Exposure Flashcards

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1
Q

form

A

poem is written in present tense using first person plural. this collective voice shows how the experience was shasred by soldiers across the war.

each stanza has a regular rhyme scheme to reflect the monotonous nature of the mens experience. the rhymes are often half rhymes so the rhyme scheme offers no comfort and are jagged like the mens experience and reflect their confusion and fading energy.

ecah stanza ends with a half line with a gap that mirrors the lack of hope.

“snow dazed”…” sun dozed”- half rhyme

“on us doors are closed-“ - caesura reflects how the men are shut out their homes and people at home were losing interest as the war dragged on

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2
Q

structure

A

eight stanzas but no progression

last stanza ends with the same words as first one reflecting the monotony of life in the trenches

“but nothing happens.”- simple half lines reflects tension and boredom

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3
Q

questions

A

rhetorical questions are used to ask why the men are exposed to such dreadful conditions and whether there is any point to their suffering

“what are we doing here?”

“is it that we are dying?” - answers first question as if they are only there to die

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4
Q

bleak language

A

reminds the reader of the mens pain, the awful weather, and lack of hope.

“flickering gunnery rumbles”- assonance and onomatopoeia create a vivid aural description

” suddenly succesive flights of bullets streak the silence”- sibilance mimcs the sounds of bullets

“slowly our ghosts drag home” - assonance of long ‘oh’ sounds makes the imagined journey sound slow and painful

” black with snow” - snow is normally white to symbolise purity but here it is black to symbolise evil or death

” shrivelling many hands, puckering foreheads crisp”- vivd image of what exposure to cold does to their bodies

” all their eyes are ice” - metaphor refers to the eyes of the living and the dead and shows they have been overpowered by nature - hints the living are no longer able to feel emotions

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5
Q

personification

A

used to show nature is the real enemy in war

“merciless iced east winds that knive us” - shown to be attacking them

“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”- dawn is personified using language of battle - usually dawn is a sign of hope but not here

” pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces” - snowflakes are maliciously seeking out the men

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6
Q

context

A

written by wilsen own not long before he was killed in battle about the soldiers conditions in war.

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