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    Disabled

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    parth patel
    Wilfred Owen was a British poet who served as a soldier in World War I. He volunteered for service in 1917 and was wounded three times before being diagnosed with shell shock. While recovering in a hospital, he wrote the poem "Disabled" about a teenage soldier who lost his limbs in the war. The poem depicts how war dehumanizes soldiers, leaving the young man as a shadow of his former self. It uses melancholy language and compares the veteran to a "queer disease" to emphasize how war strips away humanity.

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    Disabled

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    Wilfred Owen was a British poet who served as a soldier in World War I. He volunteered for service in 1917 and was wounded three times before being diagnosed with shell shock. While recovering in a hospital, he wrote the poem "Disabled" about a teenage soldier who lost his limbs in the war. The poem depicts how war dehumanizes soldiers, leaving the young man as a shadow of his former self. It uses melancholy language and compares the veteran to a "queer disease" to emphasize how war strips away humanity.

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    Disabled (1)

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    Wilfred Owen was a British poet who served as a soldier in World War I. He volunteered for service in 1917 and was wounded three times before being diagnosed with shell shock. While recovering in a hospital, he wrote the poem "Disabled" about a teenage soldier who lost his limbs in the war. The poem depicts how war dehumanizes soldiers, leaving the young man as a shadow of his former self. It uses melancholy language and compares the veteran to a "queer disease" to emphasize how war strips away humanity.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    51 views20 pages

    Disabled

    Uploaded by

    parth patel
    Wilfred Owen was a British poet who served as a soldier in World War I. He volunteered for service in 1917 and was wounded three times before being diagnosed with shell shock. While recovering in a hospital, he wrote the poem "Disabled" about a teenage soldier who lost his limbs in the war. The poem depicts how war dehumanizes soldiers, leaving the young man as a shadow of his former self. It uses melancholy language and compares the veteran to a "queer disease" to emphasize how war strips away humanity.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 20

    Wilfred Owen

    • Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)


    • Volunteered, enlisted, and served on the front lines
    • 1917 - wounded three times
    • Later diagnosed with "shell shock" (PTSD)
    • Sent to mental hospital where he met Siegfried Sassoon
    • "The pity of war" was his poetry subject
    • Returned to the front line and died on November 4, 1918
    "Disabled"
    • Written in 1917
    • About a teenage soldier who lost his limbs fighting in World War I
    • The War:
    65,000,000 mobilized total
    21,000,000 wounded
    • British Empire had 2,000,000 wounded
    Overall Meaning
    • War is responsible for dehumanizing its soldiers. It claims their
    livelihood, and relegates them to be outcasts, shadows of their
    former selves.

    • In "Disabled," Wilfred Owen uses melancholy diction and a


    metaphor comparing the veteran to a “queer disease” to
    emphasize his point that war dehumanizes its soldiers.
    Vocabulary
    • S1 L1: Ghastly- causing great horror or fear, unpleasant
    • S1 L6: Mothered- soothed
    • S3 L1: Silly - desiring desperately (artist had a crush on him)
    • S3 L5: Shell-holes- cavity in the ground made by artillery shells
    • S4 L5: God in kilts- referring to the Scottish uniforms
    • S4 L7: Giddy jilts - young women
    • S4 L12: Hilts - handle of a weapon
    • S4 L14: Arrears - money that is owed and should have been paid
    earlier
    • S4 L15: "esprit de corps"- French for "spirit of the body"
    • S6 L1: Institutes- mental hospitals
    • S6 L3: Dole- to give out, to distribute
    Revision questions
    1. What were the veteran's reasons for enlisting in the war? How does the narrator feel
    about this decision at the end of the poem?

    2. Stanza 2 Line 2: "In the old times, before he threw away his knees.“

    What do you think this means? Does the veteran regret his sacrifice? Does he think it was
    worthwhile?

    3. Comment on the diction of the poem. How did it make you feel?

    4. Stanza 4: "Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal / Only a solemn man
    who brought his fruits / Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.“

    Was the narrator glorified after war? How does this treatment vary from his achievements
    in sports? What does the community's reaction say about their feelings towards war?

    5. What literary devices did you notice when reading the poem?
    video
    • https://youtu.be/RSxBJlF6OMI
    2. https://youtu.be/jFe7jVhrSJU
    Disabled
    Ideas
    • The poem is written about a soldier who has been injured in the war.
    • He is sat in a wheelchair and he is in a lonely place.
    • He considers his past and how he used to be good looking and an artist.
    • He lied about his age to enter the army.
    • At the time, he thought it would be glorious to be a soldier and he had
    not thought about the wider implications of entering into military
    service.
    • There is a sadness in the poem that they will not escape the horror of
    the way and of his uncertain future.
    • It is a hopelessness that represents the generation, rather than simply
    the soldier identified.
    Context

    • Wilfred Owen witnessed the horror of World War I and he was hurt on
    the battlefield.
    • The poem was written whilst he was recovering in hospital, in
    Edinburgh.
    • He was diagnosed with shell shock.
    • It was in this hospital that he met one of the other famous war poets,
    Siegfried Sassoon.
    • Owen is just one of the many poets who recorded the events on the
    frontline in poetic form.
    • After writing the poem, he returned to the battlefield. He died on 4th
    November 1918 and his parents discovered that their son had been lost
    on Armistice Day.
    Author’s purpose
    • With Owen’s experience on the battlefield, he would have been
    extremely aware of the consequences of physical injuries.
    • Unlike modern day society, after World War 1, there was no real care
    for those who had post-traumatic injuries.
    • Owen wants to make it clear with profound description how horrific
    and life-changing the consequences of war could be.
    • ‘Disabled’ is often described as one of the most disturbing poems that
    he wrote.
    Language

