POETRY
Mr Gareth
Wilfred
Owen: War
& Peace
ABOUT:
This booklet is designed to support you through the study of poetry for your English Lessons.
The work in this booklet can be used in a number of ways: a regular homework, revision aid,
class resource or even just a catch-up material if you have missed a poem.
One thing this booklet is not however, is a quick fix. The exercises and information are not
made so you can just skip through or answer a few questions and then move on. If you do not
genuinely engage with connotations & Global Issues work won’t bear results you want. If you do
not take the time to answer carefully using the appropriate parts of PEEAL, you will probably
find that you don’t practise for IA IO as effectively as you would like.
The keys to success in English are:
1- Read lots; it helps. There are studies into this; read not just study-sites but academic articles.
2- Start early, if you leave it all to the end you won’t give it time to settle in your mind. The
things you are probably best at are those you practise every day for years, English is the same.
3- Annotate hard: it is no use just being smart because if you expect to coast through on
your intelligence, you may be disappointed, and if not in your IA Individual Oral then your final
IB or Degree exams, trust me when I say it comes back to haunt you!
Best of luck but keep asking in the meantime…
The works included in this booklet have been heavily influenced by the work of other teachers and academics. The textual samples are from the
Power and Conflict Cluster from the AQA Anthology and the creator of this booklet claims no credit for any of the textual extracts.
CONTENTS:
0- INTRODUCTION
1– KEY TERMS
2– EXPOSURE ANNOTATED
3– THE SEND OFF TASKS
4– ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH TASKS
5– DULCE ET DECORUM EST TASKS
6– INSENSIBILITY TASKS
7– MINERS TASKS
8– THE SHOW TASKS
9– EXPOSURE TASKS
10– GLOBAL ISSUES, STRUCTURE & REVISION
INTRODUCTION
There is more than one way to skin a cat, this booklet can be
used to fit whatever you want, you can teach from or simply
make it an online revision or cover tool, whatever, here are some
ideas of how you can incorporate it into your lesson.
LOOKING
AT THE
POEMS:
Depending on the size of the poem and the lesson it would make sense that they can take more than one lesson to explore.
A good way to structure the work over those lessons are:
STARTERS: Initially mind maps or key images to explore what you already understand of context to do with the poem,
another helpful tool is to look at certain lines in isolation (either as a group or in pairs) to see what you think this shows
about the poem. Later lessons can involve quick recaps and pop quizzes to remind you of key quotes, themes or
technical features
DEVELOPMENT: It is advised before relying too heavily on this booklet to begin by looking at the poem and annotating.
Additional annotations can be worked through in groups or as a class together; groups could be given key terms to look
for or lines to explore to guide your learning.
It is recommended (ideally on the next page in their book/folder) to summarise context, themes and structure (as wedo in
the booklet), but you also access revision notes on sparknotes, litcharts etc then make notes in your own words.
REINFORCE: Call it a plenary if you will but to show something has sunk in evaluate/ summarise the poem producing
PEE paragraphs to support your findings. This could be through a given direction or simply asking “explore 3 ways
this poem shows power/conflict”.
LOOKING AT GLOBAL ISSUES
Towards the back of the booklet, poems can b linked by style or Global Issue to help build on your understanding as well
as compare and contrast.
STARTERS: Initially pick the 3 poems you would link here and why. Recapping poems is also useful and students can try
and talk for 30-60 seconds on a poem without stopping; whoever getting closest without repeating ideas wins.
DEVELOPMENT: It is advised to summarise how the poems (those given or which you decide) fit the Global Issues. It would
be useful to find 3/4 quotes for each poem based around those themes, allowing you to quickly revise key poems and ideas.
REINFORCE: Each issue/structural element has a sample task
where students are advised to treat it like an exam. You
should do a standard 4-6 paragraph essay with introduction and conclusion. At this point it is also useful to look at the exam
mark scheme and really apply knowledge to what you are being asked to perform orally.
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
If you are using AQA, your work will be assessed on these objectives, that means you should always aim to haave
work which shows them off. They all get marks but not all the same amount, so AO1 and AO2 will get you in the
region of 80% of your poetry marks.
AO1: Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to:
• maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response
• use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.
AO2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects,
using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
AO3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they
were written.
AO4: Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with
accurate spelling and punctuation
MARK SCHEME
A Sample of the mark scheme from IB for the Individual Oral highlights the following.
Level 7 (Top Level)
At the top of the level, a candidate’s response is likely to be a critical, exploratory, well-structured comparison. It takes a conceptualised approach to the full task supported by a range of judicious references. There will be a fine-grained and insightful analysis of language and form
and structure supported by judicious use of subject terminology. Convincing exploration of one or more ideas/perspectives/contextual factors/interpretations.
The levels contain similar criteria but the standard differs as they decrease.
Level 7 : Convincing, critical analysis and exploration
Level 6 : Thoughtful, developed consideration
