Exposure - Wilfred Owen

Question 1

The title “Exposure” has a double meaning. What are the two meanings?

Answer 1

1) Exposing the consequences of war

2) Exposing the conditions in the trenches and the battle against nature

Question 2

Complete the quotation:

“Our brains ____”

Answer 2

“Our brains ache”

Question 3

How does the use of ellipsis emphasise the soldiers emotions?

Answer 3

It shows the boredom in the soldiers lives, and how they are constantly waiting for something that never happens

Question 4

“Merciless iced east winds that knive us…” is an example of what literary device?

Answer 4

Personification - the wind cannot physically “knive” the soldiers,

Question 5

In the first stanza,”whisper” is an example of what kind of imagery

Answer 5

Auditory imagery - the onomatopoeic sound enables the reader to imagine what the front line and the trenches were like

Question 6

Complete the quotation:

“Like _________ agonies of men among its ________”

Answer 6

“Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”

Question 7

Give an example of a simile in the poem

Answer 7

“Like a dull rumour of some other war”

“Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”

Question 8

Complete the quotation:

“The ________ misery of dawn begins to grow”

Answer 8

“The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow”

Question 9

Is Owen a reliable narrator?

Answer 9

Owen was a WW1 British soldier. He wrote the poem when in the trenches, describing what the conditions were like and the battle against the elements.

Consequently, he can be viewed as a reliable narrator as it is a first person account of what he saw whilst fighting

Question 10

Give an example of allusion in the poem

Answer 10

“Like some dull rumour of some other war”

Allusion to the Bible. “You will hear of war and rumours of war”

Question 11

What does the adjective “grey” say about the battlefield?

Answer 11

No colour - the soldiers lives are dull, empty and meaningless.

The battlefield is cold and lifeless.

Grey was the colour of the German army uniform. Nature is aligned with enemy.

Question 12

Why was WW1 (the war Owen fought it) criticised?

Answer 12

Because of the huge casualties and loss of life for very little gain.

e.g. Battle of the Somme - 60,000 casualties on the first day of the battle

Question 13

“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces” is an example of which two devices?

A) Sibilance & onomatopoeia
B) Personification & alliteration
C) Personification & sibilance
D) Metaphor & asyndeton

Answer 13

B ) Personification & alliteration

Question 14

In the fifth stanza, “snow-dazed” and “sun-dozed” is an example of a half-rhyme.

True or false?

Answer 14

True

Question 15

“We watch them wandering up and down the wind’s nonchalance” is an example of what kind of imagery

A) Auditory
B) Gustatory
C) Visual
D) Olfactory

Answer 15

C) Visual

Question 16

What is the main theme in the poem? Give quotations

Answer 16

The battle against nature is a very common theme throughout the poem, along with exposing the war conditions.

e.g. “Men among its brambles”
“Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”
“Shrivelling many hands”

Question 17

Give some examples of rhetorical questions in the poem? What effect do they have?

Answer 17

The rhetorical questions that Owen uses are always answered by the following question. Suggests the soldiers used to talk to themselves because they were so isolated from the outside world.

e.g. “What are we doing here”
This question is answered by:
“Is it that we are dying?”

Question 18

“Our” in the quotation “our brains ache” implies what?

Answer 18

That all of the soldiers suffered due to the conditions of the trenches.

Question 19

Name 3 adjectives that link to PTSD

Answer 19

“Worried […] curious, nervous”

Stanza 1, line 5

Question 20

Complete the quotation:

“Slowly our ______ drag home”

Answer 20

“Slowly, our ghosts drag home”

Question 21

“For the love of God seems dying”

What does this suggest about the soldiers relationship with God?

Answer 21

It potentially suggests that God is losing affection for the soldiers because of the number of fatalities they have caused, and therefore the love of God is dying.

Question 22

The first half line in the poem is “but nothing happens”, and so is the last line in the poem.

What affect does this have on the readers view on Owen’s experiences?

Answer 22

The repetition of the half line “but nothing happens” shows a huge anti-climax in the poem. This amplifies their boredom, and shows the lack of significance they have in the war.

Question 23

“The burying-party, picks and shovels” suggest what about the soldiers fates?

Answer 23

That they will die, and so many soldiers have perished in the war that many people will need to help bury them.

Question 24

Who was Wilfred Owen?

Answer 24

He was a solider and officer in WWI

He died days before the end of the war

He wrote poems about the trench conditions, and literally “exposed” the realities of living in the middle of warfare