Transcript Daily Mail - ib12c13poetry

Smile, Smile, Smile
by Wilfred Owen
Presentation by:
Melanie Portal
Rabeea Khalid
IB English 12 SL
About the Poet
 Wilfred Owen
 18 March 1893 – 4 November
1918
 Most of his famous works were
published posthumously
 Killed in action (Battle of the
Sambre)
 Died a week before the war
ended
About the Poem
 Written on 23rd September 1918 in France
 Written after Owen rejoined his regiment at
Scarborough [after recovering from Neurasthenia
(shell shock) at Craiglockhart Hospital]
 Owen revised this poem when there was a lull (quiet
period) in September 1918
 Dated to be Owen’s last complete poem
 Known to be explicitly satirical (mocking) and
politically subversive (rebellious)
Manuscripts
Background Information
 Owen writes about 2 events:
1. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau
refused Austria’s peace offer because it would
betray the troops
2. In London, pictures were being published of three
smiling wounded men
The caption read “Happy”
 Owen felt disgusted and shared his disgust with
Sassoon
Thesis
 Wilfred Owen exposes the reality and
harshness of the war in this satirical poem
by contrasting propaganda and realism
through the use of literary devices and
diction.
Origin of the Title
 Comes from a very popular marching song of
WWI called “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old
Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile”
 Originally written by George Henry Powell
 Aimed at maintaining moral, recruiting forces,
and defending Britain’s war aims
 Fitting to poem due to it’s sarcastic nature
♪ ♫ Pack Your Bags ♫ ♪
Performed by Murray Johnson 1916
Performed by Reinald Werrenrath 1917
Performed by Spiked Jones and his City
Slickers 1942
Courtesy: www.firstworldwar.com
Summary of the Poem
 Lines 1-4: scene is set
– wounded soldiers are reading the latest drivel (a
worthless message) from the Daily Mail
 Lines 5-17: propaganda message written in the Daily
Mail
 Lines 18-23: reality of the war
 Lines 24-26: ironic conclusion
Vocabulary
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



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Limp (1): not firm
Sunk (1): doomed to extinction, depressed, dejected
Mail (2): refers to the Daily Mail, a British newspaper
Booty (3): plunder taken from an enemy in time of war
Haul (3): analogy - a fish caught in a net
Aerodromes (7): any location from which aircraft flying operations
take place
 Undying: never ending
 Stead (11): the post or function properly or customarily occupied or
served by another
 Solidly (11): with strength and soundness, firm manner
Vocabulary
 Indemnified (12): secure against future loss
 Victory (13): a successful ending of a struggle
 Integrity (17): accordance with the relevant moral values, norms
and rules
 Chafe (18): feel extreme irritation or anger
 Curiously (19): beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
 Broad (24): wide, having great (or a certain) extent from one side to
the other
 Rings (25): vibrating sound
 Poor (26): lacking in specific resources, qualities or substances
 Things (26): an entity that is not named specifically
Who is Speaking?
 Owen
 Usually, poets strive to create their own individual
voices
 The 2 events are not personally experienced by
Owen
 Thus, “I” isn’t used
To Whom?
 No one specifically
 Owen is speaking to the British people in general and
trying to notify them about the sham that the
newspapers are creating
 Unlike his other poems, Owen does NOT use the
word “you”
 No link to the reader is being made
Setting
 Beaten up and wounded soldiers are reading the
newspaper
 “But smiled at one another curiously” (19)
– implying that they are together reading the paper
– possibly at a“England one by one had fled to
France” (22)
– communal place (ex. on the streets)
– in France
Purpose
 To expose the nationalism that embraces
the soldiers and exploits them
– “…their foremost need is aerodromes” (7)
– “The sons we offered might regret they died / If
we got nothing lasting in their stead” (10-11)
– “We must be solidly indemnified.” (12)
– “The greatest glory will be theirs who fought /
Who kept this nation in integrity” (16-17)
Purpose
 To attack the Daily Mail’s vision of a victorious nation
– “the casualties (typed small) / And (large) Vast
Booty from our Latest Haul” (2-3)
– “worthy Victory” (13)
– Daily Mail censored the casualties yet displayed
the Booty (goods obtained)
– Daily Mail was notoriously jingoistic (infamously
patriotic)
Purpose
 To expose the potential bitterness towards society
from those who survived
– “Nation? -- the half-limped soldiers did not chafe”
(18)
– “But smiled at each other curiously” (19)
– chafe: feel extreme irritation or anger
curiously: beyond or deviating from the usual or
expected
Meter & Rhyme
 Single extended stanza
 Can be divided into 6 quatrains (alternative rhyme
scheme)
 Propaganda section is a monotonous iambic meter
 Other sections are trochees (metrical foot of two
syllables, one long/stressed and one
short/unstressed)
 Trochee: opposite of the iamb
 Contrast differentiates the sham from reality
Literary Devices
Metaphors
 “making homes” (6)
– settle down, quit fighting
 “foremost need is aerodromes” (7)
– need more people to fight, people are being compared
to war utensils
 “The sons we offered might regret they died / If we got
nothing lasting in their stead” (10-11)
– the young soldiers who previously joined and died, they
will not be at peace if there is no one to replace them
so join the army to give them peace
Literary Devices
Metaphors (continued)
 “We rulers sitting in this ancient spot”
– “we rulers” refers to the newspaper
– “ancient spot” is Britain
 “England one by one had fled to France”
– many English soldiers were in France to fight
during the war
Literary Devices
Personification
 “England one by one fled to France”
– England = English soldiers
Alliteration – enhances rhythm
 “Would wrong” (15)
 “Greatest glory” (16)
Consonance – usually used to create harmony
 “dead” (9) and “died” (10)
 ironic
Literary Devices
Repetition
 “Head to limp head,” “sunk-eyed” (1) and “half-limbed”
(18)
– nationalism doesn’t pay attention to the mental and
physical maiming of the soldiers
 “Cheap homes” and “making homes”
– many died and never got a chance to make a home and
raise a family
 “smiled” (19), “smiles”(24), “smile” (26)
– appears 3 times
– a link to title of poem
Diction & Connotation
 Caustic – harsh and corrosive in language
– “limp head” (1)
– “sunk-eyed” (1)
– “half-limbed” (18)
– The men who make up the nation are physically
damaged
Diction & Connotation
 “The sons we offered” (10)
– sacrificial
 “England one by one fled to France”
– fled: an action done willingly yet the
soldiers had to move to France to fight
Imagery & Symbolism
 “limp head, sunk-eyed wounded” (1) “half-limbed readers”
(18)
– wounded soldiers = reality of war
 “aerodromes” (7)
– symbolizes that war must go on
 “Sons we offered”(10)
– sacrificial connotation which means they (people like
the Majors in “Base Details) are not concerned about
the young who died
Imagery & Symbolism
 “Solidly indemnified”(12)
– image of staying strong and fortification; need for
more soldiers to ensure victory
 “like secret men who know their secret safe” (20)
– the soldiers know the real truth
Tone & Mood




