revision poetry websites (games)

http://daisyane.myweb.uga.edu/6200/project/game.html

http://www.quia.com/rr/745431.html?AP_rand=369781756

"Dulce Et Decorum Est"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Lzo_EXXOQ

Wilfred Owen fought and died in the First World War and much of his poetry is about the horrors of that conflict.

The Poet

Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous war poets. He was born in 1893 and died in 1918, just one week from the end of World War One. His poetry is characterised by powerful descriptions of the conditions faced by soldiers in the trenches.

World War One

World War One took place between 1914 and 1918 and is remembered particularly for trench warfare and the use of gas. Owing to the technological innovations in use during it, the war is often referred to as the first modern war.

The War Poets

Poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Ivor Gurney have a strong association with World War One. As a group, their poems are often violent and realistic, challenging earlier poetry which communicated a pro-war message. The first-hand experience of war is arguably one reason why there is such a shift in the attitude of poets towards war.

Dulce et Decorum Est uses gruesome imagery to narrate the horrors of a gas attack.

An injured soldier carried out on a stretcher in World War 1

The poem describes a gas attack on a trench in World War One. The poem reveals to the reader the terrible consequences of a gas attack: 'the blood / Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs'. It also presents the unglamorous reality of trench life, with the soldiers described as being 'like old beggars'.

The Latin used at the end of the poem means 'It is sweet and honourable to die for your country', a concept Owen is strongly denying.

Wilfred Owen uses careful chosen words to convey the pain and suffering of the weary soldiers.

Structure

There is not a clearly defined structure to the poem, although Owen does make use of rhyme, mostly on alternate line endings.

The poem opens with a description of trench life and the conditions faced by the soldiers. Then comes the gas attack, and the poem offers a graphic description of the effects of such an attack.

Language

A soldier without a mask succumbs to the fumes

The opening stanza is characterised by language about 'fatigue': the soldiers 'marched asleep', they 'trudge', and 'limped on'. They are 'deaf', 'lame' and 'blind'; all rather pitiful language intended to reveal the reality of war and its effects.

The speaker describes a vision in a dream of a gas victim 'guttering, choking, drowning'. The listed verbs are associated with a lack of air and death.

The language used in the sections depicting the gas attack is strong, representing both the anguish of the victims of the gas attack as well as the effect on those haunted by what they have seen: 'watch the white eyes writhing in his face, / His hanging face'. The repetition of the word 'face' makes it clear which element disturbs the speaker most: the transformation in the face of the victim. The use of alliteration on the 'w' sound reflects the agonised twisting of the gas victim.

Wilfred Owen mounts a powerful argument against the complacency of those who believe war to be a glorious patriotic duty.

Attitudes and ideas

Storm troops advancing in battle

The opening of the poem suggests Owen pities the state to which the soldiers have fallen. Instead of youthful, strong fighters they are 'Bent double', 'Knock-kneed, coughing like hags'. Owen's imagery presents the men as prematurely old and weakened. War has broken these men, and they are described in the most unglamorous, inglorious manner. Owen's bitterness at this transformation is obvious.

Owen's disillusionment with war is also clear from the closing lines of the poem. After describing the horrifying effects of the gas attack he addresses the reader:

'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie'

He is rejecting the accepted attitude back at home that serving your country in war is glorious. He is critical of the 'high zest', or great enthusiasm, used to convince men to go to war. He sees war as brutal and wasteful of young lives. His choice of the word 'children' is also significant; impressionable young men are almost lured to war by the promise of 'desperate glory'.

• War transforms soldiers, breaking them physically and mentally: 'Bent double' 'Knock-kneed'. Rather than glorious men, Owen presents the soldiers as weakened old 'hags'.
• The experience of war is something no soldier can escape: 'In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me'.
• The effect of gas used in World War One is communicated to the reader through Owen's use of verbs linked to death by a lack of oxygen: 'guttering, choking, drowning', 'smothering'.
• Owen offers the reader very graphic imagery associated with suffering, aiming to present the truth about the war experience, arguably arising from his first-hand experience of war.
• Owen presents the soldiers as victims who have been betrayed by those who encouraged them to go to war. He uses words such as 'innocent' and 'children' to reinforce his positive attitude to the soldiers.
• Owen is bitter about war and the encouragement given to go to war. He angrily refers to 'The old Lie' that dying for your country is sweet and honourable.
• The detailed description of a soldier dying as a result of gas attack is intended to make the reader feel discomfort, forcing him or her to confront the reality of war, something which is far from honourable or sweet.

