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Benefits from the Nineteenth Century were Unraveled by World War I

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The final decades of the nineteenth century benefited from the fruits of artistic innovation, technological achievement, and international exchange. Unfortunately, this rich fabric of culture seemed to unravel in the Great War. During this time, many people questioned the ideas and achievements of the past, hoping to find answers that would guide them in the face of an uncertain future (The Humanities pg 1115). Artists and writers were among those who challenged the traditions of the previous centuries, and they tried to answer and sort through their own thoughts about the war and modern society through their art. A poet named Wilfred Owen was particularly influenced by the war, and he contributed to the changing art world not by introducing a new type of poetry, but rather by utilizing poetry to express new insights. Wilfred Owen knew more about modern warfare than most of his readers. Being a soldier himself, Owen saw the full brutality of World War I firsthand. He experienced the terror of battle and helplessly watched countless comrades die from both mechanical and chemical combat. Owen knew that it was difficult for non-soldiers to understand what life on the front lines was really like, so he used his talent for writing to relate the realities of modern warfare to his readers. One of the main points that he tried to make in his poems was that the experience of soldiers in World War I was completely different from the romanticized war stories that many people knew and

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