Futility

Question 1

what does “futility” mean?

Answer 1

for something to be pointless of useless

Question 2

context

Answer 2

• born in 1893
• written shortly before his death in 1918
• marks a change in Owen’s attitude towards war
• explores the death of a soldier from hypothermia that Owen witnessed first-hand

Question 3

themes

Answer 3

• politics and justice
• futility of war
• waste of life
• questioning God

Question 4

why is there different line lengths?

Answer 4

to create a sense of incompleteness, mourning and questioning

Question 5

what quote is “TBESAA?”

Answer 5

“to break earths sleep at all?”

Question 6

analysis of “to break earths sleep at all?”

Answer 6

• personification
• “sleep” links to death, soldiers escape from reality - lost hope
• last line of the poem is cut short to mimic the soldiers life was cut short

Question 7

what quote is”MHITS”?

Answer 7

“move him into the sun”

Question 8

analysis of “move him into the sun”

Answer 8

• “him” is a vague pronoun - allows readers to make connections
• hopeful tone
• religious allusion - the light of the sun represents God’s power to give life

Question 9

what quote is “WOTCOACS”?

Answer 9

“woke once the clays of a cold star”

Question 10

analysis of “woke once the clays of a cold star”

Answer 10

• assonance of “k” sound - desperate, jarring, evokes harsh coldness with the warmth of first stanza
• moves from “seeds” in the previous line, to “clays” - connotations of lifelessness
• “star” - connotations of distance and lifelessness. earth before life - shows suns power

Question 11

who is the poet?

Answer 11

Wilfred Owen

Question 12

poet intentions

Answer 12

highlight the inhumanity and pointlessness of war

Question 13

reader reaction

Answer 13

realise the senselessness and pointlessness of war