Final Exception

I went to the play The Boys Next Door on Sunday April 25, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.

The Things They Carried interpretation

A brief synopsis of The Things They carried: First lieutenant Jimmy Cross leads a platoon of soldier over in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Several of his men are named Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, Ted Lavender, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, and Kiowa. This segment of reading starts off with exactly what each individual mentioned above carried and how much it weighed and what the object meant to that person. A great example would be Kiowa: he was a devout Baptist and carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father. Kiowa also carried his grandmother’s distrust of the white man and carried his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet. Nevertheless the segment of this story that is presented shows that First lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, who he was infatuated with and thought that she loved him, but in actuality she did not love him at all. He even licked the letters where her tongue had been to seal the letter. Cross later got a pebble from Martha and even sucked on it. He knew he was very distracted and that it could cause problems; he was right. As they were ordered to set up ambushes and destroy elaborate tunnel complexes, but before destroying them they were ordered to search them. All the men except for Henry Dobbins because he was a big man, would draw numbers to who would go town the tunnel. Whoever got the number seventeen would strip off everything and take a flashlight and Lieutenant Cross’s .45-caliber pistol down the tunnel. Nevertheless on April 16, after a couple of hours searching the tunnels , Ted Lavender went off to pee nearby while Lieutenant Cross examined the tunnel that one of the men had gone down to check. While checking the tunnel he immediately became distracted by thoughts of Martha and did not care about security of the area. Meanwhile as Ted Lavender came back from peeing he was shot in the head and fell with a loud flop. Many of the men dealt with his death in their own way. Some would not shut up about how he fell after being shot whereas Lieutenant Cross cried in his fox hole. Nevertheless at the end of the story he straightened up his act and gave up on his infatuation of Martha and truly led his men with a new attitude and a more commanding presence.

There was one section that was unclear the first read through of the story. There is a scene where Mitchell Sanders comes across a dead VC corpse, a young man around the age of fifteen or sixteen, and cut off one of the thumbs. The dead teenager was found in an irrigation ditch, badly burned, and flies on eyes and his mouth. Despite all this carnage, Mitchell Sanders states right before he cuts off one of the dead VC’s thumbs, he states that there is a moral to be learned from this. But while cutting the thumb off, Henry Dobbins asks Mitchell Sanders what the moral was, but only to never get a full answer. Sanders states “there it is” but both Dobbins and the reader of the story do not get a full clear understanding of what the moral to be learned is. Before Sanders states “there it is” he does mention an old show called Paladin which was about a gun for hire gentlemen who wore a fine clothes in a hotel he stayed at but once hired he would dress the old western cowboy look only in all black and he carried a .45-caliber revolver. The most famous line was “Have gun, will travel” as his calling card. Nevertheless it is still hard to see the moral of this scene after having researched some interesting facts about Paladin. However when Dobbins states that he does not see any moral, Sanders states the line “there it is” which could imply that there is no moral to that situation, but as the reader, it is still somewhat confusing. Nevertheless the moral could be that if you kill others you get what’s coming for you since the VC was near the location where Ted Lavender was shot, but this is just theoretical.

This story deals with the mental loads that men carry during warfare despite all the physical objects they carry. Even though they may have heavy burdens to carry literally, most have mental loads to carry just as much as the physical stuff. For some it’s love at first, but then realizes the burden of lives that they carry such as Lieutenant Cross, whereas others carry the horrors of what they have seen in warfare and the tragic deaths of fellow brothers in arms. Some even break under the stress of all the mental loads as Lieutenant Cross does at the death of Ted Lavender. But others just joke it off or keep restating how they died over and over again.

This interpretation matters since even though the writer of The Things They Carried tells to the utmost detail in what each man carried, the writer shows the most important things in life that all men and women carry in this lifetime: mental burdens. The writer just uses this story of a platoon during the Vietnam War to show how people deal with horrors or tragedies in war but can be seen as how people deal with bad situations in life. Overall this story can teach reader how to see how some deal with hard situations in life and have a better appreciation towards those who serve in the United States armed forces for their sacrifices and diligence over in a war zone.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

At first this story rather made it sound humorous of the rather old and decrepit angel but I rather pitied the creature due to the torment of the the people trying to see him and touch him. The beginning of the story made it sound like he was never an angel at all since the story sounded like the angel was just a genetic experiment like in the book Maximum Ride which is about genetically altered humans who have bird wings that seem so natural on them. Nevertheless what made me change my thinking was the part when people came to the angel to be have a miracle done in their lives, but they rather turned out wrong. For instance the blind man receiving three new teeth instead of sight or the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. But I thought it rather interesting that the angel could not speak in the language of the family who held him captive and that whenever he flapped his wings it created a large gust of wind that grabbed any one's attention since it was not the normal gusts of wind that is herd everyday. I also thought that it was very interesting that whenever the angel was finally let out of the hen house cage, he went into the house and it seemed to everyone inside that he was everywhere at once. But the angel's physical appearance seemed to cry out that he was the angel of death for originally the parents and their wise neighbor assumed he had come for the child that was ill on the night that he crashed. Another clue that gave me the idea that he could possible be the angel of death or an angel of death, was his decrepit appearance and his old frail figure of an aged man, not to mention his wings were terribly looking for they had parasites in them. But what I most admire was the angel's patience for he had gone through torment by the many visitors who came to see him plus not acting out in anger for being poked with a hot branding iron. I think if I had been in that family as the father I would have nursed the angel back to health for it is not every day that you get to have a physical angel in your presence.

