... their heads, but for those who need some help to produce characters, and scenes, movies would be a better tool for communicating a story. The Things They Carried is an enchanting war story that is told by Tim O"Brien, who claims that all of the tales in his book are true. After meeting Tim O"Brien at a seminar in Anaheim California in 2000, it was made clear that ... all of these stories are actually fictional, and Mr. O"Brien was actually a journalist during Vietnam, and saw no real action. But the visions of horror ... that O"Brien provides in The Things They Carried is very real ......

• Word Count: 1176
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... their fascist leader they were now ready to embark on new freedom and a better life which was shown repeatedly by these Americans who through their exceptionalism embodied the freedom desired by the Germans. The German people got caught up in their lifestyle and ideology which brought modern technology, fashionable clothing and luxurious cars with it.37 Clearly in Europe at least ... foreign-policy protestors such as Claude Pepper and Henry Wallace supported Truman's move into Korea and accepted the decision supported by the new ideology. A survey taken by the State Department showed tha...

• Word Count: 4596
• Approx Pages: 18

... barefoot while a bunch of villagers looked on with a mixture of fascination and giggly horror- (O'Brien, 39). These men looked to each other for emotional support and reassurance since none was coming from the homefront. The men of Alpha Company trusted each other with their lives. Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk are a good ... example of this trust, "In late August they made a pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up - a wheelchair wound - the other guy would automatically find a way to end it- (O'Brien, 71). This pact helps these two in that they know that if it came down...

• Word Count: 1324
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... barefoot while a bunch of villagers looked on with a mixture of fascination and giggly horror- (O'Brien, 39). These men looked to each other for emotional support and reassurance since none was coming from the homefront. The men of Alpha Company trusted each other with their lives. Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk are a good ... example of this trust, "In late August they made a pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up - a wheelchair wound - the other guy would automatically find a way to end it- (O'Brien, 71). This pact helps these two in that they know that if it came down...

• Word Count: 1324
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... world with many great powers. The article states, " the United States can minimize risks of open confrontation with the new great powers"(39). The article calls for the U.S. to start treating the other powers as adults. The article explains recognizing the other countries, as legitimate powers are advantages for the U.S. The article states this strategy would allow the U.S. to find a new source of energy for the rest of the world. This energy source is ... very needed because of a high demand of oil. In my opinion, the view of the author changed dramatically from the first to the ... ...

• Word Count: 677
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . Regarding his directive to board vessels that might resist the blockade, JFK wrung his hands, "What would you do then, if we went through all of this effort and then find out that there's baby food on it?- [39].The humiliation of boarding a ship full of baby food would be miniscule compared to blowing up thousands of people in an air attack and ... subsequent invasion. Besides, RFK's surprise that the Organization of American States supported the quarantine leads me to believe that he would have thought it next to ... had Ronald Reagan been President in 1962. If Reagan was a study in ...

• Word Count: 2306
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... have little room to argue due to the overwhelming power of the US. "Stalin had become a popular figure in Europe and in the United States. All across the world sizeable elements were seriously considering the virtues of communism, for few wanted a return to the failed capitalism of the pre-war era." (Isaacs & Downing, Transworld Publishers, 1998. Pg. 39) As the great depression was classed as a cause ... of World War II and as the depression was caused by capitalism, people thought ... capitalism may be a cause of a possible next World War. As Stalin said and believed, "The development...

• Word Count: 3123
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... and feels about what happened while he was in Vietnam is what he is attempting to illustrate. Then the statistics and facts directly concerning the war are unimportant. O'Brien's foremost purpose is to help others understand his story. He is not concerned with the story's believability but rather the story's capability of expressing many events over a period of time that has shaped who O'Brien is today. ... retell it so his readers may look beyond the actuality of the story and to the deeper meaning of it. Mary Anne first emerges in The Things They Carried within a story called "Sweeth...

• Word Count: 1540
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... begins the story with a list of the dead soldiers in the platoon and has the protagonist of the story working on the order of the list throughout the novel. His intent in this novel was to let the reader make judgments about the morality of the war. He did this by showing the reactions of the soldiers and the innocent victims of the war. In another one of his novels "In the Lake of the Woods" he puts the frightening ... descriptions of what it is like to be lost in the wilderness (Retelling the Story ... ...

