Smile Essay

675 Words3 Pages
SMILE, SMILE, SMILE CONTEXT: “Smile, Smile, Smile” by Wilfred Owen shows a soldier’s point of view on how propaganda during the WWI was so strongly biased by the government and how the population of the home front is affected. The lies and the greedy nature of the government are shown by the many figurative language, diction and imagery used. Choice of Title Capitals, commas and repetition place emphasis on each distinct word. “Smile” immediately idea of happiness and joy Poem contradicts this message to portray the falsehood in its meaning “Smile” – Represents the soldiers’ amusement at home front's gullibility and government’s lies and knowledge that society is unaware of the truth of war. Structure and Form * Rhyme pattern * Fairly smooth flowing * One stanza * Mocking effect Tone (Lines 18-26) * Sarcastic * Ironic * Bitter * Resentment Punctuation Brackets: Brings a shift/stutter in flow of the poem, helps to note change in tone. Capitalization: Shows what the government think is important and what is not as important (Vast booty vs. Casualty) (Line 2-3) Quotation Marks: A shift in speaker from narrator (reality/viewpoint of front) to paper (viewpoint of government/home front) Question Mark/Caesura: Poses questionability to word “nation” and thus the idea of unity. Colon: Shift in speaker from narrator to the people Exclamation Mark: Emphasizes genuine perspective/gullibility of the people. Figurative Language Personification: “Said the paper” (Line 5): humanizing newspaper gives it a voice/power, represents government. Oxymoron: “Undying dead” (Line 9): living dead - represents the soldiers’ weak/tired state. Simile: A soldier smiling is compared to “secret men who know their secret’s safe.” (Line 20) Imagery Two images are portrayed to show the grueling and worn state of the
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