THE THINGS THEY CARRIED "How to Tell a True War Story" By: Tim O'Brien

I enjoyed reading the chapter "How to Tell a True War Story" pages 64-81. I always wondered about the different war stories I would hear. I wondered if they were true or just someone trying to impress other people. In that chapter Tim O'Brien states "You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war , they come home talking dirty." (page# 66 second paragraph). I never really thought about it until now how true that statement really is, the more graphic the story is the more you can tell it's a true story. Tim also states "In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen." (page#67 third paragraph) I think this is because as human beings we tend to block out memories especially traumatic ones. Its our minds way of protecting us. In war everything happens so quickly its hard to remember every detail. Tim also writes " In many cases a true war story cannot be believed" (page#68 second paragraph). I've really enjoyed reading this book so far and I can't wait to finish it to see how it's going to end.

                                                




I got my images from: http://ronaldarichardson.com/2008/01/30/the-things-they-carried/ ,

 Citations:
                   The Things They Carried by: Tim O'Brien

My response to a poem #2....

 "The Woman Hanging From The Thirteenth Floor Window" by: Joy Harjo
                                         

I loved reading this poem and I think that at some point in every one's lives they have felt the same indecision and loneliness as the woman in the poem. I liked how the author described the woman's family and how she wrote "The woman hanging from the 13th floor window on the east side of Chicago is not alone" (second paragraph pg#1) The author is making the woman seem more and more real. "She is all the women of the apartment building who stand watching her, watching themselves." (second paragraph pg#1) What I think the author is trying to say is that they aren't judging the woman because they know that they themselves have been right there on the ledge as well. The ending to this poem is very powerful I think. The author leaves it up to the woman to chose. It's her choice on how she ends it. " She thinks she remembers listening to her own life break loose, as she falls from the 13th floor window on the east side of Chicago, or as she climbs back up to claim herself again." (6th paragraph pg#2)

                                               
                                          




 I got my images from: http://creativethinkersintl.ning.com/profile/PoetryLifeandTimes, http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/author/joy-harjo/,http://bibliosity.blogspot.com/2009/01/woman-hanging-from-thirteenth-floor.html and http://ericatwitts.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/woman-without-a-candidate-in-kentucky/sad-woman-silhouette/

 Citations:
"The Woman Hanging From The Thirteenth Floor Window" By: JOY HARJO

My response to a poem #1...

My first response is to "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin C. Powers...
                                               

I enjoyed this poem. It made me stop and think about our service men and women and what they sacrifice for us and our freedom. It made me also stop and think about what their families must sacrifice as well. When I think about our troops I would think about them risking their lives but I never really thought about what else they are giving up for us, like the fact that most of them have children who they don't get to see grow up or holidays and much more. I never imagined the hell they must go through. When I read the line "I tell her in a letter that will stink, when she opens it" (second paragraph) that gave me the chills. These are the things that I never knew about until now. At the end of the poem when he tells her "that war is just us making little pieces of metal pass through each other". That makes it real for me.

I got the images from:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Write-Poetry/ , http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/kevin-c-powers and http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/likefire/yours-truly

         Citations:
"Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" By: KEVIN C. POWERS

The Necessity to Speak- by Sam Hamill

As I read The Necessity to speak by Sam Hamill I agreed with him on a lot of topics and I liked his essay. It has a lot of emotion and truths in it. I was surprised by some of the facts he included. I had no idea that the most common felony was battery against women and children. The fact that it is happening so often that it goes unreported is so sad. I agree with the statement that he makes about poetry and that it is not just about emotions. He turned his life around and turned a bad situation into a good one and poetry helped him to find a way out of his own "hell".

I got the images from: http://afghanistan.foreignpolicyblogs.com/tag/bagram-prison/
http://www.layoutsparks.com/1/214443/united-states-marine-corps-3.html