https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg Watch the TEDTALK video (Dick Durrance) before answering questions! POST COMMENTS ON AT LEAST THREE OTHER POSTS!!! en-us 2020-04-15 04:36:04 UTC 2020-04-21 04:01:38 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508838595 The photo I really liked was the candle-holder one. (11:38) It shows a blue candle holder in the shape of a star, which Dick sees as a face within the flame. This was powerful because it showed that he still had some form of compassion towards human life even after he left Vietnam. It also represents how hard he took it when he realized that it was war and you didn't know who was a friend and who was a foe.]]> 2020-04-15 15:57:30 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508838595 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508844636 In Dick's TEDtalk, he mentions many times that he doesn't know whether or not someone is a foe or a friend, which made life during the war difficult. It leads the reader to gain a sense of compassion for the veterans, seeing as they had to leave their old lives behind and go into a war zone where it was either life or death and life moved faster than what normal civilians can even begin to imagine. Soldiers were mentally ruined by the wars and lack of family/friend contact.]]> 2020-04-15 16:00:00 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508844636 ebalogh5416 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508936457 Based on the chapter "Speaking of Courage"and Dick Durrance's Ted Talk, it is clear that war takes a toll on your mind. There is nothing you can do to forget the experiences of war. As Dick said in his Ted Talk, "When war goes in here (your head), and in here (your heart), it never leaves. In the chapter "Speaking of Courage", Norman Bowker can't help but to think about what happened with Kiowa, and he mentions how his life was lost in the war.]]> 2020-04-15 16:37:44 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508936457 ebalogh5416 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508958505 "Everything was black and wet. The field just exploded. Rain and slop and shrapnel, nowhere to run, and all they could do was worm down into slime and cover up and wait"(142). O'Brien uses visual imagery to describe the men's grave situation at the time. It is easy for the reader to picture what the scene looks like, and overall gives the passage a fast paced, dark tone. ]]> 2020-04-15 16:46:32 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/508958505 ebalogh5416 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509003234 The picture of the boy at 6:21 stuck out to me the most. Dick mentions the boy's "dark eyes", and how he has to cope with the things he has seen in the war, and live with that forever. That by itself is powerful in my opinion. Even the skull in the background gives the picture more of an ominous tone, scary even. ]]> 2020-04-15 17:06:21 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509003234 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509205096 War takes ordinary civilians and forces them to become harbingers of death and destruction. It breaks men and disallows them to be the same as they were before. Dick Durance spoke of the war never leaving him and still taunting him to this day and in the chapter Speaking of Courage Norman Bowker was never the same as before the war. Bowker was haunted by it and never fully intigrated back into society, leading to his eventual suicide. ]]> 2020-04-15 18:40:45 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509205096 jbaschnagel5161 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509222742 I liked the picture at 12:02 because it used an incredible amount of pathos, it made you feel sympathetic towards the soldier and his position. The soldier is grimy and dirty, the picture is like a human representation of war itself, a gritty and dirty mess. Also this picture encalpases the feelings of soldier during war a scared, miserable feeling inside.]]> 2020-04-15 18:50:40 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509222742 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509232090 " The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere—it was inside him, in his lungs—and he could no longer tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this. He released Kiowa's boot and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the shit in his mouth and closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds"
Page 143
O'Brian uses vivid and harsh olfactory and visual imagery to describe the situation the men were in and the personal battle that Bowker was having in his mind. O'Brian was most likely there that night and has first hand experience, leading to a more detailed description that pulls the reader into the action. ]]> 2020-04-15 18:56:08 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509232090 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509241756 The photo at 6:20 of the young soldier standing below the human skull atop an m-16 barrel was the most powerful to me. It acts as the perfect representation of how the war molds and shapes young men, essentially teens, into killers. They are thrown into this situation and area surrounded by death where they must adapt to survive. the image is the perfect imagery and personification of that idea. ]]> 2020-04-15 19:01:42 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509241756 jbaschnagel5161 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509243106 Dick talks about how "when the war goes in here (talking about the mind) and in here (pointing to his heart) it never leaves" (Durrance, 12:11-12:17). Durrance here explains how the war torments soldier long after the war itself has happened this can drive people to suicide like Norman Bowker. This quote is very true because in the chapter "speaking of courage " Norman is still tormented by war. He is still shaken by how his friend died and how "he almost won the Silver Star for valor."]]> 2020-04-15 19:02:29 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509243106 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509249009 "When a man dies, there had to be blame. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar rounds. You could blame people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics. You could blame whole nations. You could blame God..." (169-170). In this long passage, O'Brien says "you could blame" over and over again. He utilizes repetition to show that soldiers had so many things or people to blame for the men dying non-stop. Mistakes are going to be made and blame will be laid upon someone or something. It's almost like a coping mechanism or some way for the soldiers to make sense of what happened. Or maybe it's the opposite; a way for soldiers to release their anger and resentment towards the war and all the heartache that comes along with it.]]> 2020-04-15 19:05:52 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509249009 jbaschnagel5161 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509322071 "There was nothing to say. He could not talk about it and never would. The evening was smooth and warm. If it had been possible, which it wasn't, he would have explained how his friend Kiowa slipped away that night beneath the the dark swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was part of the waste" (O'Brien, pg 153). O'Brien shows Norman's need to talk about that night his friend died and the effect it had on him by repeating the same phrase in different ways. O'Brien uses this repetition to give us a look into Norman brain and how his mind was consumed by the horrors of that night.  ]]> 2020-04-15 19:47:20 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509322071 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509343528 Dick Durrance discusses the long term effects war can have on soldiers. In his Ted talk he shows a picture of a man posing in front of a skeleton and asks how this man is going to take the violent instincts and fighting skills he has learned and bottle them up when he returns home. It is simply not possible to erase the things taught and seen in wartime.]]> 2020-04-15 20:01:00 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509343528 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509351420 "As he came up, a pair of red flares puffed open, a soft fuzzy glow, and in the glow he saw Kiowa's wide-open eyes settling down into the scum. Briefly, all he could do was watch. He heard himself moan. Then he moved again, crabbing forward, but when he got there Kiowa was almost completely under. There was a knee. There was
