Eternal Sleep on the Job
As indicated in my last comment at the post entitled “A Horseman in the Sky,” most of us had a solid understanding of the principal irony in the story. It was situational irony, and Carter Druse’s having to cause his own father’s death was certainly unexpected. “A Horseman in the Sky” shows how fate sometimes plays with us.
Another, more hidden irony also reveals itself to us upon story’s conclusion. To understand it, we have to go back to the beginning of the story and pay close attention to the first and seventh paragraphs (the seventh begins with “So Carter Druse, bowing reverently to his father, . . .”) and remember what Carter Druse was doing when we first encounter him at his post at the height of that terrifying cliff.
Together with your teammate, see if you can figure out what this other irony of the story is and post your response in a well-written paragraph (one paragraph between the two of you, with both names in the name field). Use Notepad to first record your thoughts and then paste to the Comments section of this post. Remember to have a topic sentence for the paragraph and make certain you’ve used details from the story to support your explanation. Proofread carefully before you submit your comment.
Mr. Seybert
Explore posts in the same categories: Eng. 8A, Eng. 8B, Mr. Seybert's English 8 Classes
Not the Last Word 8 
November 9, 2006 at 9:35 am
The irony of the story was Dramatic Irony because the audience or reader was aware of what was going to happen and the character was not aware of it. If he wouldn’t have woken up his father would have went back to tell his troop. He could have risked the life of himself and his troop.
November 9, 2006 at 9:36 am
If fate wouldn’t have awakend Carter Druse then there would have been an ambush. If he would have remained asleep he would never have noticed the horseman in the sky which was really his father. The outcome of that wouldn’t have been good because his father saw the Union soldiers down in the valley. So he would’ve ridden back to the Confederates and told them the Union soldiers were near. So later that night when the Union soldiers were going to make a surprise attack it wouldn’t have been a surprise anymore. This irony is dramatic irony.
November 9, 2006 at 9:39 am
The irony in “The Horseman in the Sky” is situational irony. Situational irony is the difference between what happens and what we expect to happen. In this story Carter Druse is told by his father to conceive what he thinks is his duty, but he falls asleep which is exactly the opposite of his duty. When Carter Druse wakes up his dad is atop a horse on a cliff.
His father is part of the Confederate Army. Carter Druse must then shoot his father. Yet, if Carter Druse wouldn’t have woken up his dad would have probably shot him.
November 9, 2006 at 9:41 am
The situational irony in “A Horseman in the Sky” is that Carter Druse woke up to see his father looking down into the valley to see the Union Army. If Carter wouldn’t have woken up, his father would have told the Confederate’s about the Union Army in the Valley. When the Union Army went to attack, the Confederate’s would have been waiting for them.
November 9, 2006 at 9:43 am
The Confederate soldiers would have known that the Union were planning a surprise attack if Carter Druse didn’t shoot his father. If the Confederate soldiers would have known they could be prepared if Carter didn’t shoot his dad. If Carter was in the attack and his dad saw him his dad would have shot him.
November 9, 2006 at 9:44 am
If fate hadn’t awoken Carter Druse, then the Confederate Army would have killed the Union soldiers that were resting by the stream. Carter
Druse probably wouldn’t have had to kill the horse, leading to the death of his father. Carter Druse would also have gotten into trouble for falling alseep causing the murdering of the Union soldiers.
November 9, 2006 at 9:45 am
The irony in this part of the story that I find is probably a type of situational irony. The reason for this is because we thought that Carter would stay sleeping. In the story he is sleeping and I didn’t think that he was going to wake up, but in this story it seems that his father sort of wakes him up by his presence. If Carter wouldn’t have woken up his father would have alerted his army. They would have been prepared. Then the army that the father is with would have killed Carter and the rest of his troops.
November 9, 2006 at 9:46 am
The other irony in the story “Horseman in the Sky” is dramatic irony. Dramatic Irony is the audience or reader is aware of a reality that a character is not aware of. If Carter Druse wouldn’t have woken up his father could have went back and told the confederates about the surprise attack. If the confederates would of known about the attack they would be ready for them to attack. If that would have happened Carter could have been killed by his father.
November 9, 2006 at 9:46 am
The hidden type of irony in the Horseman in the Sky is dramatic irony. We believe it is dramatic irony because Carter Druse was sleeping and he woke up because of fate.If Carter Druse wouldn’t of woken up him and his fellow troops probably would of been ambushed and died.
November 9, 2006 at 9:48 am
The hidden irony in Horseman in the Sky is dramatic irony. It is dramatic irony because when he woke up it was fate that woke him. When Carter Druse woke up he didn’t know it was fate that woke him. We knew that he woke up by fate, and he didn’t know.
