Komunyaka Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Towards the end of the poem Komunyakaa compares himself to a window, through which he sees the past and present. “...then his pale eyes / look through mine. / I’m a window” (25-26). Referring back to the beginning of the poem, Komunyakaa is not stone or flesh anymore.

It’s been nearly 50 years since James Clements died in the war. He’s finally getting the honor he deserves.

The poem “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa has a tone that will haunt a reader well after they are done reading it. The poem is about the author, a veteran visiting the Vietnam veteran’s memorial for the very first time. The author describes the emotional impact the visit has on him. The author uses lines such as “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears.” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 3-4) and “I’m stone. I’m flesh” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 5) to drive home the emotion and deep feelings in the poem. Throughout the poem the author utilizes personification to add to the effect and tone of the poem as well. The author talks about the memorials stone as if it were alive. He uses the line “I turn this way –the stone lets me go.” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 9). This is an example of the personification the author uses to help bring the stone to life. The author feels the stone truly has a strong hold on him.

Once I was able to associate these words to emotions and issues present in everyday life, the poem started to make me feel sad. I began thinking about all of the emotions and feelings that everyone hides as they go about life. For example, how the waitress I see once a week may have an eating disorder, or how the singer I look up to just lost her son, or the businessman who got laid off today. Everyone has their own personal battle that they carry everywhere, at any given moment. This explains why the setting is so plain, since the internal struggles people face affect them even at a bus stop. While each person waits, the waitress may be thinking about how much skinnier the person next to her is. The singer could be remembering when she held her baby. And the business man could be planning how to break the news to his wife. No matter how small, everyone experiences a type of trauma or bad experience, and this poem seemed to show what happens when these emotions become bottled up. No one can help each other because they are so stuck within their own issues. The difficulty helping others reminded me of the idea of having to take care of yourself before being able to take care of others.

The ending lines “A loneliness lingers like a silver needle under my skin, as I try to feel how it is to scream for help through a horn” conveys that Komunyakaa's concluded

Komunyakaa’s use of similes and imagery is making it clear to us as the reader that he doesn’t want to make it completely evident to us what is occurring, he wants us to realize it while thinking about the message he is trying to interpret to us. His use of the structural devices flashback, stream of consciousness, and order of ideas furthers my point that he is trying to get a message across to us but not trying to be completely blunt when delivering it. In doing it he makes it a process of constant analyzation of his state of mind during the present time and the past. Komunyakaa’s entire poem had a relatively confused and upset

In lines 1-2, “my black face fades, hiding inside the black granite” he is speaking about how his face is literally black from the granite wall. He is also speaking how the kind of person we show to the world. We do not always show who we truly are, people only show the side of their personality that they want people to see. From these two lines, the narrator brings up the main theme of this poem. In lines 3-5, the writer is expressing his feelings or he is at least trying not to, he tries to hold back his emotions from the war. He wants to remain strong because he says, “I’m stone and flesh” He is not literally saying that he is stone but he is a person that has been through a lot and even after everything he is still alive. In lines 6-9, imagery is the only thing being used because he is only speaking about his reflection and how it relates to the granite stone. In lines 10-13, he says, “I am inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial”. From this line, part of the narrator is still stuck at the war. He brings up light and how he wants it to make a difference. Light is symbolized for how we represent ourselves to others and the kind of person we truly are. It also plays a big part in the poem

The Vietnam War was a war that included the United States involvement. The United States fought in this war to stop communism. After almost 20 years, the war ended and the result was Vietnam was split into two parts, North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was communist and South Vietnam was non-communist. Though this war ended, the American people who fought in this war were never forgotten. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built in Washington D.C in 1982, to always remember the people who fought in the Vietnam War for the United States. This wall has approximately 58,000 names on it of those who died fighting in the war. One person who fought in the War was James Avery. Although his name is not on the wall because he died in 2013

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is in D.C., and hundreds of people visit it each day. It stands as a symbol of what Americans did in the Vietnam War, and how many we actually helped. The Vietnam War was a brutal war were many of the soldiers were wounded or killed, and those who died fighting for our country will always be remembered because of the Vietnam Veterans War memorial. The Vietnam Veterans War memorial is a lasting tribute to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives while fighting in the Vietnam War.

The United States Marine Corps War Memorial, which stands in Arlington National Cemetery, is among the most famous statues in Washington D.C. Upon the conclusion of World War II, it was erected and dedicated to “the Marine dead of all wars and their comrades of other services who fell fighting beside them" (US National Park Services). The statue was based on a photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal of six marines raising the flag over Mount Suribachi after an arduous battle with the Japanese. The photo was an instant sensation, and it became known as one of the most iconic and inspirational war photos ever taken. The image of the Marines raising the American flag over Iwo Jima illustrates the depth of America’s commitment to freedom, the ideal in which America’s identity as an exceptional nation is founded.

The Korean War is a very bad thing that happened but this event also brought out new colorful perspective outlooks upon the world. Most people do not know about the Korean War and its results but now that we have the memorial people will surly ask themselves what was the Korean War and look it up. That is exactly what I did. This memorial is an amazing display of what we as people can do after a time off peril. The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It commemorates those who served in the Korean War. There are 4 parts of this memorial The Mural Wall, 19 stainless steel statues, United Nations Wall, and

The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.

In the poem I feel like it uses good imagery, because I am able to picture what is going on throughout the poem. I think it does a really good job with letting the readers be able to do that. The poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” it talks about an athlete who made a great accomplishment in his athletic career. He’s getting praised and cheered for and all of these great things because of it. Because of this he doesn’t want to get surpassed, so instead he dies. He dies so he doesn’t have to see or know when someone has done better. This is something that I feel happens in a lot of people's lives, because when we make a great accomplishment it’s something we are proud of and we don’t want to be surpassed. We want to be

In this poem it shows more of how that regret change how your feel and think. For example “but the truth always invades the dream house, street, family, are gone, the country itself has been abolished” (Mcauley lines 2-4). This shows that the author regretted the decision he made so much that he cut that entire part of his life out, not only saying the house was destroyed but the country. Not only does it affect how you view your past but it affects how you view yourself “to see himself as he then was it is all their except himself (Mcauley lines 8-9). This shows that when you look back into the past you will see how your actions have changed you.

First artwork is the Vietnam War Memorial in 1982, designed by May Lin. What I see in this picture is that it looks like a park area is created having a lot of fresh green grass and long trees. It also have very elongated walls. The walls are made from mirror-like surfaces that reflects the images of the surrounding trees, monuments and people. As it is a Vietnam War memorial place, I observe that people staring at the walls depicts that the walls have something related about the Vietnam War. It can have written description about the specific people participating in the Vietnam War. It’s like a long granite wall inscribed with the names of all those men and women that sacrificed their lives during this war. I also see how these mirror like