an arm and a gold wristwatch and part of a boot. There were bubbles where Kiowa's head should've been.[...] The left hand was curled open; the fingernails were filthy; the
wristwatch gave off a green phosphorescent shine as it slipped beneath the thick waters."(pg142)
O'Brien uses vivid imagery to convey the gruesome seen displayed before him. In using this tool he closely characterizes the horror of watching his friend and comrades death.]]> 2020-04-15 20:06:19 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509351420 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509359281 My favorite photograph from Dick Durrance's TedTalk is the one capturing women in wartime with bandages and expressions of pain. (9:56) It resonates with me because it examines the impact of both women and children getting caught in the crossfire between enemies. ]]> 2020-04-15 20:11:53 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509359281 espilman7644 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509600843 When talking about the photo of the young man at 6:27 that he looked into his eyes, and "... couldn't help wondering 'how in the hell is this guy every going to put those violent instincts and fighting skills that he needs to survive in this nasty jungle fighting- how is he going to put that back in a bottle when he gets back home?" Norman Bowker and so many other men came home from the war, but they never actually came home. The war stayed with soldiers, and Durrance not only lives with it, but captures it with this photo. ]]> 2020-04-15 23:53:32 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509600843 espilman7644 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509605012 The photo at 4:26 holds a lot of power, because it shows the explosion of war. Looking at it makes me fear for the soldiers, and pulls at my emotions, making me think of soldiers that are fighting today.]]> 2020-04-15 23:58:30 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509605012 espilman7644 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509609555 "When a man dies, there had to be blame. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar rounds. You could blame people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics. You could blame whole nations. You could blame God..." (169-170). I know Bonnie already used this passage, but it stood out most to me as well. O'Brien uses repetition here to show a soldiers mind might bounce around, trying to find somewhere to place the blame, and never landing on one that stuck. In a way he is showing that all of the things he lists are to blame, and none of them are to blame. The rules are different in war, and I can imagine this passage mirrors the confusion and frantic thinking of the soldiers. ]]> 2020-04-16 00:04:03 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509609555 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509616630 "The young soldier was trying hard not to cry. He, too, blamed himself. Bent forward at the waist, groping with both hands, he seemed to be chasing some creature just beyond reach, something elusive, a fish or a frog. His lips were moving. Like Jimmy Cross, the boy was explaining things to an absent jungle. It wasn't to defend himself. The boy recognized his own guilt and wanted only to lay out the full causes." (page 163)  It's almost like O'Brien wants the reader to know what the soldiers are feeling inside. They are still, and will be constantly, fighting a war within their own minds. I have a genuine sense of thankfulness whenever I see a veteran out in the world, living their life like any other normal human being would. However, even if you can't see what's happening in their minds--(most of them anyways) try to put on a happy and bold, brave face.

]]> 2020-04-16 00:12:09 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509616630 bcole4493 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509722535 Dick Durrance says that when war goes into a person's mind and heart, "it never leaves." He shows us many pictures of everyday objects and then says how he sees something in those pictures that reminded him of the war and of the "guilt [he] felt when [he] pushed those civilian values aside." These images or thoughts appear to him like a "ghost." It's a mindset and series of events that he cannot shake. This is expressed in a similar way in "Speaking of Courage" wherein Norman Bowker is just driving in circles around the lake continuously, like a song stuck on replay. He expresses how he "wished he could've explained some of this," how he wanted to talk about his experiences, but the words wouldn't come to him and the town wouldn't listen. The chapter really shows how he feels secluded in his own hometown. That's yet again an aspect of being a veteran. This also depicts what Durrance was saying, how these experiences stick with you; the war sticks with you. ]]> 2020-04-16 02:03:56 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509722535 bcole4493 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509757105 The image at 7:50 where three soldiers are interrogating a Vietnamese farmer struck me because that was a great visual representation of where Durrance was talking about how hard it was to tell if a man is a friend or foe. He quotes one of his buddies who says, "there is no more hellish dilemma that we face than taking aim at somebody and not knowing if they're a friend or a foe" and right where I paused to look at the picture the subtitle said "are they farmers, or are they fighters?" This was hard hitting because these men didn't know who they could possibly be firing at or fired at by. Rhetorically, this was strong as an emotional appeal. The Vietnamese man was surrounded by weapons that could at any time be used to kill him. This picture demonstrates a very tense situation for both sides and how it could go south for both sides as well.]]> 2020-04-16 02:40:10 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509757105 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509781933 Durrance's Ted Talk expresses the reality of normal people being forced to carry the burden of violence and death during combat and long after the war had ended. He best described this when he said "When the war goes in here and in here it never leaves" (Referring to head and heart) to reaffirm the long term impact of war. ]]> 2020-04-16 03:07:17 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509781933 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509802418 "There were bubbles where Kiowa's head should've been. The left hand was curled open; the fingernails were filthy; the wristwatch gave off a green phosphorescent shine as it slopped beneath the thick water....there were flares and mortars rounds, and the stink was everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it." (pg 149) Here O'Brien uses specific imagery to allow the reader to better place themselves in the position of Bowker. The detail at the beginning of the quote allows for the reader to better visualize what Bowker was experiencing with Kiowa and then the end of the quote better describes the hardships of the environment. ]]> 2020-04-16 03:29:50 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509802418 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509812544 The photo at 4:52 stood out to me most. This image stands out to me because the harsh reality of war revealed in this photo. Obviously the face of the injured solider revealed by seeing the pain in his face. The solider to his left has more of an impact on me because his face looks so numb yet you can tell he is aware that seeing his friends horribly injured is his new reality. I also wonder if he may be thinking about the injury's sustained by the opposing side because of his actions although we have no way of knowing. His plain face reveals the normalcy that came in the pain experienced. ]]> 2020-04-16 03:41:11 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509812544 adenchfield2543 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509848016 "It was a graceful, good sized lake...There had always been a lake, which was the towns first cause of existence..A shit field...It was his eighth revolution around the lake." I believe that O'Brien is using the lake in the town Bowker lived in as a motif for the field, and how the trauma from the incident in the field that led to Kiowa's death haunts Bowker. He can't escape it, and often finds his mind circling back to that as he circled around the lake. The lake represents his inability to relieve himself of the guilt he feels and move on with his life.

