Source Paragraphs for Research Essay

Timmerman, John H. Tim O’Brien and the Art of the True War Story: “Night March” and “Speaking of Courage”. Hofstra University. New York. 2000. Print.

This source offers a critical look into two short stories written by Tim O’Brien. “Night March” which was written first as its own story and then later appeared in the novel “Going After Cacciato” and “Speaking of Courage” which was a short story and later included in the novel “The Things They Carried” were two of O’Brien’s famed stories. Both are based on the author’s experiences in Vietnam, with some added flare thrown in to make it interesting. I am going to use this article, because it gives us some insight as to why the author wrote these two stories and what events inspired them both. Using this as a source, will help me gain more insight into O’Brien’s life and help me analyze why he wrote these stories. I found this source by searching JSTOR.

Smith, Jack. The Things He Carries. Kalmbach Publishing Company. Boston. 2010. Print.

This source was found using ProQuest. It is an interview with Tim O’Brien on his Vietnam novels. The author of this particular article is Jack Smith who writes for “The Writer” in Boston. The Writer is an online site that helps amateur writers with tips and insights with author interviews as well as other tips and hints. The site is updated regularly as there are always articles being added, but the information on Tim O’Brien is not required to be current for this project. The site is credible as it is a reliable source that is used web wide for authors and amateur authors to gather insightful information from others in the industry. The interview will also give me an insight into the life of Tim O’Brien and his writing style.

Mid-Term Check In Letter

Dear Professor Cline,

I want to open this letter to you by first saying thank you for making this class fun and exciting. The things I have learned from this class will definitely help me throughout the rest of my professional career. I have learned about more things in this class than any other English class I have taken. I am very appreciative.

Although, I have loved this class so far, I have had my fair share of challenges. Probably the most challenging thing I have come up against so far would be learning literary analysis. Everything that I have had to write so far for any class including high school and college has always been summary. This was a huge switch for me, and it really took a lot to switch off my summary thinking cap and put on the analysis cap. It was very challenging but very good for me as well, as it will only further help me understand literary works and help me become a better writer. Another big challenge for me this semester was to open my mind up to other literary works. All of the books required for this class, I would have never picked up if it wasn’t for this class, I would yawned and called them boring, but I do know now, up to this point, that other works of writing can be just as interesting.

My goals for the second half of this class would be to improve my writing techniques, improve my critical reading and thinking abilities and to really keep on doing more of the same. I am very happy with the grades that I have at this point, and I hope to only get better as the second half of the semester plays out. I am looking forward to the next essay as we attempt to mix analysis and research. That should be another great challenge!

Thank you for the class, I look forward to the challenge ahead!

Sincerely,

Heath Midkiff

Summary vs. Analysis, "The Ghost Soilders" by Tim O'Brien

Summary

The chapter entitled “The Ghost Soldiers” from the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is about revenge. This is clearly the motive behind the entire chapter. First the author tells us what caused him to want revenge. He talks about the incident of being shot and not being tended to until he was almost dead. The new medic messed up and that is who he wanted to gain revenge against. The setting of this story takes place in Vietnam at a resupply post for the US Army. The character, Tim, was sent there after being shot twice and pulled by the army from the war front. Throughout the chapters the characters are pretty much all the same, with the exception of one new face. He is the medic responsible for the near death of Tim and his name is Bobby Jorgenson.

The chapter plays out with telling the reader how everything unfolded. We read the story from Tim’s point of view and he talks about how he was shot, the first time and the second time. He talks about how the new medic almost didn’t save his life. Tim also tells us, how he doesn’t really like being on the safe base and how he has been called names because of his wound to his buttocks. The chapter tells about his plans to strike back and gain his revenge and he does so very tactfully one night while the medic is on night guard duty. He plays tricks on him in the night, feeling sad that he is doing it but satisfied and after the night is all over with, Bobby and Tim make a truce; the score is finally settled.

