Exposure

Question 1

Exposure Context (Wilfred Owen)

Answer 1

• Owen died 1 week before the end of the war, 4th November 1918
• Owen himself said he wrote about the “pity of war” - waste and suffering of life

Question 2

Exposure MUST mention

Answer 2

• The poem defies the convention of war and looks at the weather assaulting the soldiers, not another army. This is to highlight the unknown horrors of war to people at home
• The poet uses repetition and a consistent structure to create the static tone of the poem. The lack of change adds to the tone of despair.
• The alliteration is used to create a sense of atmosphere to the weather and to draw parallels to the violence of war and weather

Question 3

Exposure Structure

Answer 3

• The poem uses a large amount of ellipses, caesuras and repetition to create an on-going sense of waiting and boredom.
• The poem is made of eight stanzas with a consistent use of a half line to end. This reinforces the sense of stasis or sameness throughout the poem that nothing is happening.
• There is use of para-rhyme showing words which appear to rhyme yet sound wrong when read to create the sense of unsettledness in the poem the soldiers are feeling.
• Owen also uses a huge amount of onomatopoeia and alliteration in the poem to emphasise the atmosphere and the sound of weather.