    1. Metaphors and Similes

    ‘Like a Hymn’ (stanza 1) - considering where hymns are sung is


    important. This is the first signal of religion and there is the idea of being
    saved or a funeral procession. It is possible that there is a reference to the
    ‘Lord’s Hymn’, which is said at important times in one’s life.
    Like a queer disease
    …he’d look a god in kilts,
    Language
    2. Gloomy Diction

    -First stanza: "dark", "shivered", "ghastly", "gray", "saddening"


    3. Grotesque War Imagery

    - Stanza 3: "He'd lost his colour very far from here,/ Poured it
    down shell-holes till the veins ran dry"
    Language
    4. Alliteration
    • Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound. If the alliteration begins with an ‘s’, then this is called
    sibilance. There are two types of sound: hard sounds (plosives) or soft sounds.
    • It is extremely important to consider which sort of sound is being repeated, as this will determine the impact.
    • ‘Girls glanced’ (stanza 2) - The soft repeated ‘g’ sound reminds us of a gentler time in his life.
    • However, arguably the hard sound reminds us of the bitterness that is currently being experienced, as he
    worries that ‘girls’ will never ‘glance’ at him again.
    • This is a recurring theme in the poem, as there is repetitive mention of women: ‘mothering’, ‘girls’ waists’,
    ‘women’s eyes’ and ‘Meg’. Perhaps he is concerned that he will never be attractive to women again.
    Make note on the following aspects of language
    5. Assonance
    6. Use of the personal pronoun ‘He’
    7. The participle ‘wheeled’
    8. The adjectives ‘dark’, ‘disabled’, grey, legless, saddening, whole, cold
    9. Adverbs like ‘never’, ‘in the old times’
    10. Verbs like ‘poured’, ‘smiling’, rang, mothered, dole, modal verb ‘May’ in the last stanza
    11. Quantifier phrase ‘ a few’
    12. Concrete noun ‘bed’ in the last stanza
    Structure
    1. Short sentence structures
    ‘He thought he’d better join. He wonders why.
    Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts.
    That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
    Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
    He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg’
    • This section of the poem contains multiple short sentences. It is almost as though he is reliving
    his lie.
    • It is shocking how simple the lies were but the wider impact that they have caused. He considers
    how the simple actions have resulted in him now sitting in a wheelchair.

    2. Enjambment

    - Stanza 1: Through the park / voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn

    - Stanza 5: To-night he noticed how the women's eyes / Passed from him to the strong
    men that were whole.
    Structure
    3. Two part structure

    • The poem is clearly divided into two parts:


    before the war and after the war.
    • There is much mention of sport and
    ‘goal(s)’. This further emphasises the
    shattered dreams of the soldier being
    described, as the title is clear in stating that
    the soldier is ‘disabled.’
    Structure
    5. Linking stanzas
    ‘And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.
    \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
    Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
    Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
    Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.’
    • Looking carefully at the contrast between the applause and celebration
    that he was sent to war with and the sadness of the crowd on his return
    home, we can understand how the morale of the British people was
    affected by the war.
    • Loss of men occurred in every family and although his return was
    celebrated, Owen emphasises that it was not with the same positive
    energy that he left home with.
    Structure
    6. Repetition
    • The repetition in the poem is somewhat irregular in the first half of the
    poem.
    • It is as though the soldier has lost their rhythm in life and there is no
    regular order to life anymore.
    • However, as the poem progresses, the rhyme becomes more noticeable
    and regular. Perhaps this is to recognise that this is the norm now of the
    soldier and he must accept this way of life.
    Structure
    7. Ending
    The poem ends with an exclamation, followed by rhetorical questions, which contain repetition:
    ‘How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come
    And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?’
    • There is a sense of desperation in the voice of the narrator. The situation appears to be a
    metaphor for the aftercare that society will provide to the soldier.
    • The fact that the nurses are not attending to the soldier is reflective of how nobody will further
    care and look after the injured.
    • He will be forgotten about.
    Comment on the following aspects of structure
    8. Tone
    9. Mood
    10. Juxtaposition
    11. Regular rhyme
    12. Capitalization of ‘F’ in Fear and ‘G’ in Goal
    13. The dashes and the question marks
    14. The three lined stanza 6
    15. Point of view
    16. Tense
    17. The use of italics in the word ‘Thanked’
    Form
    It is an anti war narrative poem. The experiences of the ex-
    soldiers in this poem are told by an omniscient narrator who tells
    the story of the central character, an unnamed ex- soldier who has
    returned from war with severe and life changing injuries.
    “ He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark/ and shivered in
    his ghastly suit of gray,/ legless, sewn short at elbow…/
    Exam practice
    • Within the exam, you will be asked to compare one text to
    another of your choice. Here are 3 example essays that you
    could practice. You must consider the use of form, language
    and structure in your answer:
    • Discuss the sense of loss in ‘Disabled’

    • Discuss the sense of helplessness in ‘Disabled’

    • How is youth presented in ‘Disabled’?

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