Preview

Figurative and Imagery Essay-How to Tell a True War Story

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
640 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Figurative and Imagery Essay-How to Tell a True War Story
Bushra Asghar 5/26/12

How to Tell a True War Story Project Dear Mr. Bunkoff, I am sitting by the fireplace and just thinking about life in general when memories from elementary school come flooding back. I am writing this letter to you, because I feel very guilty when thoughts of your son cross my mind. To this day I wish I knew better and stood up for your son when I needed to, because I could have saved an innocent life. Not trying to make excuses, but when I was in elementary school I knew nothing better, except the fact that, you go with the flow or else you become an outcast. I could still clearly remember the first day Matthew started going to my elementary school, and just because he looked different all of us decided he did not belong. He would come to the kids and ask them in such a nice and polite way if they wanted to play with him, and in response kids would say something nasty, no elementary kid should ever say. I remember boys throwing rocks at him during recess, and a bunch of girls standing by and laughing. Yes, I also did stand by and watched, but I never encouraged the boys on or laughed, because I was thought better by my parents. My parents tell me all the time no matter how the person you come in contact with acts, you show your best side to them, because at the end of the day were all the same and no one person is better than another. One day in particular, I remember Matthew needed to go to the bathroom during recess, and the immature boys decided to take advantage of this situation. They ran to the bathroom, and blocked him from going in. He begged so much, I can still hear his voice so clearly in my head to let him go. Not being able to hold it in any longer he did it his pants, and the situation became even worse. There
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O Brien
    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O Brien

    The irony in “How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien is that in the first line O’Brien says that “This is true” (340). And goes into the story of his friend Rat writing a letter to the sister of his friend who recently died. Then goes into how to tell a good war story and proceeds to tell his own experience with Rat Kiley and his friend Lemon. But in the end he says “All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up a few things to get the real truth” (349).…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Comparing Soldier's Home 'And How To Tell A True War Story'
    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing Soldier's Home 'And How To Tell A True War Story'

    Though Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” (1925) and Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell A True War Story” (1987) were written about sixty two years apart and portray different experiences after the war settling back into everyday American society, both works have similar situations, a setting of war, and experiences. In “Soldier’s Home”, Harold Krebs, a nineteen year old soldier, fought in the Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel, and in the Argonne battles of World War I, while the soldier in “How to Tell a True War Story” is deployed during the Vietnam War. Both of the stories have protagonists who are both returning veterans. “Soldier’s Home” and “How to Tell a True War Story” have soldiers who have a tough…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    'How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O' Brien
    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    'How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O' Brien

    In the short story, “How to Tell a True War Story,” the implicit problem that is created about the story by its first line, “this is true,” is that the readers may think the line is sarcasm and not believe the information being said. The readers will question if the story is true or not. Throughout the story the narrator says how many war stories are not true so I do not know what to believe. The author, Tim O’Brien, says that nothing can be believed to be true, which makes the story ironic. He says, “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing much is ever very true” (95). I would think that this story is not true after that being said.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Battle of the Bulge - a World War 2 Battle Essay Example
    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Battle of the Bulge - a World War 2 Battle Essay Example

    The World War Two was a very severe war. There were many battles that were fought during it. One of the biggest land battles was Battle of the Bulge. (http://helios.) The battle took place on December 16, 1944 under cover a very dense fog which was very difficult for the army to see. (Danzer et. al. 744) These conditions are hard to see in but to stage of the biggest land battle in the history of World War Two, it was truly an astounding event and a very tragic memory.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare And Contrast A Soldier's Home And How To Tell A War Story
    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Compare And Contrast A Soldier's Home And How To Tell A War Story

    While Ernest Hemingway's “A Soldier's Home” and Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a War Story” are both pieces focusing on war and the profound impact it has on the minds of soldiers that go through it, they both differ in many ways.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ww2, the Good War Essay Example
    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ww2, the Good War Essay Example

