Historical & Personal Context
Over 750,000 of these joined the British Army within the first eight weeks of WWI due to societal ideals of duty, honour, and glory.
What are volunteers/young men?
This line is from which Wilfred Owen poem?
What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
What is Anthem for Doomed Youth?
The literary device used in the line
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags
to compare young soldiers to old women.
What is a simile?
The abstract noun used in the phrase "exposing the futility of human existence"
What is futility?
The translation of "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" is.
What is "it is sweet and honourable to die for one's country?"
This classical Victorian poet wrote Charge of the Light Brigade, promoting traditional notions of military glory.
Who is Lord Alfred Tennyson?
This line is from which Wilfred Owen poem?
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling...
What is Dulce Et Decorum Est?
The sound device used in
stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
to mimic the harsh noise of gunfire.
What is alliteration / consonance?
The analytical verb used in the phrase "Owen subverts traditional recruitment propaganda"
What is subverts?
The central irony behind the title Anthem for Doomed Youth
What is that an anthem celebrates/honours nationalistic pride, but the poem mourns tragic, violent death?
Wilfred Owen met fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon in 1917 while recovering from shell-shock at this hospital near Edinburgh.
What is Craiglockhart War Hospital?
This line is from which Wilfred Owen poem?
Move him into the sun -
Gently its touch awoke him once
What is Futility?
Giving human traits to non-human subjects in the line
demented choirs of wailing shells.
What is Personification?
When writing a multi-clause analytical sentence, the verb following the first clause must always end in this suffix
What is -ing?
The target of Owen's direct address in Dulce et Decorum Est when he refers to "my friend"
Who are home-front civilians, government officials, or army recruiters?
Owen's parents received the tragic news of his death on this historic date in 1918.
What is Armistice Day (11/11/1918)
This line is from which Wilfred Owen poem?
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells
What is Anthem for Doomed Youth?
The 14-line poetic structure used in Anthem for Doomed Youth
What is a Petrarchan sonnet?
Two analytical verbs that mean to challenge or mock an established idea are.
What are critiques, subverts, dismantles, admonishes, or questions?
The shift in tone between Stanza 1 and Stanza 2 in Futility
What is moving from hopeful grief over the death of one soldier to existential despair for human existence?
The British Government passed censorship laws and this specific act to control media narratives and prevent negative battlefield news from reaching the homefront.
What is the Defence of the Realm Act?
This line is from which Wilfred Owen poem?
Was it for this the claw grew tall?
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?
What is Futility?
The use of imperfect rhyme in the line
sun/sown
to create an unsettled atmosphere.
What are para-rhymes (or half-rhymes)
Three abstract nouns that describe the emotional or physical state of soldiers on the Western Front are...
What are dehumanisation, trauma, disillusionment, degradation, vulnerability, or despair?
How Owen's depiction of death on the battlefield in Anthem for Doomed Youth contrasts with traditional funeral rituals at home.
What is replacing church bells, prayers, and choirs with the violent noise of guns, rifles, and shells?