Analysis

A certain chapter inside the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien opens up a discussion about human morals and ethics; the author is conveying how hard it is to forgive and forget. When the main character in the book, Tim, is shot in the line of duty, he expects his medic to be there to help him. He cries out for a medic yet almost dies because of the medic’s inability to conquer his fears. We can see that clearly human morals are the topic of this chapter because the author conveys it to us through his language and word choice. Tim wants to forgive the medic, but he can’t because he hates him and that is where the exploring of the human heart begins. We see from these passages the battle that is fought inside the character’s head. First we see the hate forming with this passage, “But it made me hate Bobby Jorgenson the way some guys hated the VC, gut hate, the kind of hate that stays with you even in your dreams” (O’Brien, 182) Obviously, going against human moral to hate so much, but it was only present for a while because over time O’Brien started to struggle over these feelings as we can see here, “Granted, I didn’t hate him anymore, and I’d lost some of the outrage and passion, but the need for revenge kept eating at me” (O’Brien, 192) The hate is gone, but the revenge is still there or the need for it. You can see just from these two passages how emotions switch and how this story is really about morals.

The link for this week’s blog post is: http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/revenge.htm

This link takes a look at revenge and lets you learn a little more about it.

The visual for this week is a YouTube video posted from the user “Myearbot” it is a video about Vietnam Vets. Enjoy.

Response to Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

For this post I decided to make a power point presentation. This focuses on Tim O'Brien as himself. I hope you enjoy!

Tim o’brien

View more presentations from Heath Midkiff.

Response to Sean Huze’s “The Sandstorm”

I have decided to respond to this play with a short fiction story that I wrote that explains how I felt after reading, "The Sandstorm" by Sean Huze. Here it goes:

The pain is real. I've lost my brother, and my best friend to this forsaken violence. The screaming still pierces my dreams and sends me into a downward spiral. All I have for comfort are the nightmares I brought back with me. I will always remember the day I lost him.

We had fought hard through the night, securing a small border town in Afghanistan. The commander had given the order to pull out and move back to base camp. We were exhausted, and sore. The temperature was well over a hundred degrees, and this was at four in the morning.

The flash was bright and my ears started to ring. I fell to the ground and searched with my hands to find my gun that had fallen from my grip in the commotion. My hands started to throb and I could smell burning flesh. As my vision started to return, my eyes adjusted and I ducked behind the jeep that now sat on its side.

I caught my breath, and listened as the air around me grew quiet. The gunfire had ceased; the only sound that remained was the crackling of the fire. As the adrenaline faded, the pain set in. Not only in my body from the shrapnel wound I had sustained, but also from the sight that greeted my vision as my mind focused. The image haunts me to this day, my brother's body lying in a pool of blood and gasoline; fire consuming his flesh. Dead.

The war stole some things from me that day: It stole my humanity, it stole my peace, but most importantly it stole my best friend. The countless tears that my family shed for him will not bring him back, I know this. The pain is something that will never leave, the nightmares will never cease, and I will never forget the day that he died.

Here is my link for this week. I found this very interesting and read many of the posts on it. It is a blog from a solider that served in Iraq. Please enjoy it, as it made for some interesting reading.

http://shawn_richardson.typepad.com/

As far as a visual is concerned, I went for a YouTube video posted by Emory University. It explains the symptoms of a solider that is diagnosed with PTSD. This is what a lot of soldiers have to deal with when they return home. I found this video to be informative and interesting. Thanks.

My Response to two “Poetry of Witness,” poems

This blog post was supposed to reflect our feelings about two poems from the poetry of witness section on the blackboard site. It was hard to pick two, because they were all so emotionally charged and engaging. The first poem that really struck me from this list was "Charlie Howard's Decent" by Mark Doty. It brought out a lot of emotions for me, and made me upset at the fact that people have to go so far as to kill someone before something is done to protect people who are different. Upon my first reading of this poem, I got the feeling that it was about a disfigured man, who might have been mentally slow. It was not until I did a bit of research on this poem that I found out it was a poem based off true events. It happened in Bangor, Maine. The man, Charlie Howard, was actually a homosexual who was very open and flamboyant. He was made fun of every day. After realizing what this poem was really about, it took on new life for me. I don't support homosexually, but I don't support people who make fun of others that live that lifestyle and I definitely don't support people who murder others because they are different (whether they meant to or not). That being said, this poem has a lot of emotion tied into it. One strong example that brings out an emotion reaction from me was when Doty used this line, "Over and over he slipped into the gulf/between what he knew and how he was known/What others wanted opened like an abyss: the laughing stock-clerks at the grocery/Women at the luncheonette amused by his gestures," (lines 4-7). I got the sense that he was made fun of pretty much everywhere he went, no matter where it was. Sad to think that someone would be tortured that bad.

