Dulce et Decorum Est

Question 1

Form / Structure

Answer 1

• war poem
• no defined structure
• emphases chaos of the gas attack

Question 2

Imagery

Answer 2

MEN MARCHED ASLEEP
-image of duty leads to lack of agency
AN ECSTASY OF FUMBLING
-transforms the landscape
OF DISAPPOINTED SHELLS THAT DROPPED BEHIND
image of bombs dropping behind them
GUTTERING, CHOKING, DROWNING
progression towards death - death only escape
LIKE A DEVILS SICK OF SIN
war is sinful - excess of war shows image of evil

Question 3

Language

Answer 3

“If”

• uncertainty
• makes the reader imagine the situation

“Dulce at Decorum Est”
- school boy Latin

“My friend”

• addresses a friend
• makes it personal

Question 4

Mood

Answer 4

Physicality of war compared to the psychology of war

Therefore the writer is against the opinion that war is beneficial

Question 5

Soundscape

Answer 5

Some rhyme

- emphasises disrupted landscape