Name
Date
“An Episode of War” by Stephen Crane
Reading Warm-up A
Read the following passage. Then, complete the activities.
Almost everyone knows “Taps,” the haunting melody
played by a military bugler at military and memorial
services. This tune has twenty-four solemn notes, one for
each hour of the day, and all the notes are part of a single chord.
“Taps” had its beginnings in Europe. It is a revision of
a French bugle tune played in the evening. A lieutenant
or another officer in charge of a regiment in the
infantry—soldiers on foot—would order the tune played
to notify everyone it was time to return to their barracks.
“Taps” thus functioned as a kind of curfew call. It warned
late stragglers, still wandering around, that they had
only a short time to return to base. Troops who were
roaming at liberty needed to report to their officers, or
they would be disciplined.
The tune spread to the United States. One evening
during the Civil War, General Daniel Butterfield, a Union
officer, fondly recalled hearing the French tune. Butterfield made a request to his soldiers, asking them to play
“Taps” each evening at sundown instead of a bugle call
named “Extinguish the Lights.” The tune soon spread to
the Confederate army. It was even played while mourners
listened sympathetically, in caring remembrance, at the
funeral of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.
These days, “Taps” no longer symbolizes a curfew call.
Instead, it functions as a solemn farewell. When its
twenty-four notes ring out at a state occasion, mellow
and true, they often bring tears to the eyes of the spectators in attendance. They remember those from their
group, fallen comrades, and think of other times when
these same notes have reverberated through the air,
echoing solemnly.
1. Underline the words in this
sentence that give a clue to
the meaning of bugler. Use
the word bugler in an original
sentence.
2. Circle the words in this sentence that give a clue to the
meaning of lieutenant. Use
lieutenant in a sentence of
your own.
3. Circle the phrase that means
nearly the same as infantry. In
an army, where does the
infantry fight: on land, at sea,
or in the air?
4. Underline the words in this
sentence that give a clue to
the meaning of stragglers.
Where would the stragglers
be among the runners in a
marathon?
5. Circle the word that gives a
clue to the meaning of sympathetically. Name a noun,
verb, and adjective related to
sympathetically.
6. Underline the words that give
a clue to the meaning of
spectators. What is a synonym for spectators?
7. Underline the words in this
sentence that mean nearly
the same as comrades. Use
comrades in a sentence of
your own.
8. Circle the words that tell
what reverberated. Name
something that you have
heard reverberate.
Unit 3 Resources: Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
31
Name
Date
“An Episode of War” by Stephen Crane
Literary Analysis: Realism and Naturalism
Realism is a type of literature that tries to show people and their lives as realistically as
possible. Authors who write material within this literary movement focus on ordinary people
rather than on exaggerated models of idealistic behavior. Often such writers emphasize the
harsh realities of ordinary daily life, even though their characters are fictional.
Naturalism expands on the base begun by realism. Writers who create naturalistic literature
follow the traits of realism, but they add the ideas that people and their lives are often deeply
affected by natural forces such as heredity, environment, or even chance. People cannot control
such forces, yet they must carry on the best way they can.
The main difference between the two movements is that naturalism emphasizes the lack of
control its realistic characters have over the changes taking place in their lives. The influence of
both literary movements can often be seen in the same piece of literature, such as “An Episode
of War” by Stephen Crane.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passages from “An Episode of War.” Tell whether you think
each one reflects realism, naturalism, or both. Explain your answer.
1. He was on the verge of a great triumph in mathematics, and the corporals were thronging
forward, each to reap a little square [of coffee], when suddenly the lieutenant cried out and
looked quickly at a man near him as if he suspected it was a case of personal assault. The
others cried out also when they saw blood upon the lieutenant’s sleeve.
Realism, Naturalism, or both:
Explain:
2. When he reached home, his sisters, his mother, his wife, sobbed for a long time at the sight
of the flat sleeve. “Oh, well,” he said, standing shamefaced amid these tears. “I don’t suppose it matters so much as all that.”
Realism, Naturalism, or both:
Explain:
Unit 3 Resources: Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
33