Exposure - NTL Flashcards
What does the line ‘Our brains ache, in
the merciless iced east winds that knive us.’
The physical and psychological torment endured by soldiers
It emphasizes the harshness of the weather as a metaphor for their suffering.
What is the significance of the repeated line ‘But noth..
ing happens.’
It highlights the sense of futility and stagnation in the soldiers’ experience
This reflects the waiting and despair that accompanies war.
What does the imagery ‘The air that ..
shovels black with snow.’
The brutal environment faced by soldiers
juxtaposition (two things contrasting placed in same ideas) used to convey soldiers confusing and disorientation.
It portrays nature as an adversary that adds to their misery.
What does the line ‘For love of..
god seems dying.’
A deep sense of hopelessness among soldiers
It indicates that their faith and humanity are being eroded by the horrors of war.
Likens soldiers to christ - sacrifice themselves to save others.
What does the phrase ‘Half known..
faces. Their eyes are ice.’
Metaphor
people are simply numbers when it comes to war.
their dead bodies have now become part of nature (ice)
Who wrote this and when?
Wilfred Owen - 1920
What poems can you compare this to?
Ozymandias - both link to power of nature
What war did he serve in? (Wilfred Owen)
When was he born.
WWI.
Died in battle 1918.
1893
What was owen’s aim? What was his view on war?
Dispel myth that war was for brave and honorable people: Reality of war
He believed war was pointless?
What does the theme of exposure describe?
The suffering of soldiers in the harsh weather condition in trench warfare. - As they question whether it is worth while and why they’re there.
Waiting for action that never comes, only for them to be killed by harsh weather conditions.
What could the title of exposure mean?
Exposure to the violence of nature
Exposure to the enemy’s
Expose the british public to the reality of war
Structure
Each stanza starts with a blunt and powerful sentence e.g stanza 1 - ‘our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knife us’
Has an emotive vocabulary filled middle section ; ‘worried, nervous,memory, salient’
Anti climax end - ‘But nothing happens’
Reflects how soldiers build themselves up for nothing
They’re exhausted
Rhyme Scheme represents what?
ABBAC rhyme scheme.
First four lines establish a pattern which is broken in final line, reflects building momentum and anticipation of battle that’s never realised.
Constant through whole poem
what is a pararhyme?
Two end of line words contain same consonant sounds but not vowels.
e.g in first stanza a; ‘knife us’, b; silent’ , ‘salient’ and a; ‘nervous’ pararhyme with each corresponding letter. (b and b rhyme, a and a rhyme)
Can represent how the soldiers are constantly on edge and nervous, rhyme is forced to be incomplete and full rhyme is denied like the closure is denied for the soldiers in the war.
‘like a dull,
rumour of some other war’
Can be linked to biblical quote from jesus - ‘you will hear of wars and rumours of wars’
Feels like the end of the world has arrived for the soldiers.
5 of the personification quotes in the poem.
‘Winds that knife us’
‘Mad gusts’
‘Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army’
‘Air that shudders black with ice’
‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth faces’
Shows the brutality of the weather - more dangerous than the human enemy - emphasis.
The rain being described in military imagery ‘ attacks one more in ranks’
shows how the rain and the enemy are similar and are both killing them.
Sibilance in quotes..
‘Sudden successive..
‘Pale flakes with..
‘flights of bullets streak the silence’
‘fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’
Could be compared to sound of bullets passing over head, or the sound that shivering soldiers would make.
Creates negative atmosphere which reminds readers of constant threat the people are in.
Caesura used mid line in the stanza ‘slowly our ghost drags home’
constant use of : and ; reflects division between those at home and the setting of the soldiers in cold trench.
End of the poem - quote
‘But nothing happens’
Cyclical structure, ends same as the first paragraph ends.
Nothing has been achieved - like them dying due to the war.
The brutality of weather will never change.
