"TWD" Main Ideas
What is the central experience the speaker recounts in the poem?
His time as a nurse dressing the wounds of soldiers during the Civil War.
What specific sound does the speaker recall hearing in the hospital?
The "groan of the gasping man."
What is the term for a line of poetry that continues on to the next line without a pause?
Enjambment.
In what war did Whitman serve as a volunteer nurse?
The Civil War
This short story is set in which country?
Ireland
What is the speaker's main emotional state as he recalls his time as a nurse?
A mix of somber remembrance, duty, and compassion, tinged with the trauma of what he witnessed.
Describe two specific images of wounded soldiers that the speaker recalls.
"The bullet-wound, the axe-cut, the fall," "limbs a-tremble," "the pallid face of the boy."
What is the term for the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words, such as "bouncing baby boy"?
Alliteration.
Where was Walt Whitman born?
West Hills, New York
Which war does The Sniper tell about?
The Irish Civil War
How does the poem's opening stanza, with its request from "children," frame the rest of the poem?
It sets up the poem as a first-hand account or a personal story told to a younger generation who did not experience the war.
What are some of the sensory details (sight, sound, smell) that Whitman uses to make the hospital scenes vivid and realistic?
Sight: "the countless maim'd, the bloudy forms." Sound: "the groan of the gasping man." Smell: "the odor of wounds."
What is the term for a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter?
Blank Verse
What was Whitman's profession before he became a full-time poet and journalist?
He was a teacher.
What is the name of the river running through Dublin?
The River Liffey
What is the central theme of the poem regarding the nature of compassion and care?
It's about the duty and selflessness of caring for others, and how acts of compassion can be a way of finding meaning amid suffering.
How does Whitman use juxtaposition, or the placement of contrasting images, to highlight the horrors of the war?
He contrasts images of youthful, healthy soldiers with the broken bodies of the wounded, highlighting the tragedy of the war.
Explain the difference between a simile and a metaphor.
A simile uses "like" or "as" to compare two unlike things (e.g., "brave as a lion"), while a metaphor directly states that one thing is another (e.g., "He is a lion in battle").
Walt Whitman is considered the father of what type of poetry?
Free verse
What type of warfare was used during the Irish Civil War?
guerrilla warfare
How does the poem serve as a counter-narrative to the romanticized view of war often found in literature?
It presents the unglamorous, often horrifying reality of the aftermath of battle, focusing on the suffering and humanity of the individual soldiers rather than abstract ideals of glory.
Analyze the significance of the speaker's repeated action of dressing the wounds "by the dim light."
The "dim light" suggests the late hours, the makeshift nature of the hospitals, and perhaps a metaphorical darkness of the traumatic memories. It emphasizes the quiet, intimate, and often lonely nature of the work.
What is a symbol? What might the "wound" symbolize in "The Wound-Dresser"?
A symbol is an object or idea that represents something else. The "wound" can symbolize not only the physical injuries of the soldiers but also the emotional and psychological trauma of war.
What is the difference between Whitman as a poet and the speaker in the poem?
Whitman is the man who wrote the poem. The speaker is the narrator in the poem, in this case, a volunteer nurse.
What tells you that the sniper in the story is experienced?
He knows how to expertly treat his bullet wound.