Exposure

Question 1

context:
1) Author
2) role in war
3) views
4) context of 1917
5) death
religion

Answer 1

1) Wilfred Owen
2) Soldier
3) Against war and wanted to oppose the government censorship of the reality of war
4) Harsh winters (hypothermia and frostbite) and stalemate of soldiers waiting in trenches
5) Died on the front line
he was religious yet questioned god in poem

Question 2

summary of poem

Answer 2

soldiers afraid of enemy attack but ‘nothing happens’ and nature and weather is portrayed as their real enemy. they believe that sacrificing themselves is the way to keep everyone safe. monotonous.

Question 3

tense and person- effect

Answer 3

present tense, first person plural (our, we us)- collectivises suffering of soldiers protraying the reality and effetcs of conflict as widespread and harsh

Question 4

rhyme scheme and type of rhyme

Answer 4

ABABC scheme- regular monotonous nature
Jagged half rhymes- confusion of soldiers and harshness- slows poem down- like war

Question 5

stanzas:
1. how many
2. endings of each stanza
3. ending of stanza 1 and last stanza

Answer 5

8 stanzas that show no progression as end of first stanza is ‘But nothing happens’ and end of last stanza is the same- cyclical structure

each stanza ends with a half line- showing lack of hope in the soldiers

Question 6

‘Our —— a—, in the m———- i—- e— winds that —– us’

Answer 6

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

assonance (long I sound)- drawn out sound mirroring the drawn out approach of war. unecceassary
challenges stereotypes of war
nature personified to attck them- ironic- real enemy
shared experience

Question 7

‘What are – doing —- ?’

Answer 7

What are we doing here?
rhetorical question attacking the need for war, alternatively could indicate the monotonous nature of war as the soldiers can’t keep occupied.

Question 8

‘D— ma—— in the —- her m——— army a—— once more in r—- on sh—— r—- of g—’

Answer 8

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

personifies dawn- dawn usually brings hope but here it is the enemy as they are faced with aother brutal day on the other hand, dawn mimics the mood of the soldiers.
no colour- devoid of life but alt grey was colour of germany - enermy- and also nature- nature is another enemy

Question 9

’s—— s——— flights of b——– st—- the
s——–’

Answer 9

Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence
sibilance mimics bullets whistling through air
irons that melancholic nature ended with the tragedy of bullets

Question 10

‘b—– with s—-‘

Answer 10

black with snow
pure white snow is corrupted by the black images of death indicating that nature is changing due to the evil of war. also shows how the destructive nature of war has physically caused nature to change and become impure.
perhaps the war has corrupted nature causing it to attack the soliders responsible.

Question 11

‘for the l— of G– seems d——’

Answer 11

for the love of God seems dying
God has less pity on them- heading towards an inevitable death
alt: showing men are loosing morals of life (religion at the time) due to the war- insanity.

Question 12

‘pause over —- - known f—-. All their e— are — , but n——– happens’

Answer 12

Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice, but nothing happens

explicity shows that they may show some remorse- metaphor that eyes of dead and living are the same- vivid description of overpowering nature and they cant feel any emotion

they don’t know who died, widespread death but also highlights disunity in war- not like the patriotic ideals that are shown

nothing happens= death doesnt change anything- doesnt stop war. ALT = cyclical nature monotonus

Question 13

reality of war

Answer 13

1. full of suffering- collectivises through narrator
2. monotonous- but nothing happens in stanza 1 and 8- shows a cyclical pattern + regular rhyme scheme
3. soldiers are hopeless- for the love of god seems dying
4. causing physical pain- our brains ache- first lin e
5. violent- sudden successive flights of bullets streak the air
6. pointless- what are we doing here
7. painful- uses bleak imagery of faces freezing

Question 14

effects of conflict

Answer 14

1. ironic that war has no effect- nothing happens
2. causes widespread tragedy- ‘shrivelling many hands, plucking foreheads crisp’ narrator

Question 15

power of nature

Answer 15

1. more powerful than humans- all their eyes are ice- overcomes them
2. destructive- iced east winds knive us
3. real enemy- dawn personified- grey like germany
4. war more powerful than nature- turns snow black- corrupts it with death

Question 16

loss and absence

Answer 16

1. loss of religion- love of God seems dying + morals
2. loss of hope- why are we here + cyclical structure
3. devoid of life- all eyes are ice- those who are alive seem dead
4. loss of identity- collective narrator shows everyone has same experience and no one can be who they want to be