S.M.I.L.E

EFFECT

• What does the poem make you feel / think about?

• What is the poet trying to say about their subject (their viewpoint)?

• Do you enjoy the poem? Do you agree/disagree with its message? Reasons why?

(this is your personal opinion - use the background information you know about Owen to help you.)

S.M.I.L.E

Mood

The lack of rhyme scheme and change of structure

half way through the poem link to the change in tone

IMAGERY

The tone of the last laugh is bitterly cynical. Owen shows how the weapons of war show no respect for the human sacrifices in their sights, just ridicule them. The fact that each response is described in terms of a human voice makes the whole poem darker and bleaker. Of course it is ironic that we are accusing inanimate objects of being ‘inhuman’ but the poem’s title (which is an English idiom about being ultimately victorious despite initial appearances) speaks of an organising intelligence (i.e. national government) behind the operation of the armaments which does not care how many men’s lives are wasted.

The main thrust of the imagery in The Last Laugh is the personification of the inanimate guns etc. that kill. Each of the weapons is given its own personality. Owen has them all mocking the dead with their human voices and humours:

• The bullets ‘chirped’ - a perky, bird-like sound reflecting their size and speedy flight
• Machine guns ‘chuckle’, a fatter sound than the chirp, as if amused by the events
• The big gun ‘guffawed’ an uncontrollable deep laughter (the long ‘aw’ sound conveying the greater girth of the gun) surging out of its mouth
• The shrapnel cloud ‘gestures’ its contempt, the dust ‘rising above’ mere death
• The splinters from the shrapnel ‘spat’ and ‘tittered’, a mean, fractured sound reflecting their indiscriminate targeting of everything in sight
• The ‘long teeth’ of the shiny bayonet blades ‘grinned’ a cold smile of triumph before they deliver the death blow
• Shells are a rabble, a gang who ‘hooted and groaned’ in an uncontrolled fashion , careless of the magnitude of what is really going on
• The ‘hissed’ of the gas delivers the final contempt of the villain (who might be expected to be hissed) for his victims.

STRUCTURE

EFFECT

• What is the effect of the poem?
• What does the poem make you feel / think about?
• What opinion does it show about the subject?
• What is the poet trying to say about their subject?

Rhyme

The pararhyming couplets which contain the dying words and the moment of death are drawn together by Owen’s choice of words:

The pararhymes of

‘died’ / ‘indeed’ in stanza one are a shorthand for the whole poem

‘Dad’ / ‘dead’ in the second verse contrast human love and relationships with the ultimate end

‘mood’ / ‘mud’ shows how all feeling is lost in a pathetic end.

Owen abandons any attempt at rhymes in the first two verses, although there is a clear pararhyme in the last verse where the bayonets ‘grinned’ and the shells ‘groaned’, which sums up the whole horrific scene. By juxtaposing ‘gas’ and ‘hissed’ in the final line Owen leaves us with the sickening consonance of the sibilant ‘s’.

A partial or imperfect rhyme which does not rhyme fully but uses similar rather than identical vowels.

What is a pararhyme?

What is consonance?

Consonance refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick succession such as in pitter, patter.

Language

MOOD

Owens use of language is blunt and to the purpose. The language used by each of the men in his dying breath reflects on each man’s emotional state.

The first line grabs our attention; it would have done more than that in 1918 when it would have been felt to be blasphemous to many people unless it was used as a prayer.

‘Oh! Jesus Christ!’ It is not clear whether the man’s sharp, expletive ‘Oh!’ is a prayer or a response to the agony of his injuries. This is followed by the name of God in a way that is half a prayer for help and half curse.

‘O Mother’. Owen uses the ‘O’ to show the longing the man has for his parents, unlike the more aggressive and agonised ‘Oh!’ of the first man. The repetition of the female parent helps to emphasise the boy’s vulnerability

‘My love!’ follows a similar pattern to the other two in the form of a short sound prefacing the name, the possessive conveying intimacy.

The onomatopoeic language of the guns

Just as he creates a pattern in the language of the last words of the dying so Owen’s choice of onomatopoeic words for the sounds of the bombardment creates a pattern. Each man’s death causes a reaction:

At the first man’s death, the weapons ‘chirped’ ‘chuckled’ and ‘guffawed’ words that build in mirth and convey increasing superficiality

At the second man’s death the long ‘ejzh’ sound of ‘Leisurely gestured’ conveys the apathetic lack of compassion which becomes harsh ridicule with the hard consonants of ‘spat, and tittered’

Owen makes the mockery of the third man even more overt, with the hoot and groan of the shells and hiss of the gas, as if the man was a failed variety act being booed off stage.

Atmosphere/Tone

Can you think of some examples?

happy, joyful, enthusiastic, ominous, reflective, sad, quiet, angry, passionate, moralistic, warning, chatty, mysterious, exciting, nostalgic,humorous, tense, bitter, sombre, ironic, playful, sarcastic, melancholy and more!

STRUCTURE

or form

What does it stand for?

Mood

the way the poem is set out

How can you tell what mood/tone the poem is?

Structure/Shape

the mood/tone/atmosphere of the poem

'The dark, gloomy house,

With floorboards that creak,

and windows that shriek.'

Mood

the 'pictures' you see in your mind

S

M

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L

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Imagery

• What does the poem look like on the page? Regular/irregular? Any surprises?
• Length of lines: are there any changes? e.g. a sudden short line may indicate emphasis of ideas or change of mood/subject which can have a dramatic effect. Long continuous lines could be more typical of a narrative or a stream of consciousness.
• Have the stanzas been divided up to fit in with the ideas of the poem?
• Does the form reflect the meaning in any way - e.g. what can can irregular structure suggest? Has punctuation/sentence structure been used for effect? How do they affect the mood?

Which words/phrases convey the mood?

words/phrases/associations

Language

• Is the poem objective/personal?
• Personal/subjective poetry is usually in the first person
• Objective poetry is usually in the third person and can be more formal

Effect

this should be analysed as part of each of the above - not as a separate paragraph

IMAGERY

LANGUAGE

Imagery is the way words are used to create a picture in your mind. When analysing a poem pick out any unusual, or interesting words, images or phrases.

How the poem is written

STRUCTURE

Think about the association of words used. (Denotation/connotation) Where have you heard the words before?

INTRO: briefly explain setting/meaning/mood/shape/message of poem

Note the effects the images have on you and what you picture.

• Read the poem aloud to 'hear' the effects. Do the lines run quickly? Or are they slow and steady?
• Do they speed up, slow down? Why?
• Does the rhythm help emphasize certain ideas in the poem?
• Is there a regular rhyme scheme? What effect does it create? e.g. continuity?
• Are there irregularities? What effect do these create?
• Are alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia used for effect?
• Is repetition of certain words/phrases used to build tension or to emphasize key points?

EITHER:

• Make sure to comment on the effect of the stylistic features, don just identify them.
• Words/phrases are there any that stand out in the poem? Describe how they standout e.g. are they interesting, unusual, vivid, shocking or unexpected?
• Is a formal/informal style used? Why?

use SMILE, 1 paragraph for each item.

or chronologically work through the poem

but P.E.E. analysis is crucial in both!

Which words surprise you? Which have a strong impact and are emotive?

CONCLUSION:

sum up ideas, referring back to the questions

How are metaphors, similes, personification and use of the 5 senses used to create vivid impressions?

Are contrasting words used? (Juxtaposition?)