Creating Questions for a Harkness Discussion (Literature Based)

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) What evidence would suggest that Wilfred wanted to
go to war?
For the seminar student, these are not mere recall questions; 2) Why would Wilfred encourage the youth back home to
rather, they establish evidence of basic facts presented in the join in the war?
author’s proof paragraph.

Examples:
● 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.What does Dulce et Decorum Est means?

2. Why would Owen title his poem “ fitting and sweet
These questions are textually implicit, requiring analysis and when his poem is nothing but fitting and sweet?
interpretation of specific parts of the text, pointing out what a
specific part of the text actually means, or what language was
used to create the meaning. It’s not about what happened on
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
tone?”

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. Is it honorable to die in war?

2. Is war still a solution to some of the world’s problems
These questions are more open-ended and go beyond the text. in our generation?
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?

In one complete sentence, write what the text is about (a

summary of the purpose, message, plot, theme, etc.).
The poem is about a young boy’s personal experience of World
War 1.
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.
The poem Dulce et Decorum Est was written by Wilfred Owen
during World War 1 Ow. It means it is sweet and fitting. He
was a young guy who wanted to serve his country and thought
being in the war was an honorable thing to do. The first stanza
describes him and the rest of the young men in war. They are
very weak, tired and very sick. Influenza was prevalent during
those times and a lot of the soldiers died because of the flu
instead of dying in battle. Majority of the soldiers were limping,
disoriented, fatigued and yet can not find any rest.
The second stanza opens with the commander yelling at them
to put on their gas masks to prevent inhaling it. Despite their
weariness, they have to be quick in putting on their gas masks or
they will all die. Wilfred Owen vividly describes this horrible life
and death situation where only those who had been to war
experienced. He describes how he witnessed the other soldiers
were helplessly dying under his sight. They were choking,
drowing, fighting for dear life.
The last stanza finds Owen encouraging young men back home
to experience war on their own. He can not understand why
people are still pro war when it is the soldiers who experience all
the hardships a war allows. Owen was probably reflecting on his
own previous experience where he thought being in war is
honorable and gives glory to his country. He was patriotica and
wanted to serve the king, but when he saw that people his age
are dying, his belief changed. He did not believe in war. Only
soldiers who had first hand experience of war know the effects it
has on people. They get traumatized when they go back home,
if they make it back home alive. To Owen, it was very
unfortunate that he died a week before the war ended.
en had a hard time justifying the war in his mind. Over nine
million people died between 1914 to 1918. Cities were brought
to the grounds. What good does war bring? Yet back home,
because people are living their normal lives, they do not care.
They even support the war as a mean to victory.
While this poem was written about a hundred. At first he
wonders and has the mind that when you do die in war while
fighting for your country, that you will die in honor. In reality,
war is something different and no one pays attention to you and
once you get to the army, you will change your mind
The second stanza opens with the commander yelling at them
to put on their gas masks to prevent inhaling it. Despite their
weariness, they have to be quick in putting on their gas masks or
they will all die. Wilfred Owen vividly describes this horrible life
and death situation where only those who had been to war
experienced. He describes how he witnessed the other soldiers
were helplessly dying under his sight. They were choking,
drowing, fighting for dear life.