Exposure - Wilfred Owen✔️ Flashcards
How is the theme Reality of war presented?
The poem shows how war is not just fighting and the men wait as “nothing happens” and bullets do not kill as many as the weather - also a sense of patriotism as men make the ultimate sacrifice
How is the theme power of nature presented?
Instead of military action/fighting we are shown soldiers who are battling nature - the cold not bullets will kill them - highlighted with the personification “wind. Knifes us” and the sibilance heard in “merciless iced east winds” + simile “like twitching agonies of men on brambles”
How does the writer use inclusive language and whats the effect?
“we watch them” and “our brains” to highlight how it is the same experience for all soldiers
Significance of the simile “mad gusts tugging on the wire like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”
Reveals the struggles and agonies of war - both the metaphorical “brambles” (part of the natural world) and the man-made “wire” have the same devastating effect on the men perhaps showing how nature has become infected by mankind
How is the snow described to suggest nature is deadly?
Snow moves with “stealth” as it will “flock, pause and renew” This is military language used in battle strategy which shows how the snow is the real enemy contrasts with the German enemies who are silent - the snows arrival will cause many deaths within the “shivering ranks”
How does Owen create a sense of monotony and misery?
repeated use of ellipsis “the night is silent..” indicates how time is dragging as the men wait the monotony can be clearly seen in the long vowel sounds drags the pace of the line possibly signifying depression
How is sibilance used and what is its effect?
Sibilance used with “Sudden successive flights of bullets” which imitates the hissing sound of bullets
What is the structure and form in the poem?
Eight, five line stanzas with the fifth line acting as a chorus or refrain repeating “but nothing happens” or posing an unanswered questions - Which adds to the sense of paralysis as time stands still with nothing achieved
Focus of each stanza?
1-4 = focus on the present and harsh conditions
5-6 = focus shifts to past and memories of home
7 = speculates on what war means if you lose your faith
8 = speculates on the immediate future , suggests this future will only hold death
First and last lines?
‘Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knives us’
‘But nothing happens’
Significance of the ‘dawn’ being personified?
“dawn” usually seen as a time of hope and rebirth brings further “poignant misery” showing how there is no escape of this suffering - it is endless
How is a caesura used?
Owen uses punctuation to separate home from the trenches - the colon used in ‘slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires’ - depicts the soldiers imagining the warmth of their homes, yet there is a barrier between that and their fight against the cold
How is there a cylcical structure?
The last line of the first and last stanza ‘but nothing happens’ connects the end and beginning of the poem - to emphasises the fact that nothing has happened in that time
How is a rhetorical question used?
Used by the speaker to question the motivation to fight - “what are we doing here?”
Significance of ‘flowing flakes that flock’?
Alliteration and the repeated ‘fl’ sounds shows snows delicate but deadly nature as it shows the reader that the snow is the real threat as the snowflakes are slicing through the air in the same way as bullets
