english@kkc

The exam answer is from the 2006 Short Texts paper. It is an annotated script made available by NZQA to help students understand the way a paper is graded. The essay is considered to be an example of a ‘medium’ excellence-not perfect but showing enough perceptive understanding.

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

Siegfried Sassoon

A little animation for the Year 11 students who studied this poem. The music is from Pete Doherty.

Year 11 students are working on either poetry or short story studies at the moment. To help with this I have added a link to a NZQA approved excellence exemplar for Achievement Standard 90055. The essay was not written by a student from the College and it is not a ‘perfect’ excellence.

The essay was written in 2006 in response to the question,

“Describe at least ONE interesting language technique in EACH text. Explain how EACH technique helped you understand an idea (or ideas) in EACH text.”

Go here to access it.

Most war poetry conveys a sense of anger. ‘Futility’ by Wilfred Owen conveys a sense of sorrow. You need to know what techniques Owen used to achieve this and consider how successful that this poem is in expressing his disillusionment with the war.

The sense of sorrow in the poem is created through the tone. The poet does not come through as angry or bitter but with a sense of sadness and resignation. Owen carefully chooses words to do this. ‘Gently’, ‘rouse’, ‘warm’, ‘whispering’ help achieve this effect, as they are very gentle. On top of this the poet seems to regard the soldier as a very important person. This is important because so many soldiers were sent like cattle to their deaths for little gain. They were led by incompetent generals who maybe gained a few yards of territory for the loss of many of their men.
Owen divides the poem into two verses. In the first he seems hopeful that the soldier will live:

‘ If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know’

However in the second verse Owen asks the question of what is the point in life among the carnage.

‘O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?’

As this comes at the end of the poem it gives the lines extra emphasis and makes the reader think more deeply about the waste of War.

The essay that follows is a level one essay written in exam conditions. It focuses on Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth and Kenneth Slessor’s Beach Burial. I have added the poem Beach Burial and some information about Slessor to help you get more from the essay. Any comments you have on the essay would be welcomed.

Kenneth Slessor was an Australian poet and war correspondent who wrote this poem in 1944. One of Slessor’s major themes was war and its effects on people. Beach Burial is able to lament both the ‘convoy of dead sailors‘ and focus on an individual ‘unknown seaman‘, this gives the poem the power of combined universality and particularity of reference. Beach Burial is a military elegy, recording the poet’s grief for the sailors who died on a great land and sea battle in the North African campaign during WWII. On another level, it records the battle that we all fight, regardless of race or political or religious conviction, joined in the common front of humanity against death.

Beach Burial

Softly and humbly to the Gulf of Arabs
The convoys of dead sailors come;
At night they sway and wander in the waters far under,
But morning rolls them in the foam.

Between the sob and clubbing of gunfire
Someone, it seems, has time for this,
To pluck them from the shallows and bury them in burrows
And tread the sand upon their nakedness;

And each cross, the driven stake of tidewood,
Bears the last signature of men,
Written with such perplexity, with such bewildered pity,
The words choke as they begin -

‘Unknown seaman’ - the ghostly pencil
Wavers and fades, the purple drips,
The breath of wet season has washed their inscriptions
As blue as drowned men’s lips,

Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall,
Whether as enemies they fought,
Or fought with us, or neither; the sand joins them together,
Enlisted on the other front.

Kenneth Slessor

Describe an idea that interested you in the texts you studied. Explain why this idea interested you.

In the poem Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor, an idea that interested me was the way Slessor showed the anonymity of the sailors’ deaths and the lack of ceremony at their burial. This idea interests me because in our society today, death is given huge respect, and a large amount of ceremony goes into someone’s burial.

The anonymity of the sailors deaths is emphasised by their crosses have ink “Unknown Seaman” written in an ink which fades “as blue as dead mens lips” on the tidewood which makes their sandy graves.

The line “tread upon their nakedness” gives the feeling that those who buried them did not actually know the dead, and they had not time to give them a respectful burial. “But someone, it seems, has time for this; to pluck them from the shallows, and bury them in burrows” - this shows the rush there would have been to bury the dead on the beach.

In Anthem for Doomed Youth, Owen uses the same anonymity of the soldiers deaths and the lack of ceremony at their burial to show the horror of war. Again, the differences between what happened then and what happens today are so big. I find it interesting that Owen and Slessor write with such similarity in their important ideas - yet are writing of two different wars.

