To Go or Not To Go
The Vietnam War was a very confrontational issue amongst numerous Americans during the 1960’s and 70’s. Many young Americans did not agree with fighting in the Vietnam War. In the essay “On the Rainy River,” by Tim O’Brien explains the struggle of a 21 year old American man who has been drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. The essay proposes the narrators predicament of not wanting to go to war and displays his reasons why. The narrator states that “American war in Vietnam seemed to [him as being] wrong [and he] saw no unity of purpose” (40). One main reason that the narrator and many Americans did not see any importance of the Vietnam War is because know one had a clear understanding of the reasons why the United States of America was fighting it. O’Brien creates a strong argument of why the 21 year old man does not want to go to war because of its strongly supported use of values and emotions, credibility, and logical reasoning.
In the story “On the Rainy River,” emotions contribute to the strength of this argument. O’Brien rouses the audience by using descriptive emotional examples. The narrator describes the impact of opening the draft letter: scanning the first few lines, feeling the blood go thick behind my eyes. I remember a sound in my head. It wasn’t thinking, just a silent howl. (41)
Reading his emotional feelings during the event taken place, the audience is affected by the narrator’s problem. In addition, after the first impact of shock the narrator becomes defensive by stating that he is “too good for this war […] too smart, too compassionate, too everything” (41). Emotions rapidly running through his head, the narrator expresses his defensive opinions ...
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... way in the future then using him in the war now.
The argument in “On the Rainy River” is an effective argument because of its use of emotional contributions, personable attributes, and the use of his descriptive thought process throughout the entire essay. Consistent issues such as the narrator’s conscience and conflicts between emotions and values make the argument strong because it captures the audience’s attention. Also, it allows the reader to share a sense of empathy for the narrator’s problem. O’Brien’s use of personable example hooks the audience to be sympathetic towards the narrator’s predicament. In addition, the argument is more believable by the audience because of O’Brien’s credible examples. Furthermore, this argument is strong because the narrator captures the audience’s compassion and opinion of why he does not want to go to war.
Chris Appy’s s American Reckoning is a book-length essay on the Vietnam War and how it changed the way Americans think of ourselves and our foreign policy. This is required reading for anyone interested in foreign policy and America’s place in the world, showing how events influence attitudes, which turn to influence events.
In a passage from his book, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, author John M. Barry makes an attempt use different rhetorical techniques to transmit his purpose. While to most, the Mississippi River is only some brown water in the middle of the state of Mississippi, to author John M. Barry, the lower Mississippi is an extremely complex and turbulent river. John M. Barry builds his ethos, uses elevated diction, several forms of figurative language, and different styles of syntax and sentence structure to communicate his fascination with the Mississippi River to a possible audience of students, teachers, and scientists.
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
It is apparent that the topic of war is difficult to discuss among active duty soldiers and civilians. Often times, citizens are unable to understand the mental, physical, and physiological burden service members experience. In Phil Klay’s Ten Kliks South, the narrator struggles to cope with the idea that his artillery team has killed enemy forces. In the early stages of the story, the narrator is clearly confused. He understands that he did his part in firing off the artillery rounds, yet he cannot admit to killing the opposition. In order to suppress his guilt and uncertainty, our narrator searches for guidance and reassurance of his actions. He meets with an old gunnery sergeant and during their conversation, our narrator’s innocence
In his short story, O’Brien unravels step by step the irony in the double meaning of truth, implied in this first statement, “This is true”, to the reader which is then woven through the entire story. By trying to characterize what constitutes a true war story, but never really achieving this goal, the true irony of his short story is revealed. Even though in some instances giving away his opinion explicitly, the sheer contradiction of honesty and reality becomes even more visible in an implicit way by following O’Brien’s explanations throughout the story while he deconstructs his first statement. The incongruity between his first statement and what is actually shown in his examples does not need any explicit statements to drive home his message.
...is interactions with his wife are filled with tension and he is saddened when he reflects upon the men lost during war and the death of his brother.
Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.
Frank McCourt also shows the reader, through examples such as on page 16, that his thoughts as a child are quite simple. He tries to describe the anger he feels by stating “a blackness comes over me.” Because of his age, he...