• Word Count: 1155
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... ground. Fowler and the other characters also found a trench full of dead bodies previously in the same town, Phat Diem (51-52). These deaths and the compilation of the corpses might have represented the same thing as the bodies in the river, except that these deaths filled a void, or gap. The story isn't completely accurate historically. In a note at the beginning of the book to friends of ... his in Vietnam, Greene wrote "...the historical events, in at least ... one case have been rearranged. For example, the big bomb near the continental preceded ... ...

• Word Count: 955
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... what is wrong. One man may think his way is right, and your way is wrong. But you think your way is right and the other man's is wrong. How do you decide what is right. Cacciato throughout the story tries desperately to reach his goal; he never gives up. Cacciato runs away mostly likely because of fear when you're in a war ... just come into play. Most soldiers don't run away like Cacciato because of there heavy training. Also because of their pride and respect for one another. Two major themes in the story of Cacciato are its human nature to destroy and commit evil acts and that war ha...

• Word Count: 983
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

WAR MAY NOT SEEM REAL REAL TO EVERYBODY BECAUSE THE TRUE MEANING OF WAR LIES INSIDE THE EYES OF THE SOLDIERS. "HOW TO TELL A TRUE WAR STORY" BY TIM O'BRIEN SHOWS AN AUTHENTIC VALUE THAT ONLY A TRUE SOLDIER CAN CHERISH AND REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. AN INDIVIDUAL MUST EXPERINCE WAR TO UNDERSTAND IT. TO GENERALIZE WAR IS LIKE GENERALIZNG LIFE VERSUS DEATH."WAR ... WAR. HE FELD THAT HIS EXPERIENCE WAS BEYOND DISCRIPTION, BUT HE WROTE THAT LETTER. THAT MAGNIFICENT FEELING OF SHARING WAS INDEED WONDERFUL. THE ONLY WAY THIS STORY WAS TOLD WAS THAT SOMEONE, BOB KILEY, WAS ACTUALLY THERE. WAR...

• Word Count: 605
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... All My Sons in 1947; Death of a Salesman (1949) - which won the Pulitzer Prize - and The Crucible (1952) confirmed him as a great playwright. Between his years as a journalist and making his name as a writer, Miller worked in the Brooklyn shipyards for two years, where he befriended the Italians he worked alongside. He heard a story of some men coming over to work illegally and being betrayed ... . The story inspired A View from the Bridge, which was written in 1955. It was originally a one-act play, but Miller re-worked ... it into a two-act play the following year. Most of his work is...

• Word Count: 543
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... and includes fear as the most important factor. Fear from death in the jungle, fear for the ones at home, and fear that the ones at home might forget them. The conclusion from the story is that the spiritual burden is actually much heavier than the physical, because there is no efficient way of dealing with the intangible evil that resides in the soul of the soldiers. The men carry a wide ... variety of objects, many of them useless, depending on their nature just to cope with the stress of the war. Jim Cross, the platoon leader carried ... return Vietnam, but rather a constant person...

• Word Count: 1574
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... with WOR-Radio in New York, a news editor from 1957-1960, and was a correspondent in Berlin for the Mutual Broadcasting System before and after the Berlin Wall was built. Norman Gelb also wrote Enemy in the Shadows, The British, and Dunkirk: The Complete Story of the First Step in the Defeat of Hitler. This author is qualified to write this book because he witnessed this event personally. He ... approach to problem solving." (pg. 77) The purpose for Norman Gelb to write the book was to "capture the drama of that traumatic moment as well as tell the story of the Wall and the circumstance...

• Word Count: 714
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... WAR Why was there a Vietnam War?? This question has been asked a lot of times since the war. Basically, to put a long story short it's because the United States couldn't keep their noses in their own business. Since this is a report I"ll tell the story. The United States war in Vietnam had no beginning and it was a series of steps between 1950-1965 "in May 1950, President ... Harry S. Truman authorized a modest program of economic and military aid to the French, who were fighting to retain control of their Indochina, colony, including Laos and ... at War! Since there were so many start...

• Word Count: 537
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... in his return Vietnam, but rather a constant personal preoccupation that seems to flow through the collection of stories. O'Brien shows how the memories of the war take on a parasitic form, and uses himself as an example. In the chapterSpeaking of Courage , O'Brien introduces a character by the name of Norman Bowker. In the story Norman finds him self home after serving his time in Vietnam. Even though he ... is back in his home town, things do not seem the same to him. The was seems to have put a new spin on his life. Most ... of the story he spends driving in circles while thinking a...

