His name was Joseph Behm. He had no interest in the patriotism that his friends wanted to fight for. The war had been raging for only a year when Joseph and his classmates went under the instruction of Mr. Katorek. He was a jingoistic teacher who wasted no time filling Joseph and the other boy’s heads with propaganda of the great Germany and its Iron Youth. They all listened. All except Joseph.
Then his classmates turned on him. They attacked Joseph with their words. He was called a coward and weak and that he was unfit to even think about enlisting with his classmates. Even Katorek joined in reminding Joseph of the great country he was going to let down. Joseph sat quietly and listening to their comments and their insults. Then he went home.
He was quiet most of the night. He did his homework and ate his dinner and cleaned up and read his books. Then he told his parents that he was going to enlist the next day. They were dumbfounded. Their only child was leaving them for the front. They couldn’t accept it. They tried to tell him his place was here with the academics, not there with the barbaric. He would not listen to them though. His parents cried for Joseph as he went upstairs to go to bed.
Noon came around as Joseph walked up to army barracks to enlist. He slowly walked up the barracks where his classmates who had already enlisted earlier that day stood. They created space for Joseph as he walked up and said a simple “hello” the recruitment sergeant. Joseph and the sergeant filled out the recruitment forms while his classmates watched. Joseph’s pen hit the paper to sign it and he stopped. He thought twice about enlisting, about his education, about his parents and how they cried for him. Then his classmates chimed in on his hesitation. Joseph sighed and signed the document in long strokes that seemed to go on forever. He stared at the paper for a while, almost in shell shock, the sound around him was blocked by the realization that he was going to the front. He received a deployment date, the same as his
classmates, and a helmet and jacket and boots and pants. Then he went home a soldier.
He put on his new uniform one piece at a time. Pants then boots then shirt then jacket then helmet. The sleeves on the jacket were too long and almost covered his hands, the pants were baggy, and he could just see under the brim of his helmet. His mother refused to look at him in his uniform. His father stood there with him in front of the mirror, patting his shoulder. Then his father walked away, quietly sobbing. It was going to be their last dinner before Joseph left for boot camp. Joseph removed his gear so he could sit with his mother. The Behms ate quietly that evening.
In the morning they said their goodbyes. Joseph received a picture of his mother and father then left for the train. He met his classmates at the station and was received warmly by them. They all said “hello” and gave him pats on the back. Then Joseph sat quietly and listened to his classmates gossip about the front. They talked about the French and the English and the fierce fighting and the trench warfare and the machine guns and the snipers. They talked about the girls they were leaving behind in germany and about their parents. The train pull in to the final station and they all got off. They were at boot camp.
The camp was tough for Joseph. He was small in stature and was only averagely athletic. The equipment weighed him down so much that his normally quick self was very slow and fatigued. He was yelled at and punished with running and pushups for coming in last. Still he pushed on. He tagged behind his classmates and learned with them like he had done in school.
After six weeks, camp was done. The troops, the classmates, and Joseph boarded a train and headed west to the front. Joseph’s classmates were still very talkative until they heard their first shell drop. They went silent as a medical cart drove by filled with injured men. They reached their base and were given orders and trench assignments. Then they dug in. The front was quiet for two days allowing them all time to settle. Then the first bomb dropped. It rattled the Earth to the core even though their leading officer said it fell 200 yards away. Then more shells. Joseph and his classmates were shelled for a day and a half until finally it stopped. Then the French attacked. They came up from their trench at full sprint. Joseph and his classmates fired back as quickly as they could. Men fell all around Joseph until finally the attack
was repressed. Joseph and all his classmates survived.
There was rumor about a counter-attack amongst the classmates. The squad’s commanding officer said that it would be foolish because they have waited to long. Then the counter attack was called. It was four days and six hours into Joseph’s service. The commanding officer reminded the boys about the greatness of Germany and that they were her protectors. They were called over the wall. Joseph boosted himself over and began to charge. Then a crack rang out. All of Joseph’s classmates heard the shot, but not Joseph. He quietly fell to the ground as his classmates ran by.
It was a few hours later, the classmates were eating their lunch bread. The counter-attack had been repelled. The classmates perked up to a blood curdling scream. It was Joseph. He had woke in complete darkness even though it was one in the afternoon. The shot blinded him. He stood up in confusion and was quickly struck again. He let out a quiet sob as his young life of 19 left him.
Joseph Behm, the reluctant Iron Youth.
Evaluation:
This assignment, even though enjoyable, was difficult. I had to take two different authors (Enric Remarque and Earnest Hemingway) and do an imitative piece on them. Once I looked at both of their writing styles, the hardest part was finding a story that I could write in their styles. I brainstormed for a while. I tried to start my own story but it promptly crashed. Turns out I’m not too good that the creative part of creative writing since most of my pieces are non-fiction. I finally decided the best story to write in their voices was a continuation of one of their stories. Joesph Behm was an underdeveloped character in All Quiet on the Western Front. The main thing I got from this essay was brainstorming and forming my thoughts before writing them down. That's something that plagued me in the first essay I wrote. I just put down ideas as they came to me instead of forming them to make sense.
I also pulled a lot from the books in this story. The reading was my influence behind the writing. To make my story fit seamlessly with All Quiet on the Western Front, I used paraphrased lines. For example the second to last line in the story is my favorite line from the book just paraphrased. That leads to another problem I have, pulling out direct quotes from books. This is especially hard for me in analytical essays. Pulling out direct quotes for supporting evidence is something that I hope to address 2nd Semester.
