This excerpt was from an email written to friends and family by an American soldier fighting in Iraq. Throughout the passage the author explains his experience of going through a small mental voyage. Through the use of several rhetorical strategies, the author presents an instructional tone, imagery, and comparison. First, the author utilizes an instructional tone to trigger the reader into a smooth transition to the next idea. The author suspects if he provides these step-by-step procedures we will not confuse or get lost throughout the passage. For instance, his usage of the words, “First off…” and “Now roll…”, apply directly to the reader in order for them to follow the instructions given. Aside from his instructional tone, he also presents
When intrinsic motivation contrasts with a culture’s norm, the individual often feels unable to express their own beliefs. In Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, O’Brien recounts the time he was deployed to the Vietnam war to fight for the United States. As O’Brien reflects on his younger self “On Rainy River”, he reveals his old feelings of fear and resentment towards war. O’Brien uses daunting imagery to describe the scene,“I remember the rage in my stomach...I felt paralyzed. All around me the options seemed to be narrowing, as if I were hurtling down a huge black funnel, the whole world squeezing me tight...Moreover, I could not claim to be opposed to war as a matter of general principle” (O’Brien 40-41). The author uses somber
War has been a topic that is upsetting and off-limits for many. Although, it shouldn’t be. War has become a rising issue as veterans come back home. Authors use languages such as imagery, strong diction, and rhetorical strategies to stress the importance of talking about war. Some may also use personal experience to raise awareness of the effects on both sides of the war and to deal with post-traumatic events that happen to veterans.
War can be considered a tragedy, but war can also signify bravery. So many men and women die fighting for their country daily. What really happens behind enemy lines? In “The Things They Carried,” a short story by Tim O’Brien, he uses various rhetorical devices to explain to his readers to help them truly understand what it is like to be in war.
The first rhetorical strategy I used in my descriptive paragraphs was word choice. I bring this up first because without it, the reader has a vague perception of the story. Although if used accordingly, it revives the story and the reader can fully grasp what you want them to see. The best use of this in my positive paragraph was “spacious”. I wanted the reader to visualize a vast and roomy drive thru while reading my paragraph. Although I could’ve used other words like “large”, or “big” they wouldn’t have had the same effect because a place can be big and still be constricting. As for my negative paragraph my best word choice would have to be “snatched”. I used snatched in this context because I believe it gave readers the most negative visual about how the money is taken from the customer’s hand. Other words that I could have used like “taken” or “grab” would have failed to leave the same impression of negativity in the reader. Sentence structure is another rhetorical strategy that also leaves an impression on the reader.
A library can be a repository of knowledge or a squirrel’s worst nightmare. With this in mind an angle of vision is being created. An angle of vision is not simply written, it is carefully and deliberately constructed through the proper use of five rhetorical strategies. Word Choice, Sentence Structure, Overt Statements, Figurative Language, and Selection and Omission of Details are the strategies used by writers to create the angle of vision. To understand these strategies I have written two paragraphs that are similar in description yet carry vastly different angles of vision.
“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a non fiction body of fiction writing. While names, characters and situations are imaginary, the circumstances encountered by the people represented in the war depicted are very much real.There is an intriguing story line beneath yet another story that is being told and with each sentence the more it resonates. There is the story of unrequited love, unabashed bravery, and unfathomable pain. Throughout all of this turmoil and what is the very essence of discomfort, the story moves forward and the reader is compelled to follow. In relating the layers of stories wrapped into the writing O’Brien masterfully uses the techniques of repetition, pattern and indirect style of writing to emphasize that no amount of physical weight compares to the mental and
Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” uses repetition to display the complicated lives of soldiers to readers. The Again & Again signpost reveals repeated moments in the story that help the reader undrstand the theme of Fear displayed throughout the story. Fear dictated almost every move these men made. O’Brien’s use of repetition reveals that fear of can be motivation or a hinderance to the soldiers.
