Caroline Alexander The Great Game Analysis

Throughout “The Great Game”, the author Caroline Alexander, uses many descriptive and attentive words and pictures to express the appreciative, but thoughtful tone. Alexander has thought about and researched this topic very in depth and is proving that through her tone by giving extra research to prove how much she values this material. She uses heaps of background information such as: “The cult of British athleticism, on the other hand, was about playing games” (Alexander 662), to lead up to her argument of how war is a sport. Alexander is also very appreciative of what the soldiers have done for their country and is not taking them for granted for the work and blood they have sacrificed. The use of just one word can greatly change the emphasis

A sample or two of this from the beginning of the book comprise of: “a frail boy”(Alexander 661) and “the average height of the British Tommy was only five foot six”(Alexander 662). Through writing “a frail boy”(Alexander 661) the reader can really see a picture in the reader’s mind 's eye of a slender and feeble youth and allows the reader to be able to connect the reader’s own experience to the text. Similarly, in writing “the average height of the British Tommy was only five foot six”(Alexander 663) the reader can likewise receive a picture of that in his or her imagination. Later on there are many more examples such as: “one veteran recalled of his days of rifle drills and physical training”(Alexander 664) also “the sight of hundreds of men on crutches”(Alexander 664). I can’t help but think about what the “veteran recalled of his days of rifle drills and physical training”, and picure soldiers shooting guns and doing push-ups. Likewise just the few words of “the sight of hundreds of men on crutches” puts a scary and grave image into the audience’s mind of these men who have been scared and traumatized through this war. Imagery has a powerful and convicting use in

In the beginning of this story, Alexander starts of by talking about her own experience in pentathlon training and how sports relate to war. She started off here to give an example of how sports relate to her personally and how important sports are in the military, and the sports that the military has played that had a purpose of preparing the soldiers for war. The central meat of this essay is explaining how important sports are to children throughout England. At a young age in school children learn how important sports are and how athletics can determine a child’s future, the best of the best are the ones that will be a soldier and serve England. Closing out Alexander’s article, she evaluated how sports greatly influenced adolescent British males into joining the war effort. This proved to be dangerous for the sports-loving soldiers because nearly 2,500,000 were injured or killed throughout the war, and proved that war is a sport, and like a sport, but a very hostile and dangerous sport at that. The article has good flow, and is well organized with just the right amount of facts and story to keep the piece going, and also keeps the reader attentive to the message Alexander is conveying to her