Level 5 : Clear understanding of poem & Global Issue
Level 4 : Explained, Structured comments
Level 3 : Supported, relevant comments
Level 2 : Simple Explicit comment on
text(s) and Global Issue
In order for work to be level 6/7 analysis & commentary on the texts’ connection to the Global Issue chosen needs
to be convincing and thoughtful, meaning you need to LEARN and UNDERSTAND the poems connotations &
context. Anything less than a solid understanding will not help, and if you don't choose your text excerpts
carefully, you will make your job harder.Remember, English is about confidence & style as well as substance.
GLOSSARY OF DEVICES
Alliteration– Words beginning with same letter sounds to create a notably emphasis on words “dark dreary
dreams”
Assonance– Like alliteration, the sounds of assonance come from within the word rather than the start “Fearful
tears of misery” (emphasis on the e-a-s sounds)
Consonance– Consonant sounds at the end of words “wet set of regrets”
Cacophony– Harsh sounds in order to make a discordant sound. “dark knuckles wrapping across bricks” (often
Ks, Ts, Cks).
Onomatopoeia– Words which sound like the effect they describe “splash, slap, crack”
Repetition– Repeating words over a verse, stanza or poem to draw focus and add emphasis.
Rhyme– Words with similar ending sounds creating a music like effect or flow “theme/stream/dream”
Rhythm– Organisation of words to create a noticeable sound or pace, not necessarily musical but with a clear
‘beat’. Can include the structure of the work and is often measured in syllables.
Pattern Name Example
– / Iamb/Iambic
invite
/ – Trochee/Trochaic
deadline
– – / Anapest/Anapestic
to the beach
/ – – Dactyl/Dactylic
frequently
/ / Spondee/Spondaic
true blue
There are five basic rhythms and the amount of them [known as feet], can make different meters (pentameter is 5
of the pattern monometer would be just 1, triameter 3 etc)
MEANINGS AND LINGUISTIC DEVICES
Allegory– Something symbolic, an allegory can often be a story that represents larger things, like the tortoise
and the hare.
Allusion- Referring to something well known, nowadays that could be a celebrity but it could be anything that
fits the context of the poem (Shakespeare will make very old allusions we may not understand).
Ambiguity/Ambiguous– A word or idea meaning more than one thing to provoke thought.
Analogy– Compare something unfamiliar with something familiar to help people understand.
Cliché– Something which is used a great amount and becomes expected or even cheesy, “raining cats and dogs”.
Connotation/Connote– The associations with a word e.g. Rose—Love and Passion.
Contrast– Closely placed ideas which are opposites or very different. ‘He had cold eyes but a warm heart’
Denotation/Denote– The literal definition fo something without reading too deeply into it.
Euphemism– Where something distasteful is said in a more acceptable way ‘she is at peace’- she is dead
Hyperbole– An over the top exaggeration for effect.
Irony– Deliberate use of a false or misleading statement in such a way that the truth is apparent. “Wow dead flowers, what I always wanted…”
Metaphor– Direct comparison of two things. States one thing is or acts as another without using words ‘like’
or ‘as’
Oxymoron– two words placed together with differing meanings to create a new meaning ‘bitter sweet’
Paradox– A situation or statement which contradicts itself. ‘the taller I get the shorter I become’.
Personification– Describing an inanimate object or animal with human qualities.
Pun– using words with multiple meanings while intending both, often used for comic effect.
Simile– Comparing two or more objects with words ‘like’ or ‘as’
fect without pause.
people to guess what will happen or the poet to prepare the reader.
IMAGERY/TONE
Sensory Imagery– where the language is used to evoke the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, sound), can often
include tactile (touch based) or musical (sound based) language.
Synaesthesia– The overlapping and blending of senses ’he had a soft smile’ or ’she had a fiery voice’
Tone/Mood– The way a poem or speaker is intended to sound, often suggested by the topic, content and structure. This can be very subjective and is often determined by looking at the poem in its entirety.
you can apply the language and therefore the skills to explore this.
POEM: EXPOSURE
Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us...
Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent...
Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient...
Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,
But nothing happens.
Personification of the weather described as ‘merciless’ and attacking them
‘knife us’ this is unexpected as we expect the fight to be between soldiers.
Sibilance the hissing s sound capture the noise of wind, it sounds both
lonely but also biting.
Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire.
Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.
Northward incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles,
Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war.
What are we doing here?
The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow...
We only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy.
Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army
Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of gray,
But nothing happens.
Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence.
Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow,
With sidelong flowing flakes that flock, pause and renew,
We watch them wandering up and down the wind's nonchalance,
But nothing happens.
Pale flakes with lingering stealth come feeling for our faces Man is animalised, likened to scared animals, rabbits in holes.
We cringe in holes, back on forgotten dreams, and stare, snow-dazed,
Deep into grassier ditches. So we drowse, sun-dozed,
Showing that before nature man is just an animal.
Littered with blossoms trickling where the blackbird fusses.
Is it that we are dying?
Rhetorical Question shows the confusion of soldiers. Conditions are so