The Boys Next Door

Already having a mentally handicapped cousin, I knew this story was going to be unique and great at the same time. Though the story very humorous, there are many life lessons that can be learned from this already touching story. One of the first life lessons I noticed that was present was that everyone should be polite to all people despite what their circumstances are. All four mentally handicapped characters were polite and considerate towards all guests that entered their home. They always greeted everyone with some form of a statement that said "hi my name is..... welcome to my home. Won't you take a seat?" The second life lesson I noticed was that be thankful for what you have. None of the four handicapped characters ever complained about desiring more things. In fact it was the little things they rather appreciated for they always spoke on their stuff in a high regard of thankfulness, such as the lamps furniture and bathtub. Another life lesson that was present throughout the story was the gift of friendship. Granted sometimes the mentally handicapped characters were agitated at one another but they never lost their temper at one another and always showed some form of compassion towards each other and everyone they came into contact with. The largest life lesson by far that was revealed throughout the entire story was that all the characters stay true to their themselves in that the mentally handicapped characters held true to their convictions such as coursing. For even the social worker Jack stated that "You see, the problem is that they never change. I change, my life changes, my crises change. But they stay the same." Overall all I kept thinking about while reading this story was my mentally handicapped cousin. He is mix between Arnold and Norman, but only quieter. Granted he does not blurt out words like some of the characters, but he will never be able to drive a car and he will have to live in a facility like the one shown in the story. For you see, my cousin Nathan can't handle to many things at once or he will become really confused and though he is 17 years old he has the mentality of a 12 or 13 year old. Nevertheless I love him and to be honest growing up with him I never really noticed his handicap until a situation arose and my parents explained to me his condition. Even though I found this out I still do not look at him any differently than I did before because just because he is mentally handicapped, does not make me love him any less than I did before.

The Art Museum

I really enjoyed this field trip since, it was very interesting to see expressions of artists of the ancient world and today's high school students. The first section that I visited was the Mayan art section. There were many different small statues of warriors and women. They looked like people but the way they were depicted was in an odd and yet fascinating way. However what I found the most interesting piece of art from the Mayans was the colorfully decorated plates with "kill holes" at the center of the plates. I found out that some archaeologists believe that the plate was placed on the skull the dead and the hole may have represented the passage way to the "afterlife." Nevertheless there were also unique pots that consisted of two orbs placed side by side and connected in the middle and at the top of one of them was small pillar with a hole at the top. The next section was was an area of modern day artists whom many were from the local high schools in this area. I have to say though that I was very impressed with the art that was produced by the high school students. A lot of their art was not just paintings but rather photographs, paintings, drawings, various and unique objects made out of different materials, and computer graphic designs. After that area I visited the Florida picture area which astounded me in the many art depictions of Florida nature. My favorite would have to be the picture of the globe which contained two similar pictures only the artists tweaked them to look different in color but also make them into a much larger picture of a Tampa park. The next area I visited in the museum was the Japanese cloth and paper area. It was very interesting to see the many different robes that had many unique designs and patterns. That area even had pictures of women lined against the back wall that was drawn by a famous Japanese artists I believe. Nevertheless the top floor was amazing in that there were photographs of families and all their material possessions laid in front of their homes from all across the globe. It was very sobering to see the families wishes and income and hours of work done in the week. I must say that the most interesting part of that area was when the lead project manager of these photos stated that most of the families stated that they never really looked at themselves as poor. Nevertheless my favorite art portrait was the picture called "Guardian of Florence" which was drawn by a high school student. The following poem is what I saw in the drawing:

He stands atop

The roof so high.

His sight sees

The many Italian buildings.

Though they are numerous

And he is but one man

He silently

Guards this city.

None would dare

Cross his path

For his blade is hidden from sight.

Like the eagle that soars

Above the city,

So to does he

Dressed in white,

See this city

In a different view.

For this is his home.

Like the eagle,

He will defend

His territory unto death.

"I went to the art museum for at least 40 minuets."

Transformations

Every year when the year begins we all make resolutions to change in some form or another. Some people change their diets, some want to lose weight, and other even want to be kinder towards their fellow man. For those who actually do stick to that new years resolution or change they desire to make in their lives, I commend them for actually achieving what they set out to do. Nevertheless why do so many make that choice to change in some form or another and then fail or partially make their goals? Unless a person has a deep commitment to change and has a driving attitude and goal oriented mindset, then people will never achieve the changes they want for their lives. For example if a person decides to change their diet for the better then that individual should remove all temptations of non-healthy food from their atmosphere. If that person does not remove all unhealthy foods within their atmosphere, then they might as well expect to fail at their goals of change. It is like having a rabbit live in a garden. If the gardener does not put up certain measures of protection to the garden then the gardener should not be surprised to have damaged products. But what about larger changes in life? For example if a person decides to change their attitude towards others then they should start out small since trying to become suddenly great at being kinder towards others does not happen over night; it takes practice and living out the reasoning behind being kinder to others. A person who hangs with negative people will never change for the better due to the influence of those negative friends. Some say that you can tell about a person by the friends that individual associates with. But a person who decides to make a change in being kinder towards others should chose to associate with those who can uplift and edify that person so as to make not just a temporary change but rather a permanent change. To many people to decide to change and succeed but that change only lasts for so long. Just because situations get difficult does not mean that a person should just give up on that change. It will always take work and constant up keep to keep a change permanent due to the fact that no where in this world does it state that life is going to be easy. Not even the Bible promises an easy life. For that matter it rather points to a rougher life of suffering for the cause of Christ. But if anyone is to truly change for the better it is best that they buckle down and prepare for hard work in order for that change to remain constant in their lives.