"Green Beret" study questions

Answer the following questions in your exercise book.

1. Which group of soldiers did the boy belong to? North or South.How do we know this?
The boy belonged to the North Vietnamese High Plateau Soldiers. We know this as the Green Beret were American Soldiers who were supporting the South Vietnamese. 

2. What is meant by “ a good fight will make him talk”?
"A good fight will make him talk" refers to the method used by the Green Beret. They are going to frighten the child into telling them where the North Vietnamese were hiding. 

3. Who is the Green Beret referring to when he commands, “tell us where they are”?
The Green Beret commands "tell us where they are" as he wants the boy to divulge the secret hideouts of the North Vietnamese - the opposition are. 

4. What image in the poem suggests the boy is hurt and afraid?
The image in the poem which suggests the boy is hurt and afraid is when he is described as having " eyes [like] a hurt animal" and his face as being "all eyes". This makes us imagine the boy is terrified. 

5. Explain the following images in your own words.

a) “the forest’s green wall”
The forest is so thick it is like a wall and impenetrable.
b)” a face all eyes”
The boy's eyes appear to be huge because of the terror he feels. 
c)” like tigers across the high plateau”

The North Vietnamese are quietly and stealthily creeping unnoticed across the High Plateau.

6. Is the boy as weak as the Green Beret assume? Explain your answer in detail. What lines in the poem back this up?
The boy is not weak. He has sacrificed the life of his father to ensure the North Vietnamese are not discovered. The lines in the poem which support this are "and the boy knew everything...."

7. What sacrifice was forced on the boy because he was prepared to take a stance?

The boy sacrificed the life of his father.

8. Who was the boy protecting? Was he successful? How do you know?
The boy was protecting the North Vietnamese. He was successful as the poem ends with us knowing the North Vietnamese soldiers were still moving across the High Plateau. 

http://www.slideshare.net/Scarlett69/green-beret-by-ho-thien

Green Beret, written by Ho Thien, a Vietnamese writer, is a narrative poem, telling a story that a brave and loyal twelve-year-old boy insisted and succeeded in concealing the secret of Viet Cong Guerilla,，confronting with the traitors and the threatening of father’ life from the American Green Beret during the Vietnam War.

In structure, the poem can be divided in three parts by the narration content. First part is from line 1 to line 5; the second part covers line 6 to line 35; the rest is the third part. Part1 brings the protagonist a twelve-year-old boy to readers in first person— an unknown boy and his father was caught by the Green Beret because of treason from the mercenaries. Part 2 creates scenes that Beret menaced the boy to kill his father in one minute, if he did not tell where the guerilla is. However, his father was sacrificed in stead of divulging the secrets. The last part praises the magnificent loyalty, patriotism, and huge sacrifice (his father’ death of the boy, and sets of the Green Beret’ cruelty and evil of the mercenaries by contrast.

From the aspect of language, many monosyllabic words are used in relation to the threatening of the Green Beret. “You father – dead” (line 12), and “or we kill your father”(line 16) stress their brutality. Besides, the repetition of time— from one minute, ten seconds, to the last instant, all construct a severe, depress environment. The description of the boy’s father’s death— “kill”，“roared” “ shattered” reveal the Green Bret’ impatience and excitement to slaughter. All of the words bring readers to witness the real reappearance scene of inquest and the vivid image of Green Beret.

Otherwise, the poet uses many repeated words in the poem. In line 2 and line 4, the repetition “I do not know”, shows the boy and his father may be frail strangers to “I”, but I would be able to remember the event, their loyalty and sacrifice forever. As backgrounds, the sky, the forests of trees, and the High Plateau, also have many times appearance. In reality, it is a silent remonstration and blame on the invasion and violence happened in the homeland. The word “frail”, “silence”, “cry”, “tears” arose many times as well. They demonstrate the struggles and poor reactions of the weak in the war.

The big contrast can be seen everywhere in the poem. First is the contrast between characters— the frail boy who is weak and frightened and Green Beret who dominated the life of a children’s father; the devoted boy, his father and the mercenaries standing in the invader’s sides( “a damn thing” in line 32). The second contrast is emerged in the movements. In line 6 to line 8, “with a eyes of hurt animal” shows his little sympathy to the weak, however in line 13, “with eyes now bright and filled with terror” exposes the savage nature of Green Beret for his fright to the boy did not work. In line 22 to line 29, “in the silence”, soldiers stood as the sky and trees, while, the fragile boy cried out.