]]> 2020-04-16 04:18:11 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509848016 adenchfield2543 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509870373 The war often deteriorates the minds of soldiers and causes them to feel stuck in the war. In Speaking of Courage, it is clear that Bowker is suffering the burden of mental illness caused from the war (likely ptsd). Throughout Speaking of Courage and Durrance's Ted Talk, the stance that the war stays with a soldier is clear. Soldiers feel as though they will never fully escape their war experiences.]]> 2020-04-16 04:44:11 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509870373 adenchfield2543 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509874380 The image at 9:56 most stands out to me because it highlights the strain and fear war placed on the civilians of Vietnam, who were not at fault for the war, yet suffering greatly because of it. The photo shows a line of young looking girls, wearing bloody bandages around their heads because they have been caught in crossfire. They are all attempting to support each other, visibly pained and weary.]]> 2020-04-16 04:49:20 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/509874380 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511283814 In Dicks Ted Talk he mention's a few times about not knowing who is who, and who is friend or foe. The war obviously mentally damages soldiers leaving them with lasting effects like ptsd.]]> 2020-04-16 17:34:48 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511283814 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511296468 "When a man dies, there had to be blame. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar rounds. You could blame people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics. You could blame whole nations. You could blame God..." (169-170). The author uses repetition in this passage. I think this represents how the soldiers mind is confused and going crazy because of the war.]]> 2020-04-16 17:40:47 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511296468 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511306313 The Photo at 10:00 shows a Vietnamese man walking through a destroyed city. This is powerful to me because it shows how a war that has nothing to do with innocent civilians is affecting them the most. These people did not start any conflict but they are getting killed and their buildings are getting destroyed In a war that America shouldn't have had any part of.]]> 2020-04-16 17:45:28 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511306313 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511516771 Durrance provides specific first hand experiences from his time in vietnam and through his photographs. In the video, he gestures to his head and heart and state ehn war enters it never leaves. War is a tolling experience that not soldier is "Immune to" or takes lightly. It stays with them, the horror. They truly have to shut off an normal society outlook and do what has to be done and we need to have a greater appreciation for their sacrifices.]]> 2020-04-16 19:35:18 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511516771 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511551309 4:29 The picture is men in a trench waiting to move. Being stuck in fear of their lives. Just seeing that is so surreal and you start to think of what your thought process would be if you were in that situation.]]> 2020-04-16 19:56:42 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511551309 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511606982 2020-04-16 20:33:53 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511606982 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511637937 "The road was a sort of boundary between the affluent and the almost affluent, and to live on the lake side of the road was one of the few natural privileges in a town of the prairie." (Page :132) I took this as a symbolic allusion. Maybe even a metaphor. He is describing one setting to another. In the sense of an imagery standpoint. Differentiating a more comfortable scene to a more simple one. ]]> 2020-04-16 20:56:31 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511637937 psolesbee4900 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511739457 page 143
"The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere -- it was inside him, in his lungs -- and he could no longer tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this. He released Kiowa's boot and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the shit in his mouth and closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds."
