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Questions Without Benefit of Declaration

This document contains questions about a poem called "Without Benefit of Declaration" and answers to those questions. The poem is about a mother preparing to send her son Joe off to an undeclared war. Through three stanzas, the mother's tone grows more resigned and angry at the unfairness of the situation. In the end, it is revealed that Joe has been listening the whole time, and he speaks the final line "It's alright, Mama" to comfort his mother. The questions and answers provide analysis of themes of detachment, fear, anger, and humanity in the face of an absurd situation outside one's control.

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243 views

Questions Without Benefit of Declaration

This document contains questions about a poem called "Without Benefit of Declaration" and answers to those questions. The poem is about a mother preparing to send her son Joe off to an undeclared war. Through three stanzas, the mother's tone grows more resigned and angry at the unfairness of the situation. In the end, it is revealed that Joe has been listening the whole time, and he speaks the final line "It's alright, Mama" to comfort his mother. The questions and answers provide analysis of themes of detachment, fear, anger, and humanity in the face of an absurd situation outside one's control.

Uploaded by

aekulak
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“Without Benefit of Declaration”: Questions

What or who is without benefit of declaration?


Why would it be a benefit to declare?
Declare for what?
In the first stanza, who is the speaker?
Who is Joe?
Why is his name Joe?
Why is the tone commanding?
Why are winds compared to steel?
Is the speaker still the same in the second stanza?
Why is the speaker now referring to Joe as “kid”?
Why in the eighth line is the speaker referring to what other’s have said?
Why will Joe be dead?
Why will it be tomorrow that Joe dies?
Why is led used as a metaphor for snow?
Why is there a motif of metals (steel, led)?
Why is there a motif of cold natural phenomena?
Is it still the same speaker in the third stanza?
Is the speaker still talking to Joe?
Did Joe ask why? If so, why would Joe ask why?
What is the tone of the speaker in the thirteenth line?
What is the meaning of the fourteenth line?
Why is there a motif of the word “Out”? Why is it “Out yonder” in the first and third
stanzas, but “Out there in the second stanza”?
Why is the family receiving a medal in exchange for a guy? Is there a connection
between the use of the metal motif and the word “medal”? Is this a pun?
Why is there a dash at the end of line sixteen?
Why is “a guy” written alone in line eighteen?
Why is the last line alone?
Why is the last line written in italics? How should this be read?
Who is speaking the last line? Is it the same speaker throughout the poem? Is it Joe
speaking? Has his Mama been there the whole time?
Why is the poem written with the rhyme scheme AAAABA CCCBC DDDDDED D?
Does the rhyme scheme connect to the meaning of the poem?
Why does each stanza have a different number of lines?
“Without Benefit of Declaration”: Answers
What or who is without benefit of declaration? Because this is a war that
was not declared, but that is being fought out of emergency.
Why would it be a benefit to declare? Because there would be more time to
prepare for this. This also relates to the use of the word “tomorrow” in both the first
and second stanza.
Declare what? The war.

In the first stanza, who is the speaker? It is his mother who is preparing to
send him off.
Who is Joe? The young man being sent off to war.
Why is his name Joe? Joe is a common name, making this poem more universal.
It might be a reference to GI Joe.

Why is the tone commanding? It is his mother trying to be stoic about sending
her son off to war. Without the benefit of declaration, she is feeling the mixture of
emotions, knowing her son needs to go, but also knowing the risks involved.

Why are winds compared to steel? This is a reference not to the beauty of
nature, but to the danger of bullets, and the fact that Joe will be in a place where
many of them will be flying.

Is the speaker still the same in the second stanza? Yes, it’s still his
mother.
Why is the speaker now referring to Joe as “kid”? Realizing the danger of
this situation, Joe’s mother is trying to separate herself from him by not calling him by
name.
Why in the eighth line is the speaker referring to what other’s have
said? Again, she is detaching from this. She might want to protect him, but since
she can’t she feels the need to quote others.

Why will Joe be dead? Because war is dangerous.


Why will it be tomorrow that Joe dies? Again, this is all happening quickly, so
in her mind, her son will die just as quickly.

Why is lead used as a metaphor for snow? Again, Joe will no longer be
dealing with the cold of nature (snow) but the cold of weaponry (lead).
Why is there a motif of metals (steel, led)? See above.
Why is there a motif of cold natural phenomena? Coldness relates to
lacking emotion, or maybe death.

Is it still the same speaker in the third stanza? Yes.


Is the speaker still talking to Joe? Yes, but she is almost speaking to herself.
She is angry at the lack of control. It comes out as anger at her son though.
Did Joe ask why? If so, why would Joe ask why? Yes, it was Joe who asked. It’s
the first thing he’s said. He wants to know why life is unfair.

What is the tone of the speaker in the thirteenth line? The mother is
resigned, but again, her anger towards the unfairness of things is misdirected at her
son.
What is the meaning of the fourteenth line? When Joe is dead, away from
his mother, he will not be able to see the beauty of nature anymore.

Why is there a motif of the word “Out”? Why is it “Out yonder” in the
first and third stanzas, but “Out there in the second stanza”? Because to
his mother her son is going to an unknown place that doesn’t matter to her.

Why is the family receiving a medal in exchange for a guy? Is there a


connection between the use of the metal motif and the word “medal”?
It is a sarcastic statement. The mother recognizes that a medal will be no
consolation for the loss of her son.

Why is there a dash at the end of line sixteen? It gives pause before the
mother’s recognition that a medal will not make up for the loss of a human being.

Why is “a guy” written alone in line eighteen? To emphasize the fact that
the people who die in war are real.

Why is the last line alone? To emphasize its importance.

Why is the last line written in italics? How should this be read? To show
that the speaker has changed.

Who is speaking the last line? Is it the same speaker throughout the
poem? Is it Joe speaking? Has his Mama been there the whole time?
It was his mother the whole time, but now Joe is responding to her. She started out
trying to console him, but quickly the truth of her fears started to come out, getting
worse throughout the poem. She feels detached, then afraid, then angry, and then
sad. In the end, Joe has to console his mother. Hearing his voice humanizes him,
and hearing him call his mother “mama” humanizes both of them. This poem
depicts two people with no control over the situation, and it shows the absurdity of
sending young men off to war.

Why is the poem written with the rhyme scheme AAAABA CCCBC
DDDDDED D?
Does the rhyme scheme connect to the meaning of the poem?
Why does each stanza have a different number of lines? I don’t see that
answers to these last three questions would add to the meaning of the poem.

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