In one of the other, "Poetry of Witness," poems, the poet Nicole Cooley talks about New Orleans. The emotion that is emitted from this piece of work actually comes from the images painted in our heads after we read the poem. It paints a vivid image of what New Orleans looked like both while the water was high and after the water receded. There are quotes like, "and lace valances from a Lakeview kitchen, where water rose six feet high inside," (Cooley line 8) and, "and a refrigerator wrapped in duct tape lying in the dirt of a once-yard" (Cooley line 9). This is where I get the picture painted. I can see every house underwater, and after the water goes away, I can just see piles of junk lying around, the whole town destroyed. It's from these vivid images that the emotion of grief is provoked from me. This definitely was a sad day for a lot of people.

For my link this week I found a Wiki that actually gives a little bit more background information on the story behind Charlie Howard's Decent. It was an interesting read for the most part.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Howard_%28murder_victim%29

For my visual, I decided to stick with the theme and give you a YouTube video of the poet Mark Doty reading his poem, "Charlie Howard's Decent" to a live audience. It goes along with the theme from the power point presentation we were required to watch for this week's assignments. It does give you a good feel for the voice of the poem and answers a lot of identifying questions, like who is the speaker and who is the addressee. I hope you enjoy it!

Works Cited:

Cooley, Nicole. "Compendium of Lost Objects." Poets.org. 2010. 10 September 2010. Web.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21526

Doty, Mark. "Charlie Howard's Decent." Angelfire. 2010. 10 September 2010. Web.

http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/strawberry/descent.html

Response to “The Necessity to Speak” by Sam Hamill

The essay by Sam Hamill entitled "The Necessity to Speak", is completely full of emotion and hard hitting facts. I never knew some of these facts until I read this essay. I agree with him on many points that he makes in his essay. I also disagree with some of his points. What I really agree with is the fact that women are disrespected and battered in this country, that equality is still not on the level it should be. Women can be just as valuable as men, and it sickens me when they are treated as inferior. I love that he just comes right out and speaks about it openly, where many can't speak about it. Even after he experienced being raped and battered, and being the batterer, the way he can speak up about such issues with conviction and control is commendable.

I love his stance on abortion and the killing of unborn babies. I agree whole-heartedly with the fact that he refers to them as unborn children, as living creatures not just a fetus. I also agree with the fact that parents need to be more active in the parenting of their children, talking to and educating them about sex. If parents sat down and talked to their kids about this, it would reduce the amount of teenage pregnancies, which would reduce the amount of abortions in this country. Mr. Hamill hit it right on the head when he talked about how a girl who hasn't been properly educated in sex and love can easily fall in love with a batterer. Mr. Hamill goes on and talks about what the kids learn in the home they will carry on with them through life. If they see battering in the house, they will grow up to be battered (because that is the life they know and are drawn to) or they will grow up to be a batterer (because that is all they know how to do).

The facts that I don't agree with Mr. Hamill on is spanking of children. I was spanked growing up, and there is a fine line between spanking and abuse. If you are leaving marks on your child, if you are making them bleed, and leaving them to cry, you are abusing them. If you are spanking them, leaving no physical damage on their body, and you explain in full why they are experiencing that pain, they can learn and grow from it as I did. I turned out very well, and I know the difference. The reason some people are against spanking is because they have only experienced or they only know about abuse. It saddens me to see anyone go through abuse, and reading this essay really makes me remember the stories my mom told me about her childhood and the sexual and emotional abuse she suffered.

Relating this essay to the poems we were required to read this week can be easily done. In some of those poems, namely "Charlie Howard's Descent", you can feel the pain in that poem and relate it to physical and emotional abuse and torture suffered at the hands of others. Charlie Howard had been abused and mocked. He was made fun of and eventually killed. The violence that we see imaged in this poem is some of the same violence Mr. Hamill is speaking about in his essay. I can see the correlations, and I can see what both men felt like as they were being tortured. This essay was definitely eye opening and heart touching. I probably will never forget it for the rest of my life.

This link explores in more detail the statistics regarding domestic violence. The numbers are shocking. http://new.abanet.org/domesticviolence/Pages/Statistics.aspx

The visual I provided is a YouTube video posted by CBS (The network station). It is a short clip talking about a domestic violence case that was all over the news. I posted it not only so people can see the story, but also because it gives great reminders to get involved when you think someone is being abused. If you don't, that person could pay a huge price.