exposure

Question 1

message

Answer 1

Exposes harsh and dehumanizing reality of trench warfare and how it is futile. Shows power of nature and how its effects rival that of actual conflict.

Question 2

context

Answer 2

owen was a soldier who died in battle. Originally had career in the church but left.

Question 3

structure

Answer 3

each stanza follows same strucutre and cyclical
Blunt powerful first line “our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us” followed by highly emotive language “wearied” “confuse” “worried” “curious” “nervous”. Then ends with anti climax “but nothing happens” ends as it began “nothing happens” emphasising that the war is futile

Question 4

rhyme scheme

Answer 4

ABBAC

First four lines establish a rhyme pattern only for it to be broken in the last line reflects the building momentum and anticipation of battle which is never realised. Rhyme scheme stays this way throughout whole poem reflecting repetitive and futile situation the soldiers are in.

Question 5

pararhyme

Answer 5

2 end of line words contain same consonance but not vowels “knive us… nervous”

Creates sense of being nervously on edge. Denied the satisfaction of full rhyme and are declined the perfection and closure it would give.

Question 6

personification

Answer 6

“knive us” “dawn massing in the east her melancholy army” “air that shudders” “pale flakes with fingering stealth”

Personification gives sinsiter atmosphere and shows how nature can be a greater threat than the enemy and highlights the soldiers helplessness in the face of a brutal environment.