Owen writes in a harsher tone than Slessor, to show the lack of dignity the young men had. He refers to the young soldiers “as cattle”, being led to their deaths as cattle would be led to slaughter.

Owen contrasts normalcy with war in saying that “the pallor of girls brows shall be their pall”, which suggests that there will be no lying in state for the dead men. There will be “no mockeries for them, no prayers nor bells”; the only sound of mourning came from the machines which killed them: “the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells.” Slessor also notes that the dead men are mourned by the machines which killed them, “the sob and clubbing of the gunfire.”

Both Owen and Slessor write of men dying away from home, in a country not theirs, away from loved ones who can only mourn them from afar. The lack of ceremony at their burial can only be expected in times of war-the men are all fighting and barely have time to bury the dead. The lack of time to bury the men would partly account for the anonymity the dead receive, and partly because their bodies would have been ravaged by war.

The ideas of anonymity in death and a lack of ceremony at burial are interesting to me because I only know the way things are today, and find it hard to imagine not having a name to be scrawled on even the simplest cross at my grave. Anthem for Doomed Youth and Beach Burial bring home the horror and sadness of war, and of death.

Another essay on Wilfred Owen’s poetry completed in exam conditions. I am grateful for all contributions, however, I would welcome an essay on another topic for a bit of variety! Any comments?

Discuss ideas, opinions or information in your studied texts that caused a strong reaction in you as a reader.

Wilfred Owen was an anti-conflict poet of the World War One era, his poems are heavy with anger, cynicism and imagery from his front line experiences. As he stated “the poetry is in the pity”. He was desperately infuriated by the patriotism and myopia of the British public at the time, and he used his poetry like a weapon to end the needless deaths of millions during the war.

In his poem “Anthem for doomed youth”, Owen questions the sincerity of a formal Christian burial, and the justification for the deaths of countless soldiers on the battle field.

“What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the stuttering rifle’s rapid rattle”

The dead soldiers get no respect, nothing to mark their pointless deaths whereas at home a funeral is full of formality and tradition. This angered Owen, that a comfortable death at home is rewarded with useless formalities, he saw it as a “mockery” for dead soldiers. I agree, where is the use in acknowledging death with useless ceremony when the things that count go un-noticed?

His poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” describes a mustard gas attack on a group of fatigued soldiers. Since the people at home had no real idea of the horror of the front line, Owen in this poem is trying to sell the blind patriots some reality by describing events he witnessed. It is a shocking and powerful poem with lots of emotive language “Cursed, trudged, old beggars” and gruesome imagery of the attack.

“Floundering like a man in fire or time … blood come gurling from froth corrupted lungs

vile as … cancerous sores on innocent tongues”

Owen is educating people on the truths of war, and this poem taught me a lot. It taught me that war is not a camping trip with guns, as many unwitting war supporters of the time thought too.

This poem is also a intellectual attack on the patriots and war supporters, trying to convey the message that death in war is not honourable or glorious, contrary to the old ideals that were still held at the time. Owen writes “If you could see… my friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children desperate for some ardent glory, the old lie” Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro patria mori.”

Owen is stating his belief that if you knew what really went on, you would stop sending all these young men to their deaths.

Wilfred Owen had strong ideals (backed up by experience) that war was a waste and only the myopia and stupidity of people in power let it continue. It was up to the masses to end the conflict, so he used his poetry to convey his ideals in direct disagreement of the patriots and politicians.

Yep, it’s another essay. This Level One essay was also written in an exam situation. What do you think?

Describe TWO interesting language techniques in EACH text. Explain how EACH technique helps you understand EACH text.

In ‘Dulce et decorum est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ Wilfred Owen effectively uses emotive language and imagery to help convey his ideas about the harsh realities of war.

In ‘Dulce et decorum est’ Owen uses a gassing situation to portray how unglamorous war really is. The soldiers he describes as ‘Bent double like old beggars’ and ‘coughing like hags’. This use of imagery is interesting as it is not how we would imagine the fit young soldiers to be. Instead of being handsome young warriors nobly fighting for their country, they are prematurely aged and battling for their lives. He uses this imagery to dispel any ideas that we may have about war being beautiful and instead makes us understand that it is a truly horrific experience. He continues this use of imagery through the first stanza as he goes on to describe a soldier’s death after they’ve been gassed. He also uses emotive words such as ‘guttering, choking, drowning’ an ‘froth-corrupted’ lungs which plays on the readers emotions and made me understand that dying at war is in no way glorious. Wilfred Owen really wanted to portray how terrible being involved in war is which went against a lot of the propaganda of his time. He uses his imagery and emotive language effectively which really helped me to understand his ideas.

In ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, Owen continues with this same us of imagery and emotive language but in a more somber tone. He wanted to portray what a waste of life war is by focusing on death as a whole. In the opening line ‘What passing bells for these who die as cattle?’ Owen uses his imagery technique by comparing the men going to war to beasts being led to slaughter. This made me understand that they were just leading the men to their deaths with as much ceremony as animals. In the line ‘No mockeries for them, no prayers, no bells’, I realised that these soldiers who died in war never got a tribute to them - they weren’t noble sacrifices for their country, just dead people.

In the second stanza Owen takes a new approach and moves to the home front in the midst of war. Here he wanted to compare how the soldier’s bodies were dealt with in war compared to the elaborate funerals and traditions normally practiced in the time. He uses descriptions of images rather than sounds for this stanza and a lot of emotive language. In the lines ‘The pallor of girls brows shall be their pall’. ‘There flowers the tenderness of patient minds’. He uses his language to play on the readers emotions and it helped me to understand that every mans death on the battlefield there were women left behind with no closure, and the line ‘each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds’ made me realise that it is not just the soldiers who are involved in war, but in some way or another everyone is effected.

Owen uses the techniques of imagery and emotive language to successfully build up images in the readers mind and to convey his ideas. Through this effective use of language he made me understand that war isn’t beautiful or noble but simply a sickening waste of life.

Today I have another student essay for you to look at. This one was written in text conditions in 35 minutes. What do you think? Any comments? What’s good? What could be improved?

Write a detailed account of how your studied texts interested you by their choice and/or use of words and phrases.

In “Dulce et Decorum est”, Wilfred Owen uses graphic verbs and innovative descriptions to describe the absolute pity of war, to try and convince his original readers of wars futility.

Owen continues in this vein in “Disabled”, by using simple statements and blatant understatements to create an image of a young man, destroyed by war. In his poem “Anthem for doomed youth”, Owen shares his philosophy on the blindness of his culture to the horrific deaths young men faced during the war by rhetorical questions, and bold controversial statements. All these features of Owen’s poetry fascinated me, because it showed just how Owen had put his mind, heart and soul into convincing his unbelieving country that the war was an evil, soul destroying scar on the history of man.

In “Dulce et Decorum est”, Owen begins by describing young soldiers who are “knock- kneed” and “coughing like hags”. Owen completely destroys the clichéd image of young sprightly soldiers representing the epitome of upright masculinity, and replaces them with a sorry image of prematurely aged young men who are now completely physically derelict.

Owen carrys on to attack any preconceptions of war being a “walk in the park”. The use of explicit verbs such as “guttering , choking, drowing” present the readers with an alternate reality of pain and suffering, only found in the blood stained pits of war. The reader now, after only the first stanza, is confronted with the forcefulness of Owens ideas and is taken aback, yet enthralled with these blood-chillingly, almost unreal, images. These descriptions made me realise just how oblivious “the people back home” must have been to the wars utter tragicness, if Owen felt so compelled to create such profound work.

In “Disabled”, Owen also uses “shock-tactics” to convey his urgent ideals. The phrase “legless, sewn short at elbow” uses a blantant understatement to describe the remains of a young man’s body, in a short, simple and abrupt sentence. The fact the Owen vividly described his whole body in one sentence, and leaves the reader with a pitiful, war-torn image as well, emphasises his skill and prowess at conveying his compelling ideals.

The line, “he lost his colour, far away from here”, shows Owens ability to give his message in a non conventional manner. The words “he lost his colour” immedietly bring an image to mind of blood slowly draining out from the young man, as he begins to pale, and then the words “far away from here”, place this deathly occurance into a muddy hole, and make the reader feel the man’s loneliness that he felt while suffering this fate. Owen’s ability to bring you into the poem and see and experience the horrors he unfolds, made me feel helpless, to just imagine, although his intended readers would have had more ability to act on this knowledge and would have been compelled to do so, if they felt the horror and disbelief I experienced.