bad they can no longer tell what is normal anymore.
Slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires glozed
With crusted dark-red jewels; crickets jingle there;
Metaphor frozen blood described as jewels, poet sees men's lives as
For hours the innocent mice rejoice: the house is theirs;
valuable and ultimately wasted.
Shutters and doors all closed: on us the doors are closed We turn back to our dying.
So broken and hurt are the men that they feel abandoned and lose faith in
Since we believe not otherwise can kind fires burn;
God “our love is made afraid”. Contrasts/juxtaposes the battlefield with
Now ever suns smile true on child, or field, or fruit.
garden of Eden. Tone is one of betrayal and despair.
For God's invincible spring our love is made afraid;
Use of scattered punctuation slows the pace, we can imagine the soldier
Therefore, not loath, we lie out here; therefore were born, For
love of God seems dying.
finally succumbing to exposure and dyeing.
To-night, His frost will fasten on this mud and us,
Shrivelling many hands and puckering foreheads crisp.
The burying-party, picks and shovels in their shaking grasp,
Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice,
But nothing happens.
Metaphor ice as in cold and dead but also dead and empty, without soul.
Repetition final line emphasises the process doesn't end, the soldiers are
frozen in time and hell.
Wilfred Owen
An example of trench war, consider how exposedthe soldiers are, imagine living there.
you
want
help
your
understanding
you
could:
If If
you
want
toto
help
your
understanding
you
could:
-Look at some of Owen’s other poems or the work of Sassoon, how do they talk of war?
-Do some research into trench conditions, see if you can find how many died from disease and cold.
Wilfred Owen
Context:
Wilfred Owen was a soldier and officers in World War 1. He died before the end of the war
but during his time he saw the full horror of conditions on the front line. He wrote a number
of poems about this, published after the war with the help from fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon.
The war itself was often criticised because of a huge loss of life for very little gain. During the
Somme over 60,000 British soldiers died in one day, and in all they only gained 6 miles by the
end of the war. Owen’s poems were often angry that the soldiers were in muddy dangerous
trenches while the generals behind the lines were living in comfort. Owen’s poems tried to show
the truth of conditions to people back home. He was no against fighting, but was angry about the
conditions soldiers had to live with in order to do so.
The poem itself is based on war and so links to conflict. The poem itself is about the
weather and conditions of living in the trenches rather than any fighting. It is more a poem
about the conflict between man and nature. This is extremely relevant because man
has created machines that can launch explosive shells for miles and destroy the landscape,
and yet, nature can still do more harm than any of it.
Structure: The poem uses a large amount of ellipses, caesuras and repetition
Trench conditions WW1
Themes:
to create an on-going sense of
waiting and boredom. The poem is made of eight stanzas with a consistent use of a half line to end. This reinforces the sense
of stasis or sameness throughout the poem that nothing is happening. There is use of para-rhyme showing words which
appear to rhyme yet sound wrong when read to create the sense of unsettledness in the poem the soldiers are feeling. Owen
also uses a huge amount of onomatopoeia and alliteration in the poem to emphasise the atmosphere and the sound of
weather.
Man v Nature: Written about soldiers in a trench we expect to see a large amount of military language, however
most of this is used to describe and personify the weather as if it were and army attacking them. The poem ends with the
fear of tonight and the people who will lose lives and how none of this will change anything. Within the poem it is the weather
that is represented as merciless and triumphant.
BY
THE END OF THIS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
HIGHER MARKS
LOWER MARKS
-The poem defies the convention of war and looks at the weather assaulting
the soldiers, not another army. This is to highlight the unknown horrors of
war to people at home.
-The poem talks about soldiers suffering in
bad weather.
-The poet uses repetition and a consistent structure to create the static tone
of the poem. The lack of change adds to the tone of despair.
-The alliteration is used to create a sense of atmosphere to the weather and
to draw parallels to the violence of war and weather.
-The poet feels sadness and helplessness that
these men are without hope and nothing is
changing.
-The poet uses a lot of alliteration and pauses
in the poem to make it drag out and help us
imagine the weather conditions.
Space for your notes:
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Copy one of your poet’s poems which link best with Owen’s into our shared Owen Poems doc.
Why do you think this poet influenced Owen? Was the influence positive or negative? Why?
CONTEXT
1. In 1914 when war broke out, Owen felt he was more valuable as a poet, rather than a
soldier. This quickly changed when he enlisted and saw the devastating effects of war. He
then saw his purpose to ‘educate you to the actualities of war.’
1. Is was this change in perspective that influenced his poetry to include a focus on soldiers as
victims of war.
1. Owen was appalled by the hideousness of the battlefield, these images became part of his
poetry.
1. Propaganda posters and media promoted idealistic notions of patriotism, duty, adventure,
honour, and glory. This tempted the young men to enlist. Their thoughts were full of the
respect and glory the uniform and marches would bring. Even Owen was dazzled before he
was sent to the Front. He wrote to his mother, ‘The sound, together with the gallant bearing
of the twenty fifers, has finally dazzled me with Military Glory’.
