Goodbye to All That

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“And have we done with War at last?”: Poetry in World War I

In this activity, students will research the canon of WWI poetry, looking for similarities (and differences) with thematic interests of Robert Graves in Goodbye to All That and his poetry at large.

In the period surrounding WWI, war poetry served dual—sometimes opposing—purposes. On the one hand, poetry could be used to inspire patriotism that supported the war effort; on the other, poets like Graves used realism in their poetry to communicate the brutal horrors of trench warfare to civilians.

In this exercise, you will research the broad body of WWI poetry. Then, drilling down in one poem, you will compare and contrast that poetry to the work of Graves.

• Research and Read. First, read through the Poetry Foundation’s “World War I: Poetry by Year,” which gives a broad overview of the types of poetry borne out of the war. What are the general themes in these poems? Select one poem that speaks to you before moving onto the next step.
• Analyze and Compare. Analyze the poem of your choice, conducting a line-by-line deep reading of the piece. Make notes on areas where the poem relates back to the themes you’ve learned about in Goodbye to All That, as well as the ways in which the poem is a departure from the book.
• Present and Share. Read the poem of your choice aloud to the class and explain why you selected this poem. What were the ways in which your poem speaks to the same themes of postwar British society and/or soldiers’ experience of combat, as does Goodbye to All That? Did your poem build upon either of those themes in a new or different way?

As a group, discuss the relevance of war poetry in modern warfare. Are you familiar with any poetry born out of, say, the Iraq War of the early 2000s or the war in Ukraine? Is it still as necessary or as vital an art form in times of war as it once was?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may need a refresher on best practices for analyzing a poem, so it may be useful to provide them with a brief primer on how to think about poetry. For that primer, you can use either Teach for America’s “How to Analyze a Poem in 6 Steps” or MasterClass’s “How to Analyze Poetry: 10 Steps for Analyzing a Poem.”

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Graves presents the nationalities of various soldiers involved in World War I, from French to German to English.

• What are the main differences in how Graves portrays French soldiers compared to Germans ones? (topic sentence)
• How does Graves represent British soldiers in the narrative?
• In your conclusion, describe how Graves’s ambivalence toward his allies and fellow soldiers mirrors his feelings toward the values of Middle-Class British Society.

2. Siegfried Sassoon is one of Graves’s closest friends who serves alongside him in the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

• How does Sassoon feel about the nature of war and how it’s portrayed in writing (war poetry, newspapers, etc.)? (topic sentence)
• How and why do his views change?
• In your conclusion, explore how real-life Experiences of Combat shape Sassoon’s views about patriotism over time.

3. Before, during, and after World War I, Graves commits himself to life as a poet.

• How does Graves’s interest and involvement in poetry affect his writing? (topic sentence)
• What are at least three examples of how poetry influences Goodbye to All That in terms of content and style?
• In your conclusion, explain how Graves’s poetic sensibility adds a new dimension to helping readers understand Soldiers’ Experiences of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. When Graves returns to England after fighting in France, in many ways he is a changed person. Describe Graves’s experiences upon returning to his home after the war. In what ways has he changed? How has British society at large changed? In your conclusion, describe how Graves’s experience illustrates a larger trend in Middle-Class British Society Before and After World War I.

2. Consider the title of Graves’s memoir: Goodbye to All That. To what is Graves saying “goodbye” to in his memoir? Consider the autobiography as a whole and identify at least 3 types of losses that Graves might potentially be saying “goodbye” to in the memoir. In your conclusion, explain how, after his Experiences of Combat, Graves says farewell to a multitude of things, from his youthful sense of optimism to the British middle-class society he once knew.

3. Graves encounters many absurdities and ineptitudes during his military service. What are some of them, and how do they affect Graves’s experience? How do these absurdities/ineptitudes compare to the government’s portrayal of military service, especially the nationalistic patriotism used to recruit young men into the British service? In your conclusion, compare how the realities of British Soldiers’ Experiences are quite different from the jingoistic fantasy of combat.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What was the most famous song by Grave’s father, Alfred?

A) “Father McCleary”

B) “Lady O’Hooligan”

C0 “Father O’Flynn”

D) “Sister McGuillicutty”

2. Which of the following best describes how Graves characterizes the romantic relationships between the boys at Charterhouse?

