Poem Visual:
Final Poem:
Power-
The chance to rule.
The chance to create rules.
The chance to break rules.
Pulling and tugging, they are the
puppeteers
moving us closer and closer to the man
behind the curtain.
They control the strings of our mind,
feet,
and hope.
These dictators are driven with rage and
driven with the hunger
to win.
Driven by the fear
of losing
control.
Obey what they say, do what they want.
That’s the game,
where rules are not to be bent,
and beaten and broken bodies are the
consequences.
Where your cards are dealt unevenly
and how you play determines tomorrow.
Never ask why
or you will be silenced.
You are to do,
not speak.
You are to be
not your own.
Go where they say
and pray you will last another day.
But what if real power was none of this?
What if power is not defined by its
outside force,
the force that drives itself into you
like an uncontrollable disease?
Instead,
real power is distinguished by the force
within,
the force that gives you the fight to
defeat the virus that haunts your world.
Some say there is more power to believe
in what you love,
not in what you desire.
For,
to keep standing up after being pushed
down,
that’s power.
To hold your head high as you turn and
leave the man screaming commands,
that’s power.
Close your eyes and count to three,
waiting for the darkness to last for
eternity.
That’s power.
To love and know it may kill.
That’s power.
To be yourself.
Now that’s power.
Artist Statement:
In our society having power is
frequently thought of as having a strong form of authority which controls
others through the acts of violence or threats. When hearing the word “power,”
violence, war and dictators such as Hitler come to mind. But these are just the
ideas about power that we have been taught, when really the strongest form of power
is the power from within, the power to stand up for what one believes in and
loves, the power to take your courage and use it to change how the world views
others. Just one example of this form of power is the movement Gandhi began in
India. With the strength and power he had, he faced unlikely odds to receive freedom
for the Indians. He never gave up and he never forced anyone to do something
they did not want to do. This is one of the biggest reasons why Gandhi’s
movements were my main content inspiration. In order to give this message of a
different form of power, I began showing how power can be perceived as
manipulative and forceful. But in the last two stanzas I begin to explore this
idea that power doesn’t necessarily have to be executed through violence and
threats. Some of the strongest power can simply come from being yourself and
standing up for what you believe in.
For my form inspiration, I chose “Wild
Geese” by Mary Oliver. I chose this poem because of her use of enjambment and simile.
An example of Mary Oliver using enjambment is when she says, “You do not have
to walk on your knees/for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.” I
like her use of enjambment because of the effect it has on the reader. When a
phrase is broken into two verses it causes you to think about each verse
separately and then find the meaning and connection of them both. With saying
that, I think this helps get the message across intellectually by breaking the
words down into smaller sections, giving the reader a chance to thoroughly
think about each line and how it connects to the line before it and the poem’s
meaning. Along with euphony, the use of similes also helps by giving a vivid
image or clear understanding of what the author is describing. Intellectually I
think this can solidify the meaning because it can eliminate other possible
ideas and give a clear “vision” of what the author is saying. Emotionally this
can help the reader to connect to the poem by having an object compared to an
idea, thing or place that they have history with. An example of a simile in my
poem is when I say, “the force that drives itself into you like an uncontrollable
disease.” When saying this, it gives the reader something to imagine and grasp
there mind around for a clearer understanding.
For exhibition I plan on creating a slide
show that displays photography while the words of the poem are on the screen
and a recording of my poem plays. In my slideshow I will be using my own
photography that represents the words that are being displayed over the photo. With
doing a slide show, I feel like it will allow the audience to connect to the
poem and be able to have a clearer and more vivid idea of what mood and message
of the poem. One idea I have is when I say, “To be yourself. Now that’s power.”
I will have a picture that is black and white with a person in color is smiling
while wearing bright clothes. I think this will affect the audience by giving
them a strong and powerful representation of standing up to others and not being
afraid to be yourself.
Veteran's History Project
Project Reflection:
In our Truth of war Project, my thesis statement was: despite what propaganda may say, there is no glory or dignity in war. Once you kill a man, it only leaves you broken and misguided. That is the truth of war for a soldier. And by doing this Veterans project, it really confirmed my view point on war. Although my veteran was never in combat or never killed anyone, I remember him commenting on how hard it was for him to adjust to normal life. He said that it was a struggle for him and his family to readjust and “get back to normal”. When he said this, it really confirmed my view that war truly changes a person and that it is an immense struggle to live a “normal” and civilized life again.