The world around us if full of many wonders, some world renown and appreciated, or some immaculate and taken for granted, such as the Mississippi River. In the passage from Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, author John M. Barry communicates his fascination with the Mississippi River by analyzing its complex mechanics and describing its enchanting nature. Through the primary application of two rhetorical strategies—logos and pathos—the author services his argument with intelligence and intuition while chartering his passion and zeal for the Mississippi River.
... horrors of war such as, his parents who still view war as glamorous and idealistic. War takes a heavy toll on soldiers who fight in it and in these dangerous moments anybody would have gone insane. It takes a very special type of soldier to be able to handle both the psychological and physical challenges that a soldier has to face in everyday battle. A soldier such as this must be capable of handling the sight of a mutilated comrade and not immediately chatter to pieces. The author conveys this message in his extreme use of words with negative connotation such as shells, typhus, dysentery, and trenches. In this portion of the novel a great deal of emphasis is placed on the word death which is repeated several times and standing on its own it holds a great deal of negative connotations. Therefore, due to the severity of the situation and the extensive use of words with negative connotations the overall tone of the novel appeared to be very depressing or serious. This selection also demonstrates just how mythical the character of war that many individuals who have not experienced the tragedy of battle believe to be true by illustrating just how appalling and grim war is in reality.
The detailed descriptions of the dead man’s body show the terrible costs of the war in a physical aspect. O’Brien’s guilt almost takes on its own rhythm in the repetition of ideas, phrases, and observations about the man’s body. Some of the ideas here, especially the notion of the victim being a “slim, young, dainty man,” help emphasize O’Brien’s fixation on the effects of his action—that he killed someone who was innocent and not meant to be fighting in the war. At the same time, his focus on these physical characteristics, rather than on his own feelings, betrays his attempt to keep some distance in order to dull the pain. The long, unending sentences force the reader to read the deta...
...is story, Hemingway brings the readers back the war and see what it caused to human as well as shows that how the war can change a man's life forever. We think that just people who have been exposed to the war can deeply understand the unfortunates, tolls, and devastates of the war. He also shared and deeply sympathized sorrows of who took part in the war; the soldiers because they were not only put aside the combat, the war also keeps them away from community; people hated them as known they are officers and often shouted " down with officers" as they passing. We have found any blue and mournful tone in this story but we feel something bitter, a bitter sarcasm. As the war passing, the soldiers would not themselves any more, they became another ones; hunting hawks, emotionless. They lost everything that a normal man can have in the life. the war rob all they have.
This persuasive tool is an influential method used to gain a stronger control over the reader’s response. Readers respond to intriguing situations or words that stick out to them. The description “But even then I was not thinking particularly of my own skin, only of the watchful yellow faces behind” causes the reader to feel sympathy for the sub-divisional police officer (Orwell 624). It is important to gain the audience’s attention and emotions. Therefore, the readers self-consciously judge the Burmese people and become influenced through persuasion. It is clear, the narrator has more respect for the elephant because he focuses more detail into its description. However, the reader only sees the narrator’s point of view which makes it difficult to relate with the Burmese citizens. The narrator does this on purpose because he wants the audience to agree with him. The details of the collapsing elephant “But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him, he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skywards like a tree” is vivid (Orwell 624). Visuals are a powerful method used to connect to the emotions of the reader. The descriptive detail of “Shooting an Elephant” is a strong text that persuades its readers into agreeing with the narrator’s point of view. These visuals can also be used to describe the scenes of
The dictionary defines “Emotion” as instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge, storytellers use “Emotion” as a way to get the message across for the reader, in this case that seems to be evidently true. In every story, there lies a purpose; a message. O’Briens purpose for storytelling is to clear his conscience of war and to tell the stories of soldiers who were forgotten by society. He shows the emotional struggles and happy times of the soldiers through their journey in Vietnam. It was these events that led to great human emotions. Simply writing facts is easy, but writing so that emotions will be felt to the reader is more important. That is exactly what Tim O’Brien does to make this novel unique. As