Post by mrcaldicott on Apr 18, 2015 19:43:14 GMT
Anthem for Doomed Youth Extra notes
In addition to the class work we did on the poetic techniques within the poem, the theme Owen addresses (the lack of respect given to young men who are slaughtered) and the regular contrast between the treatment the men receive on the battlefield and what they could / would / should be entitled to back home, here are some more notes to help you with your AFDY essay.
You will be expected to make 3-4 extended points about the emotion that Owen explores in the poem. No matter which emotion you pick, you’ll be looking at the same areas / lines in the poem.
*Your analytic focus depends which emotion you choose to focus on.*
ANALYSE POETIC TECHNIQUE AS WELL AS THEME. For example, you should look at the way Owen uses word choice such as ‘cattle’, ‘monstrous’ and ‘shrill’ to create connotations of how despicable the conditions are on the battlefield. The anguish (psychological pain) created by such conditions was felt acutely by Owen because of course, he was leading men who were being slaughtered daily. The anguish is amplified by the contrast with the respectful, solemn treatment in death that the men would have received back at home – Owen subverts (like the traditional theme of a sonnet –love- is being subverted) and twists funeral bells (passing-bells) into the crushing, booming repetition of the field guns shelling the trenches. He does the same with poignant, moving church choirs being replaced by the continual, wailing shell-fire (transferred epithet again – makes contrast more effective). The point is that the soldiers not only DO NOT get the proper, respectful treatment of a funeral at home (because of the volume and scale of the massacre – there isn't time to find bodies and send them home – often there weren't enough remains TO find); what replaces this honourable send-off is hellish and insane. ALL this feeds into Owen’s anguish / regret / dissatisfaction / loss over the lack of respect given to the slaughtered soldiers- THE THEME.
So. The MOOD is one of anguish, loss, dissatisfaction, regret (and bitter anger, but major on whichever emotion you’ve picked), the TONE is one of unceasing melancholy and sadness. NOTE – the last six lines soften the treatment of death on the battlefield or in the trenches, but the theme and message remain the same. Notice how the lines: ‘What candles may be held to speed them all? / Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes / Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes’ sound gentler and less angry than the first eight lines but actually Owen is suggesting that the men will die alone with the fire of battle ‘glimmering’ in their eyes before they die – nothing like the solemn and respectful funeral with altar boys, processions, candles etc.
Finally, Owen finds it unbearably sad (but also it gives him cause for anguish/regret/dissatisfaction or a feeling of loss) that the white funeral shroud (the ‘pall’) that would respectfully cover over a dead body is utterly lacking for the vast majority of war dead – the cost to those at home is poignantly evoked with the words ‘pallor of girls’ brows’- i.e. the soldier’s beloved wives / girlfriends will be worried sick and / or grieving. The penultimate line reminds us that the men will have no flowers, no funeral bouquets – the only thing that ‘flowers’ (verb) is the hope that the war will be over one day, felt by compassionate, patient people (‘…the tenderness of patient minds’).
The last line: ‘And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.’ is a fitting end to the poem as the tone continues to be melancholy, but there is a hint of respect here in the way Owen is suggesting the dead men WILL be honoured by their families and loved ones carrying out the common practice of the time: closing their blinds / curtains as a sign the family of the deceased are in mourning. There’s something arguably noble and tragic in this, as if to say: ‘the soldiers get nothing but grotesque death and destruction on a huge scale out there in war, but at home their loss will be felt, remembered – and honoured.’
Good luck, try your best, don’t give up.
Mr C.
In addition to the class work we did on the poetic techniques within the poem, the theme Owen addresses (the lack of respect given to young men who are slaughtered) and the regular contrast between the treatment the men receive on the battlefield and what they could / would / should be entitled to back home, here are some more notes to help you with your AFDY essay.
You will be expected to make 3-4 extended points about the emotion that Owen explores in the poem. No matter which emotion you pick, you’ll be looking at the same areas / lines in the poem.
*Your analytic focus depends which emotion you choose to focus on.*
ANALYSE POETIC TECHNIQUE AS WELL AS THEME. For example, you should look at the way Owen uses word choice such as ‘cattle’, ‘monstrous’ and ‘shrill’ to create connotations of how despicable the conditions are on the battlefield. The anguish (psychological pain) created by such conditions was felt acutely by Owen because of course, he was leading men who were being slaughtered daily. The anguish is amplified by the contrast with the respectful, solemn treatment in death that the men would have received back at home – Owen subverts (like the traditional theme of a sonnet –love- is being subverted) and twists funeral bells (passing-bells) into the crushing, booming repetition of the field guns shelling the trenches. He does the same with poignant, moving church choirs being replaced by the continual, wailing shell-fire (transferred epithet again – makes contrast more effective). The point is that the soldiers not only DO NOT get the proper, respectful treatment of a funeral at home (because of the volume and scale of the massacre – there isn't time to find bodies and send them home – often there weren't enough remains TO find); what replaces this honourable send-off is hellish and insane. ALL this feeds into Owen’s anguish / regret / dissatisfaction / loss over the lack of respect given to the slaughtered soldiers- THE THEME.
So. The MOOD is one of anguish, loss, dissatisfaction, regret (and bitter anger, but major on whichever emotion you’ve picked), the TONE is one of unceasing melancholy and sadness. NOTE – the last six lines soften the treatment of death on the battlefield or in the trenches, but the theme and message remain the same. Notice how the lines: ‘What candles may be held to speed them all? / Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes / Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes’ sound gentler and less angry than the first eight lines but actually Owen is suggesting that the men will die alone with the fire of battle ‘glimmering’ in their eyes before they die – nothing like the solemn and respectful funeral with altar boys, processions, candles etc.
Finally, Owen finds it unbearably sad (but also it gives him cause for anguish/regret/dissatisfaction or a feeling of loss) that the white funeral shroud (the ‘pall’) that would respectfully cover over a dead body is utterly lacking for the vast majority of war dead – the cost to those at home is poignantly evoked with the words ‘pallor of girls’ brows’- i.e. the soldier’s beloved wives / girlfriends will be worried sick and / or grieving. The penultimate line reminds us that the men will have no flowers, no funeral bouquets – the only thing that ‘flowers’ (verb) is the hope that the war will be over one day, felt by compassionate, patient people (‘…the tenderness of patient minds’).
The last line: ‘And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.’ is a fitting end to the poem as the tone continues to be melancholy, but there is a hint of respect here in the way Owen is suggesting the dead men WILL be honoured by their families and loved ones carrying out the common practice of the time: closing their blinds / curtains as a sign the family of the deceased are in mourning. There’s something arguably noble and tragic in this, as if to say: ‘the soldiers get nothing but grotesque death and destruction on a huge scale out there in war, but at home their loss will be felt, remembered – and honoured.’
Good luck, try your best, don’t give up.
Mr C.
