1. Discuss the following questions.
1) What is the point of view of this story? In other words, what kind of narrator does it have? Give one piece of evidence from the text to support your answer. How does the narrator affect the content of the story?
2) What does the following quote reveal about Stephen Crane’s view of man? How does this differ from the way that Transcendentalists view man? Find an example from Transcendentalism to which you can compare this quote.“It is as if the wounded man’s hand is upon the curtain which hangs before the revelations of all existence — the meaning of ants, potentates, wars, cities, sunshine, snow, a feather dropped from a bird’s wing; and the power of it sheds radiance upon a bloody form, and makes the other men understand sometimes that they are little.”
3) What does the following quote reveal about how Stephen Crane views death? How does this differ from the way that Romantics or Transcendentalists view death?“Moreover, they fear vaguely that the weight of a finger upon him might send him headlong, precipitate the tragedy, hurl him at once into the dim, grey unknown.”
4) What does the following quote reveal about Realism’s view of man? Compare this thought with that of the Transcendentalists and provide one example from Transcendentalism to support your claim. The doctor cried out impatiently, “What mutton-head had tied it up that way anyhow?” The lieutenant answered, “Oh, a man.”
5) What is the tone of the ending of the story? Explain your answer with an example from the text. What does the tone imply about the world-view of Realism?
2. Tell whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
1) An Episode of War is the story of the conflict between a soldier and a doctor. ( )
2) An Episode of War may be viewed as a realistic story because in this tale an ordinary man’s life is shaped by a force he cannot control, but he endures this life-changing event with strength and dignity. ( )