The Campfire Strategy
How to Sound Persuasive, Focused and Analytical in 4 Simple Steps... with an Example!
Detailed Example
1. Topic sentence
The poet employs visual imagery of the struggling soldiers in order to highlight the devastating reality of war.
2. Keyword / writer's purpose
devastating reality of war
3. Phrases to fuel the fire
• "devastating reality of war"
• "brutality and hardship"
• "destructive nature of war"
• "death and destruction"
• "shocking nature of conflict"
4. Alternate between the phrases every 2 or 3 sentences.
Example Paragraph
The poet employs visual imagery of the struggling soldiers in order to highlight the devastating reality of war. The poet uses a simile to compare the soldiers to “old beggars under sacks” (line 1), which contrasts starkly with the glorified, indomitable soldiers depicted in war-time propaganda. Hence, the poet’s use of situational irony shocks the reader and emphasises the brutality and hardship of soldiers in World War 1. In addition, Owen’s exhausted tone is further developed when he paints the picture of the soldiers “marching asleep” and “drunk with fatigue”. The hyperbolic descriptions depict a languid, exhausted group of soldiers, which again contrasts with the war-era reader’s expectations of war as a glorious exercise. The visual imagery of these exhausted men evoke sympathy in the readers and open a more realistic window into the destructive nature of war.
Meet your Instructor!
Jackson Huang, LitLearn founder
Jackson is an IB45 / ATAR 99.95 graduate, accepted to Harvard, Williams, Amherst, and full scholarships to numerous Australian universities. He started teaching English analysis in 2015 as a private tutor, and created LitLearn in 2016 after realising that there was no definitive resource to help students with the wicked world of analysis.
Although English teaching is his current focus, Jackson has always been a science-y person. His high school Chemistry was accepted to the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, and he won the International Brain Bee Championship in Vienna as an extracurricular.
Jackson was accepted to the top US liberal arts colleges: Harvard, Amherst and Williams Colleges for the Class of 2019. He also received Vice-Chancellor scholarships to the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland in Australia.
Although English teaching is his current focus, Jackson has always been a science-y person. His high school Chemistry was accepted to the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, and he won the International Brain Bee Championship in Vienna as an extracurricular.
Jackson was accepted to the top US liberal arts colleges: Harvard, Amherst and Williams Colleges for the Class of 2019. He also received Vice-Chancellor scholarships to the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland in Australia.
