Exposure

Question 1

Our brains ache

Answer 1

Symbolises the physical and mental suffering caused by the psychological impacts of warfare

Question 2

knive us…

Answer 2

Violent personification of the weather shows contempt for the conditions the soldiers are in, painting a bleak atmosphere for the soldiers which contrasts the patriotic poems released about war at the time

Highlights the power of nature by making it out to be a military threat and emphasises the vulnerability of the soldiers

Question 3

Worried by silence… flares confuse our memories of the salient…

Answer 3

Symbolises the physical and mental suffering caused by the psychological impacts of warfare

Sibilance and ellipsis symbolises silence

Question 4

whisper, curious, nervous

Answer 4

Sibilance and tripartite structure and asyndetic listing
Symbolising the stress of war with a rushed, panicked pace

Question 5

But nothing happens.

Answer 5

Repetition of phrase emphasises hopelessness and monotony
Reflects bleak atmosphere
Contrasts violence of war with an anti-climatic end to each stanza, highlighting the futility of war

Question 6

twitching agonies

Answer 6

Allusion to death of soldiers, making readers uncomfortable

Shows how soldiers are distanced, disassociated, desensitised, normalised

Question 7

What are we doing here?

Answer 7

Questions the motivations to fight, emphasises futility of war

Question 8

Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence

Answer 8

Sibilance and fricatives parallel the sound of bullets moving through the air

Question 9

air that shudders black with snow

wind’s nonchalance

Answer 9

Juxtaposes the normally nurturing portrayal of nature to malicious, murderous, death-like connotations highlighting that the weather is more likely to kill them than the war

Question 10

Is it that we are dying?

Answer 10

Derealisation
Detachment
Loss of identity

Question 11

crusted dark-red jewels

Answer 11

Opulence of blood is an unnatural description compared to usual disgust at the sight

Disturbing
Detachment

Question 12

not otherwise can kind fires burn

Answer 12

Resignation and normalisation of their suffering

Question 13

therefore were born,

Answer 13

Comments on the moral duty of the soldiers to protect those at home, reminiscent of family and religious duty

Question 14

For love of God seems dying

Answer 14

Parallels Jesus dying to save humanity, portraying those who die as martyrs, however simultaneously challenging whether they needed to die as it’s difficult for the persona to reconcile the love of a benevolent God with the reality of the conflict killing so many.

Question 15

His frost

Answer 15

God’s plan

Question 16

All their eyes are ice

Answer 16

Desensitised and dehumanises their dead
Continues with the semantic field of weather being the killer over war

Question 17

We turn back to our dying.

Answer 17

End stopped line and declarative highlights how they’re resigned to their fate