Adapted, with thanks

At the end of this power point presentation, students should be able to:Comment on how poets use literary devices

to create images in the reader’s mindDiscuss how the structure of a poem can

affect the meaning. Show how a poem can tell a story.

In your notebook, write down all the words that you associate with the word…

Definition of war poetry – poetry either produced during a war or about war.

One of the main themes in War poetry is the futility of war. Be on the lookout for this theme in the poems we will study.

When you read a poem, there are a number of ways you can interpret/analyse it. We are now going to briefly look at three different ways to analyse a poem. The following is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon.

Suicide in the TrenchesI knew a simple soldier boyWho grinned at life in empty joy,Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. Siegfried Sassoon 1917

The poet will create an image in your head.What picture is built in your mind?What descriptive words are used?

(adjectives)Which is the most powerful image in the

poem? Why?

1) Focusing on stanza one, what sort of images does the poet try to create? Is the tone positive or negative?

The way the poem is laid out on the page.

Are there gaps in the poem?

How long are the stanza’s?What is the rhyme and

rhythm of the poem?What, if anything, is

unusual about the way the poem is written?

2) What do you think the indentation of the text represents?

To create images, poets will often use the following literary devices: Simile - is a figure of speech

comparing two unlike things, introduced with the word ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Metaphor - comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Personification - giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects.

Alliteration - using the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in close proximity.

3) Look at the poem as a whole. Are there any literary devices?

What reason(s) did the poet have to write the poem?

What do you think the poem is about?

What was your first reaction to reading the poem?

4) Who is the poet speaking to in the final stanza? What is the message? Is the tone the same as in stanza 1?

Write a brief paragraph answering the following:

How does the poet feel about war? With close reference to the poem, support your answer.

What devices can a writer use to paint a vivid image in our minds?

How does the physical structure of a poem affect the meaning?

What other things have you learnt, in terms of ways to analyse a poem?

Read the poems in your recommended texts:

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and

The man he killed by Thomas Hardy

Analyse the poems and write a personal response to them.