How did the poets show the reality of war in Exposure and Charge of the Light Brigade?
A brilliant 30/30 essay from Georgina Hull
Owen writes to criticise the establishment for hiding the true nature of the reality of war from the soldiers and British society.
His half rhymes of the second and third lines in each stanza unsettle the reader, causing us to question the nature of the war and the reason for the fighting.
By extension, Owen causes the reader to question patriotism, the reason many men go to war, and to ask if war is the correct moral solution to the world’s problem. However, “nothing changes“.
I’ve set the paragraph out like this so that you can see there is a three part thesis. This already includes a point about structure, linked to the poet’s purpose – see the comment on half rhyme. This scores a very high mark in AO2 methods.
In contrast, Tennyson writes to support patriotic propaganda. In his role as poet laureate, he supports the establishment and writes to convey to the doubting public that Britain’s role in the Crimean war is morally correct. His repetition of “cannon“ being both to the “left“ and “right“ of the soldiers conveys the soldiers’ bravery and asks his readership to feel pride in them and to view their death as a “noble” sacrifice. He engages in a literary conversation with Owen, promoting the cult of the warrior, whilst Owen questions its purpose.
Strong use of context to support Tennyson’s viewpoint, for AO3. There are an increasing range of references for AO1 references.
In order to do this, Owen focuses on the hardships of war: the “frost will fasten on this mud and us“. The noun “mud“ placed before the men in this line dehumanises the soldiers, asking us to sympathise with them in the trenches. At the end of his last stanza Owen states “but nothing happens.“ In this he criticises the British public for not being aware of the horrific conditions of the trenches (and therefore writes to educate them). However, he also criticises them for doing “nothing“ to help the soldiers. He maintains that soldiers were not prepared for the reality of war and are dying needlessly because of the British public‘s unwillingness to act.
Very insightful analysis of the use of “mud”, linking it to the poet’s intentions, for a high AO2 mark. This is added to with the link to “nothing”, which also improves AO2. It adds to both the ‘references’ and ‘task’ of AO1. Writing about the significance of the positioning of “mud” also qualifies as a structural point for AO3.
Despite writing to support the patriotic view of the establishment, Tennyson also writes to hint at war being wrong. The poem is written in dactylic dimeter. However, in his own recorded reading of the poem, Tennyson breaks the dactyls to place stress on the word “knew“. This discord shows his audience that he realises the war wrong and the “blunder“ made by Lord Raglan is wrong.
This is an excellent point, linking both form (AO1) and context (AO3) to the poet’s purpose. The recording can be found here: click
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