WWI Poetry/All Quiet on the Western Front

WWI Poetry & All Quiet: For each poem, as well as All Quiet, listed below, identify the narrator, the narrator’s overall message about war, and an example of a literary device used to show the narrator’s message.

• “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Wilfred Owen

  • Narrator is: A tramatized soldier.

  • Narrator’s message: Dying and fighting in a war is brutal, horrifying, and awful.

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message: “Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, / As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.” (Imagery, Symbolism, Metaphor)

• “In Flanders Fields”, John McCrae

  • Narrator: The Dead Soldiers

  • Narrator’s message: Coveys the duty of the living to carry on the fight and honor the sacrifice of those who gave their lives in WWI.

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message: “To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be your to hole it high.” (Hyperbole, Symbolism)

• “The Soldier”, Rupert Brooke

  • Narrator: An English Soldier

  • Narrator’s message: To describe the great honor and pride to die for England, and how soldiers’ deaths “bless” other’s lands.

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message: “Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;” (Personification)

• “The Call”, Jessie Pope

  • Narrator: Jessie Pope

  • Narrator’s message: To peasuede the non-enlisted men to join the British army and the war.

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message: “Who means to show his grit, / And who’d rather wait a bit- / Would you, my laddie?” (Symbolism, Rhyme, Alliteration)

• “The Glory of Women”, Siegfried Sassoon

  • Narrator: British Soldier

  • Narrator’s message: To expose the realities during wartime.

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message: “You love us when we're heroes, home on leave, / Or wounded in a mentionable place.” (Irony)

• All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

  • Narrator:

  • Narrator’s message:

  • Literary Device used to show narrator’s message:

Terms: For each term, provide a definition that explains the term within the context of our class discussions.

• Imagery - Imagery uses sensory details to create a vivid and concrete description of a scene, object, person, or idea. It appeals to the reader’s senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, and is used to create a specific mood or atmosphere in a literary work. By using descriptive language, similes, metaphors, and other literary techniques, imagery helps the reader to visualize and experience the story in a more immersive way

• Tone - The attitude that a character or narrator or author takes towards a given subject

• Symbolism - A figure of speech in which a person, situation, word, or object is used to represent another thing.

• Allusion- An allusion is a figure of speech whereby the author refers to a subject matter such as a place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.

• Metaphor - the transfer of a quality or attribute from one thing or idea to another in such a way as to imply some resemblance between the two things or ideas: 'his eyes blazed' implies that his eyes become like a fire. 

• Simile - a comparison between two objects or ideas which is introduced by 'like' or 'as'. The literal object which evokes the comparison is called the tenor and the object which describes it is called the vehicle. So in the simile 'the car wheezed like an asthmatic donkey' the car is the tenor and the 'asthmatic donkey' is the vehicle.

• Irony -  irony not only says one thing and means another, but says one thing and means its opposite. Sarcasm: insincere speech that requires a listener or reader.  

Dramatic Irony: when an audience of a play know some crucial piece of information that

the characters onstage do not know.  

Situational Irony: When the outcome of a situation is completely unexpected

• Personification - the attribution to a non-animate thing of human attributes. The thing personified is often an abstract concept (eg 'Lust possessed him') and really means another.

• Foreshadowing - Foreshadowing refers to the use of clues or hints to suggest what will happen later in the story. It is a way for authors to create anticipation and build suspense by hinting at future events or outcomes. Foreshadowing can take many forms, including symbolic objects or actions, dialogue, or descriptions of setting or characters. It is often used in literature, particularly in mystery, suspense, and horror genres, but can be found in all types of writing. By providing subtle hints of what is to come, foreshadowing can enhance the reader’s engagement and investment in the story.

• Alliteration - The repetition of the same consonants (usually the initial sounds of words or of stressed syllables) at the start of several words or syllables in sequence or in close proximity to each other.

• Diction - Diction is the author’s choice and use of words in a literary work. It encompasses the author’s style of writing and their selection of words, phrases, and expressions that convey a particular tone or mood. Diction can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, technical or colloquial, and it can have a significant impact on the reader’s interpretation of the work. An author’s diction can reflect their purpose, audience, and the message they are trying to convey.

• Hyperbole - A hyperbole is a literary device wherein the author uses specific words and phrases that exaggerate and overemphasize the basic crux of the statement in order to produce a grander, more noticeable effect. The purpose of hyperbole is to create a larger-than-life effect and overly stress a specific point. Such sentences usually convey an action or sentiment that is generally not practically/ realistically possible or plausible but helps emphasize an emotion.

• Repetition - When an author intentionally repeats a word or phrase for a desired effect.

• Pun - a humorous use of a word with more than one meaning.  Shakespeare loved these and made them very popular in his time. 

“I knew a woman who owned a taser; man was she stunning!”

• Mood - The literary device ‘mood’ refers to a definitive stance the author adopts in shaping a specific emotional perspective towards the subject of the literary work. It refers to the mental and emotional disposition of the author towards the subject, which in turn lends a particular character or atmosphere to the work. The final tone achieved thus is instrumental in evoking specific, appropriate responses from the reader.