Period 3
1/3/13
AP Literature
Joseph Behm
His name was Joseph Behm. He had no interest in the patriotism that his friends wanted to fight for. The war had been raging for only a year when Joseph and his classmates went under the instruction of Mr. Katorek. He was a jingoistic teacher who wasted no time filling Joseph and the other boy’s heads with propaganda of the great Germany and its Iron Youth. They all listened. All except Joseph.
Then his classmates turned on him. They attacked Joseph with their words. He was called a coward and weak and that he was unfit to even think about enlisting with his classmates. Even Katorek joined in reminding Joseph of the great country he was going to let down. Joseph sat quietly and listening to their comments and their insults. Then he went home.
He was quiet most of the night. He did his homework and ate his dinner and cleaned up and read his books. Then he told his parents that he was going to enlist the next day. They were dumbfounded. Their only child was leaving them for the front. They couldn’t accept it. They tried to tell him his place was here with the academics, not there with the barbaric. He would not listen to them though. His parents cried for Joseph as he went upstairs to go to bed.
Noon came around as Joseph walked up to army barracks to enlist. He slowly walked up the barracks where his classmates who had already enlisted earlier that day stood. They created space for Joseph as he walked up and said a simple “hello” the recruitment sergeant. Joseph and the sergeant filled out the recruitment forms while his classmates watched. Joseph’s pen hit the paper to sign it and he stopped. He thought twice about enlisting, about his education, about his parents and how they cried for him. Then his classmates chimed in on his hesitation. Joseph sighed and signed the document in long strokes that seemed to go on forever. He stared at the paper for a while, almost in shell shock, the sound around him was blocked by the realization that he was going to the front. He received a deployment date, the same as his
classmates, and a helmet and jacket and boots and pants. Then he went home a soldier.
He put on his new uniform one piece at a time. Pants then boots then shirt then jacket then helmet. The sleeves on the jacket were too long and almost covered his hands, the pants were baggy, and he could just see under the brim of his helmet. His mother refused to look at him in his uniform. His father stood there with him in front of the mirror, patting his shoulder. Then his father walked away, quietly sobbing. It was going to be their last dinner before Joseph left for boot camp. Joseph removed his gear so he could sit with his mother. The Behms ate quietly that evening.
In the morning they said their goodbyes. Joseph received a picture of his mother and father then left for the train. He met his classmates at the station and was received warmly by them. They all said “hello” and gave him pats on the back. Then Joseph sat quietly and listened to his classmates gossip about the front. They talked about the French and the English and the fierce fighting and the trench warfare and the machine guns and the snipers. They talked about the girls they were leaving behind in germany and about their parents. The train pull in to the final station and they all got off. They were at boot camp.
The camp was tough for Joseph. He was small in stature and was only averagely athletic. The equipment weighed him down so much that his normally quick self was very slow and fatigued. He was yelled at and punished with running and pushups for coming in last. Still he pushed on. He tagged behind his classmates and learned with them like he had done in school.
After six weeks, camp was done. The troops, the classmates, and Joseph boarded a train and headed west to the front. Joseph’s classmates were still very talkative until they heard their first shell drop. They went silent as a medical cart drove by filled with injured men. They reached their base and were given orders and trench assignments. Then they dug in. The front was quiet for two days allowing them all time to settle. Then the first bomb dropped. It rattled the Earth to the core even though their leading officer said it fell 200 yards away. Then more shells. Joseph and his classmates were shelled for a day and a half until finally it stopped. Then the French attacked. They came up from their trench at full sprint. Joseph and his classmates fired back as quickly as they could. Men fell all around Joseph until finally the attack
was repressed. Joseph and all his classmates survived.
There was rumor about a counter-attack amongst the classmates. The squad’s commanding officer said that it would be foolish because they have waited to long. Then the counter attack was called. It was four days and six hours into Joseph’s service. The commanding officer reminded the boys about the greatness of Germany and that they were her protectors. They were called over the wall. Joseph boosted himself over and began to charge. Then a crack rang out. All of Joseph’s classmates heard the shot, but not Joseph. He quietly fell to the ground as his classmates ran by.
It was a few hours later, the classmates were eating their lunch bread. The counter-attack had been repelled. The classmates perked up to a blood curdling scream. It was Joseph. He had woke in complete darkness even though it was one in the afternoon. The shot blinded him. He stood up in confusion and was quickly struck again. He let out a quiet sob as his young life of 19 left him.
Joseph Behm, the reluctant Iron Youth.
Evaluation:
This assignment, even though enjoyable, was difficult. I had to take two different authors (Enric Remarque and Earnest Hemingway) and do an imitative piece on them. Once I looked at both of their writing styles, the hardest part was finding a story that I could write in their styles. I brainstormed for a while. I tried to start my own story but it promptly crashed. Turns out I’m not too good that the creative part of creative writing since most of my pieces are non-fiction. I finally decided the best story to write in their voices was a continuation of one of their stories. Joesph Behm was an underdeveloped character in All Quiet on the Western Front. The main thing I got from this essay was brainstorming and forming my thoughts before writing them down. That's something that plagued me in the first essay I wrote. I just put down ideas as they came to me instead of forming them to make sense.
I also pulled a lot from the books in this story. The reading was my influence behind the writing. To make my story fit seamlessly with All Quiet on the Western Front, I used paraphrased lines. For example the second to last line in the story is my favorite line from the book just paraphrased. That leads to another problem I have, pulling out direct quotes from books. This is especially hard for me in analytical essays. Pulling out direct quotes for supporting evidence is something that I hope to address 2nd Semester.