Poetic techniques

Before tackling 'Dulce et decorum est' it is important that you have an understanding of the main poetic techniques that Owen uses in the poem. These being: metaphor and simile.

Below you will find a link to the poetic terms handout that you were given:
http://www.box.net/shared/rr4y43z3b0

In order to fully understand these terms in practice we had a look at that most prevalent form of poetry around in society today- song.

First of all we examined "Pretty like drugs" by the excellent band Queen Adreena:

"Pretty Like Drugs" - Queen Adreena


Before listening to the song and looking at the song lyrics I showed you a montage video that I had created on the subject of drugs, showing both sides of drug-taking: good and bad. We then discussed the simile in the song 'pretty like drugs' - we know that it is a simile since something is being described by comparing it to something else and saying that it is similar to it. In this case:

What was being described? the singer
What was it being compared to? drugs
What effect does this have/what does it tell us about the thing? It tells us that the singer is addictive and enthralling just like drugs are - that she has a certain attraction to her. However, it also tells us that she is dangerous, just like drugs are dangerous, that just as drugs destroy things so too does she.

We then went on to examine the use of metaphor in song. The first song being "Bullet with butterfly wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins:

"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" - Smashing Pumpkins



The first metaphor in the song is "The world is a vampire". We know that this is a metaphor as it compares two things by saying that the first thing is the second thing.

What is being described? The world
What is it being compared to? A vampire
What is the effect/what does it tell us about the thing? That the world sucks life from things, that it is draining.

The other metaphor in the song is "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage". Can you analyse this metaphor for yourself? Use the formula above.

Have a look at this song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town.

"Butterfly" - Crazy Town


Can you find and explain the metaphor in this song?