• Word Count: 567
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... and needed immediate medical attention. Philip struggles to keep his brother from getting even sicker than he is when he brings his mother to a hospital. Philip's family wasn't the only people affected by the bomb; the entire surrounding area of Los Angeles was pounded by a devastating bomb. Churches, Hospitals, and streets were flooded with sick, dying, and even dead people. Hospitals that were ... built to only withstand 200 people now have thousands, and hospitals lack food, doctors, and water. Philip's struggle for survival, and the devastating blow against L.A. was only the beginni...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The 300 watchtowers, the twenty-two bunkers, the guns, the border guards, the dogs, the death strip, Checkpoint Charlie-they are all gone. Only 420 feet of the Berlin Wall remain mainly in the Bernauer Strasse in the city's Wedding district as a tourist attraction. It was once known as the "death strip," the Bernauer Strasse is where East Germans made dramatic leaps to freedom from upper story windows and where the largest number died ... attempting to escape. Erected in 1961, the wall stood for twenty eight years before crumbling in the face of mass protests in November 1989. That is how th...

• Word Count: 550
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... despite its greatness. Today's viewers wont feel the same way as those who saw it during the controversy but instead they will be intrigued by an interesting story based on the feelings and facts of that time period. I enjoyed almost ever aspect of the Film. Frank Sinatra does a great job acting throughout the film. The "Manchurian Candidate" has all the qualities of a blockbuster, which are horror, romance, ... understood those who were afraid of it. The movies lack of color and even sound quality hurt its value, in my opinion. The story is well made; it sets the viewer up perfectly f...

• Word Count: 599
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... means just that. It is unjustified. Meaning that both sides of the story were not heard. By using dualistic thinking all unjustified wars can be avoided. An example of lack of dualistic thinking resulting in an unjustified war can be heard by any Vietnam vet. The major, if not the only, reason why the US decided to take action in Vietnam was our fear of ... the Domino Theory. We were currently in a Cold War situation with Russia and fearing that communism would spread through out ... , they just sat back and watch our country become angry with itself that it was getting it's butt kicked...

• Word Count: 430
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , over 200 people were accused of being witches and nineteen were killed for it. In the play "The Crucible"" by Arthur Miller, Miller portrays the story to be "a reflection of the Communist witch hunts of its time" (Miller) to help people understand what was going on. Miller was around during the cold war when people were accused and jailed of being "covert communist " with little prove ... . In the "The Crucible"," people are accused of being witches with no real proof and are getting imprisoned and ... some killed for it. The play is a reflection of the events of the time but the perso...

• Word Count: 804
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of accusations. Elizabeth Proctor is similar to the teacher figure in Herb Blocks cartoon. Elizabeth remains sensible, and morally innocent throughout the story, but is accused of witchcraft for not believing in the existence of witches in Salem. The Anti-Subversive Committee parallels the court officials who imprisoned Elizabeth Proctor. As Superstition and paranoia hold the village in its grip, the citizens grow immensely distrustful of each other ... . Similar to the Anti-Subversive Committee, the court officials' and accusers' authority are seldom ... ...

• Word Count: 945
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Having learned English as an adult Sam immediately set about to murder it as best he could. Speaking with a heavy Yiddish accent the Electoral College became the "Electrical" College, or a neighbor named Mr. Spadotta was known as Mr. Spaghetti. All in all, Sam was very proud of ... a few years in Liverpool, England, Sam immigrated to Canada to join his brother Shalom in a business venture trading with Indians and fur trappers in the wilds of Ontario. Sam settled in a small town in Ontario, Brockville, that had barely a handful of Jews in residence. It was natural that he ... by an FBI ...

• Word Count: 1623
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... influenced Russia for several reasons. He attempted to westernize (Europeanize) Russia and he was successful. He raised Russia as a great power. Peter affected the military, religion, government, economy and society. Peter also made an impact upon women. Peter also introduced new customs to Russia that molded and changed it. Peter was a tsar (a person having ... ) who became an emperor in 1682. He accomplished many goals that were very important. Peter received a firsthand view of the West in 1697 to 1698. This visit westernized Russia because Peter adopted the European customs, practic...

• Word Count: 226
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School