A Separate Peace is set at a boys’ preparatory school in rural New Hampshire, during 1942. World War II is raging. Write a paragraph (using quotes from the text to support your points) identifying the ways in which the war affects the characters so far. How does the war affect the way the Masters treat the students? How does Gene explain this treatment? Post your answer by 3 p.m. on Tuesday and don't forget to respond thoughtfully and critically to a classmates' response. Happy Posting!
I think that the war greatly effects the boys at Devon. They often times use terms such as "West Point stride" (18) to refer to walking quickly. They also say things like "torpedo the troopship" (9), which Finny says when he is trying to get Gene to jump, and "counterattack" (11), which the narrator says when Gene and Finny are fighting. Both of these, used without the boys even realizing it, are both war terms. The boys also fight a lot, and pretend to be training for the draft. When they get caught by the substitute, Mr. Prud'homme, the boys say "'because we're all getting ready for the war. What if they lower the draft age to seventeen?'" (22). Because of the war, the masters are treating the students more kindly. They are letting things that the boys usually can't do go by, and do not punish the boys as easily, like when Mr. Prud'homme does not punish Gene and Finny for missing dinner. I think that this is because the teachers feel bad for the boys because the boys might have to go to war soon. Gene explains for this treatment because he says that “we reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen” (23-24). In this book, the war has a huge effect on the boys, and teachers at Devon.
ReplyDeleteI think that you should add more quotes to support your points, especially toward the end of your paragraph. You have the general idea, and the reader can tell what you want to say, but you have to explain it a bit more.
DeleteI liked several short quotes, however another longer one would be supportive. I also think you might want try doing it after 8:00 in the morning because some of you sentences do not flow as well as they could. :) This said I do like your ideas in the paragraph.
DeleteThe war is in fact on of the centerpieces of this story. As Gene says "The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere" (40). In the story the war is often referenced both directly by events such as bombings as well as indirect uses of military phrases. "West Point Stride" (18), "torpedo the troopship" (9), and "forbidding as an artillery piece" (13) are all indirect references to the proceeding war. The prevailing tension and worry from the war causes the teachers at the school to act very differently towards the summer students at Devon. They let them get away with many more insubordinations and other mishaps during that summer than any other time of the school year. Gene describes it as being due to "these clear June days in New Hampshire" (23) as well as "we reminded them of what peace was like, we were boys of sixteen" (24). In my opinion this is completely, the teachers were able to view that group of boys as normal boys spending a beautiful summer at school. In their opinion what could be wrong. Even though the teachers are ignoring the war it is still a large part of what drives their actions. So both as just an ominous shadow on the horizon and as an impact on the population of Devon the war is an important part of this story.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you organized your paragraph into talking about the indirect and direct ways that the war is mentioned in the story. It also flowed very nicely, especially due to your great choice of wording such as "insubordinations" and "mishaps". Great job!
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ReplyDeleteWorld War II is extremely influential to the characters in A Separate Piece, as shown through the words and actions of the boys and Masters at Devon. The war’s impact is especially shown through the vocabulary that the boys choose to reference things with. Examples of this are when they say, “torpedo the troopship” (17) and “forbidding as an artillery piece” (13), both of which are stated in casual conversations that didn’t have to do with the war. However, when they do directly speak of the war, it’s in a very distant sense because they haven’t yet experienced it with a firsthand account. Gene says, “Bombs in Central Europe were completely unreal to us here…because our place here was too fair for us to accept something like that” (30). The war also affects the way the Masters treat the summer students because the startling aspects of war lessen the desire to be strict on the soon-to-be soldiers. Gene says, “ I think we reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen” (24), explaining how it seems to him that the teachers aren’t as rigorous with the rules because they’re just being kids and enjoying their summer away from violence. Even though the students attending Devon do not witness the brutality and experience of being in World War II, impacts of the fighting arise in a wide range of instances at the school from casual conversation to the apathetic reprimands of the Masters.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good explanation of how the war affected the students and Masters at Devon. Your quotes support your paragraph well, and I really like your last sentence. You wrap up your paragraph and use some good vocabulary to end the piece.