2. The battle of Somme marked a turning point in public attitude, the massive losses meant that
a growing despair, pessimism, cynicism, anger and protest began.
3. The weapons caused huge destruction, and many lives were sacrificed to gain ground.
4. Trench life was vile – rats, lice, mud and disease added to the complete misery felt by the
troops.
5. Owen captures this brutal truth of war, and is considered amongst the greatest poets of his
time.
6. He is know as the public spokesman for the men at the Front.
7. He bitterly criticises those at home supporting the war, and those at homw unaware of its
devastating effects.
OWEN’S CONCERN: What did he write about?
These can be used to form thesis points in your essay.
 Owen’s didn’t want to glorify war, or write about heroes. He say’s his concern was WAR, and
the ‘Pity of War’.
 He spoke about the men sent into the battlefield, and in describing their experience, he
challenged the public perception of war a the time.
 He criticises the horror and violence of war, the ‘universal pervasion of ugliness.’
 He relived his nightmares in verse.
 There is a general feeling in Owen’s poetry that things can be resolved without the brutality
of war. He sought to explore the potential of humanity, and expose the destruction.
 He looks at the psychological effects of war on men – kill or be killed.
 HIs poems also reveal the absolute bond amongst the men in War – he even went back to the
front (and his death) because he felt the men needed him, and he could not speak for them,
inless he had experienced their suffering – this is how passionate he was about his subject –
War.
OWEN’S PURPOSE
 Owen’s poetry is called ‘didactic’ because he wanted to teach, inform, awake and enlighten.
 War disgusted him and he wanted to show how it dehumanises man through its utter
destruction and brutality.
 Owen wanted people to see the soldier’s perspective. The irony and satire in his poetry
shows his bitterness towards people judging war from the comfort of their homes –
especially those who promote it.
 He sought to enlight the general public about the sacrifices, ugliness, and barbarity of war.
 Public awareness to this injustice and ignorance was his ultimate purpose.
STARTER:
Shell Shock
Battle of Somme – Real Footage
Realistic WW1 battle sounds (creeping barrage)
 You know a little bit more about Owen – imagine you are him, on the battlefield. You have
seen your mates killed and their bodies left to rot, you know you probably won’t ever get
home alive. You are sacrificing your life for what?
 You are killing other men, like you.
 Write a diary entry of your feelings, while you sit in a lice ridden trench. Smelling the vile
smell of death and disease. Rats scampering in the shadows….
14 August, 1915
Today, we…
Comprehension questions on ‘The Send Off’
1. Why is the poem called ‘The Send Off’?
2. Who is walking to down the “darkening lanes”? Where have they just been possibly?
3. What is a siding-shed? Why are the soldiers walking there?
4. What covered their chests and why? Why do they look like dead men?
5. Why are the men’s faces “grimly gay”?
6. Who “stood staring hard” at them and why?
7. Why do the soldiers leave “secretly, like wrongs hushed-up”?
8. Why might the fate of the soldiers mock flowers the women gave them?
9. What do we NOT know about the men?
10. Who comes back? Why does Owen repeat the word “few”?
11. Why do they “creep” back? Why are the roads “half-known”?
Multiple choice questions, comprehension and answers on “Anthem”
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” is about:
a)
b)
c)
Gas attacks in World War 1 and the horror of war
Soldiers sending letters home and lying about what has happened to them
The fact they will be no proper funerals for the dead young soldiers
“Passing bells” means:
a) Bells attached to fast tanks
b) Funeral bells
c) Bells rung for weddings
What will replace the “passing bells” to commemorate the dead soldiers?
a)
b)
c)
Holy, religious music
The sound of guns
Heavenly music
“Hasty orisons” are:
a)
b)
c)
Quickly made bombs
A type of bread made for soldiers
Hurried prayers
What kind of hurried prayers will be said by the soldiers?
a)
b)
c)
Only what the rifles stutter and rattle out
The Lord’s Prayer
Pleadings to God to spare them
Who will mourn for the dead soldiers?
a)
b)
c)
Their young wives
Their parents
Shells and bugles
What kind of candles will be lit to help the soldiers to heaven?
a)
b)
c)
Candles in church
Candles placed on coffins
There will be no candles, only the teary eyes of boys
“Pall” means:
a)
b)
c)
A coffin
A cloth spread over a coffin
A pale face
What kind of flowers will be at the soldiers’ funeral?
a)
b)
c)
Wreaths and sprays
Roses and carnations
The flowers will be replaced by the “tenderness of patient minds”
People drew down blinds at dusk to:
a)
b)
c)
Commemorate loved ones who had died
Commemorate the ending of the war
Commemorate their sadness at the war
Anthem for Doomed Youth Questions:
36
What are “passing bells”? Why do we not hear traditional “passing bells” for those who
“die as cattle”?
37
What is heard as a replacement for “passing bells”?
38
Why is the anger of the guns “monstrous”?
39
Why do the rifles “stutter”? What is their speed?
40
What are “hasty orisons”? Who is “pattering” out “hasty orisons” and why?
41
What “mockeries” for the soldiers? Why are there no “mockeries”, no “prayers” or
“bells”?
42
What is “mourning”?
43
Why are very few people “mourning” the dead soldiers?
44
Who or what is “mourning” the soldiers in this poem?
45
What “choirs”? Why are they “shrill” and “demented”? What do these adjectives mean?
46
What are “shires” and why are they “sad”? Why are “bugles” sounding in these shires?
47
Why might candles “speed” all the dead soldiers?
48
Why will the boy say bye to the “doomed youth” with their eyes and not with their
hands?
49
Why will the “pallor girls’ brows be their pall”? What is a pall?
50
Why will the flowers commemorating the soldiers with be the “tenderness of patient
minds”?
51
Why will blinds be drawn down in the dusk? Why will the dusk be “slow”?
