The Things They Carried Reflection

When our guest speaker Wes came into our classroom, I wondered about many things he was going to talk about. Not only that, I didn't exactly learned about the Vietnam War in my other class, so I was absolutely clueless. Hearing his speech and experience about the Vietnam War, it made me realized that it takes a lot of courage to go what he went through. He also explained that when he went to war, he didn't know his comrades in arms. I felt that if I went to the war and came back without knowing their names, I would feel guilty that I couldn't mourn over their deaths. Take my fingers and feel their carved names onto the momentum.

I didn't exactly know that it was wrong for women to join the military, so when I read this book, it showed that women can be fearless in war or completely changed from what they were originally. I think that Tim was trying to show that the war caused both genders to take into new roles of the story. Mary Ann was the sweet girl that seemed oblivious of everything until she came to the camp ground to visit her boyfriend, and became one of the soldiers in such a short time. I've been told by many people that men protect women because it was the right thing to do and that it was instinct that triggers it. Not only that, men would also think that women weren't cut out for the war and prevent them from joining in general.

I think that Tim was trying to create a world in the book that was half real and half fantasy. The real part of the book was parts of his past experience with slight changes. The fantasy is the similarity to what's real but telling it in a different way. Sort of like spinning a tale of heavy woes and happiness with a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. When I read a book, I like to believe every little word they put in a book even if it's not the truth. Sometimes that truth can never be a strong motion unless you were actually there. As I read Tim's book, the past experience he had in the war was very cruel and explicit to my standards, but when I look back on it, it's just the right push show what you want to say.

QUESTION~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~
What was your overall look of the book?
Who was the most dynamic character?
What was something that changed your view about the war?
How did you feel after reading this book?
Should we read more war stories?
What is your type of "Courage"?
If you were the opposite gender, what is your point of view of the war?

Where would I be...?

If I were to go somewhere in the snap of my fingers, it would be Candy Island with my BEHEMOTH CHICKENS. With Lord Waffle KONE in the backseat of my Monster MINIVAN OF DOOM!

The whole island is made of candy, like the bushes are cotten candy, the vines of the trees are twizzlers, and the water would be soda. I mean, everything would be made of candy! My chickens would survive because they adapted to their new environment and can live off of sweets, although they do get fat, but they get excessive exercise after eating. Lord Waffle KONE, well... Let's just say he's got H.I.Chairs. Don't ask me what it is because he wouldn't tell me about it xP

Great Gatsby Essay

Monika Aldrich
3/3/11

Period 4

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, showed how human peer pressure and emotion affects others in the high society world that the characters in the book perceive. This book I have read last year doesn't catch my attention and becomes emotional at the most awkward times. One scene in the book that relates to me was when Gatsby was reaching out for Daisy, the green light from her dock. It reminds me how my beloved is so close, yet far from where I am. Although, Gatsby's yearning for Daisy is more stronger and emotional, I feel that that scene is meaningful in my life.

"...Nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." Page 21

The characters in the book when they went to town to cool off and end up fighting reminds me of my family before it broke up. I guess you can say that this specific scene caused bad memories to pop up within me. Besides that, everyone has their own problems to deal with.

"Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time." Page 131

This quote was said by Tom when confronting Gatsby about Daisy's situation. Another bad memory reminds me of this. Not only that, the world that Gatsby lives in is tainted with rich snobs and their money hungry attitudes. Although Nick compliment Gatsby once, he felt that Gatsby was better than the rest of the crowd that surround him. The story is very emotional in a way that Fitzgerald describes Gatsby's life.