...Richie Burner ENWR-106 How to Tell a True War Story 26 February, 2013 If you don’t know how to analyze writing and don’t understand metaphoric speaking then this is not a story for you. O’Brien constantly goes against every Americans thoughts of a war story; he tells the reader that they’re all fake. O’Brien believes war stories don’t actually have to do with people do with heroic things, because every solider is a hero. The average person who was not in combat would not get a true war story because no one has experienced what soldier’s experience. They have seen things and felt things emotionally that no other person will ever see or feel. A ex soldier out look on life is completely different than your average person because they are use to different life style. So all this boils down to one thing, no one will ever understand soldier’s and O’Brien uses “How to Tell a True War Story” to prove this. Through out the story O’Brien talks to the reader as if they don’t know anything. Although he has to approach the reader like this so he can thoroughly explain his point. Since no one understands a soldier’s life he has to write this way, the misunderstanding of soldiers is proven within the first page of the story when rat explains his friend to his sister in a letter that he sent her. “ Stainless steel balls, Rat tells her. The guy was a little crazy, for sure, but crazy in a good way, a real daredevil, because he liked the challenge of it, he liked testing him self, just...
Words: 1771 - Pages: 8
...Summary: This is a short story about the repercussions of war. The story starts in medias res with an old man choosing the day for a young boy's birthday. There has been a war that ended seven years ago and the pair has been hiding ever since. They were discovered by soldiers and are now filling out their documents. The old man has made a small cart for the boy for his birthday and also takes him for a trip to the countryside. In the calm countryside they discover a rusty tank, which preoccupies the boy a lot. They have lunch and afterwards a small nap. When the old man awakens the boy is gone. He immediately heads for the tank to look for him, fearing he may have drowned in the nearby stream. The boy is nowhere to be seen, but suddenly raises his head from the turret and says “Gotcha!”. (151 words) Characterization of the boy and old man: The boy has never known anything but the war-torn everyday. He has always had to search for food and shelter and has never had a birthday, just as he has missed out on a lot of activities that normal seven-year-olds participate in. He is very preoccupied with the war and the marching soldiers. His birthday gift, which the old man imagines is a grocery cart, the boy pretends to be a tank. Since the boy has never experienced anything but the post-war years he glorifies the soldiers. He has never experienced the gory and bloody truth of war, or known what soldiers do in war. Hence he also doesn't understand or appreciate what the...
Words: 774 - Pages: 4
...adolescence to adulthood in the midst of World War II. However, other students at Devon are deeply affected by the war including a boy named Leper. Leper is a dreamy boy who spends his days contemplating about nature and how certain animals adapt to their surroundings. From his perceptions and observations, he concludes that “everything has to evolve or else it perishes” (125). Through Leper’s transition of character throughout the novel, he proves that beings who cannot evolve eventually perish. Leper’s refusal to play blitzball conveys that he is not interested in the thought of combat or war whatsoever. During the summer session, Finny invents a game called blitzball after criticizing the school’s athletics program. Blitzball is a portmanteau for blitzkrieg, a German word that refers to the attacking armies moving very quickly and overrunning lines of defence with large bursts of force, and ball. Finny also decides that there should not be teams and the only objective is to get the ball past the river. When Gene carries the ball, he spots “Leper Lepellier… loping along outside my perimeter, not noticing the game, tagging along without reason, like a porpoise escorting a passing ship” (38). Most animals are peaceful creatures and only become aggressive if provoked. Leper’s interest in nature is suggested...
Words: 1367 - Pages: 6
...Star Wars, a legacy that has been around since 1977. Star Wars truly stood the test of time in many ways: a wide fan base, well written story, and a lot of content. The fan base for Star Wars is rampant with the amount of people that adore Star Wars. The fan base starts with the older generation which is the group that saw the first three movies (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) which are called the sequels. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, knew how to draw people in by the story. The most noticeable things about Star Wars is the opening crawl text, the film scores, and Darth Vader’s voice/ breathing. Then to the second generation of Star Wars fans which were around during the prequels (The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars, and Revenge of the Sith). The Phantom Menace came out in 1999. These movies had a lot of CGI (Computer Generated Images). It advanced technology because they did what some people couldn’t in film making. The older generation was still around when these came out and were still hyped about more Star Wars and the origin of some of the characters stories. Now we have new movies with Disney buying LucasFilm. These will affect the third generation. The only movie we know of continuing from Return of the Jedi is The Force Awakens which comes out in less than a month. Just from the trailers it shows a very well written story. People bought movies theaters out in less than a day when they were able to be purchased. It’s rare for that...
Words: 755 - Pages: 4
...training for war in New England during the early years of World War 2. The time of this particular setting is crucial to the development of the story’s plot due to its contribution to critical events such as Finny not being able to enlist in the army due to his broken leg, the illegal desertion committed by Elwin Leper Lepellier, and the confliction of Gene enlisting and abandoning Finny. The setting of A Separate Peace contributes to critical events in the story’s plot such as when Finny is not able to serve in the army due to his broken leg: “‘I’ve been writing to the Army and the Navy and the Marines and the Canadians and everybody else all...
