EXPOSURE Flashcards
GIVE EXPOSURE QUOTATIONS
“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knives us”
“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”
“But nothing happens”
“Sudden successive bullets streak the silence”
“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
Owen illustrates the true reality of conflict through exhibiting the real murderer of thousands of men, the hostile weather. Owen personifies nature as an antagonistic figure through the negatively emotive verb “knives”. Furthermore, Owen utilises juxtaposition between the verb “ache”, which connotes a persistent, dull pain and the contrasting verb “knive” which oppositely connotes a sharp, piercing pain. The juxtaposition highlights the duplicity of the weather and its deceiving nature.
“But nothing happens”
Owen uses repetition of “but nothing happens” to hammer home the endless agony of waiting by forming a cyclical structure. Owen emphasises that despite the torturous events these men are put through nothing has been achieved as a consequence, concluding the pointlessness of conflict.
“sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
Owen utilises the harsh sibilance in order to mimic the quick paced firing of bullets. However, alternatively this alliteration could be an imitation of the sharp intakes of air from the soldiers who are shocked by the horrors of war Additionally, Owen could be mimicking the shuddering sound of those who freeze to their death as the cold engulfs them.
Explain the form and structure of exposure
Owen uses regular five line stanzas to imitate the constant unchanging situation. This coupled with the regular ABBAC rhyme scheme replicates the continuous suffering. Furthermore, the abundance of ellipses, caesuras and repetition all conjure an on-going sense of waiting, amplifying the futility of war.
Owen additionally uses para-rhyme in order to create a lack of comfort or satisfaction which is reflective of the distressing soldiers.
“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”
Dawn has typical associations with the ideas of hope, rebirth and freshness yet for the soldiers it is personified as a threat, “massing in the east” with a “melancholy army”. This illustrates the trapped, endless cycle endured by the soldiers as for them dawn only brings the promise of another day. Owen is exhibiting the futility of their seemingly endless waiting.
