Structure, Key Quotes & Comparisons
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 4.1.4
Form, Structure and Rhythm of Exposure
The narrative style of Exposure emphasises collective suffering in war. The rhythm reflects the boredom of the soldiers.
First person narrative
- The poem is written in the first person. It has many collective, possessive pronouns, such as “we”, “us”, “our”.
- This hints at the collective (group) suffering of the soldiers in WW1. It also encourages the reader to share in their pain.
Rhythm
- The poem is made up of five-line stanzas.
- The form mirrors the repetitive and never-ending nature of war.
- It also mirrors the ongoing boredom and misery of the soldiers.
- The ABBAC rhyme scheme is repeated, which reflects the monotony (sameness) of war.
- But the last line of each stanza creates an unsettling feel. This is possibly to mirror how destabilised and on edge, the soldiers feel waiting for the enemy to attack.
Key Quotations in Exposure
Here are key quotations to remember for your exam:
“…But nothing happens”
- Repetition of “but nothing happens” throughout the poem gives the readers a sense of the boredom caused by waiting.
- It also hints at the pointlessness of war.
“Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
- Personification and sibilance.
- The weather is personified to make it sound menacing and deadly. This also characterises the weather as the real enemy of the soldiers.
- The sibilance here highlights the intensity of the pain and the brutality of the weather.
“Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army..."
- “Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army / Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey.”
- Personification.
- Dawn, usually associated with ideas of light and hope is here hostile and brings even more suffering.
- Colour imagery.
- The colour imagery “grey” conveys ideas of despair and boredom.
- Military vocabulary.
- “Ranks” is a military term and is repeated, reminding the reader that the weather is the soldiers’ enemy.
“Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”
- Nature is presented as more damaging and deadly than the bullets.
- The contrasting images of “black” and “snow” are unsettling. They highlight the horror of being exposed to the elements.
- They also highlight how close to death the soldiers are.
“Slowly, our ghosts drag home”
- Metaphor.
- This metaphor suggests that war has sucked all the life out of the soldiers and further reminds readers that they are on the brink of death.
“All their eyes are ice”
- Metaphor.
- This metaphor describes the extreme effects of the weather that have overcome the soldiers.
- It also implies that the soldiers have lost their humanity and could suggest they are close to breaking point.
Key Comparisons: Exposure
Here are some themes that come up in Exposure and other texts:
Effects/reality of conflict
- You may want to compare the theme of the effects and/or reality of conflict in Exposure to the following texts:
- War Photographer.
- Poppies.
- Kamikaze.
- Bayonet Charge.
- Remains.
Power of nature vs power of man
- You may want to compare the theme of the power of nature vs power of man in Exposure to the following texts:
- Storm on the Island.
- The Prelude.
- Tissue.
Test yourself on Structure, Key Quotes & Comparisons
What's the rhyme scheme used in Exposure?
Why does Owen use many collective possessive pronouns (“we”, “us”, “our”) throughout Exposure?
Why might Owen have wanted the last lines of each stanza to create an unsettling feel?
Which one of these key quotes from Exposure is personifying the weather?
Which themes appear in Exposure as well as other poems?