Words: 1208 - Pages: 5
...How World War II Changed Warfare How World War II Changed Warfare A man wearing olive drab pants and jacket slowly props the muzzle of his Thompson .45 Caliber Sub Machine Gun on a window seal of a half decimated apartment building. He lines up his sights and waits for the signal. He wears the “Screaming Eagle” patch of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Inserted into Bastogne, France via aerial assault from a C-47 Sky Train, in December 1944. Barrels pointed downward onto the rubble covered road. Passing over the road is a German Panzer Tank followed by a platoon of German soldiers carrying MP-40 Machine Pistols. As, the 101st nervously prepares to engage a Panzer Tank, which has them outmanned and outgunned, they hear a whistling sound in the distance believed to be an aircraft. Before they know a P-51 Mustang fighter plane, also known as a “Tank Killer” swoops in and knocks the Panzer out. Unexpectedly, the airborne troops open fire. A few long seconds later, the Panzer Tank sits smoldering in flames and a platoon of Nazis lays dead all around. Never before has the world, scene such a vast arsenal of weapons and tactics used. This will be reflected on the amount of lives, military and civilian, lost in the short span of 1939-1945. The devastation that took place would not just be repaired and forgotten. There is still evidence all over the Europe, North America, and Asia, of World War II and the lives that were lost. Not only was this the...
Words: 2620 - Pages: 11
...WASPS Women Air Force Service Pilots Americans didn't want to get into another world war. Two decades might have happened since the first one, but everyone still remembered it. The Great Depression only just ended, and people weren't looking forward to another World War. It would've easily sent the U.S. back into the Depression. Although the people of the U.S. believed that we would be able to avoid getting into WWII our President Franklin D Roosevelt believed it was impossible for us to stay out of it. To prepare for the war the U.S. had their first peace time Draft.Doubled the size of the U.S. Navy, and leasing fifty old U.S. Navy Destroyers to England. Pledge to come to the aid of any North, South, or Central American countries that was attacked. The U.S....
Words: 916 - Pages: 4
...Introduction “American Imperialism has been a part of United States history ever since the American Revolution. Imperialism is practice by which powerful nations or people seek to expand and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or people.” (Casahistoria, 2010) The 19th century bought about a lot of commotion for this country as well as other countries because of different things that we needed and the other countries had but did not want to share. For example, the countries were fighting over land, food, trees, etc. It seems like they were fighting over what ever the other country may have had that they wanted. In this one century there were many wars there was the war of 1812, the civil war, Napoleonic war and many others. The War of 1812 The war of 1812 was a war fought between the USA and Great Britain. It was fought because the USA wanted to keep up the ongoing trade they had with France but because the British was France main rival and the British had more power they tried to stop the US from trading with France. The US felt that this was against the law and when the British would not let up the US imposed war on them; the war lasted from 1812 through 1815. In my opinion, this war was for territory in the end there was a peace conference where both countries came together declared the war over and which ever land they claimed. The British claimed all of the northern states like Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, etc. The US claimed many states farther...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...This is only named Jedi so I can really talk about star wars. I really love star wars like really bad and I cannot wait until the new movie comes out in December. Since they first made the first Star Wars the technology was great for that time but it has gotten a lot better so this time around the technology in this will be better. I loved that they started backwards in will make the first few better than last and maybe they will redo the first few. It crazy that they started with the middle and now they are doing the first three but it keeps you waiting so it works. I have been watching Star Wars since I could remember. My dad loves those movies at well so he had me watch them with. If you like star trek you will like Star Wars but you CANNOT...
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...World War I and World War II, the largest wars to have ever taken place in history. Together these wars ended with over 77 million courageous lives lost within 10 years. These were the two most important wars to have ever taken place and the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Poland, and South Africa) had won them both against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire) and Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, and Hungary). Today, most people don’t realize the significance of these Allied victories or even how or why the Allies had one the two largest wars in world history. This is why I am going to describe the main questions people have of the Allied victories during World War I and World War II. The first question many people ask is how and why did the Allies win World War I and World War II? To begin many would say that the U.S. was the main reason the Allies had won the two largest wars in the world. However, even though the U.S. did make a huge contribution to the wins. Ultimately it was the combined economics and industries of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Poland, and South Africa, that allowed for the Allies to triumph over the Central and Axis Powers. Without the money or industries that they accumulated they would not have been able to transport the weapons, food, or ammunition to the troops or later...
