Summer of My German Soldier

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

Creative Writing: “Patty’s Letter to Anton’s Mother”

In this activity, students will write a letter to Anton’s mother from the point-of-view of Patty.

After Anton’s departure, Patty begins to imagine visiting Anton’s mother in Germany. For this Activity, you will write a letter to Anton’s mother from Patty’s point of view announcing your intention to visit her in Germany. Use the following questions to guide the structure of your letter.

• Who are you? How are you acquainted with Anton?
• How has Anton impacted your life?
• Why do you want to visit Anton’s mother in Germany? What do you hope to gain from the visit?
• What would you like to accomplish while in Germany? How does this fit into your future plans?

After drafting your letter, share the contents with your classmates in an oral presentation. Reflect on the similarities and differences among your classmates’ letters, particularly in regard to the themes of The Desire For Parental Love, Transformation From Alienation To Independence, and Physical Versus Emotional Deprivation.

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity encourages students to apply their understanding of the novel’s characterization and plot within the context of a creative writing assignment. Depending on the level of the class, invite students to brainstorm as a class or in small groups about how to approach the letter-writing process.

Differentiation Suggestion: For an extended creative writing exercise, this Activity may be amended to include the following question: Imagine that Anton’s mother has officially invited Patty to visit her in Germany. What would this interaction be like? What would the two talk about? Would Anton’s mother be able to fill The Desire For Parental Love that Patty has? Why or why not? Write a short dialogue between the two characters exploring some of these questions as if you were writing a scene from a play. This links to the Paired Text Extension.

Paired Text Extension:

In the sequel to Greene’s Summer of My German Soldier, entitled Morning Is a Long Time Coming, Patty decides to visit Anton’s mother in Germany. After writing your creative writing letter, read Greene’s sequel and compare your creative writing with the version that Greene wrote.

Teaching Suggestion: As this Paired Text Extension involves reading an additional novel, consider offering extra credit to those students who complete this portion of the Activity.