ipl-logo

Second Skin Sparknotes

1495 Words6 Pages

Second Skin Second Skin is a novel written by Terry Hertzler explaining their perspective on different aspects of life through images and drawing comparisons. Second Skin Is able to use images and comparisons in patterns throughout the stories and poems of Second Skin to show his perspective. The book is divided into three sections: life, war and love, Hertzler uses images and comparisons consistently throughout all three sections. The main point is to explain Hertzler's perspectives and thoughts on what he experienced in the war and how he was traumatized after. First, Hertzler’s Life is full of ups and downs. We never really know why things happen or what will happen next in our lives. We often do not know how to express ourselves, whether …show more content…

This was not the case for Terry Hertzler. He was able to express himself, his emotions, and his thoughts of life while being at the Vietnam War Throughout his book titled,Second Skin: Stories & Poems. Throughout this book, he was able to use poems and put things into his own words to describe his three stages, which consisted ofLife, Love, and War.To begin with, Hertzler began his book by writing about Life. Throughout this section, he was able to share his perspective of and experiences that occurred in his life. For instance, in his first story titled, “A Dialogue with My Favorite Author,” he is describing a scenario in which he is going to use a public phone to make a phone call to an author, which is James Kjelgaard. Hedescribes how nervous he is and once he actually made the phone call and the author answered,he hung up. I believe he began his book with this story because it was an event in which he probably planned on becoming a writer, but was unsure on how to start or who to ask for help.Hertzler wrote this to sort of show that, that was how he actually felt at first …show more content…

He tells us about how much smaller he used to be back when he was at war. He includes“When I was 20, I’d see fat men and think / I’m never going to let that happen to me.”(Hertzler 10. Line 7-8). Only now he looks back and realizes you never can see where life is going to take you. Another example of comparison is in the poem “Passages” in the love section. In this poem Hertzler uses comparison as reflecting on how his relationship with his now ex-wife had changed over time. Hertzlers states “I peck your cheek. You grunt hello”(Hertzler 80. Line 9), as earlier in the poem he reminisced about how they used to sing rock-and-roll songs together. In the War section many of the poems and stories Hertzler is very descriptive when addressing what he saw while at war to give us a better perspective. It helps the reader truly understand what's going on in the story to a personal connection to almost make you feel you understand just how Hertzler

Show More
Related
772 Words | 4 Pages

The Vietnam War spanning over two decades was a complex conflict that was fought through America’s outlook of containing communism in Europe. The multifaceted perspectives of the Vietnam War and unclear military objectives caused confusion for soldiers. As a result, a majority of soldiers felt pushed into a war that they didn’t fully understand, leading to lifelong psychological consequences. Although many believe soldiers are fearless and can tolerate the trauma of war, in The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien illuminates the underlying effects of war on soldiers that aren't immediately apparent to the naked eye, highlighting the physical and emotional struggles within soldiers' daily lives. O’Brien’s use of figurative language immerses readers

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

Tim O’Brien uses detail to let readers know his emotions during the war. “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 in tight” (O’brien, 41). He was stuck with the feeling of scared and not knowing what to do. He used detailed words to have readers try to understand what he was feeling.

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

War, in whatever form it may be, significantly affects an individual’s life and postwar identity. The experiences one must endure place a tattoo, an imprint on one’s past and future. This permanent marker of the atrocities of war and of the psychological effects of violence remains with a soldier throughout his or her life. In the novel, The Things They Carried, narrator and protagonist, Tim O’ Brien, uses his gift of pen to illustrate his personal experience in the Vietnam War. His collection of stories, blurred by lines of fact and fiction, highlights the importance of the act of storytelling rather than the objective truth of a war story.

Read More
1172 Words | 5 Pages

Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam war veteran, is a famous author. One of his most famous books is “The things they carried.” Tim O’Brien has been able to achieve success in his writings due to his writings being based on actual events that happened while he served. Another reason his writings are so successful is how he immerses the reader into his stories using common military jargon, how he describes events and people within his stories. Due to him being in the military for a few years, Tim O’Brien has received a lot of influence for his writing, he has elements that make his writing unique, and how Tim O'Brien's stories have an overarching theme of death.

