Exposure Flashcards
what is the context for exposure ?
- disillusioned as his role as a soldier
- pursued a career in the church however, he felt it was hypocritical as it failed his duty to care for its dependents
- inspired by Siegfried, mentor to Owen as he suffered shell shock
- work expresses true horror of war rather than internalizing it
- 1st person narrative from someone who experienced it first hand, showed reality
what is the opening for exposure and how is it used for effect ?
- ‘our brains ache in merciless winds’
- ‘brain’ - focuses on psychological impact of war
- referring to the physical brain, cold causing physical suffering
- referring to the mind & the psychological pain inflicted being forced to bear witness to horrors like ‘half-known faces’ dying
how is rhymes scheme in exposure used for effect ?
- consistency of rhyme scheme allows 5th line to stand out, emphasis message
- consistency of rhymes scheme also shows the monotony of war as does the regular stanzas
- Owen builds rich image and 5th stanza creates an anti climax, mirrors way soldiers must stay constantly alert, yet nothing happens
how are pararhymes used for effect in exposure (Quotes) ?
- Owen creates underlying atmosphere of unease through the pararhyme ‘winds that knife us’ & ‘curious, nervous’
- rhyming only with consonants, reader left unsatisfied with mirrors the soldiers feeling at unease
- reader anticipates rhyme just as soldiers anticipate battle
- unconventional rhyming - impression poem is hardly kept together just like soldiers
what is the quote that creates a cyclical structure in exposure & how was it used for effect ? - reality of war
‘but nothing happens’
- connects beginning and end of poem
- shows that nothing had happened in that time
how is caesura in the quote ‘slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires’ used for effect in exposure ? - reality of war
- separates home from trenches
- depicts the soldiers thinking about their homes
- yet there is a barrier between the two places and must stay in war
how is ellipses used for effect in exposure ? - reality of war
- The first three lines end with ellipses (“east winds that knive us … “, “the night is silent … “, “our memory of the salient … “ to emphasize the waiting and boredom of the soldiers.
- Owen’s use of ellipsis 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.
what quote refers to religion in exposure and how is it used for effect ?
- Owen presents the soldiers to be carrying out their moral duty to protect the innocent people at home, ‘for love of God seems dying”.
- Owen uses a contemporary listener’s association of Christianity with morality to show the soldiers’ selflessness. - This can be tied to the idea of Jesus suffering and dying to save humanity.
- A similar sense of acceptance of death is shown in “we turn back to our dying,’ their faith is dying
- links to Owens ties to the church
what phrase has sibilance in exposure and how is it used for effect ? - effects of nature in war
- ‘sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence’
- positions nature as the enemy
- sibilant consonants- reflect the sound of bullets, just as bullets slice through air so does snow, it threatens the soldiers safety
- nature breaks the silence
- the battle the soldiers waited for was not humans but nature
- sinister atmosphere
‘dawn massing in the east her melancholy army’ - exposure - personification of nature
- juxtaposes the nurturing role traditionally associated with a female nature figure with the aggressive connotations of an army.
- Owen minimises the significance of the actual fighting occurring.
- He makes a direct comparison by describing the actual battle as “less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow” which, through the deathlike connotations of the colour black, ironically suggests that the soldiers have gone away to fight with nature instead of the
opposition. - ongoing battle is further presented to be insignificant through Owen’s use of auditory imagery in “gunnery rumbles” and “like a dull rumour of some other war”.
what quote in exposure reflects how soldiers are forgotten ? -reality of war
‘On us the doors are closed’
- those at home in saftey carry on in their life as though life is normal, whilst soldiers are dying for their safety
what quote in exposure reflects soldiers as dispensable ? - reality of war
‘this frost will fasten on this mud and us’
- soldiers reflected as dispensable by making them indistinguishable from mud
