Exposure + Storm on the Island Flashcards
(15 cards)
Point 1
Both poems present nature as an enemy
Point 2
Both poems present human conflict
Point 3
Both poems portray conflict as causing large amounts of suffering -> criticising conflict
Exposure evidence 1
“merciless iced east winds that knive us”
Sibilance
“bullets…less deadly that the air that shudders black with snow”
“flakes that flock, pause, and renew”
Exposure evidence 2
“wire” “gunnery” “shovel”
“we only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy”
“attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”
Exposure evidence 3
“…”
“twitching agonies of the men among its brambles”
Monotonous tone + regular structure
“with crusted dark-red jewels; crickets jingle there”
“shrivelling many hands”
“all their eyes are ice”
“But nothing happens”
SOTI evidence 1
“it blows full blast”
“exploding comfortably”
“the flung spray hits the very windows, spits like a tame cat // Turned savage”
“the wind dives and strafes”
SOTI evidence 2
“exploding comfortably”
Title -> Storm on the Island
“you can listen to the thing you fear”
Form -> blank verse
SOTI evidence 3
“tragic chorus in a gale”
“no trees, no natural shelter”
“we are bombarded by the empty air”
Exposure analysis 1
The winds are personified, presenting the weather as an enemy. The word ‘knive’ conjures an aggressive image and portrays the wind as relentless and dangerous. The sibilance in ‘merciless iced’ (and throughout the poem) exaggerates the harshness, and is almost onomatopoeic as it sounds like the wind.
The bullets are said to be “less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”. The colour ‘black’ has connotations of danger, which portrays the snow, and nature as a whole as being more dangerous than the human army.
The tricolon “flock, pause, and renew” used to describe the snowflakes seem like the actions of an army, especially with the commas that create pauses between the words, emphasising the command-like actions.
Exposure analysis 2
Man-made objects/weapons -> conflict is happening
The sarcastic comment reflects the speaker’s negative attitude towards the conflict, as they present war as long-lasting, when this war was expected to be quick. (connects the human enemy and nature together, presenting the conflict as more intense, as there is more than one enemy.) There is a sense of melancholy with the description of the “clouds sag stormy” as the word ‘sag’ has connotations of sadness and fatigue.
The repetition of ‘ranks’ suggests that war feels never-ending to the speaker. The use of metonymy to describe the German army _______.
Exposure analysis 3
The use of ellipses exaggerated the pain and long-lastingness of war. The regular structure, and the repetition of “But nothing happens” creates a monotonous tone, that reflects the effect on soldier’s emotions, as the suffering causes them to lose hope.
The gruesome imagery of “twitching agonies of men among its brambles” uses pathos to present conflict negatively to the listener.
The word “jingle” suggest the war propaganda, as a jingle has a war slogan during the WW1 to keep moral high. Although the ‘jewels’ could be the fire embers, they could also reference the crown jewels, and symbolising the patriotism in war. However, the description of the jewels as “crusted dark-red” has connotations of blood, and suggests a negative attitude towards this patriotism.
The war ages people physically -> “shrivelling many hands”
The conflict dehumanises people and makes soldiers numb. The metaphor of eyes as ice suggests the soldiers have no emotions, as the war has had such a horrible effect. Alternatively, there is an image of frozen bodies, the dead soldiers. With either interpretation, the poet criticises conflict with the final line -“But nothing happens” which finishes on a nihilistic tone that presents conflict as unnecessary and having terrible consequences for no purpose.
SOTI analysis 1
Plosive sounds emphasise the destructive effect of the wind.
The sea is described as “exploding comfortably”. “exploding” indicates the sea is dangerous, but comfortably makes this oxymoronic, perhaps suggesting a conflict within nature as well???
The internal rhyme of “hits” and “spits” emphasises those words, and the attack from the weather. The enjambment in the simile “like a tame cat//Turned savage” highlights the unpredictability of the storm, as the image of a comforting ‘tame cat’ quicky turns into a dangerous ‘savage’ one.
The metaphor that the wind “dives and strafes” likens it to an attacking aircraft, indicating that the storm, and nature itself, is an enemy.
Lack of rhyme scheme -> chaos?
SOTI analysis 2
The title could be significant. The first 8 letters, spell out ‘Stormont’, which is an official government building in Belfast. Perhaps, this suggests the storm is actually an extended metaphor for the Irish Troubles.
The oxymoron “exploding comfortably” could indicate the long-lastingness of the Troubles, as they have gone on for so long that the people have become almost comfortable with it. Similarly, the conversational tone in “you know what I mean” makes the storm seem like everyday life and normalises the experience.
In “you can listen to the thing you fear”, the repeated ‘you’ sounds accusative, which creates a sense that there is conflict on the island.
The form of the poem is blank verse, which is an old English rhythm associated with Shakespeare. The poet could be using this ironically to show the storm is representative of England as its attempt to force itself on Ireland.
SOTI analysis 3
“tragic chorus” -> chorus seems like many people. “tragic” is clearly suffering. Therefore large amount of suffering
Many negatives used throughout the poem such as in “no trees, no natural shelter” which shows the speaker’s feeling of isolation in this troubled time.
“bombarded” -> plosive sounds, attacked, seems relentless
“empty air” -> suggesting it is impossible to fight back. Also, one of the enemies is he isolation
The portrayal of the Troubles as long-lasting, relentless and causing suffering presents conflict negatively/negative attitude towards conflict
