Project Reflection-
The project question that we were tasked with answering through both a written and visual piece was “What is the truth of war for a soldier?” My perspective statement for the project was “War makes soldiers see themselves differently; it ruins their perspective of themselves.” And the quote I chose to revolve my project around was “The first bomb, the first explosion, burst our hearts.” From page 88 of All Quiet on the Western Front. I chose this quote because it shows how as soon as someone becomes a soldier, it shatters their identity.
To define the truth of war for a soldier, the Habit of Heart and Mind I used the most was perspective. I had to use a different perspective to infer how war made characters feel in both All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse 5. Although one has to experience war to fully understand it, I was able to grasp the characters’ thoughts based upon their actions in a way that allowed me to somewhat understand the emotional damage caused by war. To write my thesis statement I had to first comprehend the ways that soldiers are affected by war based on their actions.
One substantial revision to my essay during the editing process was modification of my thesis during the editing of my rough draft. I felt that during the writing process my emphasis had shifted away from not being able to connect to society to broken identity. This revision allowed for both a stronger thesis and essay because I was able to take quotes from Slaughterhouse5 and All Quiet on the Western Front that directly showed the damage to their identities. An example of a strong quote is “We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war.” (Remarque, page 88). This quote shows how even if someone was lucky enough to make it out of WW1, the choice to become a soldier is the beginning of the end. Another revision I made was to my poster. When I modified my thesis I had to modify the message of my visual. My original plan was to portray a heartless soldier on the battlefield, I then modified it to be the emotions and traits of a soldier that they are forced to leave behind on the battlefield. These changes lead to substantial improvement of my perspective and quality of my poster.
If I had another week to refine my project, I would choose to focus on strengthening my essay. My poster is a visual representation of my essay and would be very weak without the insight my writing provides. My writing could be strengthened with additional evidence and factors in the identity destruction that is a result of war. I would include quotes from actual soldiers from both WW1 and recently.
To define the truth of war for a soldier, the Habit of Heart and Mind I used the most was perspective. I had to use a different perspective to infer how war made characters feel in both All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse 5. Although one has to experience war to fully understand it, I was able to grasp the characters’ thoughts based upon their actions in a way that allowed me to somewhat understand the emotional damage caused by war. To write my thesis statement I had to first comprehend the ways that soldiers are affected by war based on their actions.
One substantial revision to my essay during the editing process was modification of my thesis during the editing of my rough draft. I felt that during the writing process my emphasis had shifted away from not being able to connect to society to broken identity. This revision allowed for both a stronger thesis and essay because I was able to take quotes from Slaughterhouse5 and All Quiet on the Western Front that directly showed the damage to their identities. An example of a strong quote is “We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war.” (Remarque, page 88). This quote shows how even if someone was lucky enough to make it out of WW1, the choice to become a soldier is the beginning of the end. Another revision I made was to my poster. When I modified my thesis I had to modify the message of my visual. My original plan was to portray a heartless soldier on the battlefield, I then modified it to be the emotions and traits of a soldier that they are forced to leave behind on the battlefield. These changes lead to substantial improvement of my perspective and quality of my poster.
If I had another week to refine my project, I would choose to focus on strengthening my essay. My poster is a visual representation of my essay and would be very weak without the insight my writing provides. My writing could be strengthened with additional evidence and factors in the identity destruction that is a result of war. I would include quotes from actual soldiers from both WW1 and recently.