War Poetry Flashcards

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1
Q

Which famous poet wrote ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade?’

A

Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate.

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2
Q

What are the key ideas for ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’?

A

The poet is describing a battle he read about in a newspaper. Alfred Lord Tennyson was never a soldier.

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3
Q

Name some methods used in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.

A

Rhythm (of charging horses)
Extensive repetition
Anaphora

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4
Q

Quote some quotations from ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.

A

‘Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward’ which uses repetition
‘Not though the soldier knew / Someone had blundered’
‘When can their glory fade?’

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5
Q

Which famous poet wrote ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’?

A

Wilfred Owen.

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6
Q

What are the key ideas for ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’?

A

It directly addresses jingoistic poetry (e.g. Jessie Pope) through a visceral description of a gas attack.

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7
Q

Name some methods used in ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’.

A

Caesura
Range of punctuation
Narrative structure

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8
Q

Quote some quotations from ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’.

A

‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ which uses simile.
‘Gas! GAS! Quick[ly], boys! / An ecstasy of fumbling’ which uses a range of punctuation.
‘The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est’ which uses a Latin quotation.

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9
Q

Which famous poet wrote ‘Base Details’?

A

Siegfried Sassoon.

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10
Q

What are the key ideas for ‘Base Details’?

A

It is a polemical against war — specifically, it criticises the Majors’ careless, cruel and heartless attitude to war.

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11
Q

Name some methods used in ‘Base Details’.

A

Alliteration

First person narrator

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12
Q

Quote some quotations from ‘Base Details’.

A

‘Puffy petulant face / Guzzling and gulping’ which uses alliteration.
‘And when the war is done and youth stone dead / I’d toddle safely home and die — in bed’ which is a rhyming couplet.

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13
Q

Which famous poet wrote ‘The Send Off’?

A

Wilfred Owen.

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14
Q

What are the key ideas in ‘The Send Off’?

A

A description of the soldiers leaving to go to the front line.

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15
Q

Name some methods used in ‘The Send Off’.

A

Assonance
Personification
Symbolism

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16
Q

Quote some quotations from ‘The Send Off’.

A

‘Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp / Winked to the guard’ which uses personification.
‘Down the close, darkening lanes their sang’ which uses assonance.
‘Their breasts were struck all white with wreath and spray / As men’s are, dead.’ which uses symbolism.

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17
Q

Which famous poet wrote ‘The Soldier’?

A

Rupert Brooke.

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18
Q

What are the key ideas in ‘The Soldier’?

A

The poem is a sonnet wherein the soldier speaker patriotically celebrates his home.

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19
Q

Name some methods used in ‘The Soldier’.

A

Personification
First Person Narrator
Assonance

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20
Q

Quote some quotations from ‘The Soldier’.

A

‘That there’s some corner of a foreign field / That is forever England.’
‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.’
‘In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.’ which uses hyperbole.

21
Q

What is the definition of ‘anaphora’?

A

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

22
Q

What is the definition of ‘bleak’?

A

Offering little hope or excitement, dismal.

23
Q

What is the definition of ‘caesura’?

A

A rhythmical pause in a poetic line or sentence.

24
Q

What is the definition of ‘conscription’?

A

Compulsory sign-up to the national service.

25
Q

What is the definition of ‘contemptuous’?

A

Expressing deep hatred or disapproval.

26
Q

What is the definition of ‘enjambment’?

A

Moving over from one line to another without a terminating punctuation mark.

[NB: ‘terminating punctuation mark’ does not just refer to ‘.’, ‘!’ and ‘?’ in this context — it simply means a punctuation mark at the end of a line.]

27
Q

What is the definition of ‘first person narrator’?

A

A piece of literature written in which a narrator relays events from their own point of view using the first person, i.e. ‘I’.

28
Q

What is the definition of ‘jingoism’?

A

Extreme patriotism.

29
Q

What is the definition of ‘melancholy’?

A

To be overcome with sorrow and sadness.

30
Q

What is the definition of ‘narrative’?

A

A spoken or written account of connected events.

31
Q

What is the definition of ‘nostalgic’?

A

Remembering the past in a positive light.

32
Q

What is the definition of ‘patriotic’?

A

Expressing devotion to one’s country.

33
Q

What is the definition of ‘polemic’?

A

A statement that heavily criticises or defends an idea.

34
Q

What is the definition of ‘refrain’?

A

A line, or group of lines, that appears at the end (esp. of a stanza) to add impact.

35
Q

What is the definition of ‘repetition’?

A

Deliberate use of the same words or phrases a few times in close succession in order to make an idea clearer and more memorable.

36
Q

What is the definition of ‘sibilance’?

A

A more specific kind of alliteration in which a hissing ‘s’ sound is created as a result of using repeated soft consonants.

37
Q

What is the definition of ‘sonnet’?

A

A poetic form with fourteen lines.

38
Q

When was Alfred Lord Tennyson born? when did he die?

A
  1. 1892.
39
Q

Who was Alfred Lord Tennyson?

A

He was a British Victorian poet. Poet Laureate from 1850 until 1892.

40
Q

Why was Alfred Lord Tennyson significant in the study of war poetry?

A

He wrote about the Battle of Balaclava (Crimean War) in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ despite never actually having gone to war himself.

41
Q

When was Wilfred Owen born? when did he die?

A
  1. 4th November 1918 — 7 days before the end.
42
Q

Who was Wilfred Owen?

A

A WWI soldier who was killed in France a week before the end of the fighting.

43
Q

Why was Wilfred Owen significant in the study of war poetry?

A

He was a leading WWI poet who highlighted the brutality of war in his poems.

44
Q

When was Siegfried Sassoon born? when did he die?

A
  1. 1967.
45
Q

Who was Siegfried Sassoon?

A

An English poet, soldier and writer. He was decorated for his bravery on the Western Front.

46
Q

Why was Siegfried Sassoon important in the study of war poetry?

A

He was a leading WWI poet who viewed that war was unnecessarily prolonged by the government.

47
Q

When was Rupert Brooke born? when did he die?

A
  1. 1915.
48
Q

Who was Rupert Brooke?

A

He was an English soldier and poet who died serving in WWI.

49
Q

Why was Rupert Brooke significant to the study of war poetry?

A

He was an idealist; his war sonnets swiftly became a focus for patriotism and glory of war.