The Darkness

In life we face a lot of troubles, problems, and inner struggles. All can easily be said that they are "darkness." Everyone including those who are Christians has to go through struggles sometime or another. If anything Christians will experience more darkness sometimes than those who do not believe that Jesus was the way, truth, and the life. The Bible never says that God will stop nor prevent the hard times that people go through, but He does show that He will always be with us. The Bible alone has people that go through many dark time in their lives. For example Job has the most darkest times, I think, that anyone goes through in the bible. For he is serving God whole-hearted and yet God allows satan to attack Job with many darkness's, excluding death. Nevertheless despite the most horrendous darkness that Job had to go through, even getting to the point of telling off God, he came out of the darkness a lot stronger than when he had first embraced it. Darkness overall though, produces the true character in everyone; for by embracing it, people can see whether or not someone will make it through just by how they handle the darkness. Now can depression and grievances settle in? Of course! Depression and grievances are apart of this lifetime and for those people who are Christians then they have a lot to learn for even Christ had to go through darkness. But the truth be told darkness is never really looked at in a way that brings a smile. What it means is that like Christ when He embraced the cross on the way up to be crucified, so should we as darkness comes into our lives. Granted it is not easy to embrace darkness or hard times but like it or not we still have to go through them for if we are to consistently move on through the darkness we must keep pressing on for the higher prize as Paul talks about. I have learned what I think is the largest lesson about darkness for despite the fact that we must embrace it and go through it, The end of that darkness is what ultimately counts; for in life it is the end that counts.

Normally at six in the morning I would be running around lake Bonny Park and only focusing on pushing myself to have a better run time for the Army physical fitness test. Or I would be there sometimes on Wednesdays to do my ROTC leadership lab. This was not the case however. This time I was actually able to just sit down and enjoy what nature had to offer at that park. The first observations were on foot with Rachel as we glanced at many different wild flower species. Nevertheless the dock that is there led only to a disappointment for many of the shrubs and shore plants were either dead and dying or they were a luscious green. But the lake itself had no attraction to my eyes for there was a ski ramp for boaters in the middle and that just turned my interest off for that part of the park. However both Rachel and I continued down the trail and passed by many interesting trees that were aligned perfectly in parallel rows to the left of the trail. We then proceeded to walk amongst those rows of trees right down the middle. It was as if we were experiencing the scene from the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie where the character Lucy walked through parallel trees in order to get to Aslan. It was quiet in there amongst the trees and very serene. As we continued down the path beyond those trees we spotted several birds and their nests. Many species of birds were present in that park. For example the Ospreys, Mallard ducks, Mocking birds, and Blue Jays. Besides the birds we even saw a rather large alligator with her babies swimming near the waters edge. Nevertheless throughout the entire trip it was very windy but this only added to the experience in a positive way. To be honest I never would have come up with my poem if not for the wind that day for I noticed that some trees such as the pine trees bent easily in whatever direction the wind was blowing, but the oaks were steadfast and immovable. Overall the trip was really worth the effort of going and I have decided to go there again just to go and enjoy the park for the sake of enjoyment from nature.

The Oak That Stood Alone

Amongst this family of towering giants,

I stand on the outer edge.

The others are not defiant;

I am.

They lean and bend with whatever comes;

I stand still and firm.

They are forever green all year long;

I become bare and naked.

They are slender and easily fallen;

I am thick and steadfast.

They bare their young in cones;

I have mine in acorns.

Their arms spread up more than out;

I spread mine out more than up.

Their legs do not run deep;

I have legs that run through the ages of time.

They are wanted by man kind;

I am not.

They stand in rows upon rows;

I stand alone.

"I went to lake Bonny Park for this assignment and I stayed there for at least 40 minuets."

While growing up my grandparents used to take my sister and I to the Smoky Mountains every summer to this cabin that had a decently sized stream running through the back part of the property. I will never forget the sheer beauty that I saw every summer as the leaves where always a brighter green while there and the color of the stream was more enchanting to the eyes. I also remember just sitting on the back porch swing and watching leaves sometimes dance as they slowly fell into the stream and how the birds just seemed to sing their songs with more glee than anywhere else. My sister and I even swam in the stream and would sometimes turn over the many large smooth rocks just to see if we could find anything beneath. Sometimes we found craw fish and small water insects, and other times we would find absolutely nothing but leaves that were trapped under the rocks and would let them continue their journey down stream. The rocks were sometimes flat and smooth and we would throw them across the water top and see them skip across to the opposite stream bank. But beyond the opposite stream bank we found that there was a horse farm and a view of some large mountains that looked like a Thomas Kinkade painting. Further downstream we discovered this old watermill building that used to grind grain and the wheel part that would spin due to the river, was not working but my sister and I thought it was still cool. Upstream we found out that the stream went under a small bridge which we got to by just wading and walking upstream. Nevertheless after the bridge the trees became so thick around the banks that they would only let small trickles of light rays through and it felt like a tunnel made our of trees that bent over to create the tunnel effect. But it was very still and calm there, that we stayed in that area sometimes for hours. To the left bank though, the tree line faded away about 5o yards out from the stream to a glorious large field of the greenest grass that I have ever seen and if there was not a fence blocking us from entering we would have probably went to the middle of that field since the view was the same Thomas Kinkade painting view that we saw near the cabin. This story, better yet my history, was told so that you the reader could see what beauty in nature I have seen in my life time so far, and I hope that there is many places like that I will see in the days to come.

State of the Planet

Many life lessons can be seen throughout this interesting poem. To begin with, the poem is both scholarly since the author speaks on many various scientific terms and yet the author has presented the poem in such a way that the reader does not feel as if they are reading a scholarly journal or some sort, but rather the "life" within our planet. Nevertheless the first implication of a life lesson would have to be that life itself is full of wonderment and all of nature, including the subatomic particles that make up all of creation, is wonderful to behold since as the author put it "it must be a gift of evolution that humans can't sustain wonder. We'd never have gotten up from our knees if we could." Another simple life lesson that can be seen throughout the poem is that we can either use our minds for the good of creation or destroy what is present today. This is seen when the author makes a list in stanza six of various things in life that came from the foundations of DNA. A rather funny life lesson that can be seen in the poem is that life can not come from rocks in the Mexican desert. But a profound aspect that the author presented that can be taken as a life lesson is that the questions of why life exists is up to poets and priests, or rather ministers. Nevertheless, even though this poem is presented from a scientific view, any reader can take from this poem a simple life lesson that life, matter what form it is, is unique and complex and should be taken care of for the continuation of the human race. Now coming from a Biblical view this poem can be walked away from with a smile knowing that despite how complex and wondrous this world is, Christians can safely know that God is in control and He is watching over the earth.