52
Why is onomatopoeia so effective in the opening octave?
53
What is the tone of Owen’s extended analogy between customary funeral rights and those
experienced by the ‘doomed youth’ (begin with title)
54
How is the tone of the poem varied in the sestet?
55
What do you think would be the significance of the poem’s concluding image for other
soldiers?
56
How do specific images in this sonnet enhance Owen’s anti-war ‘campaign’?
Owen’s Skill - Analysing Techniques
To truly understand poetry, you must understand its truth – the beauty of the passion behind it. The
techniques are merely the vessel with which this truth is expressed. When you analyse the
techniques, you are looking at HOW they create meaning. What is the power behind them – what is
its effect on us? Use the P.E.E. structure
Point: What Point is Owen making?
Evidence: Choose the Quote and identify the technique being used:
Effect: How does it affect us or those back in England at the time? How should they feel? Are we
challenged? Shocked? Saddened? Empathetic? Horrified? What do we learn? Understand? New
insights?
Dulce et Decorum Est
• How does the poet make an impact on the reader in the first two lines of the text?
Identify the 2 similes used and explain what they tell us about the soldiers.
a)
b)
• Having read these lines what does the reader now understand the real tone of the title of the
poem to be?
• How does the poet develop the description of the soldiers in lines 3 to 7? Refer to at least
one example of metaphor.
• What adjective does the poet use in Line 10? Why is it effective?
• Explain what is being described in lines 10 to 14. How does the poet use language in lines
11 and 12 to convey the way in which soldier is moving?
• Look at lines 13 to 14. How does Owen help us imagine his view of the event he is describing?
• What is the poet describing in Stanza Three?
• What does this tell us about Owen’s feelings about the event he witnessed, and the effect of
war on people’s lives?
• Comment on the use of the word, “flung” in Line 18. What does it suggest about the
soldiers and the way the dying man is treated?
•
What is the poet’s message in the poem and how is it emphasised in the closing lines (25 to 29) of
the poem?
• Choose a phrase you think is particularly shocking or effective in describing the
experience of war. Quote the phrase you have chosen and explain why you feel it is so
powerful.
Insensibility
– ‘Insensibility’ is said to be written as a response to William
Wordsworth who wrote (in his poem ‘Character ofthe
Happy Warrior’), ‘Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he /
That every man in arms should wish to be?’ What point is
Wordsworth making about soldiers? How does Owen’s
view differ? In what way is he responding to Wordsworth’s
view of war?
– The poem does not appear to have a regular
rhythm or stanza length. It does, however, have
a great use of pararhyme. Can you identify any
examples? What effectdoes this have?
– In a letter to his sister, Mary, in 1918, Owen wrote, ‘They are dying again at
Beaumont Hamel which already in 1916 was cobbled with skulls …’ Which
image does this memory mirror from stanza one? Why is this image so
effective?
– Find all of the quotes in stanza one that reflect Owen’s view of the soldiers being
important. Then find the view that Owen feels the politicians hold about soldiers
just being numbers. What effect does juxtaposing these images have?
– Look at the final line of stanza one: ‘but no one bothers.’ How is this line
effective? Can you think of any other poems that have a similar stunted end
lineto the stanzas?
– In stanza two Owen says that some soldiers lose all feeling (insensibility means
tobe without feeling and emotion). He goes on to say the soldiers have to trust
‘Chance’s strange arithmetic’. What is Owen referring to here? What does the
word ‘strange’ imply? What does he say even this is simpler than? What effect
does this create?
– What is stanza three about? What techniques are used in this stanza and why?
– In stanza five he starts by using ‘we’(first person) to refer to those who have
feeling and emotion, but then compares it to ‘he’ (third person) referring back
tothe ‘happy warrior’ from earlier. What point is he making about the ‘happy
warrior’?
– At the end, Owen seems to look negatively on those who have insensibility. What
line suggests this? What is he saying about those who become insensible?
– What emotions are the ‘hapless stars and the last sea’ representing?
– What is Owen’s overall conclusion about the insensible by the end of the poem?
Miners
4- This poem was originally written in response to the Minnie Pit mining disaster, butin
a letter to his mother Owen said that he ‘got mixed up with the war at the end.’ Do
you think that the poem suddenly changes emphasis onto the war or do you think
that Owen’s experience of war is entangled throughout the poem? Justify your
opinion.
5- There is a lot of use of pararhyme throughout the poem. Can you find an example of this that is really
effective? Are the words that rhyme related in any way? How & to what effect?
6- ‘For many hearts with coal are charred; and few remember.’ Who is Owen talking about at this point
in the poem? What point is he making?
7- Who is the speaker in this poem?
8- What is Owen referring to in the third stanza? What is ‘Time’s old cauldron’?
9- What is the significance of the ‘Bones without number’ yet ‘few
remember’?
10-There is a lot of imagery referring to fire and burning. In what ways does Owen use
imagery related to fire and burning in the poem? How is fire linked to the idea of
time? What is it saying about time?
11-Can you find an example of alliteration in the poem? What is its effect?
12-The poem suggests forgetting is integral to the process of civilisation. Do you agree?
13-What is Owen saying about the atrocities of war in this poem? Is it as effective as
other poems you have read?
The Show
 Who is the speaker in this poem?
 What is the effect of describing the dying soldiers as caterpillars?