O'Brian uses vivid and harsh visual imagery to describe the situation of the soldiers and the battle they were facing on the inside. ]]> 2020-04-16 22:23:48 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/511739457 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513140165 Durrance explains how war changes kind loving men into aggressive soldiers. He mentions that when the men are fighting they have a hard time separating friend from enemy which can be very devastating and heartbreaking. The soldiers were forced into a terrible situation and the ones that came out of the war all suffered from PTSD and grief for fallen friends.  ]]> 2020-04-17 15:30:59 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513140165 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513159872 "There were bubbles where Kiowa's head should've been. The left hand was curled open; the fingernails were filthy; the wristwatch gave off a green phosphorescent shine as it slopped beneath the thick water....there were flares and mortars rounds, and the stink was everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it." (149). This passage describes the gruesome experiences soldiers went through in the war. This passage draws out a horrifying image that really makes the reader feel for Bowker. The passage also gives off an aromatic idea. You can smell the “stitch” from inside the water and his body.]]> 2020-04-17 15:39:15 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513159872 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513200546 The most powerful image to me was the one at 10:00 where a Vietnamese man is standing in the rubble of a fallen building. This stood out because the American soldiers were just realizing that they were causing more harm than good. What they thought they were doing good was actually was harming citizens in the crossfire.]]> 2020-04-17 15:56:26 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513200546 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513829112 In Dick Durrances Ted Talk, he explains, "They risk their lives, they face terror, they lose buddies, and then they come home. They have to somehow square what they did as WARRIORS with what they are expected to do now. It is not easy." (10:26-10:42) In "Speaking of Courage," Norman Bowker struggled with this same problem. He once was a Vietnam soldier, fighting against communism, and fighting for America. He was a hero. All at once, that purpose was stripped from him once the war ended. It was as if life had no meaning anymore. There was no point to it. What was there to live and fight for? It seemed as if life just became a routine for him, go to work, drive around town, look at the lake. War takes away soldiers self-esteem, for war becomes their life. The mental and physical impacts of war don't leave once they come home. ]]> 2020-04-17 23:15:47 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513829112 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513838263 "Want to hear about the Silver Star I almost won?" Norman Baker whispered, but none of the workmen looked up." (138) This passage strongly describes the mental dilemma that Norman Bowker struggled with. As a soldier, his life had a purpose. He was valuable. He was fighting for a cause. His life was precious. As he returned home, his humanity was stripped from him. He felt invisible to the world. Life no longer had meaning. He felt unwanted. O' Brien uses this dialogue, even though it may not have even occurred, to place the audience in Bowker's mind. How lonely and "useless" he felt to the world. He felt no one cared about his courage or valor. When he wanted to talk about the war, there was just something stopping him. When Bowker pulled up to the drive-in, and almost asked the employee if he wanted to hear about the war, he decided against it. He said he wanted to talk about it, just couldn't. For the first time in his life, "he was alone." (143) ]]> 2020-04-17 23:30:40 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513838263 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513845594 The image that paints the best rhetorical picture is the one near the beginning, with the soldier shooting at the cardboard silhouettes of people. (2:37) Durrance said, "We were shooting at cardboard silhoettes of men, but I couldn't help feeling that real men would seem just as unreal. Think about it- If you saw someone as a mother, son, or a little boys father, could you pull the trigger?" (2:37-2:54) This theme is prominent throughout O' Brien's book. After O' Brien killed the man on the trail, he began to humanize him, realize he would've had an entire life ahead of him, and thought of the people that would be affected by his death. When the soldiers began to humanize their enemies, they explain that it's a whole lot harder to kill them. War makes soldiers numb to their emotions. ]]> 2020-04-17 23:43:15 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/513845594 sarahm00r3 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514326460 "They risk their lives. They face terror. They lose buddies. And then they come home, and they have to somehow square what they did as warriors to what they are expected to do now"  (10:25-10:40). All soldiers who are drafted are converted into an object used by the government to fight a battle. They sacrifice themselves in the most traumatic ways and experience devastating events that never leave them. If they survive war, the question becomes, "how is he going to put all this back in a bottle when he gets back home?" The time these soldiers have spent killing and fighting completely goes against everything they were taught. How are they going to be able to return home? They have to live the rest of their lives with nightmares, flashbacks and trying to fight back the memories that leave them fighting themselves, affecting their families.]]> 2020-04-18 13:36:41 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514326460 sarahm00r3 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514346931 Near the beginning of the video of the up close shot of the young man about to shoot a cardboard silhouette, Durrance used the appeal of emotions by asking us, "think about it, if you saw someone as a mother's son, or a little boys father, could you pull the trigger?" (2:45-2:53). We have to remember, these are men, humans, people with lives and families back home. War is what makes these men fade into a piece to play in this game we called war. It is harder for people nowadays to understand what this is like for veterans. One of the easiest ways to get this to us is connecting it to something we can comprehend and relate to, our families.]]> 2020-04-18 13:57:59 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514346931 sarahm00r3 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514367717 "He would've talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. he pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere -- it was inside him, in his lungs -- and he could no longer tolerate it... He released Kiowa's boot and watched it slide away" (O'Brien, 143). This rhetorical usage involves visual imagery and olfactory that demonstrate the horrid experiences of watching friends die. Having the specific pictures and scents being explained to us give us the idea of how traumatizing it must have felt to have the odor invading your nose and the images forever engraved in your mind.]]