Exposure

Question 1

Name of the poet -exposure

Answer 1

Wildred own

Question 2

How does the first line of the poem convey the power of nature in exposure

Answer 2

‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us’- nature is seen as ‘merciless’

Assonance of i ‘in the merciless iced east winds’ slows down the lines mimicing the conditions

Nature is seen to be punishing man and nature is attacking the men in a war

Sibilance of ‘merciless iced east winds’ mimics the wind

Question 3

What do the length of the lines representing -exposure

Answer 3

12-13 syllables signifying the length of time the men are experiencing in the harsh conditions

Question 4

What is Owen suggetsing in the third line -exposure

Answer 4

‘Wearied we’ alliteration slows down our speech conveying how long it takes for them to wait

‘Keep awake because the night is silent’ juxtapositon of natural human behaviour. Normslly people sleep becausenit is silent

Question 5

What is shown by the asyndetic listing -exposure

Answer 5

• lack of pause between the descriptors increases the pace of the line, mimicking the heightened heartbeat and racing thoughts of the soldiers

Question 6

Why did Owen create poems like Exposure -exposure

Answer 6

To dispel ‘the old lie’ by exposing the horrific reality of war

Question 7

What is conveyed in line 13 stanza 3 -exposure

Answer 7

Personification of weather ‘massing’ in the East implies that even the forces of natyre are arryed against the soliders

“melancholy army” can be seen as a metaphor for the cold, harsh weather the soldiers must endure, emphasising their relentless suffering.

Question 8

What is conveyed line 14 stanza 3 -exposure

Answer 8

Repetition of ‘ranks’ and assonance of a ‘attacks once more in ranks’ shows the attack from nature is endless

Pathetic fallacy of clouds ‘shivering’ conveying the cold soldiers

Question 9

How is nature presented in stanza 5 -exposure

Answer 9

Soldiers escape in their minds: ‘blossoms’ are snow flakes, ‘black bird fusses’ is the wind

‘We drowse, sun dozed’ people feel sleepy when warm however the soldiers are in harsh conditions. This could show how Owen feels like he is going to die/faint.

Question 10

Rhyme scheme of the poem -exposure

Answer 10

Regular rhyme scheme (ABBAC)

Question 11

What does the rhetorical question of stanza 2 show -exposure

Answer 11

‘What are we doing here?’ implies the speaker is questioning his motivation to fight even in the harsh conditions (power of nature)

Question 12

What does the start of stanza 4 create an image of -exposure

Answer 12

‘Sudden successive flight’ creates a horrific image due to the use of sibilance and fricatives which can be interpretted as violent, harsh noises.

Question 13

How is nature further personified to be evil in stanza 5 -exposure

Answer 13

‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’ snow is seen to be personified

Question 14

What does the end of stanza 7 show -exposure

Answer 14

‘For love of God seems dying’ implies the lack fo religious imposed morslity remaining in the situation which shows the cruelty of nature

Question 15

What does the end of stanza 6 show -exposure

Answer 15

‘We turn our back to the dying’ passive statement show sthe soldiers disillusionment with their cause shown by their inability to help those in need shoeing the severity of nsture.

Question 16

What does the reference of ‘brains’ in the second word show -exposure

Answer 16

Pyschlogicsal impact war has on the soldiers

Question 17

How is the monotomy of the war shown -exposure

Answer 17

It is shown by the consistent rhyme scheme and regular stanzas

Question 18

How is the reality of the soldiers conveyed by the imagery -exposure

Answer 18

Rich imagery throughout the stanza and then the fifth line creates an anti-climax. Mimics how soldiers stay alert highlighting futility of war

Question 19

How are pararhymes used in the poem -exposure

Answer 19

Owen create an undelying atmosphere of unease ‘winds that knife us’ and ‘curious, nervous’ consonants only rhymed sense of unsatisfaction of the reader to mirror unease felt by the soldier

Question 20

What does the cyclical structure of the poem demonstrate -exposure

Answer 20

‘But nothing happens’ last line of first and kast stanza emphasise the fact that nothing has happened over the time

Question 21

How is anaphora used -exposure

Answer 21

‘But nothing happens’ highlights futility of war leadinng us to question ‘what are we doing here?’

Leading us to reject war

Question 22

How is caesura used in the poem -exposure

Answer 22

‘Slowly our ghost drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires’ depicts the soldiers to be imagining the warmth of their homes. Barrier between the areas since they must stay in the cold

Question 23

How is ellipses sued in the poem -exposure

Answer 23

‘East winds that knive is..’

‘The night is silent…’

‘Our memory of salient…’

Emphasises the waiting of boredom of soldiers. Slowers reader down to force them to experience the same pain,frustration and anticipation

Question 24

‘Less deadlybthan the air that shudders blacl with snow’ what does this quote suggest -exposure

Answer 24

Death kink connotations of black suggest the soldiers are fightigng nature then the opposition. The ongoing battle is shown through the auditory imagery of ‘gunnery rumbles’

Question 25

How are the soldiers presented to be forgotten -exposure

Answer 25

Metaphor of ‘on us doors are closed’ implies that those at home forget about the soldiers.

‘This frost will fasten on this mud and us ‘soldiers viewed as dispensable (indistinguishable from mud)

Question 26

How is the soldiers seen to be suffering -exposure

Answer 26

‘Mad gust tugging on the wire like twitching agonies’ negative personification of wind

Question 27

Similarities with COTLB and Exposure

Answer 27

Tennyson is critical of military leader deciisons by bluntly declaring ‘someone had blundered’ and ‘honour the Light the Brigade’ then the leaders. Owen is similar as he says the soldiers ste ‘worried by silence’ showing their authority is gone

Both repeat phrases. Tennyson repeats ‘six hundred’ to emphasise loss of lives whilst Owen repeats ‘nothing happens’ to show that they are forced to wait

Question 28

Similarities with BC and Exposure

Answer 28

Both poets depict how soldiers viewed the war to be different then they had.The rhetorical question ‘what are we doing here?’ (Owen) and in BC it is heon by ‘a rifle numb as a smahed arm’

Pyschlogical elements of fighting is addressed in BC this is shown by ‘was he the hand pointing that second?’ questioning the motivation and in Exposure ‘we turn back to our dying’ and ‘but nothing happens’ shows pointlessness of war

Question 29

Differnces in BC and Exposure

Answer 29

In exposure the soldier seems relatively prepared to fight shown through the repetition ‘nothign happens’. Contrastingly, the soliderw in Bayonet charge ‘alomst stopped’ showing his extreme reluctance.

Question 30

Differences COTLB and Exposure

Answer 30

Tennyson glorifies warafre as he was a poet laueate shown through ‘ glory’ , ‘honour’ and ‘noble’. Owen did not have these restrictions and was able to focus on the brutsl nature of warfare.

Tennyson is critical of rash action in the poem shown through the brashed verb ‘plunged’ whereas Own dislikes waiting in the tenches

COTLB is fast paced shown through the use of dactylic dimeter. However, Exposure may seem slow paced through the use of its cyclical structure