Anthem For Doomed Youth

Question 1

What does Wilfred Owen communicate about conflict?

Answer 1

War is brutal, gut wrenching & very much real, unlike sporty, fun & courageous activity portrayed as back home to try lure young men into their doom
Also suggests lack of understanding & remorse from people back home

Question 2

What is the structure used in anthem for doomed youth? What effect do these have?

Answer 2

Form is sonnet - tonal shift inn second stanza, contrasts battlefield & peace back home

Question 3

What are the techniques used in anthem for doomed youth? What effect do these have?

Answer 3

Personification - (guns) “anger” - guns are dangerous
Personification - “demented choirs of wailing shells” - choirs = abundance & wailing = uncomfortable sound
Metaphor - “shall be their pall” & “rating down of blinds” - emphasises mourning/pain

Question 4

What is the rhythm & rhyme used in anthem for doomed youth? What effect do these have?

Answer 4

Iambic pentameter loose in first stanza, tight in second - reflects contrast of chaos & regularity
First stanza is alternate rhyme - form of sonnet

Question 5

What is the imagery used in anthem for doomed youth? What effect do these have?

Answer 5

Auditory - “rattle”, “patter”, “shrill” - how harsh/uncomfortable battlefield was
Religious imagery of funeral - “passing bells”, “candles”, “choirs”, “pall” - undercut to show how bleak deaths were

Question 6

What is the vocabulary used in anthem for doomed youth? What effect do these have?

Answer 6

Verb - “stuttering” - guns unpredictable & reflects nature of firing
Alliteration - “rifle’s rapid rattle” - reflects pace, amount & sound of gunfire