This Blessed House

My senior quote when I graduated from high school was "you can have the biggest home but you can only be in one room at a time." There are many implications to this statement I made back in high school but I think it applies to this story as well. For example Twinkle never took for granted the mystery of their new home in that she was always expecting to find a new item. She never gave up on the mystery and hope of finding random Christian objects. Her husband Sanjeev however could have cared less about what was in the house so long as it did not affect his plans for the house. She was a joyous individual who rather enjoyed finding the Christian objects and became curious about who and why the Christian objects. Sanjeev was a serious person and became annoyed over time and was rather ashamed of the objects. To be honest his annoyance seemed to be building up inside of him and the reader felt like he would eventually say something dreadful to Twinkle that would really hurt her. Nevertheless her persistence on finding the objects never waned and she even placed many on the mantle above the fire place. His persistence was about getting the house all fixed up and cleaned, not to mention he would even keep nagging Twinkle about the objects. He even was about to, during a party held at the house, grab all the Christian objects and throw them all away. He even at one point, after Twinkle discovered a window sticker of the virgin Mary, tried to scrape off the image only to scratch the window glass, not to mention he hated the virgin Mary statue outside so much that he was even willing to hit it with a hammer. His persistence at getting rid of the Christian objects was as strong as Twinkle's persistence at finding more Christian objects. In fact her persistence was so strong that despite being drunk at the house party along with several other guests, she told everyone about the objects and showed them the mantle with almost all of the objects. She also while drunk remembered the last place in the house she had not looked, and she was rewarded by her persistence in finding a large silver head of Christ in trunk up in the attic. Nevertheless despite this discovery at the end She wants to display the silver Christ head on the mantel and he knew that despite her stating it would go to her office the day after, it would never leave the mantle. But the reader is left at a lost since it simply ends with him following Twinkle into the living room while carrying the silver Christ head. A reader can't tell whats going to happen next due to a cut off ending so that leaves the reader up to decide what happens next. But it seems that despite his hatred of the object he accepts its existence and finally just moves on.

Character based story

Boom! I felt the shock wave as the explosion of dust, rock, soot, and flesh enveloped around me. I flew forwards and landed on my face with the ground scraping at my uniform and other miscellaneous items of warfare that were attached to my outfit. As I lay sprawled out on the ground not knowing what had truly happened, and not being able eliminate the loud and only ringing sound in my head, I thought back to the day when this path started.

It was May 30, 2008 and I was graduating that clear and crisp Friday night. High school overall for me was never that great, due to that I never really cared about my grades even though I knew I could do really well. But as dusk was beginning to wane and I had never really thought about my future career or what I really wanted to do in my life. Granted many teachers did not believe that I would do much, due to my lack of concern, but my guidance councilor kept pressing me to do at least something rather than flip burgers for the rest of my life. But I guess this night was a wake up call for me to get up off my butt and at make some form of decision for my life. While I sat there listening to the seeming endless names of graduates, I went over in my head the careers I could possibly do. I thought about fast food and I decided nope, that would require me to stay in this area and never really get any real job promotions due to a lack of a college degree. I then proceeded to dwell on businesses and construction jobs. Again the first choice would require me to have some form of college and I refused to go to any college, but the second somewhat caught my attention due to myself enjoying building various models and having a small curbing job between my sophomore and junior year. But I knew I still would not get any significant job promotions in this area due to yet again a lack of a college education. But I did remember my buddy Dave telling me how when he joined the army that he could rise in what was called ranks and that they came with payment increases. So right then at that very moment I flat out decided I would join the army to. I thought the coolest part would be that there was no college education needed so my rash decision to join would have to do since what else was there for me to do?

Several weeks later, after having sworn in and taken an ASVAB test to see where I would best fit in the army, I found myself on a bus to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic and then my Army individual training. Since I still was interested in some kind of construction work, I discovered that there was a branch in the army that was called the Army Corps of Engineers and I had done well enough on my ASVAB test to get this branch. Nevertheless I had made several friends on the bus journey. Since the military enjoys using last names, I all knew them by last name and many were interesting names like Bustamante, Sanders, Steele, Coleman, and even a long name that was weird and hard to say; so we all just called him by his first name John. Despite all the friends I had made on that bus ride little would prepare me for the coming days of basic. Every day it was always being yelled at in the face and you could not do anything but yell back “yes drill sergeant!” If someone did try to disagree it was always a group punishment with many push ups and other vigorous activities that would leave anyone breathless and in pain. But despite all this hard stuff, I learned many aspects about how war is conducted and even got to go to a shooting range and qualify for accuracy. Apparently I found out that I am actually great at accuracy despite the fact that I never really handled a gun when I was growing up. But after having made it through basic training, Army individual training was no picnic either. While going through basic I found out that several of my buddies wanted to do engineering as well as I did, so this made things somewhat easier throughout AIT since we had all developed a strong brothers in arms friendship as some call it. Nevertheless AIT was still very challenging to get through but the training was more fun since I learned how to build a bridge while being shot at in the middle of a war zone and still manage to fire back at whoever was attacking me and my brothers. Despite this training, I actually decided to sit down and think about my life now in the army one Saturday on a “break” that my authorities gave me and my brothers. The biggest thing I noticed was that I surprised myself in that I was actually doing well with all the knowledge that was presented to me, despite my laziness in high school. I even increased in rank twice since I first began this path, so I guessed I was at least doing something right with my learning capacity by finally paying attention to what authorities had to say. I also noticed that I had more to give since I had pushed myself beyond my limits a few times throughout my training. Though I wished at that moment I had done better in high school now knowing with full confidence that I had more to give, I had to not dwell on such matters and press on with the path that I had set out before me so as not to get distracted, because I learned that a distracted soldier is a dead soldier. As the end of my AIT drew near, I found out that my unit was being deployed shortly to Afghanistan so as to relieve another engineer unit. Though I wished I had some free time after AIT, I actually wanted to go since I would finally get to do all that I had trained for here over there where the real action was; and hey, I might even get a promotion to increase in rank. But I knew that I would have to face facts: some soldiers do not get to come back. Having the full realization that there always was this possibility, I decided to call my parents and let them know what was going to happen. When I was younger I had somewhat of a relationship with them, but as I got older I did not like the idea of people telling what to do or how to live my life, so I did what I thought would any sane teenage boy would do: go live with my grandparents. Boy have I changed since this all began though. Nevertheless I called them up, and I apologized for everything I had said and done and I admit there were tears shed on both sides. But I learned that even though I did hurt them both, they still loved me and been praying for me. I never really was into the idea of an all supreme authoritative God, but after talking to my parents for well over an hour, I decided that maybe one day I might give that notion a chance.

I was now leaving for Afghanistan and was excited and nervous at the same time. But as I landed the first thing my authorities told me was that “you are now within the enemy’s cannon fire range.” I was not really shocked by this idea, but it still weighed heavy on my mind and would continue to do so for the next several days. After several weeks at my patrol base and going “beyond the wire” meaning on patrol to do raids on enemy fortifications, we never had been hit by enemy cannon fire, until now……..

As I came to, the ringing was still loud in my head and several brothers were trying to get me up and speak to me. I could see that their lips were trying to say something to me but I was never really good at reading lips. They kept pointing at something lying on the ground about twenty feet from where I was sprawled out on the ground. Suddenly I realized that it was not a thing they were pointing at; it was someone. I got up despite my trauma and ran to him. He was not moving and medics were frantically working at dressing the huge gashes on his legs and part of his chest. As I looked at his face I realized that this young man was the same gentleman who was beside me when the explosion went off. I did not really know who he was since he was one of the new brothers, but I realized at that shocking moment that he had grabbed me and had thrown me out of the way of the incoming cannon fire. My very heart had hurt since this guy never really knew who I was or where I had come from, but he still cared about me enough to lay his life down for mine. I began to have tears well up in my eyes, and I grabbed his hand and I began to shake him violently thinking that he would somehow come back to this world. My shaking did not prevail as one of the bothers told me it was too late. I immediately got up and went to the barracks and cried vehemently. Some even joined me in my grief as I looked around and observed that some where there to do the same. Despite this, another new brother came in and joined me in grieving, but he had an old leathery worn out book cradled in his hands. He came up to me and gave me this worn out book and explained that it was the young man’s Bible that he had brought with him. I just cried all the more having somewhat known what its contents beheld. I opened it when the young brother before me put it in my hands, and turned to a page that had a book marker in it. The highlighted verse read “greater love has no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I could not believe that this very verse is exactly what the young man had done for me, so I figured if this book had convinced this young man to believe in its contents and even put it into practice I had better do the same, for I knew this was what my parents had explained to me about God.

That night I read more and more of its contents and finally found a section on salvation from our sins or ourselves as some side notes put it. I could not deny any longer that God had used that young man that day to save my life physically, but God had already gave his life for me spiritually and loved me in spite of all my faults. So I placed the worn out Bible next to my cot and got on my knees and prayed that God would forgive me for my past and present mistakes. Even though some brothers watched me do this and whispered some spiteful remarks, I did not care for they had not been through what had previously occurred earlier that day. I knew at that moment of salvation from God, I was free and I could let go of my secret hurts and pains from my past and could finally forgive myself for what I had done to my parents and myself. From that day forward I lived my life according to that worn out old Bible, and I knew that my story had to be told. So I found out that I could become a Chaplin and tell the good news that this old leathery Bible held between its cover. And to this very day I still use that old leathery worn out old Bible when I tell my story in a chapel service, and many brothers have come to know God’s love for them all because a young man willing laid his life down for me, and I very much hope that I meet that young brother, only now brother in Christ, in heaven when God finally calls me home.

Character

Character was once defined to me as the person you are when no one is looking. However the reading assignment was on building character for a story or poem. To begin with the reading material establishes protagonists and antagonists. What was interesting to me was that I never knew until this reading assignment that protagonist comes from the Greek word for "the first into battle." Nevertheless the the first story shows the reader that the right questions need to be asked in order to develop a character within any story or comic book. The overall question that was the correct one to have asked was "why." Apparently when anyone asks why instead of what or how much more information is brought forth to the questioner. The next subject of character is on the presentation of character. Dialogue seems to be the primary presentation of character since dialogue is way to how a character in a story reacts and thinks about situations presented to that individual. Picturing character was the next form of character in that images of characters from both movies and stories can show the onlooker what those individuals characteristics. What is most interesting about this unique way of looking at character is the reactions that people write about what they can see and tell about the image. Feeling for character is the next in line on character. This section is basically asking the right why questions that are unique to what individual the reader is trying to figure out. The last section on character is on character and function. This entire section was new to me so the information learned was useful in seeing character within stories. Nevertheless round characters and flat characters are the two interesting terms in this section. Round characters are characters within a story line that have very unique ways in the way that they think and act. Flay characters have one characteristic trait but have no unique identity within a story line. Overall the way that is shown how to see characters in stories and figure out their character is different but a challenging way to look at a story and its characters in a new way.

