You are a solider about to enter a tunnel, under a battlefield.

1. You are a solider about to enter a tunnel, under a battlefield. What kind of things do you expect to see? What thoughts and feelings might you have?

2. The Rear-Guard Groping along the tunnel, step by step,He winked his prying torch with patching glareFrom side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air.Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know; A mirror smashed, the mattress from a bed;And he, exploring fifty feet belowThe rosy gloom of battle overhead. Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw someone lieHumped at his feet, half-hidden by a rug. And stooped to give the sleeper’s arm a tug.“I’m looking for headquarters.” No reply.“God blast your neck!” (For days he’d had no sleep.)“Get up and guide me through this stinking place.”Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering heap,And flashed his beam across the livid faceTerribly glaring up, whose eyes yet woreAgony dying hard of ten days before;And fists of fingers clutched a blackening wound. Alone he staggered on until he foundDawn's ghost that filtered down a shafted stairTo the dazed, muttering creatures undergroundWho hear the boom of shells in muffled sound.At last, with sweat and horror in his hair,He climbed through darkness to the twilight air,Unloading hell behind him step by step. SEIGFRIED SASSOON

3. Questions for discussion: (1) What kind of things does the solider see? (2)What thoughts and feelings does he have? (3) What does your attention focus on as the poem develops? (4) Why do you think the solider is referred to as ‘he’?

4. Moving through the tunnel (1) How do we track the movement of the soldier through the tunnel? (2) Describe his movements, from the beginning of the poem until the end. (3)Where does he begin, and where does he end? (4) Does the tunnel feel constricted? Narrow? Wide? Why?

5. Try and represent the way that the text-world of the poem unfolds in a diagram. For example: Groping along the tunnel, step by step, He winked his prying torch with patching glare From side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air. Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know; tunnel unwholesome air groping along winked sniffed he tins, boxes, bottles

6. Try and represent the scene and movement in the poem in a diagram. For example: On your finished diagram: Highlight world-builders in one colour Highlight verbs in another colour What does this reveal about the text-world of the poem? Groping along the tunnel, step by step,He winked his prying torch with patching glareFrom side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air. Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know; tunnel unwholesome air winked sniffed groping along he tins, boxes, bottles

7. battle shells twilight air dawn’s ghost fifty feet tunnel unwholesome air smashed mirror darkness soft, unanswering heap shafted stair climbed groping along, tripping, staggered on he hell tins, boxes, bottles livid face

8. Discuss the following statements: The text-world created in my mind is rich and vivid. I can imagine what it would be like to be in the trench. I have difficulty creating a text-world because I don’t know what a trench is like.

9. What can you see? How is it described? What kind of phrases are these world-builders? Are they vague or specific? What do they look like in your mind? Why do you think Sassoon chose to describe these objects in this way, and what does that tell you about the tunnel? his prying torch his blackening wound the livid face terribly glaring up a soft, unanswering heap tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know

10. Plenary What do you think it was like for people back at home who read war poetry and had never experienced war themselves? What kind of text-world do you think war poets wanted to project to people’s minds back at home?

11. Lesson 2 of The Rear-Guard What did we discuss last lesson about the text-world of this poem? Look back at your diagrams and remind yourself of the types of scenes and movements in the poem. Now let’s re-read the poem.

12. For you, what things are foregrounded when you read the poem? What kinds of things does your attention focus on? Why do you think this is?

13. Textual attractors: things that stand out, and are foregrounded in a text-world • Things that move • Humans • Large objects • Noisy objects • Bright objects • Things in Subject position • How can you apply this idea to the poem? Does it work, for what stands out in your own text-world?

14. Textual attractors: things that stand out

15. We have said that the poem involves a lot of movement. In other words, the text-world is dynamic like a film, not static like a picture. Which words create this movement?

16. Verb types Action She devoured the sandwich Thought/perception She thought about the sandwich Speech She talked about sandwiches Label each verb in the poem according to this classification. What patterns do you notice? What is foregrounded as a result? Why do you think Sassoon might have done this?

17. The Rear-Guard Gropingalong the tunnel, step by step,He winked his prying torch with patching glareFrom side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air.Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know; A mirror smashed, the mattress from a bed;And he, exploring fifty feet belowThe rosy gloom of battle overhead. Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw someone lieHumpedat his feet, half-hidden by a rug. And stooped to give the sleeper’s arm a tug.“I’m looking for headquarters.” No reply.“God blast your neck!” (For days he’d had no sleep.)“Get up and guide me through this stinking place.”Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering heap,And flashed his beam across the livid faceTerriblyglaring up, whose eyes yet woreAgony dying hard of ten days before;And fists of fingers clutched a blackening wound. Alone he staggered on until he foundDawn's ghost that filtered down a shafted stairTo the dazed, muttering creatures undergroundWho hear the boom of shells in muffled sound.At last, with sweat and horror in his hair,He climbed through darkness to the twilight air,Unloading hell behind him step by step. ACTION THOUGHT/PERCEPTION SPEECH What do these patterns reveal about the man’s experience in the trench?

18. Siegfried Sassoon What do you think Sassoon’s attitudes/feelings about war were, after reading this poem?

19. Siegfried Sassoon 1886 – 1967 Fought heroically in WW1 Later became disillusioned and critical of the war, which he publicly expressed in poems and letters Wrote hundreds of poems that capture the horrors and brutality of war Does knowing this affect the way you construct a text-world for this poem? Why?