> 2020-04-18 14:18:41 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514367717 ohennon6469 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514532875 In Dick Durrance's TED talk and in "Speaking of Courage" it is shown that war and the things experienced during war never quite leave the soldiers as they try to integrate back into normal life. Durrance speaks on how when he was photographing the soldiers he wondered how someone who could experience so much killing and terror and have to bottle it back up for normal life at home/ Durrance also spoke on how the war still haunts him all over the place, especially in images that he takes. In "Speaking of Courage," it talks about the difficulty and emptiness feeling Bowker was experiencing and how he just kept driving in circles, reminiscing on old relationships and how things could be different. Both of these experiences described both by the TED talk and by Bowkers experiences show the point that war is never escapable for these veterans. ]]> 2020-04-18 16:59:07 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514532875 ohennon6469 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514540076 "It was a graceful, good sized lake. Back in high school, at night, he had driven around and around it with Sally Kramer, wondering if she'd want to pull into the shelter of Sunset park, or other times with his friends, talking about urgent matters, worrying about the existence of God and theories of causation. Then, there had not been a war. But there had always been the lake, which was the town's first cause of existence, a place for immigrant settlers to put down their loads (pg 132)." Here, the lake discussed is a symbol of a very important theme in this chapter. It represents the change between Bowkers life before the war and after the war, and shows how the lake has always been the constant there. By the lake being continually brought up throughout this chapter, I see it as a move by the author to show reality and how the dynamic has changed for Bowker. This was O'Briens main argument to show how war changes perspectives when veterans return home to normal life. ]]> 2020-04-18 17:05:55 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514540076 ohennon6469 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514546996 The photograph at 9:56 of the injured Vietnamese women stuck with me a lot. It made me feel emotionally towards those women by showing the damage that had been done to innocent people. It made me think about what it would have been like if I was in their position. In addition, the photo truly expressed to me how civilian the warfare had gotten during the Vietnam war. ]]> 2020-04-18 17:12:55 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514546996 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514606379 The experience of war has a profound and strangely compelling effect on those who fight. Combat kills, maims, and terrifies, but it can also reveal the power of brotherhood and a selfless sense of purpose. It’s an experience that changes soldiers, and those changes last a lifetime. Most who join the military and go to war are young—18, 19 years old—and many have never been away from home. They have little experience of the world, let alone war, death, and killing. For them, and for all soldiers, combat is a complex mix of emotions that define the experience of war and shape the experience of coming home. Both Dick Durrance and "Speaking of Courage" show this. In "Speaking of Courge", Bowker experiences difficulty and emptiness as he drives in circles. Dick Durrance speaks of it as he explains he found himself screaming the word "kill" multiple times.]]> 2020-04-18 18:18:18 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514606379 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514809009 I think that one of the most important rhetorical moves that O'Brien makes in "Speakinng of Courgae" is his extensive metaphors that are embedded within his imagery that he creates.
In this chapter, O'Brien uses images of the sewage field and the lake to illustrate how there was no way to escape the effects of the Vietnam War. The sewage field itself serves as a powerful metaphor for an unpleasant, pointless battle is able to or could escape from. However O'Brien contrast this by describing Bowker's neighborhood with euphonious diction like "the houses were handsome... brightly painted... and neat gardens" (page 131). The reader envisions a peaceful neighborhood contrasting with the brutal war.]]> 2020-04-18 23:49:38 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/514809009 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515595033 One thing I found very powerful in Dick's Ted Talk is at the beginning when he mentions how he was pulled away from his friends and family to go fight in this war and it really demonstrated to me how real this war was. My generation is able to glance back at the Vietnam war is almost a footnote in history. We learn about it in school but we are never able to truly grasp the great scope of it's impact. ]]> 2020-04-19 16:08:01 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515595033 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515604010 "A good war story, he thought, but it was not a war for war stories, nor for talk of valor, and nobody in town wanted to know about the terrible stink. They wanted good intentions and good deeds."
This passage is especially powerful because it shows the true struggles of Vietnam veterans. It demonstrates a catch 22 almost as if they chose to dodge the draft then they would be considered a coward but if they fought no one would praise them for it. It helps build sympathy because it shows how even though these veterans sacrificed their lives they were never truly thanked for their actions. ]]> 2020-04-19 16:13:41 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515604010 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515611348 The photo shown at 2:41 of the soldier being taught how to shoot at a target because it really personifies how dehumanizing war can be. As the photo is being shown the speaker is discussing how what they would be shooting at during the war is different because it is someone's brother or son but these young soldiers are being taught to disregard that thinking and just view it as a target. ]]> 2020-04-19 16:18:45 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515611348 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515611768 I think that the picture of the injured Vietnamese women at "9:58" really made me stop and shake my head. Seeing these Vietnamese women cvilians being injured and caught in the crossfire broke my heart. These innocent people were being hurt because of this war. To me, it showed the pain and destruction that war brought to these innocent and unexpecting people. It made me stop and think what the war could've been like from their perspective. You're just walking in the streets and then you're shot and injured for reasons that no one can justify. Your house is destroyed by these foreign people, whose intentions seem more malicious than anything you've ever experienced. It raises the question in your mind "Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this treatment and pain?". I think that everyone views war as chatoic and bad. However, I don't think that anyone seems to take into account the pain it reflects on those who are bystanders to the conflicts at hand. War is a killer, but what's even worse are those who can't see the  humanity in play within those nations that we only see as subordinate and lesser than us.]]> 2020-04-19 16:19:05 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/515611768 lscmitz8452 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516028208 War takes a toll on the mind of all the soldiers that participate in it. Dick Durrance said that "when war goes in here (the head) and in here (the heart), it never leaves" (12:10), it made me think of all of the mental distortion that veterans have gone through not only when they were fighting, but when they came home, not wishing to speak of the horrid things that they saw and just keep it to themselves, it causes such psychological trauma to them. So, what war does to soldiers is that it prepares them how to fight the physical war in the present, but not the mental war when the physical conflict is over]]> 2020-04-19 21:49:55 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516028208 lscmitz8452 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516035432 O'Brien dramatizes the Song Tra Bong incident heavily in the chapters "Speaking of Courage" and "In the Field" to inform us the readers how devastating the night was, not just by losing a soldier (a good soldier, might I add), but a wonderful friend, one who cared about everyone and wanted to just get home from the fighting. These two chapters were descriptions of two events: one from Norman Bowker, who had let Kiowa go in the flooding stream, and the other giving multi-perspective POV of the incident from Lieutenant Cross all the way down to the unknown boy-soldier. He dramatized the incident (if it wasn't already devastating enough) to let the audience know how everyone involved with that night felt and how horrible they felt.]]> 2020-04-19 21:57:59 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516035432 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516040512 War is something that never leaves your heart and mind, as Durrance pointed out. Sometimes after the physical war has ended for soldiers, there is an emptiness inside that gnaws away at them. When Norman Bowker came home from Vietnam, he did not know what do do with himself. Everything seemed pointless and insignificant to him compared to what he had gone through in Vietnam. It got so hard for him that he hanged himself after living a life that, to him, was pointless.]]