One of the most interesting things I learned in my interview is how brutal boot camp is. In movies and books we hear and see how intense and hard boot camp is, but I never expected the movies to be so accurate. I remember our veteran saying that when he got off of the bus, they were asked to stand at attention and the sergeant hit him in the head because he wasn’t standing in perfect attention. We also heard stories of men getting kicked in the mouth and people running drills over and over again for hours because one person messed up. So for me, that was one of the most interesting thing I learned about the war.
As a historian, I could use this veteran interview as a source to confirm or back up my perspective statement. Using an interview is probably one of the most valid sources you could use for an argument because the information you are getting is from a first-hand source. This interview could be used to show the real affects war as on people when they return home.
The most valuable part of this project for me was learning how to communicate with other people in our community. My role in this project was the communicator which required me to contact our veteran several times and my appointments to do the interview and ask the questions at the interview. Personally I am a very shy person so it was nice to have a chance to push myself to talk and interact with people I wouldn’t normally interact with.
Gulf of Tonkin in Class Writing:
Thesis statement: Even though the United States claimed they were repeatedly attacked without warning in the Gulf of Tonkin, their ships were never attacked and they only used this “incident” as an excuse to get into Vietnam.
On August 2, 1964 the US government states that the U.S.S Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin repeatedly, without warning and with unprovoked reasons. “We did not choose to be the guardians at the gate, but there is no one else.” (Doc. 1). When looking at the source several things come into consideration. President Johnson (who gave the speech) is a supporter of capitalism therefore he wants to dispose of communism. As the president Johnson wants the people to side with him and believe that going to war to “protect” our people from communism is the right and only reasonable thing to do. Therefore he will say anything it takes to get support; even if that means stretching the truth of reality. In close reading you see that Johnson uses loaded terms such as “vital shield” and “spurred by communist China” to hide the fact that he doesn’t really have a clear and justifiable reason to go in and invade Vietnam.
Although the US claims they were attacked on August 2nd and 4th of 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin, the US was not attacked, but warned with a single torpedo. “Details of action present a confusing picture although certain that the original ambush was bona fide.” (Doc.7). This is a firsthand source coming from Captain Herrick who was the commander of the Maddox itself making this document a reliable source. Captain Herrick himself agrees that this whole “attack” was blown out of proportion and that they had a reason to shoot at us. In all realness there never was an attack. Contextualizing this, the US already had around 16,300 men in Vietnam, meaning that they were already prepared for a fight to stop communism. The torpedo warning was the only thing they needed to back up our reasons for fighting. As you continue to read, Herrick later says that “all subsequent Maddox torpedo reports are doubtful in that it is suspected that sonarman was hearing ship’s own propeller beat.” (Doc. 7). Again this shows that the Captain Herrick and all the men on the ship were doubtful that Vietnam kept firing. The sounds they were picking up were just from the weather and perhaps even from the ship itself. In all fairness, the US was warned. They just never took the warning.
Although the US states that we were brutally attacked, the US government failed to mention that they were withholding information on the event. “What happened was we’ve been playing around up there and they come out, give us a warning, and we knock the hell out of them.”(Doc. 3). Although LBJ was the president at the time, he declares that US did deserve to be attacked and that we took the incident much further than it needed to go. By fault, declaring this proves that the US government knew that their ships were never attacked the entire time. They just withheld the information in order to get the approval from US citizens to go into Vietnam and attack them. Contrary to what the US claimed, we only used this event as an opportunity to invade Vietnam to stop communism.
The Truth of War
Forever Changed -by Jessie Dvirnak
There is nothing like taking that gun that was forced into your hands and holding it up to someone and shooting them. There is nothing like hearing the pain and agony that man feels as he stumbles to the ground. There is nothing like watching their life fly past them as the life slips out of his grasp. There is nothing in the world like killing a man. You stand as stone as you watch them fall into a lifeless lump. Your feet can’t move and you can’t breathe. All the noises and orders fade into the background as if they aren’t there. The worst part is that you can never be the same. No matter how far you put that incident behind you, it always finds its way back to you.
