Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

Question 1

What does Owens use Dulce as a vehicle to?

Answer 1

to expose just how gruesome and treacherous war is, and to criticise pre-war poets who glorified war and the honour in dying for your country. Perhaps this is a result of Owen’s personal experience on the front lines as a soldier during the First World War, highlighting the false ideologies publicised by propaganda, and how war is not honourable but instead degrading and horrifying

Question 2

Initially point

Answer 2

Owens exposes the harsh conditions young men had to endure during war, and dismissed the stereotype of soldiers being tough and patriots, but in reality, they were reduced to exhausted and helpless people who lost all hope

Question 3

Initially… (quote 1)

Answer 3

“Bent double, like beggars under sacks “

• The caesura splits the image of men bent over with fatigue from the imagery of them as homeless old men, who are in a state of desperation as they have lost everything to the war
• The caesura gives the reader time to think about the soldiers and feel sorry for them

Question 4

Initially… (quote 2)

Answer 4

“cursed through sludge” and “trudge”

• The rhyming of sludge and trudge emphasises the monotonous nature of walking through the poorly build trenches that had turned to “sludge”
• Owen criticised the government for sending poorly equipped soldiers to war

Question 5

As the text develops point

Answer 5

The tone changes from a desperation for war to end to a much more apparent and tense tone, which portrays the immediate danger that the soldiers were forced to endure

Question 6

As the text develops… (quote 1)

Answer 6

“Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!”

• This line transports the reader to the front line where the exclamation marks convey the desperation in the soldiers voice
• “boys” highlights the young age of the soldiers and makes the war more tragic

Question 7

As the text develops… (quote 2)

Answer 7

“floundering like a man in fire or lime…”

• “floundering” highlights that this soldier ( a symbol of strength) has been reduced to a clumsy mess, grasping onto his life
• “fire” adds to the painful almost emotive imagery (reader feels sorry for this soldier)
• ellipses gives the reader time to process this image

Question 8

Ultimately point

Answer 8

The image of the dying soldier continues, perhaps the detailed illustration of the soldiers death would appeal to the readers sense of compassion and make them think about wether or not this is an honourable way to die for your country

Question 9

Ultimately… (quote 1)

Answer 9

“Guttering, choking, drowning”

• Rule of three highlights that the death intense and painful, Owens portrays the soldiers death in this way in order to make the reader appreciate that they are safe at home, and to criticise the pre-war poets who glorified death

Question 10

Ultimately… (quote 2)

Answer 10

“Froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer”

• This graphic description of the soldiers body would further shock the reader and oblige them to question the validity of claims that dying at war was an honourable cause of death
• The comparison to cancer would allow people who had never experienced war to link it with something as lethal as cancer