exposure v. bayonet charge Flashcards
THEMES IN BOTH
- bleak reality of war for soldiers
- motif of time and nature
- criticisms of governments and using civilians as tools in war.
STRUCTURE OF EXPOSURE
8 stanzas, each includes a build up of rich imagery but then the 5th line acts as an anticlimax. mirroring the way that the soldiers stay constantly alert and yet nothing happens.
there is a constant rhyme scheme that again is contrasted with the 5th line- making this line really stand out and emphasise the monotony of war. includes para-rhymes, underlying an atmosphere of unease . leaving readers feel unsatisfied and uneasy- anticipating a rhyme like soldiers anticipating a battle.
cyclical structure, anaphora of nothing happens creates futility and a never ending cycle.
STRUCTURE OF BAYONET CHARGE
free verse structure that contains a wide use of enjambment caesuras and rich complex imagery which makes the poem feel hard to read at times. The true meaning is hidden under a plethora of literacy/structural techniques that fragment the poem and create sense of chaos.
PERSPECTIVE OF BOTH
- bayonet c- 3rd person singular, gives a limited narrative perspective and allows readers to focus on the individual impacts of war through on person. it emphasises the isolation of conflict
2.exposure- authentic 1st person perspective, wilfred owen did go to war himself.
uses collective pronouns to create a sense of community.
THEME 1- bleak reality of war for soldiers
QUOTES
exposure- “sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
bayonet c- “bullets smacking the belly out of the air”
why do the writers expose the bleak reality of war for soldiers?
to evoke sympathy but also to shine light on the tough/ gruesome conditions they faced- wilfred owen going to war + hughes father going to war shows how they both have a connection to it.
THEME 2- motif of nature acting as wider metaphor to expose suffering
QUOTES
bayonet c- “ threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame and crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide open silent”
exposure- “tonight this frost will fasten on this mud and us, shrivelling many hands, and puckering foreheads crisp.”
“our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
why do the writers use a motif of nature to expose suffering?
in bayonet c, hughes projects the violence onto an innocent creature of nature, a symbol for collective suffering and death.
it helps readers associate the hare’s suffering with the soldiers.
in exposure, the nature exposes their suffering as they are left out with it due to a lack of help- creates sympathy for the reader.
THEME 3- criticisms of governments in using civilians as tools in the war.
QUOTES
bayonet c- “in what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?”
exposure- “what are we doing here”
“but nothing happens”
why do the writers highlight governments using civilians as tools in war?
give emotional power to the poems and create sympathy. But to also give focus to the political issues within the poems.
shows the disregard of feelings and autonomy of their civilians, as the authorities view them as dispensable.
