1. This poem occurs during a war and seems to imply that the Americans can face death better due to them leaving their genes behind so they will somehow be reborn. In addition the Iraqis fear that about the Americans as their army and their people will continue to grow even when the soldiers are overseas or are dying. The dead soldier talks about the sperm and about how the Americans left their legacy behind them.
2. The Iraqis were fighting a losing battle against a far superior opponent not just in terms of numbers but in training and technology. The Iraqis were constantly losing much more troops than the Americans and due to the large number of birth defects, their numbers were not growing anywhere near necessary to keep pace. The Americans on the other hand had a cheap easy way to increase their manpower that was almost completely safe. This led to a severe jealousy by the Iraqis.
3. A journalist works very hard to show the truth. His entire job is to let the facts be known. For a poet, their job is to embelish. They're supposed to cover the truth up for the soldiers and make the war seem much more glorious than it truly is.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Lion- A large meat eating cat known for its furry mane. Called 'King of the Jungle' by some. Not dangerous to humans except on rare occasions and when it is provoked. Generally travels in groups called prides.
Lioness- Female lion. Lacks the furry mane the male has. Also it is the actual hunter for its pride.
The story She Unnames Them did not come across to me the way the author wanted it to. Everything was left too vague to adequately get what the author is trying to say.
Lioness- Female lion. Lacks the furry mane the male has. Also it is the actual hunter for its pride.
The story She Unnames Them did not come across to me the way the author wanted it to. Everything was left too vague to adequately get what the author is trying to say.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Comments for 4/17
She Unnames Them
This story was kind of weird. Is about someone unaming animals or something like that. The person takes away the generic names for a species like 'cats' or 'dogs' but lets them keep their personal names. Its never very clear who the man and the woman are. The man is Adam and so the woman would probably be Eve, however they named the animals and this woman is unnaming them so its very odd and is kind of hard to understand.
A Cold Coming
I had not clue what was going on is this poem. Its about a dead Iraqi soldier who was talking to someone before he was burned to death. The Iraqi soldier was talking about sperm or something like that. Apparently the Americans froze their sperm frozen so in case they died their wives could be introvertalized and they could have children after they died. This apparently scared the Iraqis. Very strange poem.
Journey of the Magi
This poem is about the journey of the Magi to the birthplace of baby Jesus. The poem is however told pasttense as one of the Magi is remembering it when he is old. The Magi also mentions having seen Jesus' death on the cross and how important both events were to him.
This story was kind of weird. Is about someone unaming animals or something like that. The person takes away the generic names for a species like 'cats' or 'dogs' but lets them keep their personal names. Its never very clear who the man and the woman are. The man is Adam and so the woman would probably be Eve, however they named the animals and this woman is unnaming them so its very odd and is kind of hard to understand.
A Cold Coming
I had not clue what was going on is this poem. Its about a dead Iraqi soldier who was talking to someone before he was burned to death. The Iraqi soldier was talking about sperm or something like that. Apparently the Americans froze their sperm frozen so in case they died their wives could be introvertalized and they could have children after they died. This apparently scared the Iraqis. Very strange poem.
Journey of the Magi
This poem is about the journey of the Magi to the birthplace of baby Jesus. The poem is however told pasttense as one of the Magi is remembering it when he is old. The Magi also mentions having seen Jesus' death on the cross and how important both events were to him.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Comments for 4/10
Siren Song!
Greek mythology has always interested me and this poem is definately an interesting read. The song is about the mythical sirens who lure men to their deaths by tricking them into crashing their ships against the rocks of their island. This paticular poem is told from one of the Siren's points of view and involves her tricking the audience for it into crashing by pretending the song is a cry for help and since its a well known fact (read: cliche) that men can't resist a beautiful woman, the audience will have fallen into her trap. Just as she planned.
