Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

17
ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH BY WILFRED OWEN LECTURE WEEK 2

description

notes for the poem anthem for doomed youth

Transcript of Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

Page 1: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTHBY WILFRED OWEN

LECTURE WEEK 2

Page 2: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

ENGLISH 1: WEEK 2• Introduction to poetry.• ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen.• Poem analysis– What is the poem about? A brief summary– Analysis of the 1st & 2nd stanza– Language points: type of poem, wordplay,

imagery, symbols.

• Relate– Relating the poem to other materials and current

situations.

Page 3: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY• Poetry is a sense of the beautiful;

characterized by a love of beauty and expressing this through words. It is ART.

• It is an expression of what the poet thinks and feels and may take any form the poet chooses for this expression.

• Poetry is a creative use of words which, like all art, is intended to stir an emotion in the audience.

• Poetry generally has some structure that separates it from prose.

Page 4: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY• A LINE is the basic structure of a poem.• Each line contains a set amount of

syllables; this is called METER. • Lines are grouped into STANZAS. • Often the lines in a stanza will have a

specific RHYME scheme. • Not all poems have a rhyme scheme. • Point to ponder: you hear poetry everyday

sometimes without even realizing it. Take a moment to think of several examples.

Page 5: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISA BRIEF SUMMARY

• The poem was written by Wilfred Owen when he was serving for the British Army in World War 1.

• ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ was inspired by the war and the men who fought in it.

• The poet questions his readers on what ceremonies can be held for soldiers slaughtered in battle?

• Owen seeks to highlight in "Anthem for Doomed Youth” that no matter how much we memorialize, tribute, or honour the fallen, we can't ever really know what it was like for them in those horrible moments before death.

Page 6: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 1

LINE 1:What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?• The poem begins with a question. • ‘passing-bells’ refer to the sounds of church bells at

a funeral. Were there any for the dead soldiers?• ‘these’ was used instead of ‘those’ to create a

closeness between the reader and the scene. • The boys who died in battle was referred to as

cattle (simile). Cattle usually move in herds, so imagine how many people died at once. The word cattle also depicts how the boys seem to have been slaughtered which is inhuman. They were treated like animals.

Page 7: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 1

LINE 2: Only the monstrous anger of the guns.• The poet answers his own question in Line 1.

instead of church bells, the only sounds they hear when they die are sounds of guns.

LINES 3-4: Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattleCan patter out their hasty orisons.

• ‘orisons’ mean prayer. The only prayer the boys had were the ones they made with their rifles.

• The word ‘hasty’ suggests that things happen very fast in battle. So death in war was quick, loud and messy.

Page 8: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 1

LINE 5: No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

• The poet implies that prayers and bells are pointless in battle by the use of the word ‘mockeries’. He suggests that these are an insult for the soldiers who did not die like heroes (as people imagine) but died like animals.

Page 9: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 1

LINES 6-7: Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,– 

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;• The only sounds were the sound of bombs. Owen

is saying that if there isn't any fancy memorial going on on the battlefield, then we shouldn't pretend by having them at home. It just seems fake.

LINE 8: And bugles calling for them from sad shires.• ‘Bugles’ are military instruments played at a

soldier’s funeral. This sound can be heard from nearby towns (‘shires’ mean English countryside).

Page 10: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 2

LINE 9: What candles may be held to speed them all?• The poet begins stanza 2 with another question.

What processions can be held to ease the soldiers into the after life? (like lighting candles)

LINES 10-11: Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.• The soldiers had no candles. All they had were

tears that lights the death of their peers.

Page 11: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 2

LINE 12: The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;• ‘pallor’ means paleness & ‘pall’ refers to the cloth that

covers the coffins. This is a use of metaphor to show the suffering of loved ones left behind.

LINES13: Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,• this line could be telling us that the only positive tribute

to the dead soldiers comes from the thoughts and concerns of their loved ones; those who are really concerned about their safety and the danger they're in, and mourn their losses

LINE 14: And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Page 12: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISSTANZA 2

LINE 14: And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.• There are several ways to understand this line. It could

mean:– An image of death. The families that have lost

young men are the ones closing the blinds, as a sort of matching image to the closing and ending of a life.

– The drawing down of blinds also act as a symbol for the way they're keeping out the realities of the war.

– Or we might read this line as a simple, tender, private moment of grief.

Page 13: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISTYPE OF POEM

• This type of a poem is called a SONNET.• It consists of 14 lines.• The rhyme scheme is ‘ABABCDCD

EFFEGG’. Check out the last words of each line again to see this pattern more clearly.

Page 14: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISWORDPLAY

The title “Anthem for Doomed Youth” plays with contrasting ideas.• An “anthem” is supposed to be “a formal song of

loyalty, praise, or happiness”. • The word “doomed” on the other hand, paints a

terrible picture for the youths. • Owen's title is hinting at the contrast between the

popular, patriotic perceptions of war, and the terrible doom the soldiers really face.

• In calling itself an anthem, it's actually questioning the very anthems that are meant to cheer and support our troops. An anthem for a doomed youth is no anthem at all.

Page 15: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISWORDPLAY

WORDPLAY MEANING EXAMPLES

SIMILE comparing something/someone with something/someone similar

“these who die like cattle”

PERSONIFICATION Giving human characteristics to animals or non living objects.

“Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle”

ALLITERATION the use of words that begin with the same sound near one another

“rifles' rapid rattle”

CONSONANTS repetition of consonants especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels

“The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall”

METAPHORS a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar

“The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells;”

Page 16: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

POEM ANALYSISIMAGERY & SYMBOLS

MEANING EXAMPLES

IMAGERY Figurative language that causes people to imagine pictures in their mind

War imagery can be found throughout Stanza 1.

SYMBOLS Something that stands for something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance

“Passing-bells” a symbol of death.“Blinds” a symbol of mourning.

Page 17: Anthem for Doomed Youth Lecture

RELATING TO THE POEMDISCUSSION &QUESTIONS

• What current events can be related to this poem?

• How has the concept of war changed from the time the poet wrote “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

• What remains the same when it comes to war? • Watch THIS video and answer this: – What are the similar themes behind the poem &

the song. – Do you know any other songs or movies that deals

with the horrors of war?