Hello there.

It's great to see you today.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today in your lesson on understanding the poem "Exposure" by Wilfred Owen.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to explain how Owen's own experiences shaped his attitudes towards war.

And our key words for today are enlist.

To enlist means to voluntarily join the military.

Owen enlisted in World War I.

Subvert.

Subvert means to undermine or go against.

If you subvert a rule, you might break it.

If you subvert a tradition, you might stop doing that tradition and embrace a new way of doing things.

Demoralise means to cause someone to lose confidence or hope.

This is a really, really important word for today's poem.

And futile.

Futile means incapable of producing any useful result or pointless.

Pay attention when we read the poem to what Owen presents as futile.

Now pause the video and jot those key words and their definitions down now.

So in today's lesson, we'll start off by making predictions about the poem "Exposure." Making predictions is a really good thing to do before you read a poem, because it can help you develop those independent comprehension and analysis skills that are so important for poetry.

In the second learning cycle, we'll make sure we completely understand the poem "Exposure." So let's begin with making predictions.

I want you to discuss with your partner what comes to your mind when you think of war.

Pause the video and discuss that now.

Let's go through what you may have said.

War has connotations of violence.

We may associate war with weapons.

We may associate war with death, we may associate war with attack, we may associate war with soldiers, we may associate war with sacrifice.

There are many more things that you could have said.

We'll be exploring how Wilfred Owen subverts and/or conforms to our expectations about what war is like in his poem "Exposure." So now I want you to think about what might have come to a young man's mind in 1914 when considering war.

And on the screen there is a propaganda poster that would've been shown to young men around this time.

So use that to help you formulate your answers.

Pause the video and discuss now.

This poster says, "Britons wants you.

Join your country's army.

God save the king." And it's got a commanding officer pointing directly to the young man reading it.

So based on this widespread propaganda encouraging young men to sign up for World War I, a lot of young men viewed enlisting as a duty and privilege.

Wilfred Owen was 21 years old when World War I started.

He enlisted at 22 years old.

He too may have been exposed and influenced by this propaganda.

In today's lesson, we are going to explore how Owen's poem "Exposure," subverts and/or conforms to modern and pre-1918 attitudes towards war.

So "Exposure" was written by Wilfred Owen in 1917, and that was two years after he enlisted.

I want you to discuss, what do you think this poem may be about? So it was written during World War I, and it was written by someone who had recently signed up to join the army.

Pause the video discuss what do you think the poem may be about? Some really good predictions there.

I'm going to give you the first and the last line of the poem.

The first is, "Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us." The last line is, "But nothing happens." I now want you to discuss how the first and last line of the poem link to the poem title "Exposure." Pause the video and discuss that now.

Perhaps the title "Exposure" might relate to the soldiers being exposed to the harsh weather conditions that we see in that first line there.

Hmm, it's less obvious how "but nothing happens" could link to the title "Exposure." Maybe we'll find out more about that as we read the poem.

I want you to think about how the first and last lines link to each other now.

So pause the video and discuss that with your partner.

Off you go.

We will see exactly how those two lines link as we begin reading the poem.

And the next discussion question is what may have happened in the poem between the first and the last lines? Pause the video and discuss that now.

Let's keep all our predictions to ourselves for now so we can read the poem with fresh eyes and maybe Wilfred Owen will surprise us.

Before we read the poem though, I want you to read the letter from Wilfred Owen to his mother in 1917.

You can see this in the additional materials.

In the letter, he describes the conditions in no man's land.

No man's land was a bit of land between the home and enemy trenches.

As you read the letter, I want you to highlight any information which reveals Wilfred Owen's attitude towards war.

The poem "Exposure" reflects on some of the content from his letter.

So reading this letter might give you a bit more understanding as we read the poem.

So pause the video and complete those tasks now.

That letter really gives us a true snapshot of what war was like, doesn't it? Let's check your understanding of what we discussed in the lesson so far.

In 1914, a lot of young men thought that enlisting in war was an honour, a reflection of one's strength and bravery, a horrendous decision, or only for experienced professionals? Pause the video and answer that question now.

In 1914, a lot of young men thought that enlisting in war was both an honour and a reflection of one's strength and bravery, and this message was only reinforced by propaganda posters like the one we saw previously in the lesson.

I now want you to complete the phrase from Owen's letter to his mother.

He says, "We are marooned on a something desert." Does he call it a sweltering desert, a cold desert, or a frozen desert? Pause the video and answer that question.

In Owen's letter to his mother in 1917, he says, "We are marooned on a frozen desert." And that really gives us an insight into how harsh these weather conditions were and how the weather was a huge source of discomfort to the soldiers.

In his letter to his mother, what is Owen shocked that he and his men did not die of? Shell shock, artillery fire or the cold? Pause the video and answer that question.

