Exposure by Owen

Question 1

opening

Answer 1

‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us’
-ache could represent physical (cold) and mental suffering
-Nature is personified in a sinister way as it stabs the soldiers and gives them pain to create fear in the listener.

Question 2

anticipation

Answer 2

‘Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent’
-The use of alliteration here makes the phrase difficult to say, alluding to the difficulty of the soldier’s lives.

Question 3

listing

Answer 3

‘Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous’
-This use of asyndetic listing creates a rushed, panicked pace and contrasts with the content of the poem.

Question 4

sound

Answer 4

‘twitching agonies’
-visceral reaction to the reader as its an uncomfortable image to hear

Question 5

Last line

Answer 5

‘But nothing happens’
-powerful statement that conveys a sense of stagnation and futility. The use of the conjunction “but” suggests a contrast with what was expected or hoped for, implying that something should have happened but did not.
-The word “nothing” is a stark and absolute term that emphasizes the lack of action or progress, and the use of the present tense reinforces the sense of ongoing inactivity.
- is a recurring refrain throughout the poem, emphasizing the soldiers’ sense of helplessness and the repetitive, unchanging nature of their situation. It suggests that the soldiers are caught in a cycle of waiting and anticipation, unable to escape the monotony and danger of their surroundings

Question 6

nature as enemy

Answer 6

‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’
-pale” in this quote creates a sense of coldness and lifelessness, conveying the bleak and inhospitable conditions of the soldiers’ environment. The “flakes” are likely snowflakes, which are traditionally associated with purity and beauty, but here they are described as having “fingering stealth” - a personification that suggests an element of menace or danger.
-The verb “come” implies a sense of inevitability or inexorability, as if the snowflakes are gradually closing in on the soldiers.
-“feeling for our faces” creates a sense of vulnerability and exposure, as if the soldiers are at the mercy of nature

Question 7

ghosts

Answer 7

‘slowly our ghosts drag home’
-“ghosts” suggests that the soldiers have been changed by their experiences in war and are no longer the same people they were before. The fact that the ghosts are “dragging” suggests that this transformation is not a voluntary one and that it is a struggle for the soldiers to reintegrate into their former lives
-use of the adverb “slowly” emphasizes the difficulty of this process and implies that it will take time for the soldiers to recover from the trauma they have endured. The word “drag” also connotes a sense of weariness and exhaustion, which further emphasizes the toll that war has taken on the soldiers

Question 8

Religion

Answer 8

‘for the love of God seems dying’
-This religious reference implies that there is a lack of religiously imposed morality remaining in the situation- highlighting the cruelty of it. as it makes him question his own faith