The American Soldier
The American Revolution marked the history of many heroic events that immaculately stand as true inspirations for the generations to come in the United States. Even today, the gallantry of a few soldiers that won independence for the country is not only kept in the hearts of the people but run in the American blood to demonstrate acts of valor at times of war and hardships. One such story recorded in the history dates back to 1776, about a sixteen-year old juvenile, Joseph Plumb Martin, joined the Rebel Infantry and recorded his tribulations about forty-seven years in a memoir titled as “A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier”. The book mainly focuses on the sufferings through the tough situation he went through.
This novel is written and told by Joseph Plumb Martin himself. In these first hand accounts, he tells of the obstacles him and the numerous other soldiers faced during the American Revolutionary War. Along with speaking of the hardships faced, Martin also provides background of not only his life, but what the country was like during this time. Martin speaks of in the year 1774, he didn’t want to have any ties to the war, he felt that he’d be safer at home. (Martin, 96) When it comes to the weather that was faced, the men experienced all seasons Cesarino 2 every year the war was taking place.
During the Vietnam War 58,220 U.S soldiers died. Many lost their life to a cause they did not support. Were these soldiers heroes? The true story “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien describes his personal experience and his reaction to receiving a draft letter for the Vietnam War. Written twenty years after he was drafted, O’Brien recalls his early adulthood when he was sent a draft letter and had to choose if he would go off and fight in a War he did not believe in or run to Canada to avoid the draft.
A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, Some of the Adventures, Dangers, Sufferings by Joseph Plumb Martin, is a collection of tales starting from when he was just a young boy at the age of seven and quickly goes through his childhood on the farm with his grandparents on his mother's side. Mr. Martin describes his memories from a much later stage in his life at the age of 70 in the year 1830. This is the tales of the crippling weather conditions, terrible living conditions and war stories told by a young enlisted soldier during the war. Mr. Martin was born to a preacher and his wife in 1760 in western Massachusetts. The story begins when he was just a young boy who was sent to live with his grandparents on a farm.
The book “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” is an autobiography about a boy named Ishmael who went through so much at a young age. This book should be read because it’s a story you could relate to and give you a perspective of how society is today than it was before and how it has affected people across the world. On the (front cover of the book) Carolyn See from the Washington Post says “Everyone in the world should read this book… We should read It to learn about the world and about what it means to be human.” She’s right, reading this book will provide you with facts you never known and could change the way you see things today.
To illustrate, Paine begins his essay by explaining that there is the “summer soldier and the sunshine patriot” (Paine 50). The cacophonous diction differentiates a boy to man, and a man to soldier, thus, appealing to the men's pride. Furthermore, Paine appeals to the soldier’s patriotism because everyone wants the reputation of a soldier because of the benefits that it provides, however, not everyone wants to continue to put their life on the line when times get hard. In addition to that, Paine reveals the effect that this war has on the future of the colonies by emphasizing that the soldiers must “lay your shoulders to the wheel . . .
Through centuries of great wars and battles, history has displayed brave men and women who have fought for their countries. These audacious people have helped propel countries for the greater good. However, the weight and responsibility, of the war, takes a heavy toll on soldiers that is often overlooked. Tim O’Brien, author of the novel The Things They Carried, records his stories, and the stories of his fellow soldiers during the war. However, three of these soldiers are affected in an outlandish way.
In the writing of the book Ambrose gave booth side of the war, from the American soldier as well as the German soldier. He did not lean toward or favor one side above the other. Any time he gave the accounting of an atrocity commented by one side, he would always have the stories from the other side to balance it out. He did not portray the American soldier any better than a German soldier, they all did horrific acts of cruelty during the war. There were also accounts of bravery, compassion and selflessness from both sides.
Life for the Union Soldier was not only brutal on the battlefield, but the camp life for a Union soldier was just as cruel. With the lack of personal hygiene, unsavory and repugnant food, and the shortage of clothing made living, a very difficult thing to do. Growth in the number of people with diseases was also a contributing factor to the massive amounts of death within the camp and as well as the post-battle wounds that often left either a man with one less limb or put in a mental institution. A Union Soldier’s life during the Civil War was cruel and horrific during their stay at the camps.
In the poem, “What Every Soldier Should Know”, Brian Turner, details the ever-present threat of death in a war zone. This poem expesses not only the terror of the American soldiers, but also exemplifies the emotions that the Middle Eastern soldiers feel towards the American soldiers. The soldiers are experiencing death, chaos, and disorder, but for some of the middle eastern people, they experience that every day. A lot of Middle Eastern people are normal people, defending their home land, their family, and their country.
Louisa May Alcott’s impassioned essay, “Death of a Soldier,” legitimizes the suffering of a wounded soldier named John, who was shot in the back during the American Civil War. Alcott saw John’s pain first hand as his caregiver in a hospital. His pain is instilled into the audience through Alcott’s evocative language. Through detailing her experience, Alcott wishes to inform her audience of the rewards of selfless action. John did not have to go to war, but he felt it was his duty to do so, just like Alcott did not have to care for the dying soldier, but did so out of compassion.
I. Questions about the Education Reform: 1. The major goals of Horace Mann were to make sure everyone in the U.S is able to be educated in nicer, better public schools, and the public school could have higher teacher qualifications. He also planned to make the school grant a better pay for teacher’s salary, and the school was able to have newer buildings and environments. Horace Mann also had the purpose to let the school provide better curriculums for the students.
We don 't typically stop to think about our freedom, it is something most of us are guilty of taking for granted. Even when our freedom is brought to our attention, it is only a brief thought quickly pushed to the back of our minds. Most of us are too focused on our own hardships and shortcomings. However, there are a select few who have come to the realization that this freedom is a highly valued prize. These are the people that fight our battles for us because they value the safe haven that our country is.
Literary analysis America’s war heroes all have the same stories to tell but different tales. Prescribed with the same coloring page to fill in, and use their methods and colors to bring the image to life. This is the writing style and tactic used by Tim O’Brien in his novel, “The Things They Carried”. Steven Kaplan’s short story criticism, The Undying Certainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, provides the audience with an understanding of O’Brien’s techniques used to share “true war” stories of the Vietnam War. Kaplan explains the multitude of stories shared in each of the individual characters, narration and concepts derived from their personal experiences while serving active combat duty during the Vietnam War,
After 7 long years that i have been a soldier in war I can finally come home. I am almost here i can’t wait to see my girls again, My beautiful wife and my now 9 year old daughter. It has been so hard in the war especially without them, i’ve lost so many friends right next to me in battle. It was one of the many horrible things that i wish didn’t happen in war. I joined the war in the first place because of the stupid “join or die!” thing.
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