Sonny's Blues

Sonny's Blues has many life applications to everyone. Of the many, the largest life lesson would have to be that people need to be there for each other and take time to listen. Many times Sonny just wanted his brother to listen to his dream of being a musician, only to have his brother not take him very seriously, which brings up another life lesson. People need to listen to their family members dreams and be supportive. Granted if the dream is against their beliefs then the person needs to speak up to their family member, but if the dream that is presented does not go against any belief system then by all means the person needs to be supportive of that family member. As shown in the story, a family is the most important aspect of life next to a relationship with Christ. This story only reaffirmed what I learned at a young age which is to never take your family for granted for at a moments notice they can be gone into the next life. Take for example the fact that I have two more Christmases and Thanksgivings with my family; it's not due to the death of myself or a family member, it's just that as soon as I graduate from college I have to go into training for the Army and I'll more than likely be shipped off as soon as training is over to another country. More than likely I won't see my mom and dad for years in a row for the holidays, but despite this the time I have left with them I'll cherish every waking moment of it. Anyways, I think another life lesson that can be found in this story is that life is full of hardships and pains. Granted we as Christians have a hope and peace that comes from God to sustain us, but for those who do not have a relationship with Christ try to find something that elevates the sorrows of this life, which why we should always be on the look out for witnessing opportunities. Nevertheless, this story overall shows how important family is to everyone and that when finished reading this story, we should walk away with a deeper appreciation of all our family members.

Guide to Blogging (cont.)

Having gone over the guide to blogging in class on Monday, did in some ways remind me of the many different requirements needed for the blog project and how to blog in general. I think I find myself blogging on the deeper meanings of a text that we are required to read and personal interpretation on the stories and poems. I do not know if I will ever be able to actually sit down and paint out what I feel about a story or poem unless it is in class since that is the only time I really have to actually sit down and paint. Not to mention a puppet show would be nearly impossible for me to do on my time schedule. Am I complaining on what I can't or can't do for a blog? Of course not; I just wish I could paint more often on what stories and poems I read or even do a puppet show for a story or poem I read. To be honest I used to paint and draw a lot when I was younger and I was heavily involved in a puppet ministry at my home church up in Jacksonville Florida. I still remember my puppet's name: herb. He was blue with a orange nose and wore a blue beach flowery shirt. The worst thing about the puppet ministry and can even be considered a good thing was the long periods of time that I had to hold Herb up on the puppet stage. Granted my arm became stronger over time but still the blood would always drain out of my arm and would become very sore. Nevertheless I figured out how to switch arms in the middle of a song or skit without anyone in the audience ever knowing. But perhaps the greatest thing about the puppet ministry I was involved in was the look on the faces of the kids after the team and I were finished. Many of those kids have grown up now and still remember the great times they had during the puppet team's skits and songs. The sad part is that the puppet ministry that was back home is all but gone. I mean there is still puppet skits, but the team is not what it used to be. Now it has been reduced to the back burner of the children's church ministries and is hardly conducted. But despite the puppet ministry being almost dissolved I still keep in contact with those that were on original puppet team ten years ago when I started.

Blog for "Guide to Blogging" questions

The actual instructions for blogging and the project that I am working on are connected greatly to the ideas about reading discussed in class. I learned with poems to always read the poem several times so as not to miss the many meaning within a poem. In relation to blogging and the blog project I can certainly say that I always make sure what I blog is relevant to what was either written or stated and that I should reread what I blogged so as to see if there is anything unclear for the readers of that blog. Another connection would be to critically read the text or poem so as to see deeper meaning to to the text or poem so I can then critically discuss what was read in text or poem within the blog and blogging project. The ways that blogging has extended my reading process is to not casually read texts or poems. Anyone can do that, but the critical and extensive readers always find the deeper meanings within a text or poem that would not have been known had the text or poem been read casually. Another way blogging has extended my reading process is to put my thoughts about the text or poem into written words. Granted blogging what I think about a text or poem is going obviously put my thoughts into words but I have learned that blogging or writing out what I think about a text or poem seems to help me gain a better understanding of the text or poem. I have been able to make this work wonderfully for me since I do not normally write out what I think or feel about a text, let alone paint about what I read. I think blogging about what I read and even painting about what I read absolutely helps me read the Bible in a new light because if I journal or write on what I read within the Bible my understanding of the scripture improves to the extent that I notice new and exciting things about the character of God and Christ, which ultimately strengthens my faith in Him.

Field trip

I went to the Lakeview, Roselawn and Tiger Flowers cemetery complex for this field trip, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes.

The second half of the poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

The second half of reading the poem revealed that the author describes many different things and jumps from place to place. To begin with, the author takes the reader to a burial-house where the speaker in the poem is wondering what to place on the walls. Granted what the speaker describes to put on the walls is rather wonderful since the pictures are of beautiful landscapes that the reader can easily imagine since the speaker talks of these scenes in great and glorious detail. Nevertheless the speaker jumps to a new scene at a former place that the reader has already been to; the swamp. While at the swamp the speaker yet again meets the powerful singing bird but at the same time the speaker talks of death again like it is a person. The speaker even goes as far to show the reader that there are companions with Death and in line 144 shows the reader that death is apparently a female. Nevertheless the speaker then sees visions of the civil war battle fields but the visions are not spoken of in a grim way, rather they are shown that the dead are at rest and all who are living suffer at their death. But as the ending draws to a close I felt more confused at first only to realize that the speaker seems to be possibly coming from a soldiers perspective since the last six lines of the poem speak on the memories of those comrades that have died and that the speaker will hold on to the memories of them. I must say that this poem was a difficult one to read but as long as I delve into the text and ask many different questions, I will find answers after several readings of this poem.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

The first reading of the poem is always the trickiest. The reader can easily miss several meanings the author has for the poem. Nevertheless the first time I read the poem I had many questions and yet answers were present but clarity is still in a cloudy state. But I must say that the author the first time I read it spoke on many different aspects of nature. For example the sun, moon, and flowers are spoken of in great detail. Yet the author also speaks about death, like it's a person almost. The author even stated that death was "sacred" in stanza 7. Nevertheless the second time I read the poem, at least the first nine stanzas, I realized that whoever has died most be of great importance to the area if not the country since many across the States ,(notice the capitalization), are morning for this individual. I also realized that the person speaking in the poem went to grieve in the swamp alone with the birds singing. Overall, so far, this poem seems grim but at the same time the author uses things in nature that are very beautiful to contrast all the grimness of the death of a seemingly very important individual. However the poem also flows so well that ending my reading of the poem at stanza nine almost seems cruel since the person who has passed away is neither named or established as male or female, let alone why the individual is of the utmost importance to so many that the death of this person affects the States.

Having read the book of Joel a second time, I have discovered some new things within the text. To begin with, God originally called Israel to fast and then warned them of warriors coming to decimate the land. God then declares another fast after they warriors have ransacked the cities. Another thing I caught on the second time of reading Joel was that God speaks on the locust hordes twice. The first mentioning is on the devastation of the locust horde and the second time is on the removal of the locust horde, which He called His "great army." The third thing I caught the second time around reading Joel was that God declares that "the sun will grow dark; the moon turned into blood; and the stars grow dim" three times. I find this significant since throughout the Bible when something is mentioned three times it shows that God is a triune God; God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless I noted that the beginning of Joel spoke on destruction and mourning, whereas the end of Joel shows God's redemption. If the reader looks close enough the entire story is turns out to be a reversal in of itself. For example the beginning is on how the land was decimated and burned and then followed up by an invasion of warriors that ransack the land. Then in the end of Joel everything is reversed and the land is restored in full and God judges the invading nations and then He restores Israel to its former glory. Ultimately I conclude that the book of Joel shows, in short, How God redeems His children after desolate circumstances.

Joel

The story of Joel shows how God is both gracious and full of justice towards his people. At the beginning, I was in aw of how God used a locust horde to wipe out the crops of Israel. Recently I watched a program on locust hordes. The show was informative on how locust hordes form and what their devastation on crops and the land looks like. So having watched the program on a locust horde devastation, reading about it in the Bible reminded me of what it actually looks like after a locust horde comes through an area. And not only did the locust horde affect the food, they affected the wine vineyards, which in turn affected a drink consumption. The water even dried up for the Israelites and their fields went up in flames. With all this destruction in the beginning of the story, I must ask what did Israel do, to stir up God's anger? Nevertheless whatever they did to stir up God's wrath, God warned Israel of an army that was coming to conquer them that would leave desolation in their wake. However He did use the prophet Joel to tell them to the wail and plead before the Lord, to have mercy on them. God then in turn did have mercy on them since He declared that He would have mercy upon them if Israel would repent and seek Him; which they did. Soon thereafter the land was restored in full, and the land was green and all the trees were ripe with fruit. However I must say that while reading this I have more questions than I had answers. For example why did God call them to arms when the verses after that speak of God's wrath on the earth? Still I must say that this passage of scripture creates more questions than answers.

The Things They Carried

Recently my battalion and I received an email on being a Second Lieutenant in the Army. The email basically told us to get your act together and be a good leader since a lot of pressure is on you, not to mention the lives of an entire platoon are in your hands and many have seen combat already and need Lieutenants to be focused and know their stuff. Having read this story I knew right off the bat that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was going to mess up and get someone killed since he was greatly distracted by Martha, who did not even love him in the first place. Nevertheless, we have a saying in the Army that goes " a distracted soldier is a dead soldier." The statement is self-explanatory since in the story Ted Lavender was killed due to a negligent Lieutenant. Anyways this story was true to its title since the author explained in great detail what each soldier carried and how much it weighed. Nevertheless I relate to this story since we do ruck marches that consist of carrying 35 pounds or more of stuff in a ruck sack; it basically looks like a hiking backpack but we call it a ruck sack since that just sounds cooler than to call it a backpack. Anyways what I also enjoyed was the level of detail of the environment of Vietnam. I knew that it had a jungle habitat but never so mildew and marshy. Nevertheless I appreciate that at the end of the story Lieutenant Jimmy Cross finally figured things out and straightened up and became a Lieutenant. I have learned that in the Army that if enlisted soldiers continue to say 'sir' to a Lieutenant then he has not earned their respect. However if they start calling the Lieutenant 'LT' then he has earned his rank. Nevertheless for those who have read this story I must add to the fact that whenever a Lieutenant losses one of his men, it is he who writes the letter back home to that individuals family that their son or daughter is dead. So I would hope that none of you who have read this story ever think that officers have it easy compared to the enlisted guys.

Final chapter in A Grief Observed

Through out the last chapter I began to see that C. S. Lewis was beginning to have some closer on his wife's death. As he goes further in detail on what happens after death I greatly enjoyed the section where he establishes the fact that sometimes we come to God with nonsense questions. I admit that I have asked some nonsense questions to God. For example what does heaven truly look like. Yes we have brief glimpses in the Bible of what heaven looks like but that is only on descriptions such as gates made of pearls. I know God heard my question but I know why now He could not answer; for if He had answered I would not have been able to experience the fullness of heaven for I believe that one can only do that if he or she has been called home by God. Nevertheless there are books on people having seen glimpses of heaven or visions of heaven, but let us remember that those experiences are only glimpses, not full a walk through so to speak. Anyways I also enjoyed reading on how C. S. Lewis spoke on the hope of possibly seeing his wife again. Some say that we will have a great reunion with our loved ones and some say we will just recognize them as a brother and sister in Christ; I choose to believe the latter. However my favorite part of the last chapter was when he stated "There is also, whatever it means, the resurrection of the body. We cannot understand. The best is perhaps what we understand the least" (p. 75). To me his statement means that somethings in this world, and during our lifetime, we will never know nor are we meant to know yet. If this is what he originally meant that means no theologian or Christian will ever understand the full complexity of God and all that He is and is to come.

