Exposure Flashcards
“East winds that knive us “
Established from the start that nature is the enemy .Nature personified.Sibilance creates a sinister tone
“Wearied we “
Alliteration makes the phrase difficult to say, alluding to the difficulties of the soldiers lives
Worried by silence, sentries whisper , curious , nervous
Asyndetic listing creates a rushed panicked tone contrats with the powm
The rich imagery throughout the first stanza leads to an
Anti xlimax.Mirrors how soldiers have to stay alert yet nothing happens.Hghlights the futility of war.
“What are we doing here “
Rheotorical question implies thst the soeaker is questioning his motivation to fight
“Like a dull rumour of some other war “
Auditory imagery.Battle is further presented to be insignificant.Highlights the amount of time they have been there
“Snow dazed “ to “sun dosed”
Passage of time shows how long they have been in the trenches.
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence “
Sibilance positions nature as the enemy.The sibilance consanant mirrors the sound of bullets cutting through the air shows reader that the snow is the real enemy as snowflakes slice through the air like bullets.
Cyclical structure
The last line of the first and last stanza ia “but nothing happens “.Connects the front snd end of the poem to smpjasise that nothing ha happened in that time
Use of ellipses
Emphasise the waiting and boredom of the soldiers.
Owen’s use of ellipses slows the pace of the poem to force the reader to experience the same frustration as the soldiers due to their suffering being stretched out with time.