In “Anthem for doomed youth”, I felt that Owen had a real sense of the events around him and that he had come to conclusions of his own concerning the war and how this affected those back home. The line, “No mockeries for them, no prayers nor bells” shows Owen’s philosophy on the reality of peoples attitude to the war. The fact that Owen calls the prayers and bells, that occur for those who die, a mockery, shows his belief that the conventional rituals for the dead of war, simply made death into something soft and sombre, when in fact it was likely that the soldier died a horrible and painful death, and Owen is not afraid to speak out his views. This made me realise that Owen disregarded conventional methods and beliefs, and simply write what he felt needed to be said about the unnecessary destructiveness of war and about how blind the public was to this.

In all three of these poems Owen has used various techniques and methods to make his message clear and I feel that if I had been in his time, my view would have been changed. His un-conventional descriptions made me realise how strongly he felt about the war and how much he was determined to inform the people of the “truth”.

Go here to read a really interesting article about Wilfred Owen from the Telegraph. It is by Jeremy Paxman and it is well worth reading. I have put an extract below. Thanks to Mikey for the tip.

Jeremy Paxman on the extraordinary achievement of Wilfred Owen, who abominated war yet died a great warrior.

For me, he is the greatest of all the war poets. But there is nothing original in my enthusiasm.

	Owen developed intense respect for the soldier

I don’t suppose there’s a thoughtful student in the land who is unaware of Wilfred Owen’s best-known poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”.

Indeed, it tells us something about our pervading cynicism that Horace’s words are now taken more readily as sarcasm than at face value.

It is often assumed - as a student, I made the mistake myself - that the poem’s author was some sort of bitter, jaundiced pacifist. But the enigma of Wilfred Owen is that he was anything but that. The fascination of his life is his embodiment of contradictions.

It is true that he was not among the first to answer the call to bash the Boche. Indeed, he seems to have been a rather fey and precious young man, first as a vicar’s assistant in Berkshire, and then as an English teacher in France.

When he finally decided to join the Army (through the Artists’ Rifles, to fit with his own idea of himself as a poet, despite the fact that he was unpublished, and, frankly, not very good, either) he was repulsed by the coarseness of the men among whom he found himself.

But his letters to his mother - our main source of information about his life - show how much he changed. Initial distaste at the vulgarity of the sweaty, noisy men among whom he was obliged to live became a genuine love.

By the end of the First World War, he had become not only their advocate but a true military hero himself.

I have added this animation of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. The poem has been animated by Jim Clark and read by Alan Mumford. The notes that follow are from Wikipedia and were added to the Youtube entry.

“Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem written by British poet and World War I soldier Wilfred Owen in 1917, and published posthumously in 1920. Owen’s poem is known for its horrifying imagery and its condemnation of war.

The 28-line poem, which is written in loose iambic pentameter, is narrated by Owen himself. It tells of a group of soldiers in World War I, forced to trudge “through sludge,” though “drunk with fatigue,” marching slowly away from the falling explosive shells behind them. As gas shells begin to fall upon them, the soldiers scramble to put on their gas masks to protect themselves. In the rush, one man clumsily drops his mask, and the narrator sees the man “yelling out and stumbling / and flound’ring like a man in fire or lime”. The image of the man “guttering, choking, drowning” permeates Owen’s thoughts and dreams, forcing him to relive the nightmare again and again.

Owen, in the final stanza enforces that, should readers see what he has seen, they (the government) would cease to send young men to war, all the while instilling visions of glory in their heads. No longer would they tell their children the “Old lie,” so long ago told by the Roman poet Horace: “Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori” (literally, “It is sweet and right/honourable, to die for your country”).

Dedication
Throughout the poem, and particularly strong in the last stanza, there is a running commentary, a letter to Jessie Pope, a civilian propagandist of World War I, who encouraged-”with such high zest”-young men to join the battle, through her poetry, e.g. “Who’s for the game”.

The first draft of the poem, indeed, was dedicated to Pope. A later revision amended this to “a certain Poetess,” though this did not make it into the final publication, either, as Owen apparently decided to address his poem to the larger audience of war supporters in general. In the last stanza, however, the original intention can still be seen in Owen’s bitter, horrific address..