Describe the tone of each stanza in the poem “Suicide in Trenches.”

Describe the tone of each stanza in the poem “Suicide in Trenches.”

QUESTION 1

Describe the tone of each stanza in the poem “Suicide in Trenches.”

The author starts with a happy tone. Sassoon describes the life of a good, innocent boy who is far in a horrible war. In the poem, Sassoon narrates the story of a young soldier who lived a happy life. The tone changes as the poem progresses. The author describes how depression is clipping in the once lively and happy boy. The miserable life that the young boy faced during the war breaks the young boy’s spirit. The sufferings make the young soldier to commit suicide. The author narrates how he put the bullet through his brain. The poem ends on a sarcastic and bitter tone. Sassoon mocks the British civilians because they have no idea of the horrible things the soldiers encountered.

Question 2

Do you think the speaker of Owen’s poem would agree on sentiments expressed in the poem, “it is sweet and right to die for your country?”

The answer is No. the speaker does not agree with the idea in Owen’s poem that it is sweet to die for your own country. In the poem, the author describes the horrible things that the soldiers face while on war. People on war live in fear, exhaustion, and suffering. When narrating, the speaker paints a clear picture of how soldiers suffer, and how they stumble through thick mud ‘like old beggars under sacks.’ Some soldiers walk like they are carrying heavy burdens while others cough like old hags. The speaker emphasizes on how the men are tired and in somber moods. At the end of the poem, the speaker describes the idea of dying for one’s country is like ‘the old lie.’ The speaker uses imagery to show how they leave behind “haunting flares.”

Question 3

What are your Perceptions of Adolf Hitler as a leader?

The tone in Hitler’s speech is firm and inciting, and his physical gestures are strong. His words showed that he did not doubt what he was saying. Furthermore, his emotions seemed to intensify as he continued with his speech, and also, his speech portrayed passion and power.

Question 4

Main points in Hitler’s speech

Throughout Hitler’s speech, he expressed his hatred towards the Jews. The excerpt shows how Hitler desired to wipe out the Jewish community. He was a racist person and expressed his views by saying that only the Aryans were supposed to be treated with the highest respect. In his speech, the author showed his anger on the Jewish community because he believed that they made Germany lose in World War I. The purpose of his excerpt was to incite his people to turn against the Jewish. He expressed his fears by accusing the Jewish people of having the intention of controlling the country. He claimed that the Germans did not attack the Jews. He believed that the enemy was not attacking the Jewish because they were collaborating with them.

Also, in his excerpt, Hitler accused the Jewish of corrupting the Aryan race by mixing with them. He also accused the Jewish people of bringing in foreigners, who were not of the same race as the Germans. Hitler used every means to segregate people on racial bases. He also ruined the lives of women and young girls. He accused the Jews of bringing the Negroes into the Rhineland. Through his propaganda, he was able to rise to cultural and political heights. He tried to remain, thereby poisoning people with lies. He also attacked Marxist, who was trying to inspire and encourage the Jewish community. He triggered the people’s fears when he referred that the Jewish were about to win. He talked about the Jewish sense of security and confidence as a scheme to overthrow the German government.

Question 4 Part B

 Hitler’s techniques

Hitler’s work is full of political propaganda. He instilled fear and hatred toward his people. All his arguments ware based on racism and extreme claims. He used all sorts of lies to convey hostility toward the Jewish. His words directly discriminated against the Jewish and even said that all the Jewish are the same. He used insulting words to demonize the Jewish, and his words were not supported with enough evidence. For example, in his speech, he accused the Jewish of conspiring to control the country, even if he had no evidence supporting his words. Hitler blamed the Jewish for doing evil things, while in the real sense, he was the one who was planning to use authoritative rule.

Furthermore, he used derogatory language, evil, and satanic terms towards the Jewish community. He repeatedly compared the Jewish people with the devil. Through his speech, he described the Jewish people as a symbol of the devil and assumed that the Jewish were a living shape of a devil. He even defiled an unsuspecting black haired girl, thus detaching her from her people. Moreover, Hitler’s described the Jewish as liars and accused them of trying to seek an opportunity to oppress his people. Through his propaganda, he was able to wipe out the idea of democracy, and instead replaced it with dictator leadership. In a few years, he tried to convert people’s intellectual thinking, thus making his followers ripe for slavery. His most frightful example is when he killed over thirty million people.

Question 5

Churchill’s Rhetorical Device

Churchill presents his ideas by constantly repeating words with similar ideas. For example, in his work, he emphasizes his ideas by repeatedly using “we shall” to show his audience that no matter what happens, they should never give up. By constantly using those words, the author emphasizes the sense of purpose. Churchill is able to make the audience understand the meaning of his speech easily, and the highlighting tone makes the audience to be more inspired by the speech. By constantly repeating the word “we shall,” Churchill makes the audience understand his idea of not giving up.

Question 6

Main points on Churchill’s Speeches

The author mourns the demise of the British soldiers who died while on the frontline fighting for the nation. As he continues with his speech, he points out that Hitler had an evil plan to invade the British Isles. Churchill consoles his audience by reminding them of the Great team that the British had, and the allies they faced.  Churchill states that they must defend their land regardless of the cost. The main idea in his statement was to encourage his audience not to give up.

On the other hand, the speech from the video talks more about the evil things committed by Hitler. He bitterly states that Hitler’s dictatorship has caused more tragedies and crimes in Europe and the world. Churchill emphasizes that all the destruction caused by the Nazis will be repaid. He also talks about the problems that people faced. They were oppressed for the interest of their mean leader Hitler. The two speeches focus on the central theme of not giving up. Although people were being oppressed during Hitler’s leadership, they had to keep on fighting.

Although Hitler oppresses them, they should not rest until they end his dictatorship. In both speeches, Churchill uses parallelism to bring out the rhetorical effect. In his statement, Churchill emphasizes that they will not surrender nor give up until they win, meaning that they have to keep on fighting until they defeat all their enemies. He uses a motivating tone to encourage his audience. Churchill motivates his audience by telling them that they should never surrender no matter how hard the situation.

                                                                   Question 6 B

Does Hearing the Speech makes it more compelling?

Yes, hearing the speech makes it more compelling. The first reason is when reading the statement, and the reader might not understand the stress pattern, change in the tone, and the pause in between the sentences. Secondly, when reading the speech, the reader might miss the emphasis on the statement. The reader might fail to understand when the author raised his voice or paused for a longer time. For example, in his speech, Churchill raises his voice when describing Hitler to emphasize the evil things he committed. Churchill’s tone reveals his feeling well, thus making it easier for the audience to feel the devastations. On the other hand, reading written words of the speech can help the readers who have difficulty in discerning the speaker’s accent.