During war, authors like Stephen Crane,Wilfred Owen, Tim O’Brien, and Kevin Powers use literature to protest war. There were also authors who experienced the war first hand.. These authors use irony, imagery, and diction to help their anti-war protest. In many anti-war writing pieces, authors use irony to advance their purpose. Wilfred Owen uses irony in his poem called “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Owen fought and died in World War One. In the poem, lines 27 and and 28 show Owen’s irony “Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori.” These lines translate to “It is sweet and right to die for your country.” This is irony because the whole essay has a critical tone of war and then at the end Owen writes, “Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori,” which …show more content…
Wilfred Owen utilizes imagery in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Owen uses visual and auditory imagery. Visual imagery is in line one of the poem: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” Owen uses this to let the reader visualize how the how the soldiers looked while they were carrying their heavy packs through the fields and trenches of World War One. The first part of the quotation “bent double” lets the reader visualize that the soldiers backs were giving out form carrying the heavy packs. In the second part of the quotation, “Old beggars under sacks” Owen allows the reader to visualize how skinny the soldiers are from being food deprived. The “sacks” refers to the backpacks the soldiers were carrying. Owen also utilizes auditory imagery. Imagery is seen in line 22; “Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs.” This imagery lets the reader think of the gurgling sound. But it also lets the reader visualize the blood coming forth from the soldiers lungs. This imagery helps advance Owen’s purpose. Not only does Wilfred Owen utilize imagery in his work “Dulce et Decorum Est”, but Kevin Powers also utilizes imagery in his work The Yellow Birds. Unlike Owen, Kevin Powers experiences the war first hand during the Iraq war. Powers uses olfactory and visual imagery to advance his anti-war protest. An example of olfactory imagery is “and …show more content…
In these writings authors use literary devices such as structure to advance their purpose. Stephen Crane’s “War Is Kind” implements structure to protest war. Stanzas one, three, and five are all structured the same. This helps with his purpose because he keeps repeating some of the same lines to give the poem emphasis. He emphasizes it to show that war is glorious and to make the reader cry. Lines two and four have the same structure but different structure from lines one, three, and five. Lines two and four give a break between one, three, and five. Crane emphasizes the horrors of war in these stanzas. Not only does Crane use structure in his work, but Tim O 'Brien also uses structure in his works. Tim O 'Brien writes The Things They Carry, which is based on his experience in the vietnam war. O 'Brien utilizes parallel structure in his works. An example is “Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations….head.” It begins with the soldier 's name. It then follows by a small description of the soldier and finally it ends on what they carried or what happened to then in the battle field. This quotation also shows that each soldiers carried different things. All these extra items they carried added weight to the overall pack. During war authors use structure in literature to protest
The Things They Carried by American author Tim O’Brien, who was drafted in the Vietnam war, describes the experience of the American infantry fighting in Vietnam. O’Brien utilises various rhetorical devices to illustrate the immense emotional & physical burdens the soldiers were to bear to enlighten the reader about the true horrors of war. For example, O’Brien employs asyndeton & polysyndeton in sentences listing the many things the soldiers carried. “They carried Sterno, safety pins, trip flares, signal flares, spools of wire, razor blades…,” (O’Brien). The lists of items carried carry on, overwhelming & exhausting the reader of the physical burdens of war.
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried explores the experiences of soldiers in the Vietnam War, along with their thoughts and memories. Though the events that take place could be exaggerated or completely made up, the thoughts and feelings of the characters still shine through and feel very real. The stories use a grim and uncontrollable atmosphere juxtaposed with the normality of human action that works to suggest war is above common morality yet defends the humanity of the soldiers who fight it. O'Brien begins his novel by listing the various items soldiers would carry to emphasize the literal weight on their shoulders, helping the reader see the humanity in these fighters. He uses the numerical poundage, which gives an understanding of how
The things they carry will have a lot of effect on what they do and how they act in this war story. The things they carry will soon affect them emotionally, Medically, and by Selfishly. II. —Body
All one can do is learn how to control fear and utilize it. “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy Boy,” by Tim O’ Brien is a short story that focuses on the view of Private First Class Paul Berlin, a newcomer to the war, as he and his platoon cautiously make their way to the sea. Through the author’s repetition and wording, the readers are given the effects of war, the attributes of fear and a lasting impression about fear. Through O’Brien’s repetition and use of similes, he delivers the effects of war to the readers.
