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1795QUESTIONS Understanding and Interpreting Brian Turner1. Why do you think Brian Turner set this poem in a Lowe%u2019s Home Improvement Center? How is it both a literal setting and, perhaps, a play on words?2. How does the speaker characterize the Iraqi boy who is introduced in the second stanza? What does his presence evoke in the speaker?3. What characters are introduced after Bosch says that he is %u201cgoing back in for more%u201d (l. 20)? What effect does each new character have on the situation in Lowe%u2019s?4. What do you make of the %u201ccasualty collection center%u201d described in lines 25%u201328 or the appearance of %u201cEach dead Iraqi [who] walks amazed%u201d (l. 54)? We know that there are no wounded or dead Iraqi soldiers in Lowe%u2019s, so what do their appearances here say about the speaker%u2019s state of mind? Look carefully at which elements at Lowe%u2019s are connected to those who are dead and wounded.QUESTIONS Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure5. Vocabulary in Context. In the last line of %u201cAt Lowe%u2019s Home Improvement Center,%u201d the speaker imagines a boy writing %u201cT, for Tourniquet%u201d on his forehead. We can assume this moment alludes to the wartime practice of marking casualties to whom a tourniquet has been applied with the letter T and the time of application. In the context of the poem, why might the speaker need a tourniquet? What figurative meaning might this detail convey?6. How does Turner use the images of hardware store items to evoke a battle scene? How do these images contribute to the tone of the poem?7. There is quite a bit of ambiguity in %u201cAt Lowe%u2019s Home Improvement Center%u201d; in other words, the line between what%u2019s real or explainable and what%u2019s not is blurred. How does this ambiguity add to the message and meaning of the poem?8. What does the juxtaposition of dead soldiers laid out on cash registers with customers taking out their wallets (ll. 27%u201342) suggest about the connection between war, everyday life, and the economy?QUESTIONS Topics for Composing9. Analysis. What is the attitude of the speaker in %u201cAt Lowe%u2019s Home Improvement Center%u201d toward war? Write an essay in which you develop and support your position on how this poem frames war and veterans%u2019 experiences. Be sure to use specific examples from the poem as evidence.10. Research. Do some research into post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Then, draft a two-column chart, with one side listing at least three symptoms of PTSD and the other collecting moments from the poem that align with each symptom. Which source do you think gives you a more vivid understanding of the disorder: diagnostic descriptions, or Turner%u2019s poem?Copyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.