 What is the effect of using pararhyme in this poem?
 How many syllables does each line have? Is there a pattern and are there any exceptions to
this? Why might Owen have chosen to write the poem in this way?
 The poem uses a range of differing images to describe the scene. What is theeffect of
olfactory (smell) imagery?
 What is the effect of having a list of three in the line ‘I watched those agoniescurl, lift and
flatten’?
 This poem links the horrors of war to disease. How does this link help you toimagine
what the battlefield was like?
 Can you find any examples of assonance in this poem? What is the effect of theassonance
on the reader? (Try reading the line aloud.)
 The word ‘feet’ is repeated in the poem. What might be the significance of feet?
 What colours are used to describe the scene?
 Death is personified in this poem. What is the effect of this personification?
 What is the relevance of the title? Consider the outsider looking in as if it is on a
stage. A show usually only lasts for a set amount of time but for the narrator this show never seems
to end. Consider the idea of time and think about what other poems also consider the idea of war
lasting for an eternity.
The Show
My soul
looked
down from
a vague
height with
Death,As
unremembe
ring how I
rose or why,
An
d
sa
wa
sad
lan
d,
we
ak
wit
h
sw
eat
s of
dea
rth,
Gra
y,
cra
ter
ed
like
the
mo
on
wit
h
holl
ow
wo
e,
An
d
fitt
ed
wit
h
gre
at
poc
ks
and
sca
bs
of
pla
que
s.
A
c
r
o
s
s
it
s
b
e
a
r
d,
t
h
a
t
h
o
r
r
o
r
o
f
h
a
r
s
h
w
ir
e,
T
h
e
r
e
m
o
v
e
d
t
h
i
n
c
a
t
e
r
p
il
la
r
s,
sl
o
w
ly
u
n
c
oi
le
d.
It
s
e
e
m
e
d
t
h
e
y
p
u
s
h
e
d
t
h
e
m
s
el
v
e
s
t
o
b
e
a
s
p
l
u
g
s
Of ditches, where they writhed and
shrivelled, killed.
By them
had
slimy
paths
been
trailed
and
scraped
Round
myriad
warts
that
might be
little
hills.
From gloom’s last
dregs these longstrung creatures
crept,And
vanished out of
dawn down
hidden holes.
(
A
n
d
s
m
e
ll
c
a
m
e
u
p
f
r
o
m
t
h
o
s
e
f
o
u
l
o
p
e
n
i
n
g
s
A
s
o
u
t
o
f
m
o
u
t
h
s
,
o
r
d
e
e
p
w
o
u
n
d
s
d
e
e
p
e
n
i
n
g
.)
On dithering feet upgathered, more and more,
Brown strings
towards strings
of gray, with
bristling spines,
All migrants from
green fields,
intent on mire.
Those that
were gray,
of more
abundant
spawns,
Ramped on
the rest and
ate them
and were
eaten.
I saw
their
bitte
n
back
s
curv
e,
loop,
and
strai
ghte
n,I
watc
hed
those
agoni
es
curl,
lift,
and
flatte
n.
W
h
e
r
e
a
t
,
i
n
t
e
r
r
o
r
w
h
a
t
t
h
a
t
s
i
g
h
t
m
i
g
h
t
m
e
a
n
,
I
r
e
e
l
e
d
a
n
d
s
h
i
v
e
r
e
d
e
a
r
t
h
w
a
r
d
l
i
k
e
a
f
e
a
t
h
e
r
.
And Death fell with me, like a deepening moan.
And He, picking a manner of worm,
which half had hid
I
t
s
b
r
u
i
s
e
s
i
n
t
h
e
e
a
r
t
h
,
b
u
t
c
r
a
w
l
e
d
n
o
f
u
r
t
h
e
r
,
S
h
o
w
e
d
m
e
i
t
s
f
e
e
t
,
t
h
e
f
e
e
t
o
f
m
a
n
y
m
e
n
,
A
n
d
t
h
e
f
r
e
s
h
s
e
v
e
r
e
d
h
e
a
d
o
f
i
t
,
m
y
h
e
a
d
.
First World War poetry: Exposure by Wilfred Owen
Warmer – Introducing the poem (10 mins)
Listen to and read the opening lines of the poem, ‘Exposure’
Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us...Wearied
we keep awake because the night is silent...
Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient...
Worried by silence, *sentries whisper, curious, nervous,
But nothing happens.
Salient - a bulge, is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. The salient is surrounded by the enemy
on multiple sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable.
* a soldier whose job is to guard
something
Work in pairs to discuss the questions.
1. Who do you think is narrating this poem? What quote shows you this and why?
2. Where do you think they are? What is happening around them?
3. How are they feeling? How do you know?
Task 1 – The life and work of Wilfred Owen (15 mins)
Look at the picture of Wilfred Owen and discuss the
questions.
• How old do you think he is?
• What is his job?
• When do you think this photo was taken?
Page 39 of 9
Read a short biography of the poet Wilfred Owen.
Wilfred Owen was born on 18 March 1893, in Oswestry on the Welsh borders, and was brought up
inBirkenhead and Shrewsbury. He is widely recognised as one of the greatest voices of the First
WorldWar. At the time of his death he was virtually unknown - only four of his poems were
published duringhis lifetime - but he had always been determined to be a poet, and had
experimented with verse froman early age. In 1913-1915, whilst teaching at Bordeaux and
Bagnères-de-Bigorre in France, he worked on the rhyming patterns which became characteristic of
his poetry; but it was not until the summer of 1917 that he found his true voice.
In 1915 Owen enlisted in the British Army. His first experiences of active service at Serre and St.
Quentin in January-April 1917 led to shell shock and his return to Britain. Whilst he was undergoing
treatment at the Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, he met one of his literary heroes,
SiegfriedSassoon, who provided him with guidance, and encouragement to bring his war
experiences into his poetry.
When Owen returned to the Western Front, after more than a year away, he took part in the
breakingof the Hindenburg Line at Joncourt (October 1918) for which he was awarded the Military
Cross in recognition of his courage and leadership. He was killed on 4 November 1918 during the
battle to cross the Sambre-Oise canal at Ors.
Virtually all the poems for which he is now remembered were written in a creative burst between
August 1917 and September 1918. His self-appointed task was to speak for the men in his care, to
show the 'Pity of War', which he also expressed in vivid letters home. His bleak realism, his energy
and indignation, his compassion and his great technical skill, are evident in many well-known poems,
and phrases or lines from his work ("Each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds" … "The Old Lie: Dulce
et decorum est …" ) are frequently quoted.
Adapted with permission of The Wilfred Owen Association
Now work in pairs to answer the questions.