DeleteThe war has changed the characters in a Separate Peace. Although they seem unaware of the influence of their setting, Gene and his classmates use war phrases in their everyday conversation. For example, Gene describes a tree as “forbidding as an artillery piece” (13). Also, the war has a constant presence in the students’ lives. Finny only thought of jumping of the tree in the first place “Because we’re all getting ready for the war” (22). Finny encouraged Gene to jump by saying, “When they torpedo the troopship… you can’t stand around admiring the view” (17). The Masters have become more tolerant toward the students than they were during the winter. They’re still suspicious overall, but they tend to let more things go. “they seemed to believe we were with them about half the time, and only spent the other half trying to make fools of them” (23). Gene thinks Phineas is one of the two things causing this. Finny breaks the rules, but he also has an honest love for the school that the teachers can see. “The faculty threw up its hands over Phineas, and so loosened its grip on all of us” (23). Also, the war contributes to this treatment. According to Gene, the Summer Session students reminded the Masters what peace is like. Since they’re only sixteen, they don’t need to be tested or molded for war yet. “I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve” (24). Both Finny and the war cause the teachers to be more lenient with the students of the Summer Session.
ReplyDeleteNice job on this Olly! You did a good job delivery an overall strong image of how war shaped life at Devon. I especially liked your reasoning and explanation of the attitudes of the Masters because it was very logically sequenced and the points that you made about seeing the younger students as a sign of peace was one that I really agreed with. One suggestion I have is to insert your quotes in a more cohesive manner- so rather than sticking them in after a sentence, blending it to read more smooth. Overall, very good :)
DeleteThe unstable background of World War II to this book affects and alters all ways of life both in the country, and at Devon boarding school. Although the war was raging through Europe, a far cry from a quiet school in New Hampshire, the results of the war were prominent. To begin with, the very games and fun that Gene, Finny, and their friends had was based off of the war. When inventing Finny's game of blitzball, everyone wanted it to "make it have something to do with the war. Like blitzkrieg or something"(37). A topic as violent as a blitzkrieg, which was a form of military offensive used by the Nazis, was being used as play for teenage boys, which shows how completely the war was engulfing society. Secondly, because of their gender and approaching age, the boys of Devon are obsessed with drafting. The drafting age, 18, marks the difference between Upper Middlers and Seniors, and with age comes the drafting details of height, weight, and other physical characteristics. Gene always claimed to be a taller height, "I had been claiming five feet nine inches before he became my roommate but he had said in public.. "No, you're on the same height I am, five-eight and a half. We're on the shorter side"(16), proving the repeating of height and weight in the book and the exaggerating of it, to desperately meet drafting standards. Lastly, the Masters of the school, especially the summer session ones, treat the younger students differently due to the war. The Masters "noted (their) games tolerantly"(24) while "snapping at the heels of the seniors, driving, molding, and arming them for war"(24). Gene explains this phenomenon by saying "we reminded them of what peace was like, of lives which we not bound up with destruction... I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of life the war was being fought to preserve"(24). These boys of 16 gave some reason to possibly the illogical face of death that the seniors would soon be thrown into. In conclusion, the war not only shaped the atmosphere of Devon School, it defined it.
ReplyDeleteWow Kelsey, what an in-depth and detailed exploration of the role of WW2 in "A Separate Peace". I liked the way you wove your quotes in as bits and peaces (pun!) in your sentences. One thing to work on is the clarity of some of your sentences, for example "gave some reason to possibly the illogical face of death that the seniors would soon be thrown into", does not make a lot of sense.
DeleteThe war looms large in every aspect of "A Separate Peace". Gene's language and descriptions are rife with allusions to warfare. He describes the jumping tree as "forbidding as an artillery piece" (13). Finny accuses Gene of having a "West point stride" (18), West point is a military training academy. In the text, Gene admits that: "The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere" (40), revealing just how deeply he was affected by the conflict. The masters feel rather sorry for the young men, as the draft rushes up to ferry them away to their doom. They adopt an attitude of leniency, Gene explains: "I think we reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen” (24). No matter how far away the violence stays, or how long the time between the boy's freedom and their upcoming lives of servitude in the army seems, WW2 has a powerful influence on the characters and plot of "A Separate Peace".