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

In the book The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake, Maleeka and Miss Saunders learn that you shouldn't change because of others. Maleeka and Miss Saunders change their appearance and the way they act so people see them differently. Miss Saunders always buys 300 dollar suits “She says she always had to dress better. To get the highest grades and be the most creative.” (Flake, 91).

Read More
1541 Words | 7 Pages

While he was in the country he “wrote a few letters home; didn’t go into much detail; motive was "more superstitious" than protecting parents; wrote some short pieces for the Minneapolis newspaper and one for Playboy (published after he returned) that became the basis for his first book, If I Die in a Combat Zone; had always wanted to be a writer, but Vietnam made him need to be a writer; pieces were about events and other people, not about him; went to graduate school at Harvard after his return, kept writing short pieces, not intending them to be a book, but at some point, they accumulated into one. ”[Interview, 04:19] H said that the books he read inspired him to be a writer even if he hadn't gone to Vietnam, though “his experience made him a certain kind of writer; all his books are about the individual’s struggle to do the right thing against outside forces” [Interview,06:15] O’Brien takes the “awful experience of war; tries to reflect the non-linear experience of Vietnam; of his books, The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods best capture that.” [Interview, 06:15] “I was drafted in 1968 and spent the summer playing golf and worrying about Vietnam and dying and killing. But it’s abstract.

Read More
2081 Words | 9 Pages

The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

Speaking of Life After War Veterans go through very traumatic events during war and for many, these events change their lives and perspectives. In the chapter “Speaking of Courage” from his novel The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien uses the third person point of view and the imagery of the cycle of the road around the lake to strengthen the impact and separation that veterans feel from regular life in the United States, letting the reader recognize the life-changing trauma that results from war and how it impacted many veterans, especially during the Vietnam war like the setting of most of the novel. Trauma can result from the death of a friend, dangerous and scary events, oppression, and more. Throughout the chapter, Tim O’Brien uses

Read More
1264 Words | 6 Pages

Although he learned that he had to learn to cope with every single physical, emotional and mental stress factor that came his way. He learned with every guy in his platoon, they all stuck together. This novel was a very well written book. Each story was different, and gave a different aspect on war every time. The emotions were real, and very descriptive.

Read More
1179 Words | 5 Pages

Many soldiers that served in the Vietnam war suffered dramatically pertaining to mental and physical health. O’Brien and many other soldiers also had the same views on the Vietnam War, such as that it was pointless for the United States. Most soldiers were frustrated with the fact that they were fighting for their country with no purpose or benefit for the American people. In the book O’Brian said, “I can’t stop crying. I can’t stop thinking of what a waste it all was” (O’Brian 7).

Read More
1358 Words | 6 Pages

Imagine walking into a room and being instantly identified as a criminal. Imagine having to experience this in every room you enter. Imagine walking into a store and being watched, expected to be a thief or sometimes even expected to reveal a knife, gun or a bomb. When we meet new people, most of us look for differences rather than similarities. From young we are taught that everyone is different and that continually makes us associate others by these differences.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

The Vietnam War is widely considered one of the most traumatizing wars ever and had at least 58,220 recorded deaths. In his 1990 war novel, author Tim O’Brien asserts that easing the pain of trauma is extremely difficult to manage. However, through memories, storytelling, and limiting the weight of emotional agony, alleviating these struggles becomes less difficult. Simply recalling the memories of people who have died and made an impact on one’s life can relieve traumatizing experiences. Tim O’Brien recalls his first encounter concerning death which involved his first love, Linda, and while pondering this, he explains that “as a writer now, I want to save Linda’s life.

Read More
1395 Words | 6 Pages

The Skin That We Speak The way a person speaks is a direct link to a person’s culture and the environment which he or she was raised in. A person’s language, skin color as well as economic status influences the way he or she is perceived by others. Lisa Delpit and eleven other educators provide different viewpoints on how language from students of different cultures, ethnicity, and even economic status can be misinterpreted due to slang and dialect or nonstandard English by the teachers as well as his or her own peers. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, who collected essays from a diverse group of educators and scholars to reflect on the issue of language

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

Read More
534 Words | 3 Pages

Through his word choice in lines nine and ten, he says “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music has a far more pleasing sound.” His word choice in this helps develop the tone and help the

Read More

More about Second Skin Sparknotes

Related Topics

Open Document