O What is That Sound Flashcards
Body 1: what is highlighted?
representation of societal decay of the individual and political oppression
Body 1: what style incorporates male and female perspectives ?
antiphonal style
Body 1: what does the antiphonal style provide?
provides insight in the patriarchal societies in the 20th century
Body 1: repetition of single syllable?
“O” in each stanza
Body 1: what does the “O” stress?
the fear and desperation of the unknown
Body 1: what is the effect of “O” reminscent of?
of the marching soldiers providing the poem with a constant omnipresent rhythm
Body 1: what does the male narrator’s reply to “O what is that sound…” use?
sibilance for a whispering, calming effect, “Only the scarlet soldiers, dear”.
Body 1: why is reassurance of what the sound is trivialising and questionable?
as the audience and inherently both narrators knows that the soldiers approach is not peaceful.
Body 1: what may the “scarlet” Connote?
the redcoats of English soldiers or the blood and fragility of human bond in the face of danger
Body 1: what does the poem represent?
he constant threat of militarism during the 20th century as well a representation of people amongst the maneuvering of heavy political mistrust
Body 1: what does such representation allow the audience to discover?
discover the importance of these issues
Body 2: what does it explore?
the dark fear of society faced by war, destruction and oppression which represents the portrayal of people and politics in poetry of W.H. Auden
Body 2: ambiguous religious allusion?
“Why are you kneeling?”
Body 2: what does The ambiguous religious allusion reinforce?
the anxieties and fear of the coming soldiers, but also the realization that the soldiers are coming for them, for their possible political dissent
Body 2: referencing of specific societal roles such as ?
“parson”, “doctor” and “farmer”
Body 2: what does referencing of specific societal roles convey?
the desperation of finding hope that the soldiers are not after them.
also parallels to the persecution of intellectuals by tyrannical dictators such as Hitler and Stalin in order to remove any opposition to their regimes
Body 2: how is betrayal of male seen?
repetition of “deceiving, deceiving?”
Body 2: what does betrayal act as?
acts a major turning point highlighting the power and influence of the state over individual lives
Body 2: short, truncated metaphor?
“their eyes are burning”
Body 2: what does “their eyes are burning” end the poem with?
ambiguity of the fate of both narrators.
Body 2: the poem reveals?
the modern horrors and bureaucracy and totalitarianism which ultimately leads to individuals being sacrificed for the state.
