Collection 6: Skills Review
Essay Question
Both “Drummer Hodge and “The Sleeper of the Valley” suggest that he individual is
insignificant in the larger scheme of things. Do you agree with this interpretation? If so,
compare and contrast the way the two poems use diction, imagery, and irony to convey this
theme. If you don’t agree, what do you think the theme of the poem is? Support your
response with specific details from each poem.
Task breakdown:

Both “Drummer Hodge and “The Sleeper of the Valley” suggest that he individual is
insignificant in the larger scheme of things. [=THESIS, IF YOU AGREE] Do you agree with
this interpretation?
o If so, compare and contrast the way the two poems use diction, imagery, and irony to
convey this theme.
o If you don’t agree, what do you think the theme of the poem is? For example…Both
“Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper of the Valley” suggest… [=YOUR OWN
THESIS BASED ON THEME, IF YOU DO NOT AGREE] Support your response with
specific details from each poem.
STUDENT MODELS
MODEL A:
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In both “Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper of the Valley” I agree with the interpretation.
In the two poems they both provide imagery. In the first two lines of “Drummer Hodge” Thomas
Hardy says “They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest. [uncoffined]—just as found. Where it shows
diction as well in the first poem. The Sleeper of the valley has irony in the poem as it talks about
a solidier, but who has already died and been buried. Which help lead to convey the themes of
both of the poems.
MODEL B:
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I agree that both of these poems suggest that the death of these soldiers are insignificant in
the larger things. Both of these poems use the good imagery in describing the place where these
two soldiers died. In “Drummer Hodge” he was thrown in the hill in a prairie, where the stars
overhead seem to be beautiful. In “The Sleeper in the Valley” the soldier lays on the grass with his
hand on his chest, and the sunshine is on him. The sweet aroma of the nature around him tells that
he is in some kind of forest. Both Soldiers had no funeral or burial though and that is what shows
they are insignificant. (…response cont’d on next page)
The poem “Drummer Hodge” uses irony to convey this message by having his body thrown
in such a beautiful place. [were] it eventually becomes the surrounds. “The Sleeper of the Valley”
uses the same exact thing. The soldier is left to die in a place that is comfortable to the reader.
MODEL C;
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In the grand scheme of things, the individual is about as insignificant as a fly to a whale. If
these two creatures ever crossed paths, the whale would not care if the fly fell through its blow hole. The
fly is too small to affect the whale in any way. One person is too small to “change the world” as so
many claim as their goal. One person can merely inspire others to take part. One person can merely
inspire others to take part. One person attempting to change the world is insignificant without the
help of many. However, the individuals are still insignificant to their cause.
The two poems display such insignificance perfectly. “Drummer Hodge” shows a complete
disregard for what was once a living human beginning. In the beginning of the poem, Hardy clearly
states that a deceased person gets thrown into a hole without a proper funeral. This just goes to show
that an individual is insignificant in the larger scheme of things.
MODEL D:
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It is true that the respective individuals seem insignificant in the grader scheme of things. The
poems “Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper of the Valley” are the same in the reality of the setting; the
indifference is indisputable despicable, but in the times and places of the poems often was the reality. The
poems each use a few literary devices including, but not limited to, imagery and irony. The use of these
literary devices gives a glimpse into the speaker’s thoughts on the treatment of the dead in this scenario.
The literary devices utilized in the poems “Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper in the Valley”
allow a glimpse into the heart of the speakers. “Drummer Hodge” is a Thomas Hardy work in which the
speaker utilizes both imagery and irony to demonstrate the insignificance of a dead man, though he seems
slightly more important to nature than human society, the irony is apparent in the second and third stanzas,
which detail that the deceased knew next to nothing about the wilderness, and yet would become a part of
that wilderness while the imagery speaks more to a belief of what will happen to his soul rather than his
body. At the end of the third stanza a small detail suggests that even the subjects soul will return to the earth
from witch his body was born.
There is a great difference in the use of imagery and irony between “Drummer Hodge” and “The
Sleeper in the Valley” because the imagery in the latter poem is the irony of it. The lovely almost
romanticized words contrast with the harsh reality of the situation creating a crucial image to the speaker’s
meaning and author’s intent between nature’s beauty and man’s indifference to it in light of senseless
violence and this is presented in the monotonous way one presents a scientific observation. In a way the
monotonous feel of the piece makes it even more apparent. That in the same breath someone could
describe something so lovely as a valley beyond human taint and something as gruesome as death, and to
say so indifferently? It makes our souls recoil, but our minds immediately understand.
MODEL E:
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Both “Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper of the Valley” suggest that the
individual is insignificant in the larger scheme of things. I do agree with this interpretation
because in a larger, more philosophical view of life, there are some things that happen
with what seems to be no meaning, and that great unknown and confusion as well as
the frustration for not knowing what is to come is simply the meaning of life.
In “Drummer Hodge” the writer’s choice of words, or diction, provide a slow and
vague story which produces a slow image. The pure simplicity of this poem still gets the
point across and the meaning known if the reader thinks as simply as the writer writes.
The use of imagery also helps the reader visualize what the author is trying to say.
The word choice in “The Sleeper of the Valley” continues to add more details as
the reader goes through the poem. For example, in the second stanza it describes “a
young soldier, with open mouth, bare head,” then continues on to describe that he is
“under the sky and on the grass his bed.” This growing detail provides vivid imagery as
well as a unique reading experience. Irony is also found in this piece because
throughout the whole poem it seems as if it is about a young soldier lying under the
night sky, making the reader feel peaceful with the way the author describes
everything. Ironically, it appears peaceful up until the last line which says “Tranquil—with
two red holes in his right side.”
MODEL F:
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In the drummer Hodge they talk about how they are burying a solider in a
uncoffined landmark, while in the sleeper of the valley the story tells of a solider that is
on a tropical island lying in the sun, yet at the end of the story it tells us that there are
two red holes in his right side meaning that he was dead. Comparing the two tales they
both tell of soliders that had died.
MODEL G:
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In the poems “Drummer Hodge” and “The Sleeper of the Valley” I do feel as
if the individuals are insignificant in the larger scheme of things. The poem
“Drummer Hodge” does come off as if the guy is not important. The speaker says in
line 1 and 2 that they just threw him in the ground, uncoffined. I feel as if they
were like oh random person bury him. In the poem “The Sleeper of the Valley” they
never talk about even burying the guy instead they just tell how he’s laying in the
sun with two bullet wounds. Its very ironic to me that they would treat their
soilders this way, you would think that they would do a special ceremony since they
died in battle.