nurses, ambulance drivers, land girls and wives left behind.\u00a0 It explores voices we don\u2019t often hear about when studying the war, and brings an individual perspective to allow some disengaged girls to connect with the material.\u00a0 Additionally, the fact they are short <\/em>stories means that they are accessible for unwilling readers.\u00a0 An absolute gem.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0Look at some propaganda posters<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in media studies, advertising or psychology, have a look at some of the propaganda posters produced during the war to inspire young men to join up and women to assist on the Home Front (see http:\/\/firstworldwar.com\/posters\/index.html<\/a>\u00a0for example).\u00a0 The use of persuasive language, emotional blackmail and stirring patriotism is a potent blend, which allows students to put themselves in the positions of people their own age one hundred years ago.\u00a0 How would you<\/em> have responded?<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0Visit the First World War Poetry Digital Archive This website contains fascinating and rare manuscripts uploaded to the public domain, allowing us to access the drafts of poets such as Owen and Sassoon.\u00a0 Most interestingly, it documents the famous meeting between Owen and Sassoon at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, narrated in Pat Barker\u2019s Regeneration <\/em>(1991).\u00a0 You can look at the famous manuscript of \u2018Anthem for Doomed Youth\u2019, which Owen took to Sassoon for his advice at the hospital.\u00a0 The document contains the handwriting of both poets, showing Sassoon\u2019s amendments and crossings-out as he guided Owen to become the great poet he is remembered as today.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0Find out about your own history<\/strong><\/p>\n Take the opportunity to speak to your family members and find out what your great grandparents or great-great-grandparents did during the war.\u00a0 I spent a part of the summer digging through old family files and found the letters sent between my great-grandma and her husband, held as a prisoner of war in a German camp during the war.\u00a0 We even have the telegram he sent his wife to tell her that he was on his way home, dated 23rd<\/sup> December 1918.\u00a0 He was back in time for Christmas, as the army officers famously claimed \u2013 but four years too late.<\/p>\n Take the time over the next few weeks to really think about why <\/em>we are commemorating this event 100 years later.\u00a0 As we remember the events of the war over the next four years in particular, it is important not just to understand the big picture, but also to remember the individual lives affected by the devastating conflict that ensued 100 years ago today.<\/p>\n By Laura Clash,\u00a0A MyTutor English Tutor<\/a><\/p>\n
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