exposure by wilfred owen

Question 1

what was special about winter 1917?

Answer 1

it was one of the coldest on record

Question 2

what motivated owen?

Answer 2

he wanted to write about the truth of war and contradict propaganda

Question 3

what does the title exposure show?

Answer 3

terrible conditions, gunfire, weather, revealing the truth about propaganda

Question 4

“less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”

Answer 4

shows how weather is more of an enemy than the other soldiers

they have become immune to the fighting

black has connotations of death or lack of hope

Question 5

loss of humanity is shown by

Answer 5

“we cringe in holes” hiding like animals, putting their emotions aside to cope with the trauma

Question 6

“the burying party goes out, picks and shovels shaking in their grasp”

Answer 6

could be shaking because of the cold

people are still buried despite all this, trying to remain humane

Question 7

“merciless east iced winds that knive us”

Answer 7

personifies the wind, suggesting that it’s attacking them

sibilance mocks the rushing ice and makes it sound harsh, also the whispers of the soldiers; “sentries whisper, curious, nervous”

in the first stanza, puts emphasis on the weather

Question 8

use of elipses in the first stanza

Answer 8

makes the lines trail on so it is slow paced, time dragging on

Question 9

structure

Answer 9

length- time is dragging on
orderly structure- soldier life

Question 10

“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”

Answer 10

power of nature
army of clouds
dawn is presented as an enemy