Ulysses
This story is about the famed Ulysess (star and hero of the famous epic The Odyssey). In this story he is old and recounts the many adventures of his life. In order to return home to his loyal wife and son he went through many hardships that would easily have made a lesser man lose his mind. However his son is very different from him and he finds that as he grows closer to death he wants to go one last adventure. He wants to be famed for one more thing. Simply put he can't bear the thought of sitting at home peacefully and would prefer to go on another life or death adventure. Really this poem is rather sad in that, Ulysses worked incredibly hard to return home to his family and yet when he gets there, he wants to go back on another adventure.
Greek mythology has always interested me and this poem is definately an interesting read. The song is about the mythical sirens who lure men to their deaths by tricking them into crashing their ships against the rocks of their island. This paticular poem is told from one of the Siren's points of view and involves her tricking the audience for it into crashing by pretending the song is a cry for help and since its a well known fact (read: cliche) that men can't resist a beautiful woman, the audience will have fallen into her trap. Just as she planned.
Ulysses
This story is about the famed Ulysess (star and hero of the famous epic The Odyssey). In this story he is old and recounts the many adventures of his life. In order to return home to his loyal wife and son he went through many hardships that would easily have made a lesser man lose his mind. However his son is very different from him and he finds that as he grows closer to death he wants to go one last adventure. He wants to be famed for one more thing. Simply put he can't bear the thought of sitting at home peacefully and would prefer to go on another life or death adventure. Really this poem is rather sad in that, Ulysses worked incredibly hard to return home to his family and yet when he gets there, he wants to go back on another adventure.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Annontated Bibliography - SWA 8, 9
Annotated Bibliography
Holt: Elements of Literature. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 5 Apr. 2008. http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/authorbios/index2.jsp?author=10timobrien.
This article is a small biography of the author of “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien. O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War and served in it for 3 years where he saw heavy combat as an infantryman. After he got home from the war, O’Brien wrote several stories about war. I can use this article in my paper to s how O’Brien’s real life experiences helped him write this story and that the events that take place in it are the gritty reality of the harsh war.
Jones, Joy. "I Will Never Forget." Officer Review Magazine 47.6 (Jan. 2008): 12-12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28320644&site=ehost-live.
This article details the story of a young sergeant in the army who was good friends with another soldier who the sergeant finds out after he goes home had been killed in action. The article shows how the sergeant never forgets about the soldier and even thirty years later contacts his next of kin to give them photos he had of the soldier. The article is important in that it shows how the war affected the soldiers’ bonds with each other.
Roszak, Theodore, et al. "Where Were You During the Summer of Love?" Chronicle of Higher Education 53.44 (06 July 2007): B6-B9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=25847210&site=ehost-live.
This article illustrates several points of view during the infamous Summer of Love. Many of these people are influenced by the Vietnam War. Some fought in the war and some fought against the war. I can use this article to detail how the Vietnam War affected the lives of different people and show that the war itself was very influential not only to the Vietnamese people, but to the American people.
Thomas, Evan, et al. "What These Eyes Have Seen. (Cover story)." Newsweek 151.6 (11 Feb. 2008): 24-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28833419&site=ehost-live.
This article provides a narrative of what possible future president John McCain went through in the Vietnam War. This article details his capture, torture, and eventual release at the hands of the Vietcong. This article is important to my paper due to its explicit details of what prisoners of war went through in the war as well as how the experience shaped McCain into the possible Leader of the Free World he has become today.
www.ibiblio.org. 1989. AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY, Center of Military History. 7 April 2008. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/vietnam/short.history/chap_28.txt.This article is a summary of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It discusses everything from the beginning of the conflict which reached back to World War II to the end of the war and beyond. I can use this article in my paper to show not only what happened, but the results of the war as well as the final casualty figures suffered by the American forces and the Vietnamese forces.
Holt: Elements of Literature. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 5 Apr. 2008. http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/authorbios/index2.jsp?author=10timobrien.
This article is a small biography of the author of “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien. O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War and served in it for 3 years where he saw heavy combat as an infantryman. After he got home from the war, O’Brien wrote several stories about war. I can use this article in my paper to s how O’Brien’s real life experiences helped him write this story and that the events that take place in it are the gritty reality of the harsh war.
