...woke up everyday as a child soldier. He trained and went to go attack enemies and villages. When he needed motivation or when he had accomplished his goal, he went to do drugs and shoot guns with his friends. He didn’t choose to be a child soldier and commit terrible actions on his own. He was forced to do these actions and was bribed to execute orders from his commanders. Ishmael’s situation is not uncommon around the world. In fact, there are multiple amounts of people who are/were child soldiers. Though a fraction of child soldiers were committed to being a child soldier, most of them are forced into the war. If they do not do what they are told, they could be killed. This issue is a hotly debated topic. While...
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...February 2015 English Composition A great deal of service members have been to war in the past decade. Over half of these soldiers have been deployed more than once. Deployment does not only effect the soldier, but also his family, friends, and doctors. War affects everybody and it changes some people’s outlooks on life in general. There are many different situations that soldiers and their families must face upon returning from war. Psychological and physical difficulties due to the intensity and horrors of warfare have been recorded in history since the Trojan war and in all American wars. Even though the physical damage may heal, the mental stresses do not lessen over time. Psychological disorders from deployment ranges from insomnia to poor dieting. Mental illness has become so common in returning soldiers that there is officially a name for it which is, “post Deployment Syndrome,” and affects many different people who are around the returning soldier. Like war, PDS symptoms affect everyone around them. There is no specific way to test and see if someone has a mental disorder, so they are tested through direct interviews. Almost half of a million U.S. troops have been affected by PDS and can have any of the following symptoms: polytrauma, combat stress, blast injury, hypersensitivity, PTSD, post concussive syndrome. No matter how mentally strong each soldier is, PDS is very hard to avoid. Soldiers have to deal with the aftermath of killing others and watching others get killed...
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...Wilfred Owen Task 1: The Next War The author portrays Death as a personified character who does not cause the soldiers fear or grief. Although death has come in many forms the soldier has accepted that it is everywhere and has become unaffected by it. This is emphasised in the epigraph in the first stanza and further supported in the first line of the second stanza “we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death, sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland”. This highlights the soldier’s acceptance of death and war and how they relate. The soldier has ‘leagued with him’ and so the soldiers laugh as they have killed just like Death has. Anthem for Doomed Youth This poem draws an analogy between the death of the soldiers and a traditional funeral. It is ironically titled an ‘anthem’ which is usually praiseful or celebratory. The author makes a direct comparison between the ‘choirs’ and the wailing of Shells, and prayers to the rapid sounds of machine guns and rifles. The opening line the soldiers are referred to as cattle, which emphasize how insignificant each live is in the war scene. There are no prayers or choirs mourning for the soldiers who are slaughtered on the battlefield. It is only in the last few lines that the author portrays the silent grieving of the families and loved ones at home. The mood of the poem changes as the author then contrasts the emotion felt back home compared to the ‘cattle’ like death of the soldiers who are around other men whose death...
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...America was birthed from war. It was the Revolutionary War which granted the colonists independence from the British, who imposed upon their rights and liberties, and brought about the United States. The Civil War aided in the abolition of slavery and the creation of new rights and liberties for even more people. The World Wars helped establish peace between the major world powers by standing up and “[fighting] against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history” (Reagan). Moving into the late 20th century, those who grew up listening to the heroes of World War II “[worshipped] the veterans” inspiring many to enlist in the Vietnam and Korean wars (Samet). War has been engrained in the history and culture...
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...the cruel and horrifying experience of being at war. Soldiers and veterans are the only citizens that have experienced war first hand, and this is by seeing the war up close hand while also fighting in it. In Sledge’s “With The Old Breed,” he turned his experiences at war into terms citizens could understand. He captures what the Marines went through in the Pacific, while they were fighting the Japanese in World War II. From the excitement at the start of boot camp, all the way to soldiers praying to make it home after months of intense battle. War changes people typically for the worse, but citizens are more aware of the negative repercussions that come from war. How did Sledge’s experience at war change his view of the Japanese? In every war soldiers are taught to hate and of course kill the enemy. The beginning of Sledge’s marine career he was worried about becoming too inhumane. He...
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...novel with the intent of an anti-war message. Throughout the novel, he portrays the horrors of war through what the soldiers experienced during World War I. Remarque demonstrates his anti-war message by showing the effects the war had on the young men, providing horrific details of war, and The author shows how young men are sent into war at such early ages, haven’t yet to experience much of life other than war. “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another”...
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...Soldiers often feel alienated when they return from war because their experiences make them feel out of place and they struggle in talking about the war. Detachment or alienation is shown through stories as they help people cope with emotions without directly dealing with reality. In “The Things They Carried”, the author, Tim O’Brien, uses a familiar tone to explain the innermost emotions of soldiers who feel alienated and separated from society when they return home from the war. O’Brien addresses alienation when Norman Bowker returns home from war in the chapter “Speaking of Courage.” A feeling of separation from society is present in the quote “The town could not talk, and would not listen. “How’d you like to hear about the war?” he might have asked, but the place could only blink and shrug” (O’Brien 137). O’Brien’s familiar tone can be seen in this chapter through the...
