Exposure

Question 1

Who wrote Exposure

Answer 1

Wilfred Owen

Question 2

Did Wilfred Owen fight in WW1? If so as what

Answer 2

Yes as a front line soldier in WW1

Question 3

In his poems what was he often angry about?

Answer 3

How the soldiers were in muddy dangerous trenches while the generals behind were in luxury

Question 4

What is the poem exposure literally about

Answer 4

The misery felt by soldiers in the trenches in WW1 and the fact although nothing is happening fighting wise they are exposed to the extreme cold and that nature is the true enemy.

Question 5

What’s the structure of the poem (it uses large amounts of what 3 techniques)

Answer 5

uses lots of ellipses, caesuras and repetition (creates ongoing sense of waiting and boredom)

Question 6

What are the three key themes

Answer 6

Power of nature, war, reality of conflict

Question 7

’ The __________ iced ____ winds ____ _____ __’

Answer 7

‘The merciless iced east winds that knive us’
- Personification of weather = unforgiving
- Nature is the real enemy of war
- Sibilance highlights brutality of weather + creates cutting bitter edge to the elements (like a knife)

Question 8

‘____ flakes with ________ stealth’

Answer 8

‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth’
- Personification of snow as silent killer
- noun ‘flakes’ = snow is deceptively soft
- Nature is deceiving

Question 9

‘But _______ _______’

Answer 9

‘But nothing happens’
- Every 5th line is blunt and short = anti climax
- Futility (ineffectiveness of war)
- Irony as they are actually slowly dying
- Final line = emphasises the process doesn’t end
- They are waiting for fighting = their death

Question 10

‘On us ___ _____ are ______…. love of ___ seems ______’

Answer 10

‘On us the doors are closed…. love of God seems dying’
- Acceptance they won’t survive
- Those at home carry on with their normal lives and forget the soldiers dying
- They’ve lost their religious faith = shows just how harsh it is