Words: 765 - Pages: 4
...Can WAR ever be just? Can there be rules about war so that fair play is possible? Has there ever been a war with a just cause? This has been a debate for ages. It depends on who you are asking if you ask a Christian they will tell you any war is unjust because god would not want you to kill others. He would want you to turn the cheek. Others may say it is just if it’s in defense. In this paper, I will explain why the Vietnam War was just. The United States got involved in the Vietnam War from 1954 -1964 to prevent and contain communism. In Vietnam, an independence movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh rose to challenge French rule. The United States helped France by giving financial and military aid. The US had moral and ethical reasons to stand up and face unethical leaders that oppressed other weaker people and to contain the spread of communism. Communism is horrible because the government controls every move you make and you have no say in what happens in your life. Such as no right to vote, no freedom of speech, no right to a fair trial, etc. This is what the United States was trying to protect South Vietnam from. Communists used terrorism, murdered and subversion to destabilize countries. Just this alone was a just cause for the United States to get involved in the Vietnam War. Many feel that this wasn’t a good enough reason for the United States to get involved and was immoral unjust war, or that communism is not that bad. According to Aquinas four things...
Words: 830 - Pages: 4
...If you ask anyone what the state of the human condition is you may get varying results, some say we're better then we've ever been with the rise of civil rights, and equal opportunity for all genders, creeds, and races. Some may tell you that we're worse than we've ever been, albeit for some of the same reasons stated above, or for reasons such as governmental corruption, theft of data, and countless hackings into our private accounts. But I think regardless of what you think of the current condition, there are a few things we need to think about before we go about trying to better our world. Human Pride. Pride is a word that has so many connotations to it. One can be proud of an art project they created, then, after selling said item, they become wealthy, gaining renown and respect across the art crowd, the person can then take that renown as tangible and physical proof of their superiority over their fellow artists, valuing only the renown gained and forgetting what made them create in the first place. We've seen this time and time again, whether it be Orson Welles' higher than thou attitude after gaining popularity, or John Lennon's "Bigger than Jesus" quote. Pride changes people, and, in my belief, for the worse. Obviously people are still people, we all make mistakes and sadly some of us decide to only see the good side of ourselves and fearing to see whats wrong is wrong. Pride is the biggest perpetrator of broken promises and war that...
Words: 535 - Pages: 3
...Atomic Bomb Performance Task Do you think dropping the Atomic Bomb that ended World War II was the best way to end a war? This essay is about how the atomic bomb ended the war between United States and Japan. How President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the bomb affect the whole world. J. Robert Oppenheimer was the man behind the birth of the most destructive force mankind ever made. To begin with, making and dropping the bomb was the best way by that time because it ended the war. To explain, in the “Speech to the Association of Los Alamos Scientist” by Robert Oppenheimer. He said that “There was in the first place the great concern that our enemy might develop these weapons before we did ...” This shows that if we didn’t drop the bomb...
Words: 514 - Pages: 3
...If you have been living under a rock for the past 2 years, you may not know that the legendary Star Wars Battlefront has received a next gen reboot from developer Dice, renowned for their largely popular franchise, battlefield. After being initially teased back at E3 in 2013, Dice and EA have been working collaboratively to produce possibly the best, modern star wars game to ever hit the gaming market. A trailer was revealed back in April of 2015 showing some in game engine cinematics, teasing some of the immense environments from the star wars universe. However this created an uproar of angry gamers on the internet complaining that the trailer did not represent what they may be seeing visually in the game. And in response, yesterday, at EA's E3 conference in LA, the team from sweden finally were able to silence their haters and blew them away with an incredible gameplay trailer featuring the map hoth on the multiplayer game mode walker assault. The trailer begins inside a hoth echo base on the rebels side, first highlighting that all footage was recorded off a PS4, and from what i can initially tell, the graphics look outstanding. It can be noted that the footage is from pre alpha which shows that graphics and performance in the game will be enhanced before the game ships late November 2015. The trailer throws you straight into the battle with familiar recognisable faces with the customisable character option where you can decide what face you want from the variety of races in...
Words: 902 - Pages: 4
...Bartolome de las Casas, the long-lived Dominican bishop of Chiapas in Mexico. Although later to be blamed for supposedly exaggerating his countrymen's cruelty and advocating the enslavement of Africans instead of Indians as a "lesser evil," the aristocratically born Andalusian was a tireless champion of Indian rights. His writings were widely read in colonial Peru. This excerpt from “In Defense of the Indians," a passionate response to court theologian Juan Gines de Sepulvedas's assertion of Indian inferiority, give a flavor of his forthright criticism of Spain’s role in the New World. And so what man of sound mind will approve a war against men who are harmless, ignorant, gentle, temperate, unarmed, and destitute of every human defense? For the results of such a war are very surely the loss of the souls of that people who perish without knowing God and without the support of the sacraments, and, for the survivors, hatred and loathing of the Christian religion. Hence the purpose God intends, ... for the attainment of which he suffered so much, may be frustrated by the evil and cruelty that our men wreak on them with inhuman barbarity. What will these people think of Christ, the true God of the Christians, when they see Christians venting their rage against them with so many massacres, so much bloodshed without any just cause, at any rate without any just cause that they know of (nor can one even be imagined), and without any...
Words: 992 - Pages: 4