Jones, Joy. "I Will Never Forget." Officer Review Magazine 47.6 (Jan. 2008): 12-12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28320644&site=ehost-live.
This article details the story of a young sergeant in the army who was good friends with another soldier who the sergeant finds out after he goes home had been killed in action. The article shows how the sergeant never forgets about the soldier and even thirty years later contacts his next of kin to give them photos he had of the soldier. The article is important in that it shows how the war affected the soldiers’ bonds with each other.
Roszak, Theodore, et al. "Where Were You During the Summer of Love?" Chronicle of Higher Education 53.44 (06 July 2007): B6-B9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=25847210&site=ehost-live.
This article illustrates several points of view during the infamous Summer of Love. Many of these people are influenced by the Vietnam War. Some fought in the war and some fought against the war. I can use this article to detail how the Vietnam War affected the lives of different people and show that the war itself was very influential not only to the Vietnamese people, but to the American people.
Thomas, Evan, et al. "What These Eyes Have Seen. (Cover story)." Newsweek 151.6 (11 Feb. 2008): 24-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28833419&site=ehost-live.
This article provides a narrative of what possible future president John McCain went through in the Vietnam War. This article details his capture, torture, and eventual release at the hands of the Vietcong. This article is important to my paper due to its explicit details of what prisoners of war went through in the war as well as how the experience shaped McCain into the possible Leader of the Free World he has become today.
www.ibiblio.org. 1989. AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY, Center of Military History. 7 April 2008. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/vietnam/short.history/chap_28.txt.This article is a summary of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It discusses everything from the beginning of the conflict which reached back to World War II to the end of the war and beyond. I can use this article in my paper to show not only what happened, but the results of the war as well as the final casualty figures suffered by the American forces and the Vietnamese forces.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Topic Proposal - SWA 10
Topic Proposal
The work I have chosen is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. I chose to write about this topic because war is fascinating not merely in the violent sense but in the psychological way it affects the soldiers. Wars themselves are always interesting and the Vietnam War was one of the worst wars America ever fought. The war is significant not only because its the closest America has ever come to losing a war, but because it was the first war to have television coverage and therefore was scrutinable by the public eye. The war itself was horrorfest that had no winners, only survivors. In that way, the theme of the story is simply that the war may seem like a glorious experience but in fact its a hellish nightmare where only the lucky really escape from. I need to find more information not only about the war itself, but how it affected the survivors and how the war was treated by the media.
Thesis: The Vietnam War was a hellish time period where the men went over to fight were slowly driven mad by the horrors they witnessed.
The work I have chosen is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. I chose to write about this topic because war is fascinating not merely in the violent sense but in the psychological way it affects the soldiers. Wars themselves are always interesting and the Vietnam War was one of the worst wars America ever fought. The war is significant not only because its the closest America has ever come to losing a war, but because it was the first war to have television coverage and therefore was scrutinable by the public eye. The war itself was horrorfest that had no winners, only survivors. In that way, the theme of the story is simply that the war may seem like a glorious experience but in fact its a hellish nightmare where only the lucky really escape from. I need to find more information not only about the war itself, but how it affected the survivors and how the war was treated by the media.
Thesis: The Vietnam War was a hellish time period where the men went over to fight were slowly driven mad by the horrors they witnessed.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
SWA 7
Both the play “Trifles” and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” were enjoyable reads. However the play version was easier to discern what the characters/actors were doing in the scene and about the setting of the scene in general. The short story however made it easier to see what was being said and to what was happening. The play seems too scattered, with the reader having to pause in the middle of the speaker’s lines to discern what they’re doing while in the short story, you can read what they’re saying without having to pause and thus making it easier to follow what’s going on in the play. In terms of historical or cultural analysis, the play is easier to use in that respect. The way the women were treated by the men, along with the other items shown by the play, it can be discerned that the story takes place early in the 1900s or late 1800s. The play form is very helpful in discovering the historical and cultural aspect due to its descriptions of not only the scene, but the descriptions of the individual items in the house. With all of the info provided once can make a much more accurate analysis than one could by reading the short story which lacks the detailed summary of the house and its occupants.
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