A) They are intensely passionate but mean nothing.

B) They are amorous, but not erotic.

C) They are the center of the boys’ lives.

D) They are a means of sexual release, and nothing more.

3. Why is Graves’s friend Raymond Rodakowski an object of bullying at Charterhouse?

A) Because he wears glasses

B) Because his family is working-class

C) Because he is the shortest boy in his grade

D) Because he is Polish

4. Which of the following statements best describes Graves’s feelings about George Mallory, his close friend at Charterhouse?

A) Graves thinks George’s casual brilliance is wasted at Charterhouse.

B) Graves thinks George needs to bend to the rules in order to fit in at Charterhouse.

C) Graves worries about George, with his frequent mountain climbing expeditions.

D) Graves likes George, but keeps him at an arm’s length because he cannot be trusted.

5. As Graves explains in Chapter 11, the Royal Welch Fusiliers served in some of the hardest-fought victories of the British Army. Which of the following wars is not mentioned in this chapter?

A) The Crimean War

B) The Napoleonic Wars

C) World War I

D) The Seven Years’ War

6. As described in Chapter 12, the British army conceals the true cause of death when soldiers pass away in what manner?

A) Accidental death

B) Starvation

C) Suicide

D) Stabbing by the Germans

7. When Graves briefly visits London in 1915, he finds the general population fairly ignorant to the realities of the war, except for what?

A) The beginnings of the German Zeppelin air raids

B) Trench warfare on the Western Front

C) Assault units known as stormtroopers

D) Chemical warfare using mustard gas

8. While staying with Adelphine in Chapter 16, Graves observes that most of the English soldiers find it difficult to sympathize with what group?

A) Civilians with disabilities

B) Shell-shocked veterans

C) Civilians

D) The French

9. Which of the following moments from Chapter 16 is an example of how Graves experiences a dissonance between his personal feelings and how, as an officer, he must carry himself?

A) He personally loves French culture, but he knows he can never say that aloud.

B) At a meeting of the officers, Graves reflects on how he feels like an overgrown schoolboy.

C) He despises German combat methods for their brutality, but they’re widely embraced by the British.

D) He experiences certain romantic longing for his fellow soldiers, which he must conceal.

10. In Harfleur, instructors find that, even beyond patriotism and religion, there is one type of pride that keeps a battalion’s spirits up. What type is it?

A) National pride

B) Football pride

C) Regimental pride

D) Poetic pride

11. As described in Chapter 18, at Fricourt, the trenches are cut into what material, rather than clay as in La Bassée?

A) Granite

B) Cement

C) Chalk soil

D) Sand

12. What is the misunderstanding that happens with the “bath-chair” (a hand-drawn carriage for a single person) in Chapter 19?

A) Graves thinks that the bath-chair is for him, when really it is for his father.

B) Graves tells the bath-chair operator that there must be some mistake and sends him away.

C) Graves attempts to give the bath-chair to his grandmother, when really it is for his mother.

D) Graves pays the bath-chair operator double his agreed-upon fee.

13. What sight greets Graves at the opening of Chapter 21 when he arrives at Waterloo Station in London, along with other wounded soldiers?

A) A line of soldiers, saluting them

B) An orphan girl, begging for money

C) A crowd, waving flags and cheering

D) A group of volunteer nurses, with concerned looks

14. When Graves and Nancy open a general store in Chapter 28, what is the main reason that causes their shop to go bankrupt?

A) They give credit to poorer customers, and soon they rack up an incredible amount of debt.

B) They buy a huge amount of food inventory, which spoils before anyone can buy it.

C) A competing store opens up next to them and drives them out of business.

D) A devastating fire takes out practically a third of their storefront.

15. After leaving England, Graves makes his home in Majorca, Spain. However, what forces him to leave Majorca in 1936?

A) He runs out of money.

B) Nancy begs him to return home.

C) The Second Italo-Ethiopian War begins.

D) The Spanish Civil War begins.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What are some of the core values and traditions of the Graves family, as introduced in the early chapter of the book? How does the war affect these beliefs?

2. Drawing from Chapters 21-26, what is an example of how Graves has a complicated relationship to his military service?