Term
Simile
'Bent double like old beggars under sacks'
'coughing like hags'
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Definition
How/ why is this used to convey the purpose/ theme of:
The reality of the horrible conditions the soldiers faced
or
The loss of dignity the soldiers experienced
- Soldiers are compared with 'beggars' and 'hags', which reduces them to weak old poor female people. Soldiers were once strong men, had a purpose - because of inhumane fighting, identity as a man has been drastically changed |
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Term
Repetition
'In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning'
'If in some smothering dreams you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in' |
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Definition
How/ why is this used to convey the horror of war
or
the loss of dignity
Repetition of 'dreams' conveys this horror that Owen experienced before and after war - reliving the horror of seeing comrade die in a shocking way in front of you and 'flinging' the body on the back of the 'wagon' like a dead piece of meat - conveys a horrible flashback of a horrible memory |
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Term
Onomatopoeia
'guttering', 'choking' |
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Definition
How/ why is this used?
To convey the horrible sound of the soldier dying;
To help the reader experience the reality of hearing and visualising a person dying in such as terrible way |
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Term
Direct address
'you too could pace behind the wagon...' |
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Definition
| How/why is this used - To force the reader to visualise and experience the action of 'flinging' a dead body into the wagon - to put the reader in the same position helped to convey the reality of this horror |
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Term
Rhetorical question
'Does it matter, losing your legs?
... losing your sight...those dreams from the pit? |
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Definition
| How/ why is this used? Rhetorical question invites the reader to think about these questions. Sassoon wanted the reader to think about this because people at home in England were ignorant about the reality of the horror that these soldiers experienced. People at home carried on 'gobbling their muffins and eggs' - day to day lives and always being 'kind' because obviously they haven't known the horror and loss that soldiers have experienced. |
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Term
Repetition
'losing your sight... losing your legs'
'will always be kind' |
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Definition
How/ why used? Emphasis on the 'loss' that soldiers have experienced - not just body parts, but lives and livelihood, their identity of being men, human
the sarcasm that throughout this loss, people 'will always be kind' - The sad message is emphaised by Sassoon that despite all of the horror, this loss does not matter at all. |
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Term
Sarcasm
'and people will always be kind..'
'there's such splendid work for the blind'
'and no one will worry a bit' |
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Definition
How/ why has this been used?
To convey the idea of the ignorance of people at home in England that 'losing' your life, your sight, does not really 'matter'
Sarcasm helps Sassoon's purpose of conveying the reality that yes it really did matter that soldiers lost so much; there's no such thing as 'splendid work for the blind', because there's nothing 'splendid' about being blind. |
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Term
assonance
'many had lost their boots but limped on blood shod' |
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Definition
How/ why has this been used to convey the purpose or theme?
The 'o' sound in 'blood shod' makes the action more memorable and the 'o' sound is like the groaning sound that soldiers may have made in their pain and exhaustion. This places the reader in the situation so they experience the horrible situation as well. |
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Term
Rhyme
'eggs...legs'
'sight...light'
'pit...bit' |
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Definition
How/ why been used?
Perfect rhyme mirrors the lives of the people at home in England who just carry on as usual. This contrasts with the lives of the soldiers which have been destroyed and are far from 'perfect' |
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