During the Civil War, 620,000 soldiers died from combat, starvation, disease, and many more suffered a variety of life threatening injuries. Walt Whitman, an author, poet, and Civil War nurse wrote two literary pieces titled “The Artilleryman’s Vision” and “The Letter to His Mother.” These literary works of art have a similar theme stating, war can be physically and mentally traumatizing to the soldiers, but it is also a necessity for a country to obtain and maintain its freedom. Walt Whitman's contradictory pieces ¨The Artilleryman's vision” and ¨The letter to his mother¨ shows his Civil War experiences through his use of certain characters, speakers from different points of views, and the gruesome events that occurred during the war.
Through
…show more content…
the conflicting yet similar descriptions of the characters in the two writings by Walt Whitman, it shows the effects of the war on Whitman, and the soldiers that fight in the war. Whitman writes ¨The Artilleryman's vision” depicting the view of an artilleryman, a fictional character, that is fighting in the Civil War for the Unions or the north that is reminiscing the past gruesome events of the war. For example the Artilleryman, as he is laying in bed with his wife, is having flashbacks to the war as the author states ¨There in the room as I wake from my sleep this vision presses upon me¨ (4). This is a good example showing that the Artilleryman is still suffering from these memories of the war. Unlike in ¨The Letter to His Mother” by which the characters are people that actually went through the war including himself. Whitman shows how brutal the war can be on the soldiers by using intense diction like in the sentence ¨At the end of some fifty hours he was brought off, with other wounded, under a flag of truce.¨ (1) This example shows how the wounded soldier has suffered a traumatic event. Although many differences can be shown, both the Artilleryman and the Wounded Soldier have been through traumatic events that they may not recover from. The difference between the speaker of the poem, the Artilleryman, and the author of the letter, Whitman, create separate dramatic effects.
That is, the poem, written first person, uses imagery to develop drama, and the letter recounts the second-hand experiences of the wounded soldier to create dramatic events. Whitman writes ¨I breathe the suffocating smoke, then the flat clouds hover low concealing all¨ (16), allowing the reader to feel how the Artilleryman felt on the battlefield, and also allows the reader to paint a picture of the clouds, covering the vision of the soldiers, through powerful imagery, and diction. In the letter the story that the wounded soldier told also provides imagery in a way unlike the Artilleryman. The story that was told to Walt Whitman provides some insight on how the soldiers were treated, and what kinds of brutal events the soldiers on the battlefield had to go through for example, ¨The man treated our soldier kindly, bound up his wounds, cheered him, gave him a couple of biscuits, gave him a drink of water, asked him if he could eat some beef¨ (2). This statement shows a positive connotation towards the kind, helping Rebel and also helps you illustrate what went on behind enemy lines. (((( Write the conclusion
sentence)))) ¨The Artilleryman's Vision¨ and ¨The Letter to His Mother¨ show two divergent plots. That is, the letter, conveying events told by a wounded soldier, and the poem, showing a day in the life of an artilleryman, have two conflicting scenarios. The plot is a veteran who is recollecting a battle between the Union and the Confederates during the Civil War, in which he describes the battle with intense emotions of pain and joy as Whitman states, ¨rousing even in dreams a devilish exultation and all the mad joy in the depths of my soul¨ Whitman 21) as the Artilleryman is describing the sound of the cannon. The story of ¨The Letter to His Mother¨ is Whitman describing to his mother a personal account with a wounded Union soldier that followed the aftermath of the Battle of Fredericksburg. This soldier, wounded in the leg and side, was left on the battlefield for fifty odd hours waiting for the medical personnel to arrive. While waiting, a heartwarming account of a ¨good Secesh¨ (Whitman 2), willing to help the wounded Union soldier touched the life of Whitman and many others. In Walt Whitman's contradictory pieces ¨The Artilleryman's vision” and ¨The letter to his mother¨ shows his Civil War experiences. The use of certain characters such as, the Artilleryman and the wounded soldier, provide insight on how the Civil War affected its soldiers and everyday people even long after the war is over. The speakers of the two literary pieces add context to the war and drama through the imagery and diction of Walt Whitman. By telling and describing the gruesome events that occurred during the war played a large part in showing Walt Whitman's Civil War experiences by allowing the readers to picture specific events that the Civil War soldiers, nurses, and ordinary people went through on an everyday basis. Whitman uses the poem and the letter to show the physical and emotional damage that war has caused on soldiers and himself
Over many centuries, Poetry and song has been a way for people to explore their feelings, thoughts and questions about War & Peace. Rupert Brooke's “The Soldier” and Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh” provide two different insights into the nature of war. . “The Soldier” conveys a message of bravery for soldiers to go into war and fight while “Khe sanh” conveys a message about post-traumatic stress and the horrible factors of coming back into civilization after war.
