ENG 311

Response assignment 1
1-- In your own words, describe the scene and the plight of the soldiers in the first stanza of
“Dulce et Decorum Est”:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, 

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs 
And towards our distant rest began to trudge. 
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines* that dropped behind. 

 Artillery used in WWI

2—In the second stanza, how does the poet relate to soldiers’ being gassed? Does anything
happen here besides the description?

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! –An ecstasy of fumbling, 

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; 
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, 
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . 
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, 
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. 
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, 
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.  

3—What does the poet introduce in the third stanza? Has the description shifted?

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 

Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, 
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; 
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, 

4— Who is the poet addressing in these four lines?

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory, 
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est 
Pro patria mori.

hn
Fall 2020
 ENG 311
Response assignment 1
5—Briefly what is Owen telling us in “Arms and the Boy”?

6—And finally, which couplet do you find most powerful in either poem, and why?

hn
Fall 2020
 ENG 311
Rubric for short assignments*

A/A- Answers relate Outstanding Elegantly Spelling, usage,

to the questions analysis of the written, grammar,
poem showing sentence fluency punctuation,
understanding and good choice etc., no errors
and proof of of words
prior
preparation
B+/B Answers relate Effective Well-written. Spelling, usage,
to the questions analysis and Sentence grammar,
proof of prior fluency and punctuation,
preparation good choice of etc., no errors
words
B- Answers relate Adequate Adequate use of Minimal
to the questions analysis and language and language errors
indication of good choice of
prior reading words
C+ Answers mostly Less than Acceptable Language errors
fail to address adequate language level
the questions analysis due to
lack of
preparation
C/C- Answers don’t No proof of Weak language Many language
address the preparation and errors
questions ineffective
analysis
D and below Answers have No proof of Very weak Many language
no relation to prior reading, language errors
the questions and analysis is
flawed

* I also look at the overall assignment before allocating a grade.

hn
Fall 2020