Continuing To Be Affected Soldiers participating in a war they do not understand, suffer physical and mental anguish trying to cope with the horrors of it all. Tim O’Brien is both the narrator and protagonist of the short story “The Things They Carried.” He enters the war a scared young man afraid of the shame that dodging the war would bring him and leaves the war a guilt-ridden middle-aged man who tells stories about Vietnam in order to cope with his painful memories. Jimmy Cross’s character represents the deep effects responsibility has on those who are too immature to handle it. As a sophomore in college, he signs up for the Reserve Officers Training Corps because it is worth a few credits and because his friends are doing it.
One of the strongest tools an author can use to strengthen his or her writing are literary devices. Literary devices allow authors to express their meaning in a creative way and produce a certain reaction from the reader. These devices are a main reason why many consider literature an art, as they help authors convey their messages in a more expressive way that goes beyond simple words. The effective use of stylistic devices is a clear sign of a well-crafted and impactful literary work. The Things They Carried, a mostly fictional novel written by Tim O’Brien about soldiers’ experiences in the Vietnam War, demonstrates how authors can target the reader in a particular way through the use of literary techniques.
Synthesis Essay In the Vietnam war, there were many soldiers at war with each other, and most soldiers were not prepared for the fight. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien was in the Vietnam war when he was young. The book was not in order but he still talks about his experiences while in the war. His purpose for writing this novel was because he wanted younger audience to know what happened in the war and what the soldiers experienced.
Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carry,” tells a story about the lives of young men during war. The narrator tells his story from first person, marking all of his adventures and experiences of his companions. O’Brien crafts his piece through the use of repetition, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the idea of physical and psychological hardships of soldiers during war. Though the literary device of repetition, O'Brien portrays the physical and psychological hardships of a soldier.
These poets however had no idea what the reality of the war was. In the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, by using figurative language, vivid imagery, and a certain diction, he describes the horrific despair that went along with war.
In “Dulce et decorum Est”, Owen demonstrates the effect of battle as confusion and exhaustion through the use of simile: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”. He characterizes the soldiers are extremely fatigued and anemic like “old beggars”. The word “double” exaggerates the soldiers’ movement to help indicate the physical effects of a clash. The phrase “bent double” has connotation of tiredness because the soldiers are exhausted while they “trudge” with their legs “bent
The poem, “Dulce Et Decroum Est” is a powerful anti-war poem set in World War 1 that uses dramatic imagery, diction, a unique type of rhyme and rhythm, and symbolism in the structure to show how harsh war is and not the glamor it is made out to be. To understand the poem we must first understand the title. “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a Latin title that is taken from the Roman poet Horace and means "it is sweet and honorable...” followed by pro patria mori, which means "to die for one 's country”. Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” is one of the most famous poems from the “soldier-poets” who fought in the World War 1In 1917, Owen was diagnosed with “shell shock”, commonly known as post-traumatic stress disorder, and was granted a reprieve from the
In “Dulce et decorum” owen speaks to “children ardent for some desperate glory” (Owen) as he warn to not follow the deception that his country and men have told him “the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (Owen). Through this owen portrays that it isn’t sweet and fitting to die for one 's country and though owen believes this he still continues to fight on. This portrays courage because even though he’s afraid of dying he endures for the sake of his country. Throughout “Dulce et decorum” he shows the horrors and fears he had to experience during warfare for example “as under a green sea, i saw him drowning” (Owen) in which Owen shows an experience he had in World War I, where he witnessed a comrade die horribly in a poison gas
Another author who uses irony to protest the idea of war is Tim O’Brien. O’Brien uses irony to show how all the things they were issued with helped with help take care of a fallen soldier, “Ted Lavender was shot, they used his poncho to wrap him up, then to carry him across the paddy,then lift him into the chopper that took him away” ( O’Brien). Authors use imagery to support the ironic meaning being the poncho that they wrap Ted Lavender in. The poncho was a item issued to the mean to carry through war, they had such a burden carrying all these items, they didn't realize they could use them for a fallen soldier, the irony in it is how such an normal item is being used to carry a dead
Nostalgia is shown through every stanza showing us that being in a soldier's shoe at the time of the great trench wars of 1914 is not an easy thing. Using this tone brings on a sense of pity corresponding together beautiful. the reader feels sorry for the men losing their sense of humanity, the respect for the dead, and the agony of these men. When talking about a subject like this what needs to be in mind is Owen has been through this himself so he has resentment and anger leading to him using this tone in his work. He feels as if he has not been compensated enough for doing this for his country and seeing his fellow man, including himself, turned into animals.
In addition to imagery, Owen uses metaphors to critique the ideal of modern warfare heroism. As the narrator’s squadron is returning from battle the narrator illustrates his squadron as, Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knocked-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.