> 2020-04-19 22:04:14 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516040512 lscmitz8452 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516041484 For me, the last photograph shown (21:01) stands out to me the most. Dick Durrance's main point on his TED Talk was for the audience to think of what happens to soldiers' minds when they return home from the war, and the last image does a great job at showing what happens. On the surface, it is just a man smoking a pipe in a dark environment. But notice how his face and hand are darkened while the rest of his body is lighter. to me, the hand is representing the violence that solders have made, endured and suffered through in that present moment, whether that may be a firefight or a rescue mission. The darkened face represents the psychological torment that ensues on anyone and everyone that has been affected by the war, particularly the soldiers that saw pure carnage of war. It makes them thing of traumatic events that took place, and the effect from that is that for many , they cannot separate what is reality and what is coming from their head.]]> 2020-04-19 22:05:27 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516041484 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516049400 "'I mean, we were camped in a goddamn shit field.'
He imagined Sally Kramer closing her eyes. If she were here with him, in the car, she would've said, 
'Stop it. I don't like that word.' 'That's what it was.'
'Alright, but you don't have to use that word.'
'Fine. What should we call it?' She would have glared at him. 'I don't know. Just stop it' (page 139)."
Throughout the whole chapter, Norman Bowker is constantly having theoretical conversations with people in his head. In these conversations the person "would've said" this and that, but Norman cannot get himself to get the words out, no matter how bad he wants to. This is something that O'Brien portrays through the theoretical conversations by his continual use of "would've said" when referring to the abstract characters in his mind. ]]> 2020-04-19 22:15:08 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516049400 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516063638 The photo that resonates the most with me and seems particularly significant depicts a soldier awaiting deployment on an airplane over a scenic view over Vietnam. The country looks almost alluring so high up from the death and havoc down below. There are waterways and valleys, farms and trees (5:10). Maybe the soldier does not even recognize the beautiful scene down below, and can only think of how he might die that day. It makes me think that perhaps to the soldiers, beauty is lost. The appealing scene has become something that they dread and fear.]]> 2020-04-19 22:32:04 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516063638 awoodlee5361 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516143209 Both speak about how they were melted down and put back together to become soldiers. They were once civilians like everyone but the war stripped them of that, they were forced to become soldiers and to give up on any previous ambitions. But the most common theme between Dick Durrance and Norman Bowker is their inability to forget, the violence they experienced would always be with them even when they returned from war and were back home in normal society. You have Norman who had no outlet to speak of his troubles, wanting to talk about the war but being unable to fully explain it to anyone else unless they had experienced it themselves, and Dick who even 49 years later still remembers the war on the daily basis, seeing himself in a run over wool hat or a face in a candle. The war will always be stuck with these men.]]> 2020-04-20 00:11:44 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516143209 awoodlee5361 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516152801 "He would have talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. The shit was in his nose and eyes . There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it." The most common rhetorical device used throughout the chapter is the use of jarring and brutal imagery. It shows the true essence of war, its not all heroic or glamorous. O'Brien says himself in the next chapter that the first draft didn't include the details about Vietnam, and he felt a sense of failure. Norman Bowker wrote to him and said "It's not terrible, but you left out Vietnam. Where's Kiowa? Where's the shit?" The story needs those necessary details, the cutthroat and brutal imagery is needed for us to understand, so that's why it is very apparent in his second version of the chapter. ]]> 2020-04-20 00:21:13 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516152801 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516169151 A main point that the chapter and Dick's TedTalk were making was that war damages the mind, even though many seem to think of it as just a physical being. As stated in the TedTalk, Dick says that once it enters your mind, it never leaves. Ever.]]> 2020-04-20 00:37:22 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516169151 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516173709 "'But the worst part,' he would've said quietly, 'was the smell. Partly it was the river - a dead fish smell...'"(Page 139)

This uses sensory imagery to bring you into the horrible general feeling of war, the stench, the muck, the repulsiveness. This certainly promotes his overall message throughout the book.]]> 2020-04-20 00:41:58 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516173709 awoodlee5361 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516173909 11.20, the photograph captures a wool hat that had been run over and demolished, with an earphone jack sticking out the side, unplugged. This photograph shows how the war will always be ingrained in a soldiers mind, evident by how Durrance explained how he saw himself in it. For me, the flattened wool hat demonstrated the destruction of civilian life, their previous feelings and ambitions being destroyed by the Vietnam war. And the unplugged earphone jack showing how they have been disconnected from society, distanced from their family and friends. ]]> 2020-04-20 00:42:10 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516173909 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516191927 The chapter "Speaking of Courage" and Dick Durrance's TEDtalk both show how war takes a toll on your mentally and how it sticks with you even after you return home. The chapter mainly talked about how Norman Bowker had returned home but just couldn't find anything that felt right to him anymore, he just didn't know what to do with himself. He also was very guilty about not being able to save his friend Kiowa. It was very sad that he said he wanted to talk about it but he didn't know what to say, he couldn't explain and so he just carried that all with him.]]> 2020-04-20 00:59:23 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516191927 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516192027 (9:56) The picture of the wounded civilians is very disturbing. It shows how war affects everybody, significantly the innocent caught in the middle of the conflict. It is so cruel and the picture is so vivid that it captures the panic of the people in the picture. Excellent picture.]]> 2020-04-20 00:59:29 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516192027 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516201720 The picture that really stuck with me was at 2:03 when everyone is standing in line. He said he joined the longest line he'd ever seen. This really stuck with me because usually when you wait in a long line it's for something that you really want to do but for them they were waiting to become completely different people. The pictures at the end were also very interesting when Durrance is talking about how he's reminded of the war in everyday life.]]> 2020-04-20 01:08:30 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516201720 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516221847 Well I'm not exactly sure if it's a rhetorical moves but on page 88 (on the PDF) it talks about Norman Bowker just driving around. "Already he had passed them six times, forty-two miles, nearly three hours without stop." I thought the fact that O'Brien included how long Bowker had been driving around was important because it just shows that he didn't really care how much time he wasted and it just relates back to how out of place Bowker feels after the war. 

