Describe at least ONE idea in the text(s) that you found interesting.
Explain why the idea(s) was interesting in the text(s) as a whole.
Describe at least ONE language feature that was used to help you understand an
important idea in the text(s).
Explain why the language feature(s) helped you understand a key idea(s) in the
text(s).
Note: Language feature(s) could include imagery, style, vocabulary, or
symbolism.
Plan
Theme or issue = War – wartime conditions Texts – Whose for the game v’s Dulce et Decorum
A different perception of war is presented in the ‘Who’s for the Game’ by
Jessie Pope and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen. In the former,
war is presented as being an opportunity to excel as a person and the
tone is positive. In the latter, war is presented as being the opposite, a
terrible, upsetting experience where injury and horrific death are all
around. Through their use of powerful imagery, persuasive language
techniques and irony, both these poems elicit (evoke/induce/create)
strong positive and negative feelings,
‘Who’s for the Game’ contains strong imagery that affects the reader.
Jessie Pope did not write ‘Who’s for the Game’ through ignorance of the
reality of war, she wrote it to bolster moral on the home front and to
inspire prospective recruits in joining the armed forces so that Britain
could win the war. She uses several extended metaphors to convince
readers that war can be a glorious and fun activity. She compares war to
a ‘game, the biggest that’s played’. By using Rugby, a challenging yet
fun activity beloved by boys, she is able to create a positive image in the
reader’s mind, she extends the metaphor further by comparing war to
the ‘red crashing game’, the colour red being used to complete the
euphemistic metaphor to describe how, like in rugby, there may be
some blood. She goes on to compare war to an athletics event, where
competitors will, ‘toe the line’ and avoid being stuck at home watching
the action as if from ‘a seat in the stand’. She suggests that ‘Laddie’s
should sign up to ‘play’ this game of war and not ‘be out of the fun.
Pope continues to use imagery in the form of personification by
referring to her country as being, ‘up to her neck’ in trouble. This
technique of describing war makes a positive impression of what is
involved.
Pope also utilises persuasive language to induce the reader into signing
up to fight. There are twelve questions directed at the reader,
encouraging him/her to answer. This tends to involve the reader actively
in the poem; we are being spoken to directly through the use of
personal pronouns in lines such as, “Who’ll earn the empire’s thanks –
will you my Laddie?” and further personification of the country through,
‘she’s looking and calling for you’. It is easy to be drawn into the ideas
of the poem and feel instantly patriotic and want to fight.
In Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ presents a contrasting
perspective of war through extreme similes and metaphors. It is
noteworthy that both poets use similar techniques to achieve their aims,
while Pope pressurises the reader by suggesting that they will be left
out of the ‘game’, Owen uses imagery from the opposite polar. He sees
the effects of war as being as ‘obscene as cancer’ and the faces of those
poisoned by gas as being more contorted than a ‘devil’s sick of sin’. He
presents a gruesome and highly negative vision of war through similes
comparing men to ‘hags’ and ‘old beggars’. The poem is laced with
references to the bad things of this world such as ‘lime’ in the eyes,
‘sores on innocent tongues’ ‘drowning’ and ‘choking’.
It is ironic that Owen has used a traditional form with a regular rhyme
scheme to present a negative, almost aggressive message. The title of
the poem is from Horace, a Roman poet who wrote in Latin about the
glory of war. Owen’s clever choice hints at a classical content of glory,
honour or romanticism, but the reader finds that his meaning is the
opposite. Iambic pentameter and an A/B rhyme scheme – such as
‘sludge/trudge’ or ‘stumbling/fumbling, also suggest that the poem
should contain a positive message like the traditional war poems of the
Nineteenth century. It is ironic that the message is the opposite,
concerning the horrors of war and a pointed message to poet’s such as
Jesse Pope stating that dying for one’s country is in no way glorious.
Owen was confronted with horrific modes of death on a regular basis
and fixates on this in this poem, critics argue, however, that soldiers can
still be heroic even if their deaths are degrading/humiliating.
Owen also uses personal pronouns to involve the reader in a similar
fashion to Pope. He asks that if ‘you could pace’ behind the poisoned
men, ‘watch’ their pain an ‘hear’ their ‘gargling’. Instead of addressing
the reader as ‘Laddie’, Owen addresses the reader ironically as ‘my
friend’. It is clear that Owen feels strongly about the glorified messages
given to impressionable, ‘innocent’ children and is not the friend of
anyone who pushes such a misleading idea.
Both these poems make the reader feel strongly about war. Often, young
people require little encouragement to seek glory and Pope’s techniques
encourage the reader to act. In our modern world, we know the reality of
war and how it can be horrific; therefore, Pope’s message may also
generate a negative reaction as people are aware that war is not a
‘game’. Owen’s vision comes from the front line and is extreme in its
message and impact. He strongly objects to the falsification of wartime
conditions and worked hard to counter this through his poems. It is
probably a good thing that contemporary WW1 society never became
familiar with Owen’s work because moral and recruitment may have
suffered had the public been familiar with the suffering of the front line
soldiers. It is important that we keep reading and studying these poems
in modern NZ to remember the horrendous sacrifice our forefathers
made and to help us appreciate how fortunate and lucky we are to have
been born into NZ in an era of peace and prosperity.