TEXT ASSISTED EFFECT ANALYSIS ESSAY: LIFE AFTER WAR

“LIFE AFTER WAR”; YOU WILL NEED TO ACCESS THE TEXT OF THE SAME NAME OFF THE BBC WEBSITE.

TEACHER’S NOTES

BEFORE  YOU DISTRIBUTE THE TEXTS: Read the title and the subtitle of the text where the writer asks whether we can expect soldiers to go from firefights straight into ordinary life. Ask the students what they think the answer is. At this point, it would be a good idea to divide the board into three columns: causes, effects and solutions.  Initiate a class discussion during which you elicit the causes of the problem, the consequent effects and possible solutions. Make a note of these on the board. This kind of activity is very important in preparing the students to read and then write.

NOW DISTRIBUTE THE TEXTS AND ASK THEM TO READ AS FAR AS” POLICEMAN ASSAULTED”

When they have done, ask what the answer to the question posed in the subtitle is. The answer is no. (Jack, while physically unharmed, was a changed man) Now ask them to find two general reasons for the problems combat troops face after active duty and two effects of the change that takes place in the individual.

THE REASONS IN THIS SECTION:

- seeing friends and colleagues wounded or killed

- you have gone from having all the responsibility in the world over there- people’s lives     

  depend on it-and then you come back and you are just a name and a number again.

THE EFFECTS IN THIS SECTION:

- anger problems

- seething with rage in an empty room for no reason

- not being able to speak to anyone.

Make sure to add these points to the board and discuss them before you move on.

HAVE THEM READ “POLICEMAN ASSAULTED” AS FAR AS THE END OF THE PARAGRAPH BEGINNING “MANY EXPERTS”. Now ask them to find two more reasons and four more effects and add them to the board. Have adequate discussion before moving on as this will keep interest flowing and break the monotony. This kind of variation is vital for this reason.

 THE REASONS IN THIS SECTION:

- Guardsman Lloyd says” For the last eight months all you’ve been told to do and taught is fight and kill.”

- A senior officer says” we train these men to never back down from confrontation

THE EFFECTS IN THIS SECTION:

-          drug addiction

-          alcoholism

-          depression

-          divorce.

NOW ASK THEM TO COMPLETE READING THE TEXT

When they have done, ask them to find three solutions and two more effects. Discuss them and add them to the board. Hopefully they will have predicted a lot of the points made in the text so the information in the text will not come as a surprise. It will also mean that they will have been focusing and that you have done a good jobJ

THE SOLUTIONS IN THIS SECTION:

-          counseling

-          decompression periods

-    being discharged for mental health reasons.

THE EFFECTS IN THIS SECTION:

-          PTSD (this is hard to see!)

-           Suicide (the very end of the text so could be missed)

THE ESSAY

Depending on how much time you have and what you feel is appropriate, you can do one of the following:

1.      A cause analysis essay

2.      An effect analysis essay

3.      A cause and effect essay

4.      A problem solution essay

Refer to my second blog, The Essay Archive, for sample essays: https://theessayarchive.blogspot.com.tr/