    The Second World War is often remembered as the “Good War” for the American’s heroic stand against the Nazis and the Japanese, but the moniker overly simplifies what many consider “history’s greatest catastrophe.” Images of heroic American soldiers bravely sacrificing their livelihoods and breath to bring freedom to Europe were plastered across the 1940’s media to rally support for the War, perhaps cementing the “Good War” characterization in American memory. However, the sixty years that have followed WWII have uncovered many American behaviors that undermine the ‘goodness’ of the War and question the “Greatest Generation.” Stories of Japanese internment camps, racial and gender inequality, and the horrific atomic bombings of Japanese cities call into question the validity of the American fight for liberty and democracy so valiantly portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. However, the undeniable heroism and sacrifice of the American soldiers and the nation’s economic successes upon returning home have deservedly earned these monikers. In that sense, the “Good War” and “Greatest Generation” characterizations are convenient but inaccurate simplifications of a conflict that contained many hypocritical and disturbing actions and cost millions of lives.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    War of 1812 Essay Example
    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages

    War of 1812 Essay Example

    Throughout the 19th century, America transformed from a small, developing country into a world power. It was able to earn some credibility with other countries after it worked so hard to gain its independence in 1776. The United States also made many enemies after its monumental success. Acquisitions of land due to events such as The Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican Cession and the addition of Alaska, Florida, Oregon, and Texas tripled the size of the United States from 890,000 sq. miles to 2.73 million sq. miles in less than 100 years. One of the events that catalyzed this expansion was the War of 1812. The war is sometimes called “America’s second war for independence” because Great Britain was still interfering with American affairs though it had gained independence from them less than forty years preceding the next war (Feicht). It was a war that should never have had to be fought if Britain had just understood that it was tied to the fact that they had liberated the United States from their rule. It was outlandishly unwarranted that the British feel the need to have to interfere once again with American affairs. The Americans were forced to fight a war that was already fought (Feicht). One definite cause of the war cannot be pinpointed because there were many factors that contributed to the severity of the war and the intensity of the issues at hand; they can be narrowed down to three main concerns which are maritime and trade issues, the economic issues, seriously deteriorating…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gallipoli- the Anzac Legend Essay Example
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gallipoli- the Anzac Legend Essay Example

    The Anzac Legend is the source of the Aussie Fight and bravery that will live on for future generations to understand and to acknowledge their courage and bravery.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    War of 1812 Essay Example
    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages

    War of 1812 Essay Example

    Several forces led Americans to declare war on Britain in 1812. France and Britain, Europe’s two most powerful nations, had battled almost continuously since the late 1700s. Hostilities began during the French Revolution, and then continued as Britain led the efforts to stop French expansion under Napoleon I. In 1803, the continuing tension in Europe escalated into a full-scale conflict, the Napoleonic Wars. As fighting between the British and French increased, each side took steps to prevent the United States from trading with the other. “The great causes of complaint against Great Britain, your committee need only say, that the United States, as a sovereign and independent Power, claim the right to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for the purposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the products of their own soil and the acquisitions of their own industry....” (Document 1). European warfare directly affected American trade and the economy. American presidents from Jefferson to Madison tried to keep the United States impartial during these conflicts, but both France and Britain completely disregarded the rights of neutral countries. Another conflict occurred in North America itself, which was clashing with a native population committed to protecting its lands from intruders. In both the North and South, the threatened tribes united to resist white infringement. They began as well to build connections with British forces in Canada and Spanish forces in Florida. Therefore, the Indian conflict on land became intertwined with the European conflict on the seas, and ultimately helped cause the War of 1812.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Personal Narrative Essay: The First Vietnam War
    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Personal Narrative Essay: The First Vietnam War

    The next morning, I was to report to Logistics and Strategy. People were all over this place. Seaman lined the walls with headsets on and screens in front of them. They used their fingers to tap the screens and then shout out coordinates. I walked down the row of officers scrutinizing interactive pixel maps. They had the ability to visualize the ships and planes in real time with holographic symbols. I passed them and walked up some steps to a clear glass room. TOO THIN, Fernando, Chad, Mallory, and five Admirals were there. One Admiral for each permanent coalition country. There were also a line of officers outside the room, waiting for orders.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How to Tell a True War Story
    • 2231 Words
    • 64 Pages