How old was Wilfred Owen when he died?

When did Owen find his ‘true’ poetic voice?

What happened to Owen in 1917?

When and why was Owen awarded the Military Cross?
Page 40 of 9

Through his poetry, Owen said that he wanted to show the 'Pity of War'. What do you think this
means?

Name three characteristics of Owen’s poetry.
•
•
•
rhyming
patterns
realism
Task 2 – Analysing the first verse of the poem (10 mins)
Look again at the first verse of the poem.

Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us...

Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent...

Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient…

Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous.
Page 41 of 9

But nothing happens.
Page 42 of 9
Work in pairs to match the language feature and quotation or example from the poem, to the effecton
the reader.
Language feature
What effect does it have on
the reader? How does it
make you feel?
Example / Quotation
1. Use of the senses What
can you see, feel and hear?
What colours are used?
“drooping flares” and
“merciless iced east
winds”
a) The wind is given human
characteristics, emphasising
the cruelty of nature and
suffering of the soldiers.
2. Verbs
Are there any new, unusual
or interesting verbs?
“...winds that knife us”
b) The silence and stillness
of the soldiers, presented
against the treacherous
weather conditions builds a
sense of tension and
foreboding.
3. Adjectives
Are there any new, unusual
or interesting adjectives?
“merciless iced east
winds”
c) A vivid and brutal action /
visual image that shocks the
reader.
4. References to death
What language is used to
convey the idea of death?
Are there any images that
stand out?
The image of the wind asa
murderous enemy. The
silent, whispering
sentries.
d) Repetition of the ‘s’ sound
(‘sibilance’) creates a sense
of being ‘hushed’.
5. Any other features
“worried by silence,
sentries whisper,
Is there anything else that
curious, nervous”
you find interesting or
striking, e.g. use of rhyme or
repetition? Do you notice any
other themes e.g. nature,
religion in the poem?
e) The reader can almost
feel the intensity of the wind,
drawing them into the scene
and inviting them to
empathise with the soldiers.
Task 3 – Jigsaw reading activity (20 mins)
Your teacher will give you a section of the poem ‘Exposure’. Work in pairs to discuss your section of the
poem and fill in the table below. Find examples of language features and make notes on the effectthey
have on the reader. You can use the examples in Task 2 – Analysing the first verse of the poem to
help you. Look up any new words in a dictionary or use the glossary .
Page 43 of 9
Language feature
Example / Quotation
Use of the senses What can
you see,feel and hear?
What colours areused?
Verbs
Are there any new,unusual or
interesting verbs?
Adjectives
Are there any new,unusual or
interesting adjectives?
References to death
What language is used to
convey theidea of death?
Are there any images that
standout?
Any otherfeatures
Is there anything else that
you find interesting or
striking, e.g. use ofrhyme or
repetition? Do younotice any
other
themes?
Page 44 of 9
What effect does it have on the reader?
How does it make you feel?
Task 4 – Sharing ideas (25 mins)
o
Join up with another pair looking at the same section of the poem. Share your ideas as
a group. Discuss examples of the language features you found particularly effective.
o
Now join up with a pair who were looking at a different section of the poem. Take it in turns
todescribe what is happening in your extract. Share at least one example of a language
feature,and say what effect it has on the reader. Discuss:

What are the main differences between extracts A and B?

How does the language change?
Our answer:
Our answer:
o
Share your ideas as a whole class.
Task 5 – The end of the poem (20 mins)
Listen to and read the last lines of the poem.

To-night, His frost will fasten on this mud and us,

Shrivelling many hands and puckering foreheads crisp.

The burying-party, picks and shovels in their shaking grasp,

Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice,

But nothing happens.
Work in pairs to discuss the questions.
o
Who is the narrator talking about when he writes “His frost”?
o
What are the soldiers doing? How do you know?
o
Do you think this is a good ending? Why, or why not?
Page 45 of 9
Cooler – Reflect (10 mins) then write a sentence on each of the following questions:

As an officer in the army, Wilfred Owen wrote poetry on the subject of war to speak for the men
in his care, and to show the ‘Pity of War’. Do you think that the poem is effective in doing this?
How?

Which words, phrases or images did you find most interesting, moving or disturbing? Are there
any words or phrases that you find confusing?

What experiences or subjects do you think are important? Do you think poetry is a good wayto
convey an experience to others?
Extension – Keep the home fires burning (10 mins)
Listen to Ivor Novello's song, ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’, written in 1914. Discuss then write down the
differences between the mood of the song and the mood of the poem:



