What I have learned

Dear Mrs. Cline,

   This semester of school has been very successful for me. I feel as though I have learned a lot. I have learned how to write an analysis of a book or poem rather then just summarizing it. Literary analysis is different then the kind of writing I have done in college. A lot of writing that I have done in the passed was based on a personal experience. It’s been about something I have lived, and to me that’s easier then what we have been doing in this class.

I was never interested in poetry and I feel like it was always hard for me to interpret its meaning. I realized that there is not one specific meaning to a poem, there are many and its really about how you interpret it. With that said, poetry has become more enjoyable for me to read, there is less pressure to figure out what the “real” meaning of the poem is and I can actually enjoy the poem.

Reading the play “The Sand Storm” made me very emotional. When Casavecchia and his crew were protecting a community of people in Baghdad he developed a strong bond with these people. He became emotional to towards them so when they were told they had to leave because there was something more “important” for them to be doing.. Casavecchia saw the people’s pain as they left but he immediately became numb to their pain. It was clear to me that a lot of the soldiers knew how to shut emotion off when it came to war. It was sad to read some of the things that the soldiers had to do or had done to the enemy. A lot of them felt like they should have more emotion towards it but they didn’t, some of them say they wish they could find a way to feel “human” again.

          What I would like to improve on is just my overall writing. I would like to be able to express my thoughts, through writing, in a more clear and understandable way. Sometimes I feel like I have great ideas but I cant find a way to express them so I think I can improve on that.  Over all I really enjoy this class and appreciate what I have learned. I am excited to see what you have in store for the class in the second half of the semester. 

Do We Really Want to Know?

CPL Rodriguez said “Have you ever faced your own mortality?” in Sean Huze’s play “The Sand Storm” (Huze 15.) Soldiers face their own death every day and it’s something they probably think about each day in and out. It has to be a hard life to live thinking that you may not live to see the next sun rise. Reading Sean Huze’s play was very interesting. It is based on the Iraq war and I think because it’s something that is happening right now that it makes it more interesting for me. It is hard, in general, to hear about war, especially this one as I am not completely for this war. After reading this play and Tim O’Brien’s short stories I couldn’t help but compare the two since they are both based on war stories. One of Tim O’Brien’s short stories was “How to Tell a True War Story” I thought when Casavecchia said, in Huze’s play, “You’re not supposed to share ‘em. Nope. You’re supposed to go through absolute hell, become something you do, if you make it home…keep it to yourself. Bear witness if you will. Otherwise no truth will ever come out of it.” (Huze 1.)  The character, Tim, in “How to tell a True War story” basically feels that there are many ways to tell a “true” war story and sometimes it’s by lying, while Casavecchia believes you should not tell them at all. In my mind, we all want to hear about what happens, we want to get some sort of grasp on how a soldier lives but some of us cannot handle it. It can be very disturbing to know that a soldier bashes their enemy in the head with their boots over and over until their pant legs are covered in blood (Huze 14.) It makes you wonder which parts are actual fact and which is mere imagination in Huze’s and O’Brien’s stories. And can we handle the truth? 

                               http://blog.usnavyseals.com/2010/06/memorials-for-the-fallen-of-iraq-and-afghanistan-in-kansas.html