Red Badge of Courage Unit

Here is a link to an e-text of the novel Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. You can read the entire novel at this link, but I still believe it would be more useful for you to have your own copy of the novel. You can definitely find it at McKay's Bookstore.  However, no one can have the excuse that they did not have a copy of the novel to read this week!

http://www.enotes.com/red-badge-of-courage-text/

Below are study questions for you to answer this week as you read Chapters 1-10 this week.  As you come to each question, if you do not know the meaning of a word look it up in a dictionary.

The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
Chapter 1
1. What is the main character’s reaction to the war which is taking place?(p.3)

2. Comment on the dialogue and vocabulary thus far in the story. What does it tell you about place and time? Why is it important that it never be altered, should the story be reedited and updated?

3. What does Henry’s mother tell him about his duty when enlisted? (P.5)

4. The first of many references to colour is made on p.7. To what does “a part of a vast blue demonstration” refer?

5. How does the author consistently refer to his main character, instead of using his name? Why would he have done this?

Chapter 2
1. Define metaphor. Metaphorically, to what is the youth comparing bravery and battle? p.11

2. The youth fears two things. What are they? P. 12

3. Explain the line, “He was convicted by himself of many shameful crimes against the gods of traditions.” p. 12

4. Throughout this chapter, as with the novel, color is an important factor. Find three passages where color is employed to effectively capture/establish mood. Cite the passages with their page numbers.

5. Define personification. Find an example of personification. Cite the passage, and its page number.

Chapter 3
1. Explain the passage on p. 21: “...he instantly saw that it would be impossible for him to escape from the regiment. It inclosed him. And there were iron laws of tradition and law on four sides. He was in a moving box.” What figurative device is this?

2. What evidence is there that the youth’s fear of battle and his own merit within battle are increasing?

3. What reassurance does the youth try to give himself that he will be able to stand in battle? P.24

Chapter 4
1. What discussion takes place at the beginning of this chapter?

2. Define simile. Find two examples of this device within this chapter.

3. What mood is left for the youth and the reader at the end of this chapter? How is this achieved?

Chapter 5
1. Of what does the youth have a memory at the beginning of the chapter? How is this blended in with the reality of his current situation?

2. How does the youth initially react when faced with the reality of a battle? p.33

3. Find an example of repetition on p.36. Why would this style device be used?

4. What contrast does the youth himself note at the end of this chapter?

Chapter 6
1. Why is the youth compared, metaphorically, to a ‘jaded horse’? Why is this description appropriate?

2. List 5 words or phrases from p.39 which capture the vision and mood of what the youth saw and felt. How do these choices help to explain his decision to flee?

3. Why did the youth run on this occasion, not during the first encounter?

4. How does the mood of the youth, as he flees, contrast with the mood of those fighting?
Give proof.

5. Explain the passage on p.40: “Death about to thrust him between the shoulder blades was far more dreadful than death about to smite him between the eyes.”

Chapter 7
1. What is a moral dilemma? Explain the effectiveness of the first line of this chapter. How does it focus the reader on the issue of moral dilemma?

2. Why does the mood and thinking of the youth turn against his comrades, who stayed and fought?

3. An image of sanctuary is given on p.45. Cite the passage which holds this image, and explain the concept of sanctuary. Where else in the chapter is this image seen?

4. How is the peace of the youth’s surrounding shattered? He had seen death before. Why did this have such a dramatic effect upon him?

Chapter 8
1. What contrasting images are seen at the beginning of this chapter? In what way is this effective for both the reader and the youth?

2. Define irony. What irony does the youth see in his own actions at the beginning of this chapter?

3. The colours blue and gray are recurrent throughout this novel. To what do they literally, and sometimes figuratively, refer. Consider the history of this story carefully before selecting your answer. What is the difference between literal and figurative?

4. What dilemma faces the youth at the end of this chapter?

Chapter 9
1. From what does this novel gain its chosen title?

2. What does juxtaposition mean? What juxtaposing thoughts does the youth have about wounded persons?

3. Why do you think Crane chose to identify his characters by name only during dialogue, and in third person with descriptors such as ‘tall’, ‘ loud’, and ‘tattered’?

Chapter 10
1. Describe the character of the ‘tattered’ soldier, based on the dialogue he has in this chapter? Why is dialogue an effective style device for Crane to use, based on the narrative he is relating?

2. What can the reader tell about the personality of the youth, based on this chapter?
Support your observations with examples from the chapter.

3. Explain the statement on p.60: “The simple questions of the tattered man had been knife thrusts to him.”