Chapter one of "A Grief Observed"

When reading this story I felt that I was reading what I felt when I lost my Grandmother in death seven years ago. I remember all to well the fluttering of the stomach, the restlessness, and even the countless tears and agony. Grief is never easy to begin with but the way that C. S. Lewis describes sings a resounding similarity of what I went through. Nevertheless when he spoke on how he felt like God had forsaken him to a certain degree, I never really went through that myself. It was more so that I knew that I would see my grandmother again but the wait to do so at that time of grieving was unbearable. Anyways when C. S. Lewis spoke on him being an embarrassment to everyone that he met I did not quite understand how this was so since the people that I knew, in my case for grieving, never found it embarrassing to bring up the topic of my grandmother. However I do note that in his case it was his wife that he lost, so the circumstances dictate a rather different kind of grievance for his loss. I also must admit when he spoke on the fear of going places that he had been with his wife were "no more emphatic in those places than anywhere else" (p. 11) , I felt the same way about my loss as well. For it did not matter if I went to a place I had once been with her, the longing for her presence was still there. Nevertheless his last statement on remembering his wife's voice being "still vivid" is of the utmost truth since even though it has been seven years since my grandmother passed away I still remember her laugh.

Happy Endings

While reading this story, I noted from the start that this was different from other stories I had previously read. Interestingly the story has several stories within the text that let the reader see a different perspective on John and Mary. The first tale, I think, is the "perfect story" on how life goes smoothly after marriage and on to the end of life. Granted as a Christian, I will strive to have a good life after I am married, but that doesn't mean it will be perfect, and I don't expect it be. The main thing is working through problems with a Christ like attitude so as to see better results in life, so to speak. Anyways, the second tale in the story shows how there are people so desperate for love and companionship that if the other person does not love them in return then they will take drastic measures so as to get the other person's attention. Nevertheless my reaction to the story is one of pity and anger. I pity Mary since she is trying so hard to get John to love her back. However I am angry at John for not even caring about her and that he only used her for her body. The third tale is one that reminded me of stories one hears about when a co-worker is sleeping with another fellow employee, despite the fact that one or both individuals are married. Nevertheless I was surprised at John taking the extreme measure of buying a gun and then shooting the gentleman he caught sleeping with Mary, then Mary herself, and then taking his own life; I find this quite depressing for obvious reasons. Anyways, the fourth tale I enjoyed the most since it is not about John or Mary, but rather a couple named Fred and Madge. I found their tale a riveting story that shows a survival of a couple who narrowly escapes a deadly tidal wave and still they have each other afterwards. Nevertheless Fred dies due to a bad heart and Mary goes on with her life and never remarries. Finally at the end of the entire story the author makes this quote: "So much for endings. Beginnings are always more fun. True connoisseurs, however, are known to favor the stretch in between, since it's the hardest to do anything with" (p. 1363). I find this statement ringing with truth but I must say that it does not matter how an individual starts or how the middle goes; like a runner in a marathon, it is the end that counts.

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love is written from the view of a husband, named Nick, who is married to his second wife Laura as they are at a get together with their friends Mel and Terri who are married as well. While drinking gin they speak on the subject to as what love is. Terri explains the former man she lived with said that he loved her but tried to murder her. She said that he acted crazy but there was still love despite the fact that he tried to hurt her. Nevertheless Mel made his opinion known to the group that was not love. I have to agree with Mel since Love is not beating the one you love into submission. I think real love is laying all aspects of life down for someone else. However, both Terri and Mel further explain how her ex-boyfriend stalked Mel and even called Mel at work to threaten him. Mel further explains that he had to eventually get a gun in order to protect himself. However Terri's ex-boyfriend eventually committed suicide but went into a comma for three days and then died. Terri was with him when he passed away since he had no one else in the world. I think if I had been in a predicament such as this I would have done the same thing as Mel. But I do think it was right of Terri to have visited her ex-boyfriend in the hospital since she did at one point love him. As the story goes on Mel states while quite drunk, that while at work he had to deal with an old couple in their mid seventies. They had been hit by a drunk driver and both had terrible and possibly fatal injuries. Despite this they both recovered but while recovering they had to wear a full body cast. The husband loved his wife so much that he became depressed since he could not turn his head to look at his wife. I think that this was real love since any man who despite a deadly tragedy, still wants to see his wife and becomes depressed because he can't see her, shows how much he is concerned for her well being and that to me is love. Nevertheless I am unable to make a solid conclusion on how the ending of the story was. It ends as the gin runs out and the room get dark. The story does not explain to as whether or not they end up going to a restaurant they wanted to eat at earlier in the story. Nevertheless to me the story just ends with a cliff hanger so as to make the reader assume what happens next.

Post one

My earliest memories of literature would be when my dad would read to to my sister and I stories about animals that would teach us how to read and state the alphabet. Another early memory of literature was when I began to read my first book series called The Animorphs. I was hooked to the series since at the elementary school I attended they would have a once a year book fair that the English teachers would make us go to in order for the students to get interested in books outside the required texts for school. Nevertheless, my most recent memories of literature would the reading of Macbeth in my senior high school year. This stands out the most due to the amount of time we spent as a class analyzing its theme, plot, and author. We even watched several movies on Macbeth that gave the class a better visual on the story. The most significant text I have ever read, besides the Bible, would have to be the Army field manual 3-21.8 since I have to use the military doctrine presented with in the book in order to succeed in a military career. As an officer in the Army I need to succeed in my warrior tasks so as to lead soldiers into combat successfully. Literature matters greatly in ways of giving people a way to see what others have to say about facts, ideas, and imaginations. Some ways it matters is that literature can be used as a form of entertainment or to find out what is going out in the world. However there are ways in that literature does not matter. In the realm of entertainment, literature is just a means of a small distraction from the cares of this life so as to ease its burdens. Also literature used as a form of entertainment does not get a job done nor does it get a job.