The First World War100 Years On

Year 8 Extended Homework

Background

• This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the start of World War One.

• On 28th June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the throne of Austria Hungary - was assassinated in Sarajevo.

• This would lead to a series of events that would ultimately result in a world war.

Move forward four Years - 11th November 1918

• 8.5 million soldiers have died

• Over 20 million died because of the war

• 21 million people have been wounded

• 7.7 million are missing

• These people become known as the ‘lost generation.’

Task

• Choose one of the following real people to research and take on as a character.

• Write an autobiography of their life serving in the Great War.

• There are four chapters in total. Each of these should be at least one page of A4 long and should include clear evidence of your research.

Options

Private Sidney Lewis

Lt. Walter Tull Sepoy Khudadad Khan

Mairi Chisholm Captain Albert Borella

Remember! Each of these would have had a different life before the war, and different

opinions based on their backgrounds

Esther Barnett

George Blackman 

Harry Farr Siegfried Sassoon

What is an Autobiography?

• When a person writes the story of his or her own life, the result is an autobiography. While a diary or journal is usually written very close to the time of the events it describes, an autobiography is usually written some time after.

Did you know…?

The word autobiography comes from three ancient Greek

words: auto meaning ‘self ’ bios meaning ‘life’ and graphein

meaning ‘to write’. So autobiography can roughly translate as ‘self-life

writing’.

Did you know…?

The word autobiography comes from three ancient Greek

words: auto meaning ‘self ’ bios meaning ‘life’ and graphein

meaning ‘to write’. So autobiography can roughly translate as ‘self-life

writing’.

TaskChapters to include:

1. What was life like before the war?2. Why did you decide to join?3. What was it like in the Trenches?4. How do you feel about the war now it

has ended – was the sacrifice made people like you worth it?*

* If your chosen soldier died in World War One, you need to show what you think their opinion would have been and how different their life would have been after the war, compared to before.

Gifted and Talented Extension

Despite it being 100 years since the beginning of World War One, Germany has decided that they will not mark this anniversary, or those who died, with any official events of remembrance

Please read here and here for more information.

Gifted and Talented Activity

This quote appears in a local news paper:

“100 Years has passed since the beginning of World War One. The issues at the heart of the war no longer dominate European politics. The people who fought have all died. Many people today have never experienced the hardships of Total War. This anniversary should be the last of it’s kind. It is time for Britain to follow the example of the Germans and tone down our obsession with World War One”

Write a letter of response to the newspaper giving your view on this issue. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Deadline for completion: Please hand in your completed project

to your Humanities teacher on

Wednesday 21st May