November 9, 2006 at 11:09 am
In the beginning of the story Carter Druse is sleeping, then he woke up and he thought in his dream he saw an angel telling him to wake up. Then we learn it’s almost something like fate. If he wouldn’t of woken up his father” the confederate soldier” would of gone back and told the army that they were planning a surprise attack, and then the union wouldn’t have the surprise attack they wanted. More people would have died because the confederate army knew about it. The ironic part of the story is that he could of never woken up, and if he wouldn’t have woken up lots of people would have died and Carter Druse would have been blamed for it. He would have been blamed because he wasn’t supposed to be sleeping and it’s illegal to sleep on the job, and they would of found him sleeping on the job he would have the death sentence.
November 9, 2006 at 11:13 am
If Carter Druse had remained asleep his father would have seen the union regiments and reported it to his camp. Knowing that the cliff would be to small to attack from the Confederate officers would attack through the many areas in the ally. Therefore Carter would probably live through the attack. He would later have to return to the union army and explain why the surprise attack failed. When he told them that he was asleep and a solder saw the regiments of the union army and reported it. Then he would be hung.
November 9, 2006 at 11:14 am
If Carter would had stayed a sleep there would have been a man sloter between the two armies. If the Union still won Carter would have been tried for treason and hung. There would also be alot more deaths on both sides. If Carter wouldn’t have shot his dad all this might have happened. Therefore he saved a lot of lives. He conceived to be his duty by killing his dad.
November 9, 2006 at 11:14 am
What we think would have happened if Carter Druse had stayed sleeping is that before the Union soldiers left for the surprise attack on the confederates. His dad would of told the Confederate army that there was going to be a surprise attack. When the Union army left for the surprise attack they would have walked into an ambush. The irony that could of happened is Carter Druses dad could have killed Carter Druse during the ambush.
November 9, 2006 at 11:15 am
If Carter hadn’t been woken up then his father would have gotten away and told his general. Then when Carter’s army went to ambush the other side they would have been slaughtered. Because the confederates would have known, so they could have defended themselves. If the union people had been slaughtered it’s possible that Carter would have died, possibly at the hands of his father. If Carter’s dad hadn’t told him to do what he thought as his duty he most likely wouldn’t have killed his father.
November 9, 2006 at 11:18 am
If Carter Druse would have stayed asleep his father could have told his commanding officer and were the Carter’s troops were. Then the surprise attack would have been an ambush because they new that they were there. Then more of Carter’s troops would have been killed since they didn’t now that the other troops new they were coming. Carter would have died with many of his troops if he had not been woken up by fait.
November 9, 2006 at 11:19 am
The irony would be dramatic. If Carter Druse wouldn’t have woken up all of his fellow soldiers would have died. The ambush they were planning would have been ruined if he didn’t kill his father. The Confederates would have found out if Carter Druse didn’t kill his father then he would have been in trouble. Carter did the right thing by killing his father, so that the Union wouldn’t find out about the ambush.
November 9, 2006 at 11:20 am
The reverse irony of the story is that if fate wouldn’t have awakened Carter Druse he wouldn’t have killed his father. Also Carter Druse wouldn’t have seen his father so his father would have gone and
told the confederates that we can do the surprise attack. If Carter
Druse wouldn’t have awakened, his father could have killed him.
November 9, 2006 at 11:21 am
If Carter Druse did not wake up his dad would’ve saw the union army in the woods. His dad would of told his confederate brothers and they would of been ready for the attack. The probably both would of died in the suprise attack if Carter did not kill his dad. Also Carter Druse’s dad would have killed many other people. Carter’s dad maybe would have killed Carter in the process.
November 9, 2006 at 11:22 am
If Carter Druse had stayed asleep he would have not seen his father on the horse. His father would have gone back to the other confederate soldiers and told them about the surprise plan. The confederate soldiers would have been ready and would have killed Carter and the union soldiers. So instead of Carter killing his father his father would more than likely kill him and the union soldiers. A lot more people would have died.
November 9, 2006 at 11:22 am
If fate wouldn’t have woke Carter Druse up, more people than his father would have died. His father then could have went back and got other soilders and told them where their camp was. Carter could have died instead of his father. Carter’s sergeant could have seen him sleeping and then he could have been punished. Through all this, his father could have killed Carter.
November 9, 2006 at 11:56 am
In the story “A Horseman in the Sky,” besides having situational irony there is also dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is where the audience is aware of what is coming and the character is not. Carter Druse fell asleep if fate hadn’t awaken him, he wouldn’t have had to kill his father. Then, his father would have gone back and told the confederate soldiers where the union soldiers set up camp. The confederate soldiers would then have planned a surprise attack on the union soldiers and probably would have killed them all. Carter Druse would have died, maybe even by his own father.
November 9, 2006 at 12:09 pm
The reverse irony of the story is that if fate wouldn’t have awakenedCarter Druse he wouldn’t have killed his father. Also Carter Druse wouldn’t have seen his father so his father would have gone and told the confederates that we can do the surprise attack. If Carter Druse wouldn’t have awakened, his father could have killed him.
December 6, 2006 at 7:29 am
Most teams wrote an intelligible paragraph and also understood the irony of Carter Druse’s fateful awakening. As always, however, more careful proofreading would result in better paragraphs. You have to read carefully what you’ve written before posting, but we are improving.