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a nice job integrating your quotes into your paragraph by using a variety of techniques. I also thought that you went into a good amount of detail on the technical terms, such as explaining what West point was. You could improve by elaborating on what your thoughts were on how the war affected the characters, instead of mainly relying on quotations.
DeleteThe war influences near everything about the students. Everything from their goals for the future, to the games they play are changed from the war. When Finny decides to jump off of the tree for the first time, he shouts, “Here’s my contribution to the war effort!”(16) right before he leaps. This is a reference to the training that the senior class goes through in preparation for war. He makes a game out of it, and soon has many of the kids playing along. Finny also invents blitzball, the name based from blitzkrieg, a military term. The masters are also more tolerant of the boys bending and breaking of rules. Their loose attitude towards life reminds the adults “of what peace was like” (24). The adults then give the boys a larger leash, knowing that their time to be careless and free was limited. “We reminded them... of lives which were not bound up with destruction” (24). However for the older seniors, the masters know that their time for recreation is over. Their education is largely based on training for the army: “They snapped at the heels of the seniors, driving and molding and arming them for the war” (24). World War II and its effects are woven into the basis of A Separate Peace, affecting all of the characters in various ways.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Rebecca,
DeleteI thought you did a nice job of relating the students of Devon to the war. I would like to read your thoughts on how Gene reacts to the masters behavior towards the students.
Jin Kim
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ReplyDeleteWorld War II was a major part of the students lives. The war affected many people in that time period and these boys were affected as well. The war is referenced to many times in this book. "The war was and is reality for me" (40). I think that this probably applied to many of the other boys who attended the school as well. It affected how they thought and acted. Finny and Gene wrestle playfully together, and the language that is used to describe this is warlike. "Finny got up, patted my head genially, and moved on across the field, not deigning to glance around for my counterattack, but relying on his extrasensory ears, his ability to feel in the air someone coming on him from behind" (19). The game Finny invents- called Blitzball- is very warlike also. "Let's make it have something to do with the war," (37). The club that Finny and Gene form is related to the war because every meeting opens with both of them jumping off of a tree used for training future soldiers. Even the way Gene walks is described in a war-like manner. Finny describes it as Gene's "'West Point stride'" (18). This refers to the military academy called West Point- Finny is comparing Gene to a soldier. The setting is described like the theme of the book as well. "the houses along Gilman Street began to look more defensive, which meant that I was near the school," (11). The students are allowed to bend the rules more than before because of the war, the masters are more relaxed about enforcing punishment with the younger boys who won't be drafted very soon. "We were careless and wild, and I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve" (24). I think that they want the boys to be able to enjoy the rest of their adolescence before they are drafted to the fullest. In conclusion, even though the school is very far away from the war, and the war may have seemed unreal to the students, it affected their lives greatly.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Willa! I like how well you analyzed each of you your quotes and connected them to your main point. However, some of your quotations are a little long. You can set up the context of each one through your own writing, and then just use the part of the quote that proves your point. If both the beginning and end of a quotation are important, but the middle is not, you can use "..." to show skipped text. Overall though, nice job!