Satirical – Sassoon’s influence on Owen
Propaganda section – enthusiastic
Other sections – patronizing tone
“The men’s first instinct will be making homes” (6)
– instinctive actions rather than rational actions
 “Peace would do wrong to our undying dead”(9)
– the dead would resent the survival of others,
insult to the dead
Tone & Mood & Atmosphere
 “We rulers sitting in this ancient spot” (14)
– we (Daily Mail) decide what to say
 “How they smile! They’re happy now, poor things”
– many suggest Owen is mocking the women, this
line has a feminine touch; can be argued
Politically rebellious
– “Nation?” (18)
Tension & Conflicts
Propaganda
– More people are needed to
cover up for the dead
– If you fight, glory will be
yours since you helped keep
the nation in it’s integrity
Reality
– Soldiers are maimed mentally
and physically
– They know England is no
longer where it was before
but rather where they are
now
– Soldiers “smiled curiously”
because they know the real
truth
Irony
 “It being certain war has just begun” (8)
– war was coming to an end
 “Peace would do wrong to our undying dead” (9)
– peace should bring harmony and calmness, yet it
would “do wrong”
 “The sons we offered might regret they died” (10)
– someone dead isn’t able to regret
 “How they smile! They’re happy now, poor things” (26)
– sarcastic and mockery
Theme
 Owens's recurring theme of exposing the truth about
the war is very prominent
 “ Nation?” (18)
– one way Owen exposes the soldiers real feelings
and beliefs
 Nationalism and how the soldiers have none left
 The lies of propaganda
Conclusion
 Owen denounces nationalism
 Creates a strong ironic image of war torn soldiers reading
about the glory the war
 Shows how propaganda in news papers and songs was
used to try and recruit fit soldiers to join the war
 Owen shows the readers the story from the soldier’s
point of view
– they know everything, including the fact that the
glorification of war was just a big lie.
Art Aspect…
 Propaganda Poster
 Both poem and poster convey
the same message
 Advertizing the need for more
soldiers
 Notice the capitalization on
the top and bottom for
emphasis
 Dark background + light font =
eye catching
 “We must be solidly
indemnified” (12) and poster
have same meaning
 Poster = heroic picture
 Poem = “greatest glory will be
theirs who fought” (16)
How We Feel About this Poem
Rabeea:
“I believe this poem not only is exposing the propaganda
during WWI but it can also account for the continuous
propaganda right now. We read newspapers daily about
the Canadian or American army recruiting young men to
fight for their country. They all fight, some die, some are
left being amputees. Do they obtain glory? No, all they
get is pain and misery. I believe this poem states just
that. In this poem, even after fighting for their country,
the soldiers are now “half-limbed” and are reading the
jingoistic newspaper. After experiencing the war firsthand, they know the truth of the war.”
How We Feel About this Poem
Melanie:
“I really like the way Owen sets up this poem in the sense
that it shows us what kind of nonsense the newspapers
would write about and how they would exploit the
soldiers in such inhumane ways. The papers say that the
ones who died need to be replaced otherwise they will
gain nothing and what they are doing is worthless. Owen
did a good job of showing sarcastically what he thinks of
this propaganda, and by writing “Nation?” with an
question mark he shows his disgust. The fact that this
poem is related to an actual song aimed to keep the
troops in moral and keep them fighting sends a strong
message and strengthens Owen's point.”
THE END