Soldiers, upon returning from the Vietnam War were spit upon and cursed at when they exited the planes. The soldiers did not feel appreciated and felt ashamed of their service to their country. Is this how soldiers who have risked their lives for us should be treated? Shouldn’t Americans be grateful to these brave men and women who put it all on the line?
In The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University’s newspaper, a columnist discussed the appreciation of the American people to their soldiers. The author focused on the fact that Americans rarely say thank you to soldiers because they feel ‘awkward’ or how American’s pray for the soldiers while they are at war, but forget about them when they return home. Citizens do not realize that these warriors that return home are still affected by what they saw and the actions they were required to perform. “No Unwounded Soldier" is an affective argument to convince the American people to revere soldiers because of the use of imagery and diction to make Americans feel guilt and want to change their ungrateful ways.
The Daily Universe writer uses imagery to help Americans truly understand what soldiers went through and are continuing to encounter on a daily basis. The writer states, “Every night many of the veterans awake from nightmares and terrors. Some of these dreams relive memories from decades back; some of them relive experiences from the month before.” The real life examples make one ache with the soldiers and feel sympathy towards them. Many people do not realize the baggage that soldiers take with them after their service. Citizens think that the service men and women can leave everything they had to encounter behind them wherever they fought. But this is a false assumption and the writer makes this clear. The writer also states, “They don’t walk around telling the general populace how much they hurt or how much they struggle. They don’t speak of those nights spent dreaming of snipers and bombs. They don’t talk of their mid-day panics and fears.” Through this example, the columnist emphasizes the humility of soldiers. Many soldiers went through unimaginable experiences and relive those times on a daily basis; however, the service men and women do not want others to know of the pain and agony they are continuing to go through and do not want to flaunt the things they did for each American. But they did risk their lives for the country and should be appreciated for the pain they went through and are continuing to have. These modern day heroes were willing to give their lives for us and do not want much credit for the things they did, a simple thank you would suffice, and that is all these men and women want from the American people. With the usage of imagery in the blog, the writer makes the reader feel as if they were in the place of the soldier. He or she then truly feels for what the soldiers have been and are going through. When the author states, “The medals — earned in younger days — sparkle with an exceptional valor. Though this old man now struggles to shuffle down his stairs, this bravery has not diminished,” the reader can imagine the old, decrepit veteran struggling because of the sacrifice he made for them in an earlier time. The reader feels the want to help the veteran, and the one way to help is with a simple thank you. With these feelings, civilians want to express their gratitude to their protectors more and will go out of their way to do so because of being placed in the veteran’s shoes and feeling the guilt and remorse for not being thankful before.
The word choice in this piece is very effective. The writer’s choice of diction glorifies service men and women. Words such as “brave,” “uniformed glory,” and “super heroes” give the soldiers a higher title. These words honor soldiers and makes citizens see these men and women in a different light; the writer reveres the service men and women and sets them above the others. These words convey a sense of heroism; people want heroes. By comparing soldiers to super heroes, the columnist makes people revere and think about what the men and women have done for them. The writer believes these people are heroes and wants them to be treated as such; heroes get thanked for what they do. The writer uses the phrase “fresh air” when discussing the military dress. The expression makes one think of a new birth. However, the soldiers cannot receive a new birth after their duty. The word choice here makes the reader think of how veterans do not get the chance to forget about the things they have been through and have a new birth. Another phrase in the blog “the least you can do,” was repeated multiple times throughout the piece. This phrase conveys the sense of disappointment the writer has for the American people. The columnist does want the reader to go beyond simply saying thank you, but many people do not even accomplish that task. The writer is saying these people risked their lives for you, the minimum requirement for you is to say thank you. The phrase “the least you can do,” makes people aware that he or she is not even achieving the smallest requirement on their way to gratitude for service men and women. The phrase is a call to action to get the smallest obligation of gratitude from civilians.
The newspaper writer did a great job of getting the point of the need for gratitude across. With many calls to action in the article, Americans have a strong knowledge of what the writer wants them to do after reading the article. The author used concrete imagery to place civilians in the shoes of the soldiers and used certain words to magnify the acts of the service men and women. The writer seems to say that while the soldiers returning home did not have to give all, they did give some and should be thanked for their service.
This is what I believe all soldiers should receive.
So I thought the RA was way easy! It definitely was not the most fun paper ever, but it was easy. I liked analyzing another person's work! The process was good because it was a process and we discussed it as we went along!
Hope y'all have a great weekend. Here's a laugh to get it started off right:)
So I honestly think peer reviewing is the most awkward things ever. Buuuuuut.....it totally does help a ton! I liked getting help from multiple people in the RA peer review, but I liked getting a much longer time with reviewing with the Oped. I think I would have liked the Oped peer reviews better if we had done it with like one more person. So if we did the Oped version, with just one more person, then I'd be a happy camper! Compromise is always the best:)
And now for a funny picture. I cracked up when I saw this!
SUMMER!!!!!! I can't wait for it! Oh how I yearn for warm weather, shorts, and flip flops! I'm tired of this whole cold weather dealio. I want the sunshine on my face and the 87 percent humidity baby! Lake trips, beach trips, daily pool trips are calling my name! No more little Miss Pale Michelle; get ready for a tan one! Just thinking about summer makes me feel all warm inside. And I LOVE it! So basically I'm pumped for summer. So here are some beachy songs to make you feel like you're on the beach with a cold drink in your hand just wasting away:)
The blog that I'm writing about uses the rhetorical question "It may seem awkward to walk up to a soldier and shake their hand, but don't you think it's the least you can do?" to call people into action and feel bad for not taking the initiative to thank soldiers for their services.
Another tool the writer uses is imagery; "An old man, aged by experience and time, carefully removes a crisp blue suit from its faded garment bag. Despite their long years together, this suit appears new, cherished and protected, saved for special occasions." The description of these actions put the reader in the veterans shoes.
Oh, and you've all probably seen this video before, but it still cracks me up. So watch it. And enjoy it. Kay?
"No Unwounded Soldier" is an affective argument to convince the American people to revere soldiers because it uses experiences and an appeal to feelings of graditude to expose a feeling of unappreciativeness towards soldiers.
No Unwounded Soldier
Audience- Those who do not support veterans
Writer- Daily Universe
Topic- Solidiers will always have the memories from the war they served in and people should be more kind and respectful to them.
10 Consistent Ghost Story Elements
Audience- Ghost story writers/listeners
Writer-Ian Zanni
Topic- What most ghost stories have in them.
10 Underrated Disney Songs
Audience- Disney Lovers
Writer- Collin
Topic- Disney songs that were forgotten about!
So I personally think the opinion editorial wasn't bad at all! I liked how we took things step by step! It made writing it so much easier and less stressful!
I think the hardest part was writing the rough draft. Actually having to make myself sit down and pound it out put the rough into rough draft. I might have been one of those people who waited till about 11 at night before starting the thing....but once I sat down and did it, I just kept on writing till it was done!
I liked how much revisement we went through; the meetings with Chris, peer editing, and the writing center peeps. The meeting with Chris was most helpful because he is the one grading it, so it's nice to know what he is looking for! The peer editing was awkward, but helpful also. The writing center was not half as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would be super awkward and that they would totally change my paper. But it wasn't either of those! They just gave me a few ideas of how to improve it and when I went and did those things, my paper was so my better!
I think going through the steps of the writing process helped me learn that writing a paper right before it is due is not the answer. My paper got better each time I looked and it and whenever someone else took a peek at it. I think that from now on I will make an effort to start papers before the night of!