Extension / Homework – Reflect (25 mins)
Read the other section of the poem and make notes on the language features. Now read or listen tothe
poem all the way through.
Write down any new words you’ve learned and try writing some sentences using them.
1. Describe the conditions that the men had to put up with in the trenches as depicted in the poem.
Back up your ideas with evidence from the text.
2. Owen uses alliteration very effectively in the poem. Consider for example, “rain soaks and clouds
sag stormy.” Choose several examples of alliteration from the poem which seem to you to be
effective and give reasons for your choice.
Page 46 of 9
3. In this poem Owen creates a strong sense of place and mood. In the first stanza the jumpy, tense,
nervous conditions as day breaks are vividly suggested: “Worried by silence, sentries whisper,
curious, nervous…” Write about other parts of the poem where he creates a strong sense of mood
and place.
4. We have already discussed the first line reference to Keats and have pointed out that Owen was
greatly influenced by the sensuous language of his favourite poet. Where else in the poem can
you see the influence of Keats and what is the effect? What do you think is gained by the echo
from ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ in line 1?
5. How does Owen appeal to the senses in the poem?
6. What language is used to refer to death and is this effective?
7. What do you think is gained by accepting the reading ‘His frost’ in line 36 rather than ‘this frost’
which is what Owen seems to have written?
8. Consider the form of the poem and how it is structured. Comment on the rhyme scheme and the
use of para-rhyme. What effect does this have on the tone of the poem?
9. What effect does the repetition of a short last line of each verse have on the poem?
10. What do you think is the main message of this poem? Back up your ideas with evidence from the
text.
Page 47 of 9
Comparative Individual Oral Internal Assessment
This component consists of an individual oral which is internally assessed by the teacher and
externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course.
Individual oral (15 minutes)
Supported by an extract from one non-literary body of work and one from a literary work,
students will offer a prepared response of 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of questions by
the teacher, to the following prompt:
Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and
form of one of the works and one of the bodies of work that you have studied. (40 marks)
Responding to Owen ‘War Poems’ for the IA IO
The Individual Oral is asking you to consider what the author wants the audience to
think, see, feel, believe or question about one Global Issue, and how they do this.
The Individual Oral exam criteria states the following:
Global Issues – comparative
analysis
1.
Give detailed knowledge and understanding of the selected text,
demonstrated appropriately in responseto the Global Issue.
2. Develop a coherent and effective interpretation in response to two 40-line excerpts / poems.
3. Control use of expressive and effective language appropriate to the task.
The following
tasks should
Page 48 of 9
be completed
prior to the
exam. You can
do them in
any order you
like.
Re-read all of the poems along with reading your annotations along with making any more
annotations as you see fit. You should get into the practice of reading with a pen or pencil
in your hand. It is not just about making notes, you may have some questions of the text
you would like to explore.
For each of the poems write a short summary that covers the main points of the poem.
You should write in full sentences and practice using poetic terms along with
extending your vocabulary. You should also include quotes from the text to support
your views.
Eg. ‘In Dulce et decorum est’ Owen challenges the reader to put themselves in the
battle andwitness it from his perspective. He highlights the horrors of war and the
Page 49 of 9
impact it had on thecommon soldier …
The next step is to group the poems together to put the poems in groups that cover similar
ideasor themes. This will help when trying to connect the poems in your essay. Complete
the rest of the table.
Dying in war
Dulce et decorum est
The Impact of war
Mental Cases
The pointlessness of war
Anthem for doomed youth
You should also read the context and do the related tasks before deciding which is the
Global Issue you wish to focus your comparative analysis on.
Key Lines
For each of the poems that you have studied choose the most important lines from the
poem.You will need to create sentences that discuss the importance of these lines. This
will help to prepare you for including quotes in your connecting of the two texts you
choose in terms of the Global Issue you choose.
Poetry techniques.
It is important when discussing the poetry of Wilfred Owen that you use the
metalanguage of poetry to discuss the poems. For each of the following techniques write
2-3 different sentencesthat discuss the use of the techniques.
Personification
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Iambic Pentameter
Page 50 of 9
Sonnet form
Similes
Metaphors
Allegory
Rhyme structure
Rhythm
Any other techniques you
would like to discuss
Eg. Owen’s use of similes in ‘Dulce et decorum est’ highlight the insidious nature of war
and theimpact on the soldiers by comparing them to ‘hags’.
Vocabulary
It is important when expressing your ideas about Wilfred Owen’s poetry that you use
appropriate vocabulary to help express your ideas more clearly and succinctly. For
the followingwords write out the definition and then use the word to discuss an
element of Owen’s poetry. You should try and create a couple of sentences in order to
get comfortable with the words.
Futility
Naivety
Personification
Dehumanisation
Tenderness
Contempt
Fatuous
Sardonic
Subversive
Condemn
Juxtaposition
Mortality
Disenchanted
Visceral
Abhorrent
Didactic
Ubiquitous
Insidious
Page 51 of 9
Verbs work
It is important that you use a variety of verbs when discussing Owen’s poetry in order to developa more analytical
approach. Create a list of verbs that you could use when discussing Owen’s poetry and use these in a sentence. Some
suggestions below but you should look for more examples.
1. Challenges – Owen challenges the readers to question their views on war…
2. Questions
3. Attacks
4. Positions
5. Now come up with your own ideas.
inorder to complete a response, you do not need to write on all Global Issues but you should attempt to do at least two of
them.
You could write a short paragraph response or write up a plan of your main ideas, making a list of the poems that you
would use to support your ideas.
Remember you should try to give a presentation under timed conditions. This will help you to prepare for the exam.
Responding to a Global Issue
Remember that you should now be in the practice of highlighting the key terms in the Issue and should be able to
paraphrase the GI in your own words.
These highlighted words should be used in constructing your introduction and should also be used,or synonyms, in the
body of your essay to ensure that you stay connected to the issue and don’t fall into re-telling the story.
Planning – Once you have highlighted the key terms, it is useful to spend some time planning. Ratherthan just think
about what ideas connect to the key terms, take a broader approach.
Remember in your introduction that you need to clearly demonstrate your point of view on the issue and then present
the main ideas that will form the basis of your main points of comparison. Remember that you need to think broadly as
there may be some implied ideas that you will need to explore.
Example.
Thesis Statement: In Satrapi’s Persepolis and Owen’s war poems, the imagery and irony leads us to focus more on the living
than the dead.
Satrapi’s novel and Owen’s poetry may focus on the dead but remain hopeful for the living, so you could use this as an
idea. Remember, you’ve used the word more, which would suggest that a lot of Persepolis and Owen’s poetry does focus
on the living but not all of it,so therefore you would need to focus on this for some of your work to show a more rounded
understanding.
Think about all of the characters / small incidents, not just the main events and groups. Consider how these connect to the
Global Issue; this will give you a much broader exploration of the text(s), rather than just focussing on the main characters
or events.
This would be the same with the Wilfred Owen poetry that you need to consider all of the poems you have studied
and think about how these could be used to present ideas on the prompt.
When discussing the poetry, try and connect poems in your paragraph to help develop your ideasdon’t just rely on
one poem to support your point of view. You can do this by using conjunctive adverbs such as furthermore, in
contrast, similarly, however etc. to help connect your ideas.
Best Global Issues for Owen’s poetry
Beliefs, values and education
Politics, power and justice
Science, technology and the environment (description of tanks, gas, huge guns, the effects of machine-gun fire, barbed
wire etc)…
THEMES & Global Issues
TYPICAL IA IO GLOBAL ISSUE FOCUS / TITLE:
Politics, power and justice in Owen’s Poetry and Satrapi’s Graphic Novels
In both Satrapi and Owen, voice and therefore identity are expressed to dramatize misuse of power& consequent conflict.
Owen poem
similarities:
RHYTHM:
Effects of WARZONES:
EMOTIONAL PAIN:
Human Futility:
TASK:
Space for your notes:
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
to conflict and power.
OZYMANDIUS
LONDON
PRELUDE
(EXTRACT)
MY LAST
DUCHESS
CHARGE OF THE
LIGHT BRIGADE
EXPOSURE
STORM ON THE
ISLAND
BAYONET
CHARGE
REMAINS
POPPIES
WAR
PHOTOGRAPHER
TISSUE
THE EMIGREE
CHECKING OUT
ME HISTORY
KAMIKAZE