    How to Tell a True War Story

    In the essay, “How to Tell a True War Story,” Tim O’Brien tells several stories of war to illustrate to his readers the criteria for truth in storytelling. O’Brien offers his readers a guide to telling and determining war stories that are true, for the author, true does not necessarily mean actual or real. Instead, O’Brien tells us what a true war story is, but his requirements are not always clear precise—a true war story “never seems to end,” (O’Brien 273) “embarrasses you,” (270) “are contradictory,” (275) and have an “uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (270)—they are defined and given context by the author through the telling of his own accounts. The essayist Jon Krakauer offers up his own version of a war story, of sorts, in his telling of the story of Chris McCandless, a young man not participating in a war of nations, or a conflict with others; he, in his own words, was involved in “the climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage” (Krakauer 207). The battlefield for McCandless was not a booby-trapped jungle, saturated with enemies and soldiers for the opposition; no, McCandless’s battlefield was the Alaskan frontier. Like a soldier going to war, McCandless knew that where he was going was dangerous. Krakauer remarks that “he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself aperilously (emphasis added) slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake” (Krakauer 219). One can draw many parallels between the essays, or war stories, of Krakauer and O’Brien; they are both provocative, and both use descriptive language and paint vivid pictures in the minds of their reader, they both write of young men in the midst of a conflict—emotional or physical—but the stories differ as well. O’Brien presents his ideas of what makes a true war story; based on these ideas, we can determine that the war story told by Krakauer is not a true war story because it is committed to…

    • 2231 Words
    • 64 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How to Tell a True War Story vs. Soldier's Home
    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How to Tell a True War Story vs. Soldier's Home

    Many authors have written war stories and about the effects of war on a person. Two of these writers are Tim O'Brian and Ernest Hemingway. O'Brian wrote "How to Tell a True War Story"; and Hemingway wrote a short story called "Soldier's Home". Both of these stories illustrate to the reader just what war can do to an average person and what, during war, made the person change. The stories are alike in many respects due to the fact that both authors served time in the army; O'Brian in the Vietnam War and Hemingway in WWI. However, the stories do have differences due to the slightly different themes and also the different writing techniques of the authors.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How To Tell A True War Story Analysis
    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How To Tell A True War Story Analysis

    Have you ever been through a traumatic experience? How did you explain your feelings during it? Did you want the other person to feel the same way you did? A few years ago, a drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into my vehicle. Surviving the accident with no marks, bruises, or scrapes, I had no visible proof of what I had been through. But mentally, I was hysterical, frantic, and upset. My family did not understand my reason for being distraught since I had not sustained any injuries. Wanting them to understand what I had gone through and how I felt, I exaggerated and gave extra details in an attempt to prove that my experience was detrimental and distressing. Tim O’Brien, the author of the short story How to Tell a True War Story, used symbolism and polysyndeton to convey that people often exaggerate after experiencing something profound, emotional, or traumatic in order to communicate unthinkable sensations and feelings.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Personal Narrative-My First Vietnam War
    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Personal Narrative-My First Vietnam War

    The bloody plane was shot down…I was sleeping dreaming about a concoction of fish and chips and my home before the war. I lived on a farm, and I had my own horse…I miss him. My dad taught me how to ride when I was four; riding would provide me relief from school and farming. Anyways, I then I awoke to a storm of fire. The plane was literally sliced in two. I think the beastly enemy shot us down. Even though they shot us clean out of the sky, I wish to thank them and show some British manners to them because this island is beautiful. It has fruit, and the sights are more beautiful than anything back home. There are even pigs on the island that we could eat. Sadly, I thought myself alone until a booming noise thundered through the jungle. I was scared; I thought it was an earthquake, although I have never experienced one before.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    How to Tell a True War Story
    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages

    How to Tell a True War Story

    The story by Tim O’Brien shows how the soldiers are themselves and can also be serious. O’Brien also sees how Vietnam changes the soldiers and how they see the world now. There will be people that will ask if it’s true or not true they can asks what happened. There can be different ways to tell a story but they can ask what happen. O’Brien would know which story he really believes. O’Brien will give use by looking at Rat’s point of view, and Sanders point of view of Lemon death and how Rat copes with a letter. Here are three points’ that will go with O’Brien story the history, biography and literary criticism.…

    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics