Dulce et Decorum Est

Question 1

who is the writer?

Answer 1

Wilfred Owen

Question 2

when was it written?

Answer 2

1917

Question 3

themes?

Answer 3

• pain and suffering
• death and loss
• effects of war
• negative emotions

Question 4

context?

Answer 4

• anti-war
• anti-propaganda
• response to the manipulation to recruit
• direct address to Jessie Pope - a patriotic, propaganda poet
• Latin used
• WW1

Question 5

form + structure?

Answer 5

• irregular structure
• no rhyme scheme to symbolise chaos
• two line paragraph at the heart of the poem shows death is at the heart of war

Question 6

‘Bent double, like _____ _____ under sacks’

Answer 6

old beggars

Question 7

‘Men marched _____’

Answer 7

asleep

Question 8

‘He plunges at me, _____, _____, drowning

Answer 8

guttering, choking

Question 9

‘As under a _____ _____, I saw him drowning’

Answer 9

green sea

Question 10

‘If in some ______ _____ you too could pace’

Answer 10

smothering dreams

Question 11

‘And watch the _____ writhing in his face’

Answer 11

white

Question 12

Obscene as _____, _____ as the cud

Answer 12

cancer, bitter

Question 13

‘_____ _____, you would not tell with such high zest’

Answer 13

My friend

Question 14

‘The old Lie: _____ _____ Decorum est’

Answer 14

Dulce et Decorum est

Question 15

‘Pro patria _____’

Answer 15

mori

Question 16

‘Gas! Gas! _____, _____!’

Answer 16

quick boys

Question 17

‘An _____ of fumbling’

Answer 17

ecstacy

Question 18

‘Behind the wagon that we _____ him in’

Answer 18

flung

Question 19

‘Of vile, _____ _____ on innocent tongues’

Answer 19

incurable sores

Question 20

‘To children ardent for some _____ _____’

Answer 20

desperate glory

Question 21

‘Fitty the _____ _____ just in time’

Answer 21

clumsy helmets

Question 22

what does ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ mean?

Answer 22

it is sweet and it is fitting

Question 23

what technique does the line: ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ have?

Answer 23

simile

Question 24

what does the adverb ‘haunting’ tell the reader?

Answer 24

connotations of death, haunting shows the temporary nature of light

Question 25

what does the line: ‘distant rest began to trudge’ show?

Answer 25

they are returning to their trenches, their resting place

Question 26

what does the line: ‘Many men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots’ show?

Answer 26

an image of despair

Question 27

what technique does the line ‘Of gas shells dropping softly behind.’ have?

Answer 27

use of sibilance

Question 28

what does the line: ‘Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling’ show?

Answer 28

• this line uses direct speech
• the word ‘ecstasy’ is malapropic, ill-fitting, as ecstasy is a positive word, gas masks will save them

Question 29

what does the word ‘flound’ring’ show?

Answer 29

mustard gas liquidised their lungs

Question 30

what does the word ‘lime’ mean?

Answer 30

its the colour of mustard gas

Question 31

what does the line ‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning?’ show?

Answer 31

it uses water imagery to describe the men as drowning in the mustard gas

Question 32

what does the phrase ‘In all my dreams’ mean?

Answer 32

the soldier is haunted by the memory

Question 33

what does the line ‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning’ show?

Answer 33

• the soldiers are desperate
• use of triplets
• the line is in its own paragraph along with ‘In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,’ to emphasise the horror of war

Question 34

what tense is the word ‘If’?

Answer 34

conditional tense

Question 35

what does the verb ‘flung’ show?

Answer 35

the lack of respect for the soldiers - dehumanised by the war

Question 36

what does the phrase ‘white eyes writhing’ show?

Answer 36

• alliteration, inhumane description, awkward syntax is mimetic of the observes harrowing experience

Question 37

what atmosphere does the description: ‘hanging face’ create?

Answer 37

a disturbing atmosphere

Question 38

what imagery is the verb: ‘gargling’?

Answer 38

water imagery

Question 39

what does the line: ‘Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud’ imply?

Answer 39

that war is the worst thing imaginable

Question 40

what does the line: ‘Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues’ show?

Answer 40

war left an incurable mark on innocent soldiers

Question 41

why did Owen use the phrase: ‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest’?

Answer 41

as sarcasm to directly address Jessie Pope who is a pro-war poet and writer

Question 42

what does the line: ‘The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria mori’ mean?

Answer 42

• The old Lie - shows the truth of war is covered up under propaganda
• Dulce et Decorum est - it is sweet and it is fitting is in a different language to show men had no idea what war was like
• Pro patria mori - to die for your country