The story that I picked is The Things They Carried.

The historical setting is Vietnam during the war. The cultural background is about an American soldier's experiences in the Vietnam War. I am not too familiar with the war in Vietnam. The setting in which the story takes place, the places in the story, and the fact that the war is in Vietnam are the important cultural and historical clues in the story. These clues reveal when and where the story occurs and allow the readers to understand the context in which the events are happening. I would like to find out more about not only the Vietnam War in general, but about the casualty figures. Also I'd like to look more at the culture of the Vietnemese people themselves in general not only during the war but possibly before and after the war as well.

Comments for 3/27

The theme for "No Name Woman" is probably culture. The woman is raped and gets pregnant as a result. However because of the culture of the Chinese she ends up killing herself out of the 'shame' she brings upon her family by getting pregnant with a man who isn't her husband. In the end her culture is responisble for her suicide and for the death of her newborn.

Similar to "No Name Woman", "Becky is about culture, but is more about finding your 'place' in a paticular culture. The story takes place in the 20s and was in a time of racial difficulty. Blacks and whites were not considered close so for someone of both races, it was very difficult to find your 'place' in a society.

Comments for 3/25

The story "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie" by Junot Diaz is a guide about what a Dominican guy should do on his date based on what race the girl is and what the result of the date will be. The story itself is full of ethnic stereotypes. The narrator's home life is less than preferable and apparently he lives in a rather poor neighborhood.

The story "No Name Woman" by Maxine Hong Kingston is a story that reflects some Chinese culture. A woman is raped repeatedly, gets pregnant, and is then murdered by a mob of villagers sent after her by the very man who raped her. The story is very disturbing and I noticed that the final paragraph seems to reference the original Chinese legend that inspired the Ring movies.

The poem "America" by Claude McKay seems to imply that Claude has had horrible experiences in this country but still loves it all the same. He seems to personify America as a woman and notes many problems that America is facing or will face in the future. In his other poem "If We Must Die" he describes the way that he wants him and his fellows to die, not slaugtered like hogs but dying nobly in battle against overwhelming odds. Basically Claude states he would rather die on his feet than on his knees.

Freewrite

War- battles, peace, death, explosions, pain, flames, gunfire, bombs, planes, tanks, soldiers, enemy, very loud, terror, destruction, bullets

Gunner- gun, bullets, shells, loud firing, bullet holes, dead people, blood

Attack- assault, defend, protect, kill, charge, forward, victorious, gunfire, advance, yells

World War II- Holocaust, Hitler, Nazis, Pearl Harbor, atom bomb, Truman, death, Stalin

The research I found about ball turrets does help me visualize the poem better and helps me to understand a little of what the doomed ball turret gunner was going through than before I researched what a ball turret was.

The author's message is difficult to detect even with the research, however it probably is along the lines of War is a very hellish time, and is full of very dark events. This is probably due to his inability to get in a plane because he failed to qualify and was instead forced to work as a a radio tower operator.

Comments 3/20

"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell

The short poem is really rather sad and brutal. The freezing man inside the bomber is killed by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft guns after just waking up from a dream about his moter and then washed out of his turret with a hose. Shocking stuff.

“The Holocaust Party” by Robin Hemley

The Holocaust was one of the worst moments in human history. No one really wants to think about everything that happened, but to simply forget about it would be even more horrible. Its like a car crash. It terrifies people out of their minds, yet they still want to learn more about it.

Comments for 3/18

The Soldier

This poem is about a soldier going off to the battlefield while being more than a little ignorant about what he really was going to experience. The soldier talks about easily doing things that many have struggled to do.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

This poem is about the young men who died as they were slaughtered by artillary guns. The young men never stood a chance against the weapons but charged on anyway knowing that they were certainly doomed against the overwhelming firepower their enemy possessed.

Glory of Women

I did not understand this poem too well. It obviously had to do with death, but it seems to refer to the dead soldiers and not to women at all.

Concerns for Essay #2

I am concerned with the closing of the essay. I feel that I may not have concluded it well enough and possibly need to add more to the ending of the paper. I also feel that I may need to add more to body itself describing the features and meaning of the cell phone.