Many people may wonder why anyone would ever enter the war with it being such a place of despair. In fact, there were many techniques leaders used to convince soldiers to join the wars. The 20th century held the most deadly and bloody battles in history: World War One and World War Two. In these wars technology changed the face of war by using equipment that was unimaginable such as machine guns and tanks. The power of dictators came to a whole new level with leaders like Hitler creating empires of pure power. Soldiers were used as leaders’ puppets to fight a battle that was never even theirs and were convinced to do so through posters of propaganda. The military used propaganda to draw young men in and convince them that there was nothing wrong in killing a man and that war is no big commitment. Most propaganda posters used various techniques like “demonizing the enemy” or “direct order”. This way it would give men a reason to go fight without having to think about it. Propaganda may make killing a man seem acceptable, but we rarely think of the effect killing someone has on soldiers. So despite what propaganda may say, there is no glory or dignity in war. Once you kill a man, it only leaves you broken and misguided. That is the truth of war for a soldier.
Through propaganda, society is convinced that killing other people is acceptable and that it is just a part of war. In the WWI propaganda poster “Destroy This Mad Brute”, there is a German soldier portrayed as a horrific giant gorilla with his mouth wide open carrying off an innocent white woman while holding a bat. This makes young men feel obligated to enlist and fight in order to help other innocent citizens caught in the midst of war. The military also used the propaganda technique “Demonizing the Enemy” which by definition makes individuals from the opposing nation or those who support the opposing viewpoint appear to be worthless, subhuman, or immoral through suggestion or false accusations. This technique makes men feel that going to war and killing this beast would be a beneficial thing to do for the people of their country. It even gives men the idea that killing the enemy will make them honorable because they are saving their country from a terrible monster. Another way this poster draws men in is by making the enemy seem merciless by the gorilla’s facial expression and by holding a bat with a dying woman. This causes men to feel that their enemies are heartless and have no feeling; therefore there is nothing wrong in killing them. But that is usually never the case. The “beast” is just an innocent man trying to fight for his country and survival. Although some may think that killing is just another part of war, people seldom think of the effect it has on the soldier.
Propaganda makes killing the enemy and fighting seem like a noble and glorious thing whereas in reality it only breaks a man. In Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet in the Western Front, on page 295, the character Paul says, “I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me. They can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and my eyes. Whether I have subdued it, I know not. But so long as it is there it will seek its own way out, headless of the will that is within me.” Just in this passage alone, it shows how much pain he felt and how alone he felt and how much he gave up after killing just one man. When Paul says “Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me,” I believe that he is trying to say that war took so much out of him that when he actually killed someone with his own hands, it permanently changed who he was as a person and that nothing else could affect him because he had nothing left to lose. The pain Paul feels has caused him to almost “remove” himself from reality because he cannot stand what he has done. Consequentially he feels alone because he no longer knows how to act around others. In the end he truly doesn’t care what happens to him because he knows that there is no hope in ever being the same man that he was before, as it is too hard to deal with the pain. Therefore, he would preferably die than live with the guilt and pain of killing a man, despite the lies propaganda fed him about war being honorable and glorious. Although propaganda never shows enlisting men this, there is no bigger commitment then killing a man. Once you kill a man, there is no going back. That is just one lie propaganda gives men.
Another lie propaganda feeds us is that war is no big commitment. In most posters, the military asks/tells soldiers to enlist in such a way that it makes war seem like it is not a big responsibility. In the WWI propaganda poster “There is Room for You” there are box cars filled with young and happy men going off to the war with a sergeant in the front motioning for you to come. On the sides there are citizens smiling and waving goodbye with a big subtitle saying “enlist to-day”. The happy and easy-going facial expressions on the soldiers’ faces gave young men the impression that going off to war is no scary or intimidating thing. One technique the military used on this poster is called “Direct Order”. This technique, by definition, hopes to simplify the decision making process by using images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices. So when the posters said “There is Room for You” and “enlist to-day” it presented young men with a simple order which required little thought. Another technique the military used on this poster is called “Bandwagon”. Bandwagon is virtually the idea of follow the leader. Once one person gets on board the rest will follow. This makes young men almost feel pressured to join because everyone else is doing it. Once men start seeing someone join, more and more will join because they do not want to be the odd man out. Bandwagon also makes war seem like a light and easy commitment because the military phrases it in a way that makes men feel like everyone else is doing it, so why not join? Even though propaganda makes war seem like a carefree task that everyone is doing, propaganda never shows the reality and intensity of war and how it physiologically affects a soldier.
