1. OCTOBER 1917 – JANUARY 1918
REVISED APRIL 1918
Insensibility – Wilfred Owen

2. Today’s Aims and Outcomes
To work together to explore the possible meanings in
the poem by considering language and what it may
signify;
To gain an effective understanding of the poem, its
context, structure, language and possible meanings;
To begin to make connections between this poem
and Strange Meeting;
To begin to identify techniques in Owen’s poetic
form and style.

3. Learning Task
In pairs, look up the title word, ‘insensibility’ and list
all the possible meanings and then discuss and note
down what these may signify in terms of the context
of the war and what we may consider to be Owen’s
purposes.
Also note down what you think the poem may be
about if we just take the title into consideration.
We will revisit your ideas later to see how accurate
your predictions were...

4. Take one stanza each..
Read through the stanza you are given.
Then note down what you think the most
important words are and what they signify – why
do you think Owen has used these language
choices?
Then justify why the stanza deserves to be in the
poem – what does your stanza bring to the poem?

5. What is the overall message and how does this compare to
Strange Meeting?
Write a list of brief comparative points between
Insensibility and Strange Meeting:
 What/where are the similarities?
 What /where are the differences?
 Remember to consider structure, use of pararhyme etc., not just
meaning...

6. What could the title of the poem signify?
INSENSIBILITY
 adj.
 Imperceptible; inappreciable: an insensible change in temperature.
 Very small or gradual: insensible movement.
 Having lost consciousness, especially temporarily; unconscious: lay
insensible where he had fallen.
 Not invested with sensation; inanimate: insensible clay.
 Devoid of physical sensation or the power to react, as to pain or cold;
numb.
 Unaware; unmindful: I am not insensible of your concern.
 Not emotionally responsive; indifferent: insensible to criticism.
 Lacking meaning; unintelligible.
 [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin īnsēnsibilis, imperceivable :
in-, not; see in–1
+ sēnsibilis, perceptible; see sensible.]

7. Independent Learning Task
Use your notes to write a comparative essay:
A comparative study ofA comparative study of Strange MeetingStrange Meeting andand
Insensibility,Insensibility, commenting on Owen’s purposes andcommenting on Owen’s purposes and
the language and poetic devices used to achievethe language and poetic devices used to achieve
these.these.
 This will be your first graded/assessed piece.
 Due next Weds – approx 1-2 sides of A4.