Kathleen Goonan's In War Times

This quote in the first chapter of the book sets the overall tone. The author Tim O’Brien uses his language through out the book in an extremely straightforward manner. He does not sugar coat the way going to war and being in a war is. He does not use stories of heroes,

2. The character of Sam Wood is developed in several instances in Chapter 1. Discuss and develop his character by referring to:

Have you ever heard the saying "war turns men into beasts"? I’ve never heard it until I read the book “My Brother Sam is Dead.” The theme of that book for me is war turns men into beasts because Susannah (Mother), says it when people died, got kidnapped, or stole cattle from others. The main character, Tim Meeker, had an older brother (Sam Meeker) who decided he wanted to fight in the war.

Tomorrow When The War Began is a well-known novel written by the Australian writer John Marsden, detailing the seige of Australia by an unknown power. In this book, the author draws out both the inferior and superior side of the characters in the various circumstances faced during war. This is clearly illustrated at the beginning of the book when the characters Homer, Kevin and Ellie take a journey to Hell. However when they returned, they realised that they were involved in a war. To suit this sudden realisation, they changed both their approaches and attitudes. These significant character changes reveal a completely different side of them, resulting in the considerable difference of character even when accompanied by their closest companions. Consequently, their friendship was brought to a whole new level. All of the changes is attributed to the realisation of the war, and it would be true to say that war brings out both the worst and best in people.

The book generally describes the rise in the ranks of the main protagonist, Sam Damon, from an enlistee, to NCO, to Officer where he eventually reaches the rank of a division commander. The setting and time changes, beginning in World War I, the years between the two wars, World War II and finally a fictionalized Vietnam where