Also Mr.Clare if you see this I need help with being able to identify rhetorical devices.]]> 2020-04-20 01:27:06 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516221847 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516267131 Dick Durrance highlights the time when he flew in for combat to join a riverine force on patrol, and how he did it for a day and was rattled mentally-- but the other soldiers had to do it every day for a year. You even can't imagine how much that'd affect someone's mind and how much irreversible damage is caused. Similarly in "Speaking of Courage", Bowker is forced to watch Kiowa sink into the mud and suffer while he's unable to do anything, leaving him distraught and saddened mentally. Whether it be PTSD or another mental illness, war leaves soldiers with a diseased mind and damage that can't be fixed.]]> 2020-04-20 02:10:11 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516267131 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516283922 "There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere—it was inside him, in his lungs—and he could no longer tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this. He released Kiowa's boot and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the shit in his mouth and closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds." (O'Brien 143)

O'Brien uses imagery to extensively describe what could be considered to be the most powerful part of the chapter when Bowker is forced to let go of Kiowa. It has the purpose of describing the scene and what Bowker is experiencing around him and in his head and helps make it much more immersive for the reader.


]]> 2020-04-20 02:26:17 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516283922 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516289893 The picture that stuck with me the most was at 10:01 as Durrance describes the fact that many of the Vietnamese civilians were simply farmers caught in the crossfire, and because of the war they had to sacrifice property and much more to fighting. The image of the man standing in front of what is presumably his old building that's been brought down nearly completely displays the message that this war isn't only hurting those directly involved but also those who are only trying to earn a living.]]> 2020-04-20 02:31:58 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516289893 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516336417 War completely changes your mental state and the way you think about thing. Durrance said the war enters your head and heart and never leaves. This can be seen with Bowker who couldn't forget about what happened to Kiowa in vivid detail.]]> 2020-04-20 03:17:12 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516336417 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516339996 "He would have talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too"(pg. 143). This use of visual imagery captures how Bowker truly wanted to save Kiowa but couldn't. This scene represented him letting go of Kiowa in the moment even though he struggles with it years later.]]> 2020-04-20 03:20:47 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516339996 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516352565 I thought the image of the men being sworn in(1:21) was really powerful because you can see many different emotions. Some men look determined like they support the war and wish to fight for the cause while others look withdrawn or disapproving because it's possible they were drafted(like O'Brien) and didn't wish to fight.]]> 2020-04-20 03:32:11 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516352565 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516405726 Both Durrance's Ted Talk and Speaking of Courage show how war and the memories of it last with people the rest of their lives and reshape their outlook on life. Durrance talks about how he was reminded of the war every day by just simple things he would see on the street like a hat with disconnected earbuds, as the war reshaped how he viewed everything, even simple objects. The chapter Speaking of Courage discusses Norman Bowker and how he still thinks over regrets from the war like not being able to save his friend in Kiowa. It now affects his everyday life as he can't seem to settle down now.]]> 2020-04-20 04:21:37 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516405726 mkearns8980 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516412547 In both the Ted talk and the the chapter "speaking of courage", it suggests there are lasting effects war has on soldiers. Specifically in the sense that the experiences of war take a toll on your emotions. for many soldiers it's a constant cycle of regret or feeling at fault . The war is out of their control, yet at the same time war feels so personal for these soldiers.]]> 2020-04-20 04:28:34 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516412547 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516417208 O'Brien uses a metaphor of comparing American society as whole and people's response to Vietnam veterans to a lifeless town, "A tour bus feeling, in a way, except the the town he was touring seemed dead ... It did not know shit about shit, and did not care to know"(Page 137). This metaphor gives an insight into how Vietnam veterans felt as though nobody listened to them and wanted to help them with their problems, and that society was moving on without them.]]> 2020-04-20 04:33:22 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516417208 mkearns8980 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516418700 in this chapter O'Brien uses juxtaposition of comparing two different scenery's; from the night in the field to his home town the lake. These are two very different places, but it shows how even though he left that field he still carried those memories no matter where he went and the two intertwined with the harsh reality of life Norman felt, feeling lost between the two.]]> 2020-04-20 04:34:53 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516418700 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516425683 The image at 12:02 near the end of the Ted Talk resonated with me the most. The fact that the soldier is covered in dirt or soot shows that he has been in the field of battle. His eyes seem to show that he is haunted by the things he has seen during the war, and that he will carry those things with him for the rest of his life.]]> 2020-04-20 04:41:33 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516425683 mkearns8980 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516427143 2020-04-20 04:43:01 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/516427143 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517211802 In the Ted Talk and in speaking of courage, Dick and O'Brien try to explain that war does quite a toll on soldiers not just physically but mentally and emotionally. Dick says that they are bred during the training to become warriors. He says that a lot of soldiers when fighting in the war were hardened and learned to gain a killer instinct. Dick explains that when war goes in your head and your heart, it never leaves." This is heavily shown by the character Norman Bowker who dwelled on events in the war once it was over.]]> 2020-04-20 11:29:56 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517211802 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517242925 "He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. He could taste it. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere—it was inside him, in his lungs—and he could no longer
tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this. He released Kiowa's boot
and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted
himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the shit in his mouth and closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds."
