A Soldier's Last letter Home
How does a teacher bring literature to life for teenage students? How to help them feel the pain and joy the writer is trying to convey? We, Grade 12's, had just finished the sad and painful poetry of the WWI poets Owen, Sasson, and others. We also studied the poets' lives, and the students were surprised that Owens and Sasson were homosexuals, which led to other discussions about masculinity. The class was shocked at how young they were. Quite by chance, I learned that Cairo had a war cemetery from WWII, so I visited to see if I could extend the student's understanding of the tragedy of war. I discovered that there were almost 1,800 graves, and they were arranged by the soldiers' date of death. Unlike the United States, other countries buried their dead near where they fell. So there were British, French, German, Australian, Indian, and all countries involved in the war. All major religions were represented as well as men and women. Soon I arranged a field trip, and