It isn’t until soldiers get to the battlefield that they realize that war is no simple and easy commitment. In reality it turns out to be a terrifying and gruesome experience that they will never forget. On page 134 in All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul starts to describe what he actually sees once he gets to the front: “We see men living with their skulls blown open; we see soldiers run with their two feet cut off, they stagger on their splintered stumps into the next shell-hole; a lance-corporal crawls a mile and a half on his hands dragging his smashed knee after him; another goes to the dressing station and over his clasped hands bulge his intestines; we see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces; we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death. The sun goes down, night comes, the shells whine, life is at an end.” This quote shows the shock and disgust soldiers experience on the actual front. The quote is explained in such depth that only soldiers could tell because no one ever advertises war the way it actually is. When Paul says, “we see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces; we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death.” Paul describes his images of war with such intensity and depth, that it almost paints the picture for you and shows the true horror and terror a soldier sees and experience with their own eyes. And it reveals how challenging and life threating war really is. This quote also explains the emotional impact all these deaths have on them by saying “The sun goes down, night comes, the shells whine, life is at an end.” The sun was the only light in their world. Once it went down, there was nothing left to keep them going. These soldiers had no hope and had no way to see anything. The soldiers could only feel dead bodies and hear the sound of death. There was no glory or dignity in that moment. There was only fear and hatred. Propaganda never told them what war was really like. Propaganda only masked the truth. So to the soldiers, it truly did feel like the end.
These days propaganda is seen in more of an electronic form. We see it through commercials, video games, website ads etc. This way, we get used to hearing about war and deaths and grow to feel comfortable with the idea. In video games, people play as if they were soldiers who are fighting in a battle. This alone makes people feel like war is just a fun strategic “game” that you play. We are socialized to think that war is some common thing that has no effect on people but that is just the game. Because of propaganda, we are hardly, if ever, shown the dark side of war, the side of war that leaves people in such dismay that they can’t even cope with reality. Even though we are socialized to think that killing in war is fine, we rarely think of the negative impact it has on a soldier. If we didn’t have propaganda perhaps the real truth of war would come out and when soldiers got to war there would be no surprise. There would be no shock. But even if propaganda didn’t exist there would still be that pain; the constant struggle to get away. Because once you kill a man, war only leaves you broken with no way out because it always finds its way back to you.
Citation Page
Remarque, Erich. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Random House, 1928.
For this project we studied World War I and World War II to gain an understanding of how different war was from today and how it impacted soldiers. We also read two books, All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse Five, to get a perspective from two soldiers on what war was really like on the battlefield and the long lasting impacts war has on a soldier. Throughout this project we studied the government of Europe, propaganda and warfare. The objective for this project was to answer the following question: What is the truth of war for a soldier? We had to answer this in one sentence and an essay to back up our perspective. We also got the chance to individually show how we view the truth of war for a soldier.
During this project I felt like the Habit of Heart and Mind I used the most was perseverance. Throughout the project I ran into multiple problems that caused me to change my initial view of the project. One of the biggest problems I had to persevere through was creating the soldier. In the beginning I was planning on taking a picture of a soldier and using a gel transfer to put it onto my canvas. But we quickly discovered that the transfer wasn’t working. In the last day before the project was due, I had to sit down and either find a different way to put the soldier on or think of a way to fill the empty space. I really had to persevere through this because I had worked so hard throughout the past two weeks that at that point, I felt there was no way my project was going to be complete and look refined. But as a result of my perseverance, I ended up finding a way to put the soldier on and I ended up with a refined and complete project.
Two substantial revisions I made to my essay were adding analysis and connecting all of my ideas and paragraphs to my thesis statement. For adding more analysis, I really tried to go through my essay and find ways that I could add more perspective and ideas. I also looked at ways I could expand and go more into depth. For me, I think giving more analysis makes it easier for the reader to understand where you are coming from and depending on how in depth you go, it can really make your reader just stop and think about what you are saying. For connecting ideas in my essay I went through and tried to compare my four paragraphs and made sure that they were connecting with each other and my thesis statement. When you connect all of your paragraphs together, it makes the essay flow more smoothly and keeps the reader from struggling to understand what you are saying.
If I had another week to work on my project the one thing I would change is the soldier. Originally I wanted a silhouette of a soldier at the bottom of my painting, but due to the gel transfer not working I had to find a different way to do a soldier. I only had an hour to draw and create a soldier so my end result was not as refined as I hoped it was going to be. So if I had more time, I would find a different way to put a soldier silhouette on and practice several times before so it looked really refined and really stood out.
