Starter quiz
- What method is being described here: 'giving human characteristics to non-human things'?
- simile
- metaphor
- personification ✓
- oxymoron
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- In 'Exposure' what does Owen identify as the main enemy of the soldiers?
- nature and harsh weather ✓
- enemy fire
- wildlife in the trenches
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- Why might Owen have written 'Exposure'?
- to highlight the harsh realities of war ✓
- to memorialise the soldiers
- to criticise the government's propaganda ✓
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- 'We', 'us' and 'our' are all examples of...
- first personal plural. ✓
- second person plural.
- third person plural.
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- Complete the quotation from 'Exposure': "But ______ happens."
- 'nothing' ✓
- What does 'futile' mean?
- confused and unable to think properly
- a view that all traditional values are unfounded
- incapable of producing any useful result; pointless ✓
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Exit quiz
- What method does Owen use in the line: "Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us . . ." taken from 'Exposure'.
- pathetic fallacy
- personification ✓
- metaphor
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- Which quotation taken from 'Exposure' shows us the tediousness of war?
- "War lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy" ✓
- "Sudden successive flights of bullets"
- "ranks on shivering ranks"
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- What is the definition of nihilistic?
- incapable of producing any useful result
- a view that existence is meaningless ✓
- confused and unable to think properly
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- In 'Exposure' what are the soldiers suffering from?
- hypothermia ✓
- post traumatic stress disorder
- sleep deprivation ✓
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- What method does Owen use in 'Exposure' to show the physical effects of the weather and the war on the soldiers?
- personification
- distorted syntax ✓
- first person collective plural
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- In the poem 'Exposure', Owen ______ the connotations of spring to express his hopelessness.
- 'subverts' ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Owen personifies nature as a more brutal enemy than the opposition.
- Distorted syntax and imagery is used to reflect the disorientating effects of hypothermia and suffering.
- Owen uses the first person collective plurals to show that he is reflecting on the experiences of many soldiers.
- Owen subverts seasonal imagery to express hopelessness and nihilism.
- Owen emphasises nature's power and criticises the power of those in powerful positions who idealise war.
Common misconception
'Exposure' only depicts the power of nature.
If we look critically, we can identify how Owen criticises and rejects powerful ideas and institutions, like other poets from the anthology.
Keywords
Nihilism - a view that all traditional values are unfounded and existence is meaningless
Disoriented - confused and unable to think properly
Syntax - The ordering of words in a sentence
Futile - incapable of producing any useful result; pointless
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