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The Shoe Horn Sonata and Dulce Et Decorum Est

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We are living in a visual world filled with images, but the visual isn’t only found in pictures. Words and sound also create images, it is therefore through words, images and sounds that we can gain a greater comprehensive understanding of what a text is about. The ‘Shoehorn Sonata’ by John Misto employs these elements and techniques such as scene layout, lighting and language techniques to create a distinctively visual piece that enables the responders to effectively understand the content. The poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen similarly establishes a distinctively visual piece through the use of language techniques which in turn enables the responder to understand the themes being described. Both the play and the poem educate their audiences on the atrocities of war and the experiences that are faced, which ultimately had very severe repercussions on the individuals long after the war was over. During war individuals can face challenges that can ultimately question values and attitudes. In the Shoe Horn Sonata Sheila and Bridie both question morals and values through the sacrifice Sheila made. Sheila’s sacrifice to sell her-self to lipstick Larry ultimately affects her throughout the rest of her life, as she has to carry her traumatic experience alone. This is represented through scene eight and the play’s dramatic flow as it unavoidably leads to the climatic moment at the end of act 1 when Sheila reveals to Bridie the terrible sacrifice she made in order to save her life. The scene ends with a dramatic representation of the isolation of the two characters in different spotlights which symbolises the dis-unity and tension in there friendship and the isolation that sheila has dealt with for 50 years as she knows Bridie would have never sacrificed herself for her. This belief is shared through the emotive language that is highlighted through the exclamation and pause, in the line ‘you ruined your life- for a J

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