LIT2 - Poetry - Exposure

Question 1

Who wrote Exposure? Give some context about the poem:

Answer 1

-Wilfred Owen
-a soldier who describes a period of stasis in the trenches during WW1, rather than celebrating heroism (idea of exposing the reality of war, hence the name)
-loss of religious faith due to the controversial ethical questioning during the war

The name could also mean how the soldiers were exposed to the elements

Question 2

Give 5 quotes for the poem Exposure:

Answer 2

-Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…
-What are we doing here?
-Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army, attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey
-Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence. Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow
-For love of God seems dying

Question 3

Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…

Answer 3

-present tense used gives a sense of immediacy
-long lines used to draw out the agony
-sibilance and personification emphasises the wind’s power

Question 4

What are we doing here?

Answer 4

-rhetorical question shows the realisation of how war is futile
-anti-climactic refrain gives the feeling of unease and incompleteness, which reflects how the soldiers felt when they knew something could happen at any time

Question 5

Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army, Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey

Answer 5

-personified weather and lexical field of war used to address it as a larger threat than the enemy
-“shivering” is onomatopoeic, conveying the sounds of the soldiers suffering in the harsh conditions

Question 6

Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence. Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow

Answer 6

-sibilant, onomatopoeic words reflect the sounds of the bullets/wind, and the sinister power of nature
-contrast is created between the instantaneous death by bullets, and the slow and tedious death by the weather, further highlighting nature’s torturous power
-suggests that war corrupts the purity of white snow

Question 7

For love of God seems dying

Answer 7

-lost faith in God as he is allowing them to die
-shows the overwhelming power of nature, as it collapses man’s faith when it is needed most
-repetition of “dying” is nonchalant (“we turn back to our dying”), and seems inevitable

Question 8

Describe the structure in the poem Exposure:

Answer 8

-tight regular structure (strong opening sentence, vivid descriptions to heighten tension, then anticlimax) to reflect the tight control of the soldiers during war
-repetitive structure and rhyme scheme (ABBAC) reflects the endless cycle of war, emphasising its futility
-imperfect rhymes (“knive us…nervous”) give an uneasy feeling of incompleteness