In his letter to his mother, Owen is shocked that he and his men did not die of the cold.

That is really shocking actually, because we'd expect the biggest threat at war for the soldiers to be an attack from the enemy.

But Wilfred Owen depicts the biggest threat of war to be the weather interestingly.

In Wilfred Owen's letter to his mother, he describes the something conditions at war.

How does Wilfred Owen describe the conditions at war? Pause the video and answer that question.

In Wilfred Owen's letter to his mother, he describes the bleak conditions at war.

He shows how war is the exact opposite to what the propaganda posters depict.

War is not victorious and war is not pleasant.

I now want you to write a short descriptive paragraph based on the image below.

Use some of the ideas in Owen's letter to help you.

Remember how he focuses heavily on the weather conditions and paints a realistic picture of war.

I want you to do the same in your paragraph.

Here's some help.

You could first describe the sky.

You could think about its colour.

You could then describe the air.

Is it cold, sticky, biting, or maybe something else? You could talk about the wildlife, if there is any.

You could talk about what kind of condition that wildlife is in.

You could talk about the smells, and you could talk about the ground on which the soldiers walk.

Pause the video and write your short descriptive paragraph about life in the trench now.

I hope that task got you more into the head space of what it would be like as a soldier in World War I.

Let's take a look at an example.

The stagnant pallid sky loomed above.

It seemed to have not changed for a week.

Birds flew aimlessly distracting the men from the stench of sweat and stale mud.

The cool winds swept through every crevice of the trench, numbing their fingers, biting their noses.

They trudged on with lost boots and hope.

Their feet seems to be glued to the relentless mud.

This answer uses alliteration to emphasise the disgusting conditions of the trench.

Look at that sentence, scent of sweat and stale mud.

That alliteration is really enforcing the pungent aromas in the trench.

The answer also uses personification to present the wind as a threat to the soldiers.

The cruel wind numbs their fingers and bit their noses.

I now want you to highlight two stylistic choices from your own paragraph and annotate while you use them.

Pause the video and do that now.

Excellent job.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle where we are going to now finally read the poem "Exposure" and make sure we understand this poem.

I'm really excited to read it with you.

So open your anthology and let's read the poem "Exposure." "Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us.

Worried we keep awake because the night is silent.

Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient, worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous.

But nothing happens.

Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire like twitching agony of men among its brambles.

Northwood, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles far off like a dull rumour of some other war.

What are we doing here? The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow.

We only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy.

Dawn massing in the east, her melancholy army attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey, but nothing happens.

Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence less steady than the air that shutters black with snow with sidelong flowing flakes that flock, pause and renew.

We watch them wandering up and down the wind's nonchalance, but nothing happens.

Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces.

We cringe in holes, back on forgotten dreams, and stare, snow-dazed deep into grassier ditches.

So we drowse, sun-dozed, littered with blossoms trickling where the blackbird fusses.

Is it that we are dying? Slowly our ghosts drag home, glimpsing the sunk fires, glazed with crusted dark-red jewels.

Crickets jingle there.

For hours the innocent mice rejoice.

The house is theirs.

Shutters and doors, all closed, on us the doors are closed.

We turn back to our dying.

Since we believe not otherwise can kind fires burn, now ever suns smile true on child, or field, or fruit.

For God's invincible spring our love is made afraid.

Therefore, not loath, we lie out here, therefore we're born, for love of God seems dying.

Tonight, this frost will fasten on this mud and us, shrivelling many hands and puckering foreheads crisp.

The burying-party picks and shovels in shaking grasp.

Pause over half-known faces.

All their eyes are ice.

But nothing happens." Quick thoughts.

What did you notice on your first read of that poem? Pause the video and discuss that now.

What immediately stood out to me in that poem is the way Owen describes the wrath of nature.

I now want you to think what is Owen's most repeated line and why do you think this is? Pause the video and discuss that now.

Owen's most repeated line in that poem is, "But nothing happens." That's a very unusual line to be in a war poem, because we'd expect there to be a lot of danger and threat coming from all angles at war.

But in Owen's poem, nothing happens.

Maybe Owen is showing the reality of day-to-day life in the trench.

In actuality, it's not action and fast-paced.

It's actually slow, boring and tedious.

What images stand out to you in this poem? Pause the video and think about that now.

An image that stood out to me in that poem is just the bleak weather and the bleak sky in that line, "Rain soaks and clouds sag stormy." Finally, who is the true enemy in Owen's poem, and were you expecting it? Pause the video and have a quick think about that now.

It seems that the true enemy in Owen's poem is in fact the weather, not the opposing army.

I wasn't expecting that at all.

Now how are these images relevant to the poem "Exposure?" Pause the video and discuss that now.

Picture one depicts the muddy trenches, and Owen does indeed reference mud in the last stanza of the poem.

The picture on the left and the poem reflect the fact that the stickiness and the stench of mud was a huge source of discomfort for soldiers in the trench.

In the second picture, we see a soldier trying to get some rest, but in Owen's poem he says they keep awake.

So Owen suggests that whenever the soldiers wanted rest, they were always half awake because they were nervous that there would be a threat at any time.

I am now going to put some statements on the screen.

I want you to discuss which statements you think accurately describe "Exposure." Here are the statements.

Wilfred Owen explores the ideas that the conditions at war are often more destructive than an attack or battle.

Wilfred Owen was a World War I poet who sought to expose the harsh realities of war.

Owen explores the mental suffering that soldiers experienced in World War I.

Wilfred Owen glorifies war.

Wilfred Owen became demoralised during World War I.

Wilfred Owen was optimistic about British victory in World War I.

And Owen focuses mainly on physical injuries that soldiers experienced in World War I.

There are your statements.

Pause the video and discuss.

Which do you think accurately describe "Exposure?" Off you go.

Let's unpack which ones accurately describe the poem "Exposure." The first one does accurately describe the poem "Exposure," because Owen does not focus on attack or battle, he focuses on the conditions.

He focuses on the wind and the rain and the bleak conditions and how they cause suffering to the soldiers.

Number two is also true.

Wilfred Owen is clearly trying to expose the harsh realities of war.

Remember, he was someone that enlisted, meaning he voluntarily signed up for the British army and potentially was influenced by propaganda posters that depicted war in a glorious way.

Owen definitely does not present war as glorious in his poem.

Thus, he potentially is exposing the harsh realities of war.

Another one that accurately describes this poem is that Owen explores the mental suffering that soldiers experienced.

We can see in the poem that Owen begins to question his purpose and question his belief in religion, and also becomes very comfortable with dying.

So we see, so these are all examples of the mental suffering that soldiers went through during World War I.

And finally, Wilfred Owen became demoralised during World War I.

We see this in the poem through the way in which he describes his love of God as dying.

He turns his back on a lot of the traditional beliefs that he held before the war, and that's evidence of him becoming demoralised.

Let's check your understanding of the poem now.

What is Owen's most repeated line in "Exposure?" Pause the video and answer that now.

Owen's most repeated line in exposure is, "But nothing happens." And we've said this could be to expose how truly tedious, monotonous war was, which subverts people's expectations that war was full of action, attack, brutality, and very fast-paced.

What does Owen present as the true enemy in the poem? Pause the video, answer that question now.

In the poem "Exposure," Owen presents the true enemy as the harsh weather conditions and the nature.

We see that through the way in which he describes the wind, the rain, and the bleak weather conditions.

I now want you to use the key words and write an answer to this question.

How does Owen subvert our expectations about war in his poem "Exposure?" Try to include how Owen shows war to be different from the propaganda of 1914 and how Owen subverts common expectations about the dangers at war.

So remember, you are trying to show how Owen subverts the belief that war is glorious and an honourable sacrifice.

And also, you're trying to show how Owen subverts this idea of war as being fast-paced, full of action, full of attack, brutality, and battle against opposing armies.

So pause the video now and write an answer to the question.

Off you go.

Let's share some ideas now.

In "Exposure," Owen explores how during World War I, the true enemy was the harsh weather conditions that soldiers endured.

He describes the monotonous days the soldiers experienced when they were waiting for attack, but nothing happens.

Owen subverts common beliefs about war, that it is the violence of brutality of the opposing side that is the biggest threat.

He also subverts the ideas presented in 1914 propaganda that fighting for your country symbolised bravery and honour.

Being a man enlisted, as he was encouraged to defend his country, Owen may have felt demoralised by the bleak reality and futile nature of war.

Perhaps Owen wrote this poem to criticise the government who shielded the fact that many soldiers were dying from harsh weather and trench conditions.

I want you to highlight all of the keywords you included in your response now.

Pause the video and complete that task now.

I now want you to check all of your keywords make sense.

Use the model as a guide.

Pause the video and complete that now.

Great effort with your writing and self-assessment, everyone.

Here's what we've learned today.

Recruitment posters in World War I led to a belief that to fight in war symbolised honour and bravery.

Owen enlisted in 1915 as he wanted to fight for his country.

His horrific experiences changed his perspective.

He wrote "Exposure" reflecting on a letter he wrote to his mother, describing the conditions of no man's land in 1917.

Owen suggests that nature is a more brutal enemy than the opposition, subverting many expectations about war and the poem may convey Owen's critique against the government as soldiers were dying from trench and weather conditions.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and I hope you've learned a lot about the poem "Exposure" today.

I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.