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Topic outline

 

  • Time: 4 hours
    Level: Introductory

 
 

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • In this unit we will consider how language can be used in different ways for different purposes. To do this we will use the theme of memorial and commemoration. After briefly discussing the life of the...
 

1 Siegfried Sassoon: a case study

  • 1.1 Introduction Resource
  • Apart from writing poetry, Sassoon kept a diary during his war years, and after the war he wrote a semi-autobiographical novel. These writings are an example of how a writer can use language for different...
  • 1.2 The early years Resource
  • He was born in 1886 into a wealthy family. After being educated at home until he was 13, he was sent to a prominent public school, Marlborough. Although he had begun to write poetry at an early age, his...
  • 1.3 The realities of war – a protest Resource
  • While he was on leave, his conviction grew that those at home had little idea of the realities of war, and that the war was being deliberately prolonged by the politicians and generals who had the power...
  • 1.4 ‘The General’ Resource
  • Sassoon could be eloquent in both prose and poetry. Looking at examples of his writing, you can see how he uses words differently for different audiences and different occasions. First, consider his poem...
  • 1.5 Sassoon's ‘Protest’ Resource
  • If Sassoon had spelled out his meaning, he would have needed more words than he used in the poem. He did spell it out in the protest he wrote about the war. Although it is headed A Soldier's Declaration’,...
  • 6 Sassoon's 'Protest': exercise Resource
  • Look back at Sassoon’s biographical details to see who the intended audience for his ‘Protest’ was, and jot down your comments on the way Sassoon has used language here, in comparison with his approach...
  • 7 More Sassoon voices: exercise Resource
  • I have not commented directly on what Sassoon is saying in ‘The General’ and in his ‘Protest’, but you probably have a good idea of what he meant. Now read the three further extracts from Sassoon's writings...
 

2 Using language in poetry and prose

  • 2.1 Using poetry Resource
  • We have seen that writers make different choices of words, and ways of using them, according to why they are writing – and to whom. People often like to use poetry, or ‘poetic language’, when they are...
  • 2.2 Conveying meaning through prose Resource
  • But prose, too, can convey much more than the sum of the meanings of individual words. The poet Rudyard Kipling lost his only son in the trenches in 1915. (John Kipling, despite poor eyesight, had joined...
  • 2.3 Choosing your voice: exercise Resource
  • Imagine – and it may be true – that you feel strongly about a local planning issue, such as the erection of a piece of sculpture in a public place, or the building of a new road, out-of-town shopping centre...
 

References and Acknowledgements

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