DeleteThe war plays a huge part in the boys' life. It affects their speech, actions, and thoughts. Quotes that reflect this can be found throughout the book. War terminology is used when describing the tree. "The tree loomed in my memory as a huge lone spike dominating the riverbank, forbidding as an artillery piece"(13 ). Another time when such terms are used are when Phineas says "torpedo the troopship"(9) to get Gene to jump, and when Gene says "counterattack"(11) when describing his fight with Finny. Gene calls his natural gait his "West Point Stride"(18). This is a reference to the military academy. These example show that the war was a commonplace event in their lives. The war also affects how they are treated differently from the seniors. The seniors are being rushed through courses so they can be drafted into the war. “They snapped at the heels of the seniors, driving and molding and arming them for the war” (24). Because of this, the soon to be 'Upper Middlers' enjoyed a loose leash of temporary freedom. They weren't tightly bound by the rules, and most of the masters did not enforce them very strictly. "We were careless and wild, and I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve" (24). The masters were more intent on training those who would immediately set off for the war rather than the ones who would join later. Gene even remembers the war , and refers to it, when he is in the present. "The houses along Gilman Street began to look more defensive, which meant that I was near the school" (11). In these ways, the war affects the lives of the boys at Devon School so that they will never be the same again. At the point of time in which the flashback is taking place, the war seems unreal to the boys. "I don't really believe we bombed Central Europe, do you?"(29). But the reader knows that the war is real, and that it is going to affect their lives more than they can imagine.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a very nice job, Raj. You had really good examples of how they were affected by war and good quotes. I think you could've analyzed the quotes a bit more and explained what was going on in a little more detail, but other than that, job well done.
DeleteThe war effects the life of the school boys at Devon. The war inspires their speech and actions. When Gene describes the tree as " a huge lone spike dominating the riverbank, forbidding as an artillery piece" (13), it shows that the war influences Gene's speech by comparing the tree to a weapon. Finny also points out that Gene has a "West Point Stride" (18). The West Point Stride is how the students at West Point Academy walk. The tension from the war causes the masters to loosen their grips on students. Finny breaks the rules quite often but the masters let them free: “The faculty threw up its hands over Phineas, and so loosened its grip on all of us” (23). Gene realizes that the students “reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen” (24). Gene infers that the masters want the students to be sixteen year old kids and forget about the war until the the time comes.
ReplyDeleteI think you have great points here. You did a really nice job examining the way war affected them. At the end though it got a little bit confusing when you were talking about the headmasters. I would tighten it up to leave out confusion by adding a little more detail in between your last two quotes. Otherwise great job.
DeleteOne way in which WWII effects the characters in A Separate Peace is that it influences their thoughts and words. The boys at Devon school are constantly using phrases having to do with the war, even though there are many other ways to express the same idea. For example, Gene describes the tree as “forbidding as an artillery piece” (13), and in talking about his play fighting with Finny comments that he was anticipating “my counterattack” (19). The war also influences the boys through their actions. When Finny is about to jump out of the tree, Gene reflects that while the seniors have been getting ready for war, their class (Upper Middler) has just been “calmly, numbly reading Virgil and playing tag in the river farther downstream. Until Finny though of the tree” (15). Most likely Finny got the idea from the war, because the seniors jumped out of it as part of their war training. Another example of the war influencing the boys' actions is when they invent blitzball. Finny suggests that they make up a sport using a medicine ball they found, and a boy named Bobby Zane says “'Let's make it have something to do with the war'...'Like a blitzkrieg or something'” (37). The war influences everything from the games of teenage boys to the way the Masters treat the students. Gene tells of how “This was the way the Masters tended to treat us that summer. They seemed to be modifying their usual attitude...A streak of tolerance was detectable” (23). He goes on to explain that part of it was Finny's doing, but that he thinks there is another reason. “We reminded them of what peace was like, of lives not bound up with destruction...a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve” (24). Gene thinks that they wanted to preserve the kind of peace there was before the war.
ReplyDeleteThe war affects the boys in a lot of ways. They compare a lot of things to death, and weapons, or war like terms. In the story Gene talks about as "a huge lone spike dominating the riverbank, forbidding as an artillery piece"(13). Gene is talking as if the tree is like a canon shell that has been launch and landed in the ground, as if he's right in the middle of the battlefield. Also everything gene describes is dull, most of the time. "..Dead gray waves hissing mordantly along the beach"(49). This shows us how the war has caused how the kids talk to a more sad tone. The masters don't give as much punishment or in-force rules as often because of the war. "I wore this, you see, because it goes with the shirt and it ties it all together..."(27). Here usually Finny would have been punished for wearing his tie as a belt, but instead the headmaster thought of it as a tribute, so Finny gets away with it.
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