“War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” Tim O’Brien wrote in his novel The Things They Carried. There are many different ways to connect with a reader through pieces of writing. Tim O’Brien captured many readers through his detailed writing and telling of Vietnam War stories throughout the novel The Things They Carried. In the memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone, his writing lacked thorough description and feeling compared to The Things They Carried. Tim O’Brien connects with the reader through his writing
Individuals everywhere grimace at war. Images of the strike of the gun, the burst of the bombs, and the clash of the soldiers all elicit a wince and a shiver. Moviegoers close their eyes during gory battle scenes and open them again only once the whine of the bullets stops rattling in their ears. War is hell, as the common aphorism goes, and the pain of war is equally hellish. Most individuals naturally accept this conclusion despite never experiencing war themselves. Without enduring the actual pain of war injuries, individuals still argue the importance war and its miseries. Individuals rely on media and entertainment for education about the suffering and evils of war. Writers provide an acute sense of a soldier’s physical and mental
Many people lack the understanding of the burdens, or the dangers associated with lack of focus, in battle, and the emotional baggage gained by these wars. Many times, during major wars, the majority of soldiers are younger adults, so they are naïve to many experiences, and they are forced to ignore those traumatic experiences. As a result, of war and those experiences, many are lucky to come back alive, but even those who survive, still suffer deep emotional wounds and have emotional problems. Therefore, Soldiers who are successful in returning safe, make an effort to stay focused on the moment, because when they lose mental focus they will die. Similarly, in the story The Things they Carried, by Tim O’Brien, he tells of the baggage associated
The novel War, written by Sebastian Junger, records the events in Korengal, Afghanistan with the American Army from a journal’s perspective. Throughout the book, he retells his experiences of fire fights, the emotional trauma of losing a fellow fighter, the undeniably strong bond between soldiers, and the consequences combat has on family members. While this novel has some detailed and brutally honest components regarding the war in Afghanistan, I found the insight provided by Junger on combat to be interesting. Once I started reading this novel, putting down the book was nearly impossible as I was finding myself entranced within this world of war. The insight into the world of combat, although brief, permitted me to better understand a soldier’s experience in war zones. My previous knowledge regarding the novel’s context, as well as personal experiences, transformed my mindset from thinking critically about the novel to becoming emotionally connected to the soldiers’ success. I found that the more I read this novel, the more my life experiences influenced my attitude towards the individuals and experiences as described by Junger.
In Tim O'Brien's narrative, The Things They Carried, characters are shown going through excruciatingly difficult war struggles. There are many intriguing themes that O’Brien is sharing in the text, but the most striking is the differences between the way each person handles war. People in the story cope by imagining things for motivation and pleasure. Imagination can help soldiers, but also does not help in war when the coping distracts one from important situations. The most common coping mechanism in the war stories has to do with women because they were used as security blankets during war. Soldiers use women, imagined and real, to offer an escape from war, but due to their inability to understand the war, the women cannot help them cope.
I believe in Source A the common or similar view on Nationalism is how Nationalism can lead to Ultranationalism. In Both sources, Patriotism is viewed in a positive manner while nationalism is portrayed in a negative manner. Sydney J. Harris viewed patriotism as “proud of your country for what it does” and viewed nationalism as “proud of your country no matter what it does”. Charles de Gaulle viewed nationalism as “When hate for people other than your own comes first”. These nationalism views are ideal to Adolph Hilters. For example; Hitler had a mindset and believed Germany deserved what they were fighting for despite the fact that millions of lives were lost. He didn't have a limit as to what was wrong or right but did it all believing
Throughout my project I used multiple different rhetorical strategies to argue my claims. My audience is my peers in AP language and composition, and my purpose is to convince them that the name that was given by our parents influences our life. One rhetorical choice I made was to include a lot of different evidence to back up my claim. I included various experiments that were done and analyzed the results. This is an effective strategy because my audience would know that I have proof to show that names influence how people act toward you and how it determines our futures. Including a lot of evidence and proof boosts my credibility high so my audience will believe me and my argument more easily. Another rhetorical strategy that I made to develop
All throughout the country millions of young African Americans are being subjected to immense hardships in life. These children are the product of unfortunate scenarios that they have no control over such as the children's biological parents abusing or neglecting them. We expect Children’s services to take these kids and place them in a safe environment, unfortunately the foster care system places kids from one horrible place to possibly an even worse one. Growing up in the foster care system myself, I have seen and experienced the horrendous abuse children can be subjected to. African Americans children make up a greater percentage of people in foster care and also are taken from their parents at twice the rate of white children. Sometimes children could even be taken from their biological parents unjustly. Sadly little is done to assist them.. The premise behind my company is to aid and assist in facilitating children, but at the same time also adhering to high ethical standards so that this program can uplift children and not destroy them.