Pg 143
O'Brien uses extensive use of imagery during this passage, olfactory to be precise. The purpose of this is to really immerse the reader within the situation. O'Brien wants us to feel like we are there with Bowker and Kiowa. ]]> 2020-04-20 11:47:00 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517242925 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517252886 The picture that resonates with me the most is the one of the man from 6:20. Dick describes the way he was thinking when he took the picture. He was thinking how is this guy going to put the war behind him ever. This is a super powerful question and it really helps demonstrate how war changes people.]]> 2020-04-20 11:52:15 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517252886 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517953262 War is cited in both "Speaking of Courage" and the TED Talk to be able to rip apart any soul it comes across. Dick Durrance describes in his TED Talk the harsh reality of looking through his camera lens and seeing young men who would never be able to truly put past them their violent instincts and war lives.]]> 2020-04-20 15:57:44 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517953262 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517965969 "Through  the windows, as if in a stop-motion photograph, the place looked as if it had been hit with a nerve gas, everything still and lifeless, even the people. The town could not talk, and wouldn't listen." (O'Brien 137) This quote personifies the town as a mute person, unable to communicate. This move shows us the negative cathartic effect that a village would  live through if it went through war. O'Brien uses this to show that war not only rips through every soul it comes across, but even the towns it inhabits.

]]> 2020-04-20 16:01:59 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517965969 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517983618 The image at 10:00 which depicts a Vietnamese citizen in the rubble of what was his house is my favorite one here. With a stellar use of the rule of thirds and the golden ratio, this image is very well captured and aesthetically top notch. On top of this, the subject matter depicts the tragedy of war even affecting the uninvolved-- the citizens. The golden ratio helps here to follow it and see the man, the rubble, and the standing buildings to create a tragic, powerful scene.]]> 2020-04-20 16:07:47 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/517983618 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519091521 Based on both Durrence's TedTalk and "Speaking of Courage," war undoubtedly does horrible things to the soldiers involved. These dedicated men and women are forced not only to face, but also embrace hostility and violence in an atmosphere built upon a surplus of unknowns. They know they are fighting, they know there are enemies, and they know their job as a soldier, but there are severely limited certainties. "Speaking of Courage" shows how directly war is ingrained in the lives of veterans; any setting or picture can bring back a flash of unwelcome memories from the war. Veterans often feel they cannot talk about the tragedies- they have endured, witnessed, and caused- to their loved ones because it is an uncomfortable and painful topic which, in post-war America, is often discouraged due to its unpleasantness. Veterans can often feel alone or invisible as a result of this combined the stark contrast between war zones and American hometowns. In that chapter the July 4th fireworks were shown as the celebration that they are usually deemed, and yet, nobody in the chapter seemed to care enough to truly talk to someone who was fighting for this country- regardless of if one agrees with the war's goal, that remains true. Similarly,  Durrence's Ted Talk emphasizes the eeriness and unease found in many aspects of war. He said that it stuck with him after all these years, and that he was only in those conditions for a couple of days before moving on to take pictures elsewhere in the war; that inclusion of time illuminates how much it must further stick with men who were longer fighting in such conditions.]]> 2020-04-21 03:02:49 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519091521 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519114970 "He would've talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard, but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this."                                                In this section of "Speaking of Courage," O'Brien uses parallelism to recognize that a part of Bowker died when he knew his friend to be dead. There was nothing more to do, and Bowker gave up hope, not only for Kiowa, but also resigning a part of himself to be overcome with grief, misery, and remorse. Bowker felt guilty for not being able to safe his friend, and in turn, his brain reduced the complex and tragic event into a simple story of a man lacking courage.

]]> 2020-04-21 03:25:56 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519114970 https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519138369 Durrance's TedTalk displays many potent images of the war, but the one that most resonates with me is the photo of the injured women walking together away from the horrors of their past. Durrance said that he then knew something truly atrocious: that in order to safe the people, soldiers must also destroy many of them. This truly focuses upon the brutality and unfairness of war; even those who are just normal citizens are at risk of their lives being torn apart. There is always harm done to the innocent during the chaos of war.]]> 2020-04-21 03:49:14 UTC https://padlet.com/daniel_clare/72fg71ubnsqwxklg/wish/519138369