Creating Questions for a Harkness Discussion (Literature Based)

Hamilton

Ask three questions about the text (three per level). These need to be questions that you want to discuss or hear your classmates
discuss. Do not ask questions that you know the answer to just to have something down on paper to turn in.

Level One Question: 1. Where are the soldiers going in Stanza I?

For the seminar student, these are not mere recall questions; 2. In Stanza II, a soldier is “drowning under a green sea.”
rather, they establish evidence of basic facts presented in the What is the “green sea” referring to?
author’s proof paragraph.
3. What does, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”
Examples: translate to in Stanza IV?
● What evidence does the author use to support his
argument that it is man’s responsibility to care for the
land?
● To what does the author compare his boyhood
experience on the family farm in order to further his
argument that man is forever attached to the land?

Level Two Question: 1. Owen tends to use a lot of similes throughout his
poem. What purpose do the similes serve in Stanza I?
These questions are textually implicit, requiring analysis and
interpretation of specific parts of the text, pointing out what a 2. In poetry, words are strategically used to help create a
specific part of the text actually means, or what language was rhythm. What was the purpose of the repetition of the
used to create the meaning. It’s not about what happened on word “green” in Stanza II?
page 47 of the novel; it’s more like, “How does the author’s
description of the dying horse on page 47 of the novel create a
3. In Stanza IV, Owen makes an allusion to the devil.
tone?”
What purpose does this allusion serve?
Examples:
● Why do you think the author relies heavily upon visual
imagery in this passage to convey his love of the land?
● How does the heavy use of repetition contribute to the
effectiveness of the author’s argument that
___________?
● What do you think the author means when he says:
_____?

Level Three Question: 1. In Stanza I, the men seem to be droning on like a

These questions are more open-ended and go beyond the text.
They are intended to provoke a discussion of an abstract idea or
issue, to connect events/themes in the anchor text to other
texts, other arguments, or to universal issues of
life/society/mankind itself.
Examples:
● How has man’s attitude toward nature changed over the
last 100 years?
● How has society’s changing perception toward nature
been advantageous? Detrimental?
horde of zombies. How does this relate to the
mentality of the soldiers during the World Wars and
any other war?
2. In Stanza III, Owen talks about how the man haunts his
dreams. What does this say about the mentality of the
men when they return home from war?
3. In Stanza IV, Owen uses the word “you” to further
isolate the reader from his experiences, how does this
relate to the idea of soldier isolation in modern day
society?

In one complete sentence, write what the text is about (a The poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est,” by Wilfred Owen is about a
summary of the purpose, message, plot, theme, etc.). soldier explaining his experiences and what he went through
while he was at war.
Create a textual analysis. This analysis should take into account
your previous questions and explore possible answers of your
level two and three questions. (500 words or more)
Remember: This assignment is due at the beginning of the period in which we will discuss a text —not mid-way through. These
responses will serve as the basis for our class discussion.
In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est,” by Wilfred Owen, Owen
describes the horrors that he has faced as a soldier in WWI. It is
an experience that many people cannot even begin to
understand. That is why Owen uses similes and allusions to help
put it in lamemens terms. The horrific sights that he has seen is
just something that is not even possible to imagine to the
everyday citizen. People tend to focus on their families and jobs,
not how to prevent bullets from piercing their skin. It is a kind of
experience that you can only begin to understand if you were
there. Soldiers tend to walk into the forces all bright eyed and
hopeful. They believe that they are doing their duty as citizens
of that country. They believe that they are doing something that
is going to be appreciated by the people and the government.
The government is just using them as weapons. We do not have
robots yet that can go out and shoot other people down, so we
have to send the next best thing, mindless humans. They are
trained not to think about what is right and wrong. they are
trained to throw out their morals. The government does not
want weapons that can think, they want weapons that are able
to dehumanize themselves. The issue is that this is not the way
in which people are made. People are made to have feelings,
and they are made to have connections. These soldiers have a
bond with each other that is like no other because really they
are the only ones who can understand what their fellow soldiers
are going through. That is why Owen uses similes in his poem
because he does not know how to explain to the person what he
is experiencing. Even with the similes it is hard to relate to these
images that Owen is painting because they just seem so graphic
and impossible to imagine for people who do not experience it
everyday. Even writing this paragraph, it is hard to explain the
images that Owen is trying to convey because to us they are just
images created by words on a piece of paper, but to Owen this
is what he had to see everyday. Soldiers today suffer from a
great amount of isolationism because they have experienced
something that no one else can understand. The soldier may
have a family, but even his family is not going to understand
what he saw. His family is not going to understand what it is like
to see someone’s brain being blown out all around. His family is
not going to understand what it's like to see the people who you
have been spending months, even years with, being blown up
into little pieces. When these soldiers come home from war they
do not have anyone to talk to. Sure they can go to therapy, but
many might have too much pride to admit that they need help.
The latin phrase at the end translates to, “it is sweet and proper
to die for one's country.” Owen is saying that it is a lie that is
being spread around by the civilians who are not actually in the
war. Even by the government officials who are sending people
off to do their dirty work for them. They are so eager to praise
the soldiers for doing their civil duty, but they are not willing to
do that duty themselves. Even if they do, they will soon realize
that becoming human bullet sponges and fighting in an endless
battle really has no reward in the end.