TPSESO – (​The Show)​

T Title. Pre-Reading
Knowing nothing about Wilfred Owen or his poems, I thought that his poem
“the show” would be about a performance; for example, a production that
would be somewhat entertaining. I also thought that it would be a happy poem
with positive connotations. After I read the poem, I didn’t understand why the
title is “the show,” especially as I had no background information on the
author or poem.

Post-Reading
After researching and reading a countless number of times, I learned that “the
show” is actually army slang for “the battle.” I thought that this could be
because the soldiers don’t really want to go to war and fight they’re just going
to put on a “show” and tried to convince themselves that it is a positive thing.
After learning about that and knowing who Wilfred Owen is, the poem came
more clear to me, I realized that the whole poem is about the war, due to the
meaning of the “the show.” I also learned that Owen is known for his poems
showing the ‘ugly’ side of the war.

P Plot.
The poem is about Owen looking from above (like from a bird's eye view) and seeing the
gruesome sights of the battlefield where the british soldiers fight against the German soldiers.
Owen explains how depressing battlefield was in the war by using words that have a negative
connotations like “sad,” “weak,” “horror” and more. He also dehumanizes the soldiers in the
poem and refers them as animals like the “thin caterpillars” and “strung creatures.” The poem is
filled with imagery that suggest broken bodies and inhumanity. Owen conveys the horrors of the
war through the portrayal of the themes, being a horrific and brutal war. Another theme could be
the idea of human nature against human emotions.

The first 5 stanzas steers the reader in a direction which makes them feel sorry for the soldiers
through the vulgar disparity of the reality of going to war in comparison to how politics may
portray the war.

Context: Wilfred Owen is a British Soldier and he started writing this poem in November 1917 in
Scarborough and finalised it at in May 1918. He wrote this poem during his experience in World
War One.

S CHOOSE (Device / Deduction) Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 (if needed)

FROM Hyperbole “And​ vanished​ out
THESE of dawn”
OPTIONS Repetition “More and more”
OR Enjambment Stanza 1 " Across its beard, “On dithering feet
CHANGE/ that horror of harsh upgathered, more and
ADD wire, there moved more,
YOUR thin caterpillars, Brown strings towards
OWN slowly uncoiled.” strings of gray, with
bristling spines,
 Style & Imagery “All migrants from
Language green fields, intent
- on mire​.”
Observatio
Imagery " Across its beard, “By them had slimy "And saw a sad land,
n Only, no
that horror of harsh paths been trailed weak with sweats of
Analysis. wire, there moved and scraped, round dearth, Gray, cratered
thin caterpillars, myriad warts that like the moon with
slowly uncoiled. It might be little hollow woe, And fitted
seemed they pushed hills.” with great pocks and
themselves to be as scabs of plaques."
plugs of ditches,
where they writhed
and shrivelled,
killed."

Metaphor "And saw a sad “My soul looked “Ramped on the rest
land” down from a vague and ate them and were
height with death” eaten”
Metaphor “And smell came
up from those foul
openings”
Simile “Gray, cratered like “I reeled and 1. “And Death
the moon with shivered earthward fell with me,
hollow woe,” like a feather.” like a
deepening
moan.”
2. “It seemed
they pushed
themselves to
be as plugs”

Imagery “I saw their bitten

backs curve, loop,
and straighten,
I watched those
agonies curl, lift,
and flatten.”
Cacophony “lo​ng​-stru​ng
creatures crept”
Irony “My soul looked
down from a vague
height with Death”
Consonance “writhed and “pocks and scabs of
shrivelled, killed.” plaques.”
Alliteration “ ​creatures crept” “And ​sa​w a ​sa​d “D​awn ​d​own ​h​idden
land” h​oles.”
Rhyme Scheme
Personification “Thin caterpillars, “Sad land” 1. “Across its
slowly uncoiled” beard”
2. “and Death
fell with me”
3. “Bruises in
 the earth”
Allusion “Brown strings
towards strings of
gray” (uniforms)
Diction “...height with
Death​”
Symbolism “There moved thin
caterpillars”
Tone(s) Dark and gloomy tone
Organization & 10 stanzas, a lot of enjambment, free verse, half rhyme
Structure
E Effect of (Device / Deduction) Interpretation & Impact
Style & [Lit. Devices] Overall, Wilfred Owen ensures that the poem shocks the reader into
Language the reality of the war by using devices that work together to create the
Analysis horrors of being on the battlefield in the war.