The book “For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War” by James M. McPherson examines the motivations of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. McPherson wanted to understand why the men fought in the Civil War and why they fought so ferociously for such a large amount of time even though there was a huge possibility of death, disease and injurys.To answer the question regarding the reasons why men fought in the Civil War so viciously, and for such a long period of time, James McPherson studied countless amounts of letters, diaries and other mails that were written or sent by the soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
There are many different ways in which the war was represented to the public, including drawings, newspaper articles, and detailed stereographs. Stereographs such as John Reekie’s “The Burial Party” invoked mixed feelings from all of those who viewed it. It confronts the deaths caused by the Civil War as well as touches upon the controversial issue over what would happen to the slaves once they had been emancipated. This picture represents the Civil War as a trade-off of lives- fallen soldiers gave their lives so that enslaved black men and women could be given back their own, even if that life wasn’t that different from slavery. In his carefully constructed stereograph “The Burial Party,” John Reekie confronts the uncertainty behind the newly
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
What This Cruel War Was Over evaluates the American Civil War through the eyes of both northern and southern soldiers. By examining the conflict through this lens, Chandra Manning delivers a narrative with intricacies that explore an in-depth perspective to a greater degree than other authors have in the past. Revealing how men thought about slavery and the Civil War frames her book, and the examples she utilizes to fulfill her goal in arguing her thesis conveys an original body of work. Additionally, several of the concepts established in the author’s book are also discussed through various methods in other books.
“All up and down the lines the men blinked at one another, unable to realize that the hour they had waited for so long was actually at hand. There was a truce…” Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer prize winning book A Stillness at Appomattox chronicles the final year of the American Civil War. This book taught me a lot more about the Civil War than I ever learned through the public school system. Bruce Catton brought to life the real day to day life of the soldiers and the generals who led them into battle.
Many soldiers who come back from the war need to express how they feel. Many do it in the way of writing. Many soldiers die in war, but the ones who come back are just as “dead.” Many cadets come back with shell shock, amputated arms and legs, and sometimes even their friends aren’t there with them. So during World War I, there was a burst of new art and writings come from the soldiers. Many express in the way of books, poems, short stories and art itself. Most soldiers are just trying to escape. A lot of these soldiers are trying to show what war is really like, and people respond. They finally might think war might not be the answer. This is why writers use imagery, irony and structure to protest war.
Simpson, Brooks D., Stephen W. Sears, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean, eds. The Civil War: Told by Those Who Lived It. New York: The Library of America, 2011. Print.
“War at its basic level has always been about soldiers. Nations rose and fell on the strength of their armies and the men who filled the ranks.” This is a very powerful quote, especially for the yet young country of the United States, for it gives credit where credit is truly due: to the men who carried out the orders from their superiors, gave their blood, sweat and tears, and in millions of cases their lives while fighting for ideals that they believed their country or government was founded upon, and to ensure the continuation of these ideals. Up until the end of the 20th Century, they did so in the worst of conditions, and this includes not only the battle scene, but also every day life. In this essay, I will examine the daily life of the Civil War soldier, including: identifying WHO he was, drill and training, camp life, supplies he used, clothes he wore, food he ate, on the battlefield, psychological aspects including morale and his attitude toward the war, and his sexual life. That’s right, you read it correctly: HIS SEX LIFE!
It is inevitable when dealing regularly with a subject as brutal as war, that death will occur. Death brings grief for the victim’s loved ones, which William Faulkner depicts accurately and fairly in many of his works, including the short story “Shall Not Perish” and The Unvanquished. While the works differ because of the time (The Unvanquished deals with the Civil War while “Shall Not Perish” takes place during World War II) and the loved ones grieving (The Unvanquished shows the grief of a lover and “Shall Not Perish” shows the grief of families), the pain they all feel is the same.
...se genres support the theme and the structure of the text in many ways. It is crucial for young adults, and people interested in the topic of war, to understand a literature such as this essay, so they can be able to realize the negative effects of civil war, expressed in writing and art. Themes across various genres are crucial to the stability of society and humankind, since they establish the common thinking of people. With the universal theme expressed in The Gettysburg Address, Peace isn’t Impossible, and A Man Knows a Man, readers are able to realize that the effects of civil war are negative, and that the practice of war should be abolished, which is a statement one can believe in. It is vital for people to be able to read and explore various genres in order to gain the author’s insight on life, and basic human concerns that need to be addressed more often.
The characters in both works were the same. The Character was in each was a Civil War Veteran. In the Artilleryman's Vision the main character was a Civil War veteran. Whitman’s letter to his mother the main character he mentioned a veteran of the Civil War. This means Whitman main focus of both works was the lives of these veterans.
The Civil War was a very violent episode in America’s history. There were more casualties in this war than all of the American wars, (McPherson, 5). The war turned brother on brother, thus coining the name ‘the Brother War,” (McPherson, 15). Many people in today’s era often question why so many men willingly fought knowing death was always a high possibility. We will never know the exact answer but from many writings: letters, newsletters, journals, memoirs, we can get a glimpse at what the motivations were for them to enlist and then keep fighting. James M. McPherson attempts to do this in his book For Cause & Comrades. He gives many firsthand accounts as evidence for his explanations. His most important motivators are rage militarie, honor and brotherhood, ideals on slavery, and religion.
With this being said Heaney uses similes and denotations throughout his poem to put in a sense of tone in the poem to help the readers get a better understanding of what the people were going through when they would see soldiers walking about. According to Dictionary.com (“Simile”, 2016). “A simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.” This is being used in line 18 where it says “standing there like youngsters” (Heaney, n.d.). This interprets how men working would pause and observe what was going on and the soldiers marching by just like kids would do when they see something remarkable. Heaney also uses Denotation. Which according to Dictionary.com, “Denotation is the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it.” This is being showed in the poem throughout various lines. It’s being showed when he writes, “They would have heard the screaming, / Then heard it stop and had a view of us / In our gloves and aprons / coming down the hill” (lines 6-9), this evokes an image showing that what is being told and said is what is truly happening. That the soldiers were so close to them that they could hear the slightest scream of a pig being