Imperialisme i

la 1a guerra
mundial

by Wilfred Owen
 Colonialisme ≠ Imperialisme

Consider how
Explain how language
Identify knowledge of
features and poetic
themes and/or context can shape
techniques are used
ideas that are or influence our
to communicate
explored through understanding of,
meaning or position
a poem. and response to, a
audience response.
poem.
 Think Pair Share
“It is sweet and honourable to die for ones country.”

Discuss this statement. Do you agree or disagree?

Justify your answer.
 First Reading
v o ke ?
e po em e
Read through the t h to
lin g s does la t io n sh i p
a t fe e h e ir r e e
poem aloud as a class. W h
ha t is t
s p e c t iv
a n d w is p e r
Then, consider and a ke r , o e s t h
e s p e o w d
h o is th r ib e d ? H
m ?
discuss the following W s d e s c e p o e
e n t t o t h
questions. t h e ev r e sp o n s e
o r t h e m e ?
e o u r s s a g e
s h a p a lm e
ce n t r
be t h e
s t o n d h o w
t s e e m a r I, a
Wh a r ld W r p o se
u t W o o r pu
w a b o n t e n t
u kn o t h e c o
d o y o ha p e
W h a t t e x t s
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 World War I, also known as the Great War, lasted from 1914 to
1918. The war was triggered by a complex web of alliances,
nationalism, militarism, and the assassination of Archduke Franz
WWI Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.

A Brief Context The war involved two main alliances: the Allies (including Britain,
France, Russia, and the United States) and the Central Powers
(Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire).

Much of the fighting took place in trenches, especially on the

Western Front in France and Belgium, leading to a prolonged
stalemate and horrific living conditions for soldiers. The war
also saw the introduction of modern warfare technologies,
including machine guns, tanks, airplanes, and chemical weapons
like poison gas.

World War I resulted in unprecedented casualties, with millions

of soldiers and civilians killed or wounded. The war ended with
the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which imposed
harsh penalties on Germany and set the stage for future
conflicts, including World War II.
 Trench Chemical Impact on
Warfare Weapons Society

Soldiers lived in muddy, World War I saw the first As the war dragged on,
unsanitary trenches for large-scale use of many soldiers and civilians
long periods, facing chemical weapons, became disillusioned with
constant threats from including chlorine and the idea of noble sacrifice,
enemy fire, disease, and mustard gas, causing leading to widespread
the elements. The harsh horrific injuries and anti-war sentiment.
conditions led to severe deaths. Soldiers had to Soldiers wrote to expose
physical exhaustion, quickly don gas masks to the true horrors of war,
psychological trauma survive attacks, but many challenging the glorified
(known as shell shock or suffered from the effects narratives and advocating
PTSD), and a sense of of exposure, including for a more honest
hopelessness among blindness, lung damage, depiction of the their
soldiers. and death. experience.
 Context
Let’s explore the historical, social and authorial context of the
poem. These aspects provides essential background for
grasping its themes, tone, and message.
Wilfred Owen was a soldier in World War I who was
deeply affected by his own harrowing experiences on Authorial
the front lines.

His poetry reflects the brutality and senselessness

Context
of war and he sought to dispel the romanticised Wilfred Owen
notion of war as noble and glorious.

He met fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon while

recovering from shell shock at Craiglockhart War
Hospital in 1917. Sassoon, an established war poet and
outspoken critic of the war, encouraged him to use his
poetry as a means of protest.

Owen wrote Dulce et Decorum Est in 1917, while

recovering in hospital and sent the poem in a letter to
his mother.

He was killed in action on November 4, 1918 and the

poem was published posthumously in 1920.
 The title and final line of the poem, "Dulce et Decorum
The Title Est Pro Patria Mori" is a Latin phrase, meaning “It is
sweet and honorable to die for one's country”.

The line is inscribed on various war memorials,

monuments, and military academy walls around the
world.

It was widely used in wartime propaganda to

encourage enlistment and support for the war.

Wilfred Owen used this phrase ironically in his poem

to contrast the romanticised view of war promoted
by propaganda with the grim and brutal reality
experienced by soldiers. The poem ultimately
condemns the use of this expression to romanticise
war and encourage young men to enlist.
 Think Pair Share
How has this knowledge of context influenced or
changed your understanding of and response to the
poem? Be prepared to share your thoughts.
 Analysis
We’re now going to perform a close reading analysis of
the poem looking closely at the choices the poet has made
in regards to language and structure and considering how
these influence our interpretation and response.
 As you complete your second reading, consider the use of:

Poetic Figurative language - including simile, metaphor and

personification

Devices Descriptive language and sensory imagery - visual (sight),

tactile (touch), auditory (sound), gustatory (taste), olfactory
(smell) and kinaesthetic (movement)

Sound devices - repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration,

assonance, euphony and cacophony

Word choice - word class and connotation

Other language features - e.g. irony, punctuation,

capitalisation

Rhyme and rhythm - meter, beats, pacing

Structure - form, stanzas, line length, point of view

*flares are bright lights launched into the Describe the imagery and ideas
sky to illuminate the battlefield at night to conveyed by the similes in the first
help soldiers see the enemy.
two lines and explain how this
contrasts with the usual imagery of
soldiers depicted in propaganda.

