Activity 2.2.5 – Poetry as Social Commentary
Make a submission
Carefully read the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by the Canadian poet Wilfred Owen. The poem can be found in Unit 2 - Resource Folder.
Answer the following questions:
- Identify the 2 similes used in the first two lines of the poem and explain what they tell us about the soldiers.
- What adjective does the narrator use in Line 10? Why is it effective?
- Explain what is being described in lines 10 to 14.
- Look at lines 13 to 14. How does the narrator help us imagine his view of the event he is describing?
- What is the narrator describing in Stanza Three?
- Comment on the use of the word, “flung” in Line 18. What does it suggest about the soldiers and the way the dying man is treated?
- What is the poet’s message in the poem and how is it emphasized in the closing lines (25 to 29) of the poem?
- Choose a line you think is particularly shocking or effective in describing the experience of war. Quote the line you have chosen and explain why you feel it is so powerful.