POV & Perspective
The point of view "The Sniper" is told from.
What is Third Person Limited?
The risky decision the sniper makes near the beginning of the story that immediately triggers enemy fire.
What is lighting a cigarette in the dark?
He is described as having the thin, ascetic face of a student, but the cold, fanatic eyes of a man used to looking at death.
Who is the protagonist / the Republican sniper?
The historical conflict and city that serve as the setting for "The Sniper."
What is the Irish Civil War in Dublin?
"Machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night... like dogs barking on lone farms." This sentence uses this type of figurative comparison.
What is a simile?
Because perspective is restricted to the protagonist, it is how the reader views the opposing sniper for most of the story.
What is an object or target rather than a human being?
The clever trick the sniper uses to convince his enemy that he has been killed.
What is putting his cap on his rifle, letting it get shot, and dropping his cap and rifle off the roof?
The physical and emotional reaction the sniper has immediately after watching his enemy fall from the roof.
What is shuddering, losing his desire for battle, and feeling remorse?
The two opposing Irish factions fighting each other in the story.
Who are the Republicans and the Free Staters?
Describing the enemy armored vehicle as a "gray monster" that "dull panting" is an example of this literary device.
What is personification (or a metaphor)?
The major structural impact that restricting the reader to the Republican sniper's perspective creates at the story's climax.
What is suspense and a shock/surprise reveal?
The element that creates a "ticking clock" and builds tension as the sniper lies wounded on the roof.
What is the need to escape before morning light arrives?
What the sniper does with his smoking weapon right after he becomes overcome with remorse.
What is hurling/throwing his revolver down onto the roof?
A central theme of the story regarding how civil war impacts families.
What is that civil war is cruel because it divides families and turns brother against brother?
Words that imitate sound, such as "whizzed," "clattered," and "shriek," belong to this figurative language category used to build tense imagery.
What is onomatopoeia?
The reason the reader never learns the full political history or background of the opposing sniper.
What is the Third-Person Limited point of view?
Verbs and descriptions like bullets "whizzing," rifles "clattering," and iodine creating a "paroxysm of pain" are examples of this technique used to build suspense.
What are sensory details? Or What is imagery?
The accidental event that shocks the sniper back to his senses and clears the cloud of fear from his mind.
What is his thrown revolver going off and nearly shooting him in the head?
The central theme supported by the sniper's sudden emotional breakdown and remorse after killing his opponent.
What is the heavy psychological toll and dehumanizing effect of war?
In the text, the author describes the enemy falling from the roof "slowly falling forward as if in a dream." This line emphasizes this mood or atmosphere.
What is a surreal, tragic, or dreamlike atmosphere?
The key story element that would be completely destroyed if the author had used a Third-Person Omniscient point of view.
What is the surprise reveal that the enemy was his brother?
The two things required in Question 10's essay response immediately following your claim statement.
What are two cited evidence quotes and two explanations analyzing how words create suspense?
The reason the sniper decides to risk crossing the street to identify the enemy sniper he just killed.
What is respecting the enemy's skill and wondering if he knew him before the army split?
The character identified in the final line of the story who embodies the broader tragedy of civil war.
Who is the sniper's brother?
This vocabulary word from the story means a sudden, violent burst or outburst of emotion or activity, used when iodine is poured on the wound.
What is a paroxysm?