What sound devices can you identify

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, in line 2 and how do these influence
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, mood and meaning?
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
Why do you think the flares are
And towards our distant rest began to trudge. described as ‘haunting’ in line 3?
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Describe the double meaning of the
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots phrase ‘distant rest’ in line 4.
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
How does the alliteration of the ‘m’
sound in line 5 affect the pace and
mood of this stanza?

What figurative language devices

*‘five-nines’ refers to 5.9-inch artillery are used in the last 2 lines? Describe
shells used by the Germans that were filled
with poison gas, such as chlorine or
their effect.
phosgene.
 *please note, this is a sample analysis only - poetry is open to multiple interpretations
Sample Analysis: Similes
comparison to ‘beggars’ and ‘hags’ - desperate, lack of
Sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia and cacophony) - dignity, mentally and physically crippled/deformed
Sounds of sickness, discomfort and despair nightmarish supernatural imagery contrasts to
Uncomfortable rhythm mirrors the pace of soldiers who are stereotypical young, fit, physically able soldiers depicted in
physically crippled and unable to walk propaganda
Double meaning -
Personification camps away from
they make the the front line
soldiers visible where soldiers may
targets Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, rest, can also be
potentially leading Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, interpreted as a
to their death euphemism for
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs death
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Metaphor - Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
compares Alliteration -
extreme
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; sounds drowsy and
exhaustion to Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots slow depicting their
being intoxicated Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. exhaustion,
i.e. loss of control, creating zombie-
disorientation like imagery

Personification - suggests that even the gas shells are sick and Word choice - evokes images of severe injury, helplessness, and
tired of the war, mirrors the fatigue felt by the soldiers suffering and convey the debilitating physical and psychological
effects of war on soldiers
The word "lime" refers to quicklime, a
caustic substance that can cause severe How does the punctuation change the pace
burns when it comes into contact with skin and mood of the beginning of this stanza?

This stanza conveys extremely vivid

imagery of a gas attack. Explain how the
following language features contribute to
imagery, ideas and/or mood:
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, metaphors
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; word choice of verbs ending in ‘ing’
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, colour symbolism
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, Explain the effect of the word choice in
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. the phrase ‘clumsy helmets’ in line 2.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
The poet uses the phrase ‘In all my
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
dreams’ in the second last line. What
ideas does this convey about the
persona?

How does the poet slow down the pace

of the final line to mirror the soldier’s
slow and agonising death?
 Why do you think the poet switches to
using the second person pronoun ‘you’
in this stanza?

This stanza further conveys graphic and

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace grotesque imagery of a soldier’s death.
Behind the wagon that we flung him in, Explain how the following language features
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, contribute to this depiction:
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; word choice of the verb ‘flung’
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood alliteration and assonance in line 3 and 4
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, simile in line 4
auditory imagery in lines 5 and 6
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, What is your interpretation of the
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest effect of the two similes on line 7?
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The Old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Why do you think the poet chose words
Pro patria mori. that have connotations to cattle on
lines 7 and 8?

Explain the meaning behind the final 4

lines. Why do you think the poet
The word "cud" refers to regurgitated food capitalised the phrase ‘The Old Lie’?
that a cow chews again for digestion
 Working in a small group, perform an analysis of the structure,
rhyme and rhythm of the poem. You can use the following
Group questions to guide you.

Task 1. Rhyme - Identify the rhyme scheme used in the poem. How
does it influence the reading experience?

2. Structure - How does the poem’s structure (its four uneven

stanzas) contribute to its overall impact and message? Consider
how the change in stanza length and focus affects the pacing
and mood of the poem.

3. Rhythm - How does the poem’s use of iambic pentameter, with

its variations, create a sense of rhythm? Examine where the
rhythm breaks or speeds up and what that might suggest about
the speaker’s experience or emotions.
1.TITLE - What is the title and why do you think the poet
chose it? What ideas does it suggest? Individual
2.MEANING – What is the poem about? What key ideas are Anlaysis
communicated about war?
Questions
3.POETIC TECHNIQUES - Identify five specific poetic
techniques, give an example of each then explain their
effect (ideas and audience response).

4.IMAGERY - Identify some of the main types of sensory

imagery evoked by the poem and explain their effect.

5. PERSONA & TONE - Who is the speaker or persona and

how do they influence the tone of the poem?

6. PERSONAL RESPONSE - What was your personal

response to the poem? Justify your answer.
 Writing Task
To consolidate your knowledge, choose one of the
following questions and write a short answer
response (thesis statement plus 2-3 paragraphs)

1. Explain how poetic techniques are used to

communicate particular ideas about war in
the poem.

2. Explain how knowledge of context has

influenced your response to a poem.
 References

Owen, Wilfred. Dulce et Decorum Est. 1920.

List any other sources used in MLA format.