Exposure

Question 1

“Merciless iced winds that knife us…”

Answer 1

Owen uses personification in the quote to show how harsh the wind is towards those in the trenches.

Nature is portrayed as their enemy, they are more likely to die from exposure to the elements than they are to by fighting the Germans.

Question 2

“Like twitching agonies of men among the brambles,”

Answer 2

Uses the simile to show a gruesome image of dead soldiers in no man’s land.

Question 3

“Misery of dawn”

Answer 3

Wilfred Owen uses a oxymoron to convey the low morale the soldiers have.

Question 4

“Dawn missing in the east her melancholy army attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”

Answer 4

Wilfred Owen uses a semantic field to show the dull,greyness of the overcast weather is like an army.

Question 5

“With sidelong flowing flakes that flock,pause and renew,”

Answer 5

Owen uses the alliteration of to cast a sinister image of these snowflakes as killers,disturbing the otherwise nonthreatening image.

Question 6

“For love of God seems dying”

Answer 6

The fact that they feel abandoned has left them questioning their faith.

Question 7

“Cringe in holes”

Answer 7

Presents the idea that there is no real heroism in real war, they are scared for their lives and are hiding like animals.

Question 8

“We only know war lasts, rain soaks and clouds sag stormy”

Answer 8

There is an absence of joy in their lives they are miserable and have lost all hope.