Serving in the army
Task A

Nowadays many youngsters from the western world seek towards serving time in an army. Militaries attracts many, both rich and poor, and as former American politician Barry Goldwater once said "You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight."

Question 1

The names of the texts illustrate very well, how each of them approach, what it will say to serve in the army. Text one engage the subject with the question; why they serve. For Track, and most other youngster, the major motivational factor is family. They simply want’s their families being able to live in a safe world. They feel some sort of duty to protect them from anything that will try to harm them. This idea comes in connection, with Palin's experience, that Americans are patriotic, and boys like Track therefore feel this duty. Palin does also express, that they want to defend America as country but also as an idea. Fundamentally America is built up around the idea of freedom, so when they enlist to defend they are not only defending a piece of land, but they are also defending the fundamental principles of America. Sarah Palin, suggest that citizens should support their fellow American soldiers, who risks their lives for the country.
The second text is focusing on a Veteran who got both mental and physical scars. He has been diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder. Like text 1, it is expressing that support was/is important; text 2 is expressing, according to the Veteran himself and his father, that even though it helped mature him it was not worth it. Actually the Veteran's father, who encouraged his son to enlist, says; “I wish he had never got in”. Like the name of the text is pointing out, it also says that war affects a whole family and not only the enlisted soldier.
The third text, which is rather different from the others, is called “The Making of a Marine Officer” and is written by Joel Pitney, but is a review of a book by Lieutenant Fick. Fick’s reason for enlisting was to become a man, and so he joined the Marine Corps. Opposite the texts above, He is fighting for the other marines in his unit, and not for people’s freedom. He is fighting for the brotherhood. He was seeking big and dangerous challenges, the ones where you have a chance of getting killed, and that is why he chose to enlist.

Question 2
Narrator Sarah Palin involves herself and her son Track who joined the army, and causes the reader to get a perspective from both a mom and a recruit. She uses this to affect the readers emotions, that’s why she uses herself and her son, to emphasize the accuracy of her point of letting your son go, if that what pleases him. Palin draws in family, because the love of one’s family is something that is very familiar to everyone. Again as mentioned in question 1, Palin tries to find the Patriotic sense in the reader “But America isn’t just another country…” USA is a land of many different origins, and if there is one thing they can agree on, that must be freedom. Freedom to the individual, that’s why she mentions that this freedom which is the root to the land of opportunities is being threatened. She brings the feelings of unification, and get acceptance of making war through them. She uses historical events and great historical front figures “It means being able to say what Ronald Reagan said to the surviving “boys of Pointe du Hoc” on the fortieth anniversary of the D-day invasion.” People can relate to the words of Ronald Reagan, who was a great American republican and president of the United States. “One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for” was the words of Ronald Reagan, and also the point of Palin’s text, where she praises the individual’s right to freedom and it’s worth dying for.

Question 3
The motivational factor for enlisting can be a various difference of things. Palin praised the individual’s right to freedom, and the philosophy of making the world safe and sound for families. In the second text, Ryan Kahlor enlisted for almost the same reasons, but after his return, both Ryan and Tom Kahlor did regret it. As the 9/11 tragedy hit, I think a huge part of the American people felt unsafe, powerlessness and furious. Because of these feelings, many felt like they had to do something drastic. Tom Kahlor did it when he encouraged his son to join in. A culmination of the 3 feelings led to the feeling of revenge; however Tom did send his son out to fight against terror. As well as Tom did it for revenge Ryan also did. I think it is part of the humans’ natural instincts to protect the family. Other explanations why the youth are joining in could be consequences of incidents. If one is suffering from an incident(s) and have seen evilness as they are not capable of watching/thinking of anymore. Therefore I would say that, it is not war itself which attract, but the things you can accomplish throughout war. Overall I think Patriotism is the biggest influence on why young people enlist. When you are filled up with patriotism you get from your parents and people around you, together in a combination with other things, the nationalistic feeling that you have got, plays a huge role, and may be the thing that pull the trigger for you.

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[ 1 ]. P. 2 L. 58
[ 2 ]. P. 2 L. 27-32
[ 3 ]. P. 2 L. 40-41
[ 4 ]. P. 2 L. 42-46
[ 5 ]. P. 2 L. 42-43