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...writer. The reader is able to grasp an understanding of the techniques Junger utilizes to engage the reader and support his argument. In his essay, you can clearly establish where ethos, logos and pathos are being utilized to support his argument. In the following paragraphs we will pinpoint his use of these techniques to strengthen his argument and main points. Sebastian purposely chooses to begin with his very vivid and detailed recollections of being on a hilltop with soldiers engaging in combat. He does this to strengthen his credibility as a writer and establishes an ethical approach to his argument in the rest of his essay. He begins with “Most of the fighting was at four or five hundred yards, so no one ever got to see- or had to deal with- the effects of all that firepower on the human body” (1). This instantly sets the tone for Sebastian’s essay. You can see his beliefs and stand point are challenged being at the hilltop with these American Soldiers and it causes him to question the ethics of the soldiers. For example, he writes “They watched until he stopped moving, and then they called in that he’d died. Everyone on Restrepo cheered. That night I couldn’t sleep, and I crept out of my bunk and went and sat on the roof of the ammo hooch.” This paragraph tells us of the enemy combatant dying alongside a mountain and all the men on Restrepo cheering when the enemy was pronounced dead. Junger was disturbed and didn’t understand why they would cheer over a human being vulnerable...
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...War and Peace In 1914, all the world’s major powers went into war. The war started in Europe, we know as being the First World War or “The Great War”. Although, great is the worst word to tag to its name. Unless you would consider millions of people dying amongst massive carnage, then you would be spot on. As big as the war was, it was the soldiers that fought in it came out most impacted. Peace treaties ended the war, but they did not of which put an end to the trauma and after effects of the wars survivors. Before the war, the government did an excellent job of conveying that political situations were not worth fighting for, then within a year their thoughts changed and most people were on board with the idea of war. As the war began, “most people seemed genuinely convinced that their nation’s cause was just.” (Spielvogel 881) Which was a good thing for the troops; because they would need all the support they could to make it through the tough conditions they were about to ender on the battle field. Most of the fighting took part in what was called trench warfare. Fighters spent basically four years fighting in trenches protected by barbed wire and backed by heavy artillery. “Soldiers in the trenches also lived with the persistent presence of death.” (Spielvogel 886) As soldiers were being killed in these trenches, the others have to keep on fighting amidst all the dead bodies of their fellow soldiers all around them. “No-man’s land” separates the opposing...
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...During 1914, the world metamorphosed into a world far different from what it was. It became a world that was more progressive, industrialized, and volatile. In Canada, the Great War had an effect on the entire population, in several aspects of everyday life. One of these effects on the population was their patriotism and sense of Canadian identity, both through the war and events occurring in the aftermath. A second effect on the population involved the development of a tumultuous relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada. A third and final effect on the population involved Canada’s Indigenous population and First Nations Communities and their acceptance by other Canadians, and soldiers of all armies, during the Great War. One of the effects of the Great War on the population of Canada was their patriotism. When the war began many men enlisted, and the causes included an air of war romanticism, because a large scale war had not taken place in recent history and the war was advertised as “over by Christmas” and as “an opportunity to see the world.” In the first few weeks after war had been declared 30,000 men enlisted, eager to fight and return home a hero. However, as the war continued and...
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...of German soldiers during World War I, and it illustrates themes including effects of war on soldiers. “This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by war” (epigraph of the novel). The book is about the story of a German soldier who joins the German army in world war I. The plot consists of daily routines of soldiers in the trenches. This soldier had to lay wire, guard supplies, fight in many battles, and watch...
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...that war is repetitive. Example: the repetition of the word “they’re” as the first word of a line. The use of repetition in “Homecoming” is to emphasise the emptiness and dullness of going to war and their homecoming. Bruce Dawes purpose in using repetition is to symbolise the repetition of war. This technique can effect the audience by creating an atmosphere of empathy for the people who go to war. From using repetition in words such as “ day after day”, Bruce constructs a mood of dullness. Soldiers aren’t appreciated When the soldiers came home to their homecoming, they were only met by dogs. “raise muzzles in mute salute”. This shows the meaningless of war and how soldiers weren’t given recognition for their war efforts. Dawe...
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...I am a nurse on the Western Front, during which I have witnessed many atrocities, which has led me to believe that the war is futile and should be put to a halt. To start, the war has killed and physically injured a multitude of men, some of which were under my care. I have also seen the psychological effects of war present in my patients and their friends. If these were not enough, this war has also torn apart an infinite amount of families, which could have been completely avoided. If you cannot end this useless war, this endless cycle of abominations will never end. The butchery of the war has led many hapless soldiers to their doom or to hospitals on stretchers. I have had the wretched pleasure to treat numerous injured men, of which one that stands out is Franz Kemmerich, who unfortunately died from a leg wound. I heard a description from one of his friends, Paul Bäumer, which I find very fitting for his condition. “He looks ghastly, yellow and wan. In his face there are already the strained lines that we know so well…...
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...Going into the First World War, the people of the 20th century were enthusiastic. Everyone believed the war would last a few short months and the soldiers would be home by Christmas. However, as the war progressed, the soldiers quickly realized that these high expectations were not going to be met. Soldiers were dying at a rapid pace and with much of the war being fought in trenches, muddy areas, and cold weathers, diseases were killing soldiers just as quickly as the war was. The enthusiasm quickly faded and the results showed the reality of how ruthless the war was for the soldiers and the countries they were fighting for. As thousands of soldiers died and several of those who survived, suffered from shell shock, the reality of the war and...
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...themes are the dehumanizing effects of war, the futility of war, and the comradeship between soldiers. These three themes combines help mold All Quiet on the Western Front into the greatest war novel of all time War is very gruesome and grotesque, which Remarque gives insight to throughout the book. Death is continuously around the soldiers, and it almost becomes the norm. “Death is working from within” (Remarque 14). The soldiers feel as though they are slowly dying with all their fellow comrades. Death dehumanizes the soldiers in a way that it makes them forget to realize death is a sad thing. The...
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