A Landscape Like home Extract from the Emperial War Museum Book of the Somme by Malcolm Brown. How does the writer present his thoughts and feelings about World War One? A Landscape Like home Extract from the Emperial War Mus

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‘A Landscape Like home’ Extract from the Emperial War Museum Book of the Somme by Malcolm Brown. How does the writer present his thoughts and feelings about World War One?

Throughout the extract Brown uses descriptive language of the landscape at the Somme and how it reminds him so much of England, home, giving the impression of nostalgia. The opening line says “there was something familiar and attractive about the landscape of the Somme”, by referring to the landscape being “familiar” and “attractive” it offers a comfort to the men; something recognizable doesn’t seem as daunting as something completely new, something that there not used to. It allows the writer to express the feeling that the Somme seemed like something that was well known to him and appealing. He then goes on to say “the Somme had an air to which the men in khaki could relate”. This suggests that Brown feels as though being together in a place, such as where the Somme was, gives the men a chance to relate to each other and understand how everyone is in the same situation.

        Brown then says “this was ‘abroad’, but it was not, somehow alien”. Here he is expressing that although they were in a different country it didn’t seem that way. By saying “it was not, somehow alien” allows us to see that Brown feels that he has seen this before, it reminds him of being home in England. Using the word “alien” suggests that he is a  foreigner, one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where they are living, however he feels that being in this landscape feels normal and natural to him.

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        He then goes on to write about the small differences that he had notices such as churches in strange style showing “monument to wars of which the Tommies knew nothing.” Using the word “Tommies” is a use of colloquial language to describe the British soldiers. He then carries on listing a few of the noticeable differences between the France and Britain, drawing contrasts between the two, which suggests that he misses home as he remembers it so vividly. “The fields were larger than in Britain”, “single-storey buildings arranged into a defensive square”, by describing the building arrangement as a “defensive ...

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