Exposure Flashcards
Who wrote the poem ‘Exposure’?
Wilfred Owen
What’s the poem about?
It’s about a group of soldiers suffering the harsh weather conditions, dreaming of home and questioning why they are offering themselves to such a terrible experience.
What is the theme of the poem?
War it futile and pointless. The poem focuses on soldiers who were exposed to harsh weather conditions during their days and nights waiting in the trenches. Exposure of the truth for the British public, of the reality of war.
How is each stanza structured?
Each stand begins with a blunt powerful sentence. For example ‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knifed us’
These sentences are then followed by highly emotive language choices. For example “wearied”, “low dropping”, “confused”, “worried”, “curious” and “nervous”.
Crucially, after dramatic heightening the tension, each stanza ends with an anti climax “But nothing happens”
Owen wants the reader to empathize with how the soldiers felt everything is tense and seemingly building to the climax, only to end up being nothing.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
The first four lines establish a pattern only to be broken down by the final line. This reflects the build up of momentum and anticipation of battle which never happens.
The repetitive nature of the poem reflects the repetitive and futile situation the soldiers are in. Sitting waiting for battle in freezing cold weather.
Why do the final lines of each stanza not rhyme like the rest of the poem?
The stanza ending relate to each other: “What are we doing here?” “Is it that we are dying?” “We turn back to our dying”. “For the love of God is dying”. Essentially the poet is asking what are we doing here? Dying? The final line is deliberately ambiguous. Knowing that Owen had rejected the church the final line could suggest that people lose their faith in god when exposed to the horrors of war; questioning whether or not god exists. However an alternative interpretation of “dying” could be a reference to Christ’s death. Jesus died to save mankind. In this way it could be suggested that the soldiers are dying trying to save other.
Why has Owen used personification?
Personification is used to show how the weather is more dangerous than the ‘less deadly’ bullets.
“Winds that knive us”
“Mad gusts”
“air that shudders with black ice”
The overwhelming personification use shows that nature is more deadly than the enemy soldiers.
Why has Owen used sibilance?
Sibilance is the repetition of the soft sound ‘s’,’sh’ and’f’ sounds which create hissing. “Sudden successive fight of bullets streak the silence” a sinister sound is created to remind the reader of the constant threat of the environment that the soldiers are in.
Why does Owen use caesura?
Slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires, glozed
With crusted dark-red jewels; crickets jingle there;
For hours the innocent mice rejoice: the house is theirs;
Shutters and doors, all closed: on us the doors are closed,-
We turn back to our dying.
Punctuation beyond the comma is used mid-line. The soldiers are thinking about their homes. The punctuation usage creates a division on each line, reflecting the division caused by war between home and the present setting for the soldiers freezing in the trenches.
Why is the ending important in the poem?
The poem starts and ends with the refrain “but nothing happens” this creates a cyclical structure highlighting again the futility of the war.
