Context/Big Ideas
The sacrifice of a generationHypocrisy of society, the Church etc
Powerlessness
Loss of faith
Poet as commentator/conscience
Meeting of form and history – at such a cataclysmic moment
what form can poetry take?
Cosmic stage – apocalyptic language and crisis
Central Themes War and the pity of war
Hypocrisy of society, the Church etc
Brutalisation of mind and body
Struggling with faith
Sensuality and horror
Guilt - collective and individual
Isolation
Pain of survival
The role of the poet
How - structure
Sonnet form and experimentation
Iambic pentameter and breaking the rules
Parrarhyme
Irregular/disjointed rhyme
Grammatical rules - verbs as nouns, holophrastic sentences, breaking rules (knives us)
Caesura
Anaphora/Anaphoric phrases
Narrative voices
Time - chronological/non-chronological, memory
Allegory and parables
Elegy and Lyric form
How - techniques Onomatopoeia
Euphemism
Humour
Puns and ambiguity
Metaphor (and extended metaphor)
Rhetorical questions - who is he asking?
Personification and dehumanisation
Senses
Juxtaposition
Time
How:
language
Biblical
Colloquial
Historical/mythical
Sensual
Graphically violent
Visceral
Apocalyptic
Writing skills
Use a simple formula to ensure your essay does the right thing.
PEAL – Point, Evidence, Analyse, Link, Repeat
Make a Point about the poetic qualities of something relevant to the question and your
topic sentence.
Sentence starters:
• Nouns: Owen…
• Adverb/adjective: powerfully, memorably, scornfully, graphically, shockingly, Interestingly...
• Verbs: Portrays/presents/employs/suggests/manipulates/conveys/structures/characterises/criticizes
- Owen powerfully portrays the hopelessness of the forgotten soldiers by…
- Owen’s scornful use of euphemisms enables the reader to understand…
- Owen uses juxtaposition to create a shocking portrayal of...
- By criticising the hypocritical attitudes of civilian society, Owen forces the reader to consider...
Writing skills Provide evidence in support or to illustrate
Analyse the evidence by explaining the meaning and effects of specific diction and techniques, not a general translation of the quote or purely thematic interpretation
Link using a connective to the next point - explore an alternative interpretation of what you have just analysed or look for comparisons/contrasts
Have a go yourself. Re-write the following.
Discuss how Owen portrays the harsh conditions experienced by the soldiers
Owen tells us how hard conditions were for the soldiers. He uses a lot of senses to describe how horrible things were with ice and freezing conditions eg the wind is so painful he feels like it cuts him. Owen doesn't use normal rhyme to shown how difficult things are. We realise that the war was a waste because of the way that Owen has no hope and knows he is going to die by either guns or the weather. He makes us realise how unfair it all was.
Where next? Re-read the poems, especially your key poems.
Identify killer quotes/structure/technique points.
Passage preparation: create brief paragraph plans,
based on your killer points.
Essay preparation: create brief paragraph plans,
based on killer points with links (comparisons/contrasts)
with other poems.
Write some essays under timed conditions, testing your
knowledge.
Mark, review and target set.
Do some short burst writing – 10 minutes on any exam question or any poem.
Essay questions
“Owen’s chief concern is to show ‘War and the Pity of War.’ Discuss the poetic methods used by him to present aspects of pity in two poems.
Discuss ways in which Owen suggests harsh conditions for the character(s) in his poetry. Refer to two poems in your answer.
‘The language of Owen’s poetry has a visceral physical power.’ In the light of this view, compare Owen’s use of language in two poems.
Discuss the importance and treatment of memories in Owen’s poetry. Select two poems to explore this.
Discuss how location and setting show a vital part of understanding the ‘Pity of War’ in two poems.
Discuss how and to what effect the language of sound is used by Owen in two poems
Explore how Owen creates memorable characters in two of his poems, explaining how he uses them to present his concerns
Passage questions
Comment closely on how the language and tone of the following poem present the speaker’s experience.
Discuss the effects of the following poem in detail, commenting in particular on ways in which Owen presents the character’s mood.
Comment closely on the ways in which the following poem presents viewpoints on war
Comment closely on the following poem, paying particular attention to the effects of its language and structure.
Discuss how Owen uses the structure of the following poem, commenting on ways that he uses it to present his concerns
Comment on how and to what effect Owen uses different senses in the following poem