Through Owen’s use of ​personification​ of the “thin caterpillars” he

manages to dehumanize the soldiers and show humanity’s ugliness in
the war rather than natures beauty. Also, Owen dehumanizes the
soldiers to being caterpillars to show that they have become nothing
more than animals.
Personifying the land to be a “sad land” shows how horrible it is to
be fighting on the battlefield and how the land became wrecked and
terrorized.. This reaches out to the reader’s emotions as it reflects on
how depressing people on the battlefield actually are. Personification
further helps the reader envision how it’s like to be on the battlefield
and also creates an emotional response from the reader. The
personification of the environment and nature showing it to be brutal
contradicts the thought of nature being beautiful.

Owen uses ​Imagery​ throughout the whole of the poem helping the
reader imagine what it’s actually like to be in the war. Owen used
imagery in line 3 "And saw a sad land, weak with sweats of dearth,
Gray, cratered like the moon with hollow woe, And fitted with great
pocks and scabs of plaques." As owen describes the battlefield as a
“sad land” he compares it to the surface of the moon and how rough
it might be. He related the battlefield to something that can be
signified as beauty such as the moon, this refers to how something
beautiful became wrecked. He also conveys the sadness and how
much it hurts being on the battlefield by saying “pocks and scabs of
plaques,” this is also a rule of three which is also very catchy. The
use of the word “dearth” means famine which can suggest that the
war is like a plague killing and eating soldiers away. Furthermore, by
describing the battlefield as being a “ horror of harsh wire,” creates
the image of the barbwires on the top of the trenches. This image
portrays a feeling that the soldiers are caved or locked out of the real
world.
Owen manages to create an image of a trail of blood by being scraped
by the barbwire by saying that they “had slimy paths been trailed and
scraped, round myriad warts that might be little hills.” There are
many other examples of imagery throughout this poem which
emphasises and strengthens an image of disgust in one's head which
makes the reader seem as the soldier is less than human.
 Bothe the ​similes and metaphors​ in the poem helps create and
solidify the image of being on the battlefield and emphasises the plot
points.

Also, his ​diction​ is very negative, using words with a negative

connotation like “death,” woe,” and “horror” implies the pain and
fear on that exists on the battlefield. The impact of the literary
devices reach to the readers emotions, especially as it is written by
someone who lived in the battlefield. As Owen describes the
battlefield he reveals the reality for the reader.

Tone Dark, depressing, gloomy, sadness.

The author’s attitude is full of emotion and sadness and the mood is
very sorrowful. The half rhyme also creates a harsh edge to the poem.
Organization & The poem has 10 stanzas which are irregular and includes a half
Structure rhyme and a rhyming couplet (line 10 and 13). By using half rhyme,
it gives the poem a harsher edge and adds suspense.
S Shifts in
tone, ● Shift in tones in line 18 from a negative tone to a positive tone as Owen talks about the
structure, “migrants from green fields.”
● First 5 stanzas - last 5 stanzas
etc. (if
any)
O Overall Big picture based on
Synthesis own analysis The big picture based on my analysis and research is that the poem
Big picture based refers to being a soldier on a battlefield but not being treated as
on/informed by humans during the war. The poem shows the life of living in such a
research vulgar life situation in the trenches. Owen explained it as if the
soldiers were living in hell and he also portrayed the unpleasant and
unsightly side of being a soldier in the war.
I think that the author tries to communicate the struggles of the
soldiers in contrast to how the propaganda and politics about going to
war, making it seem like one of the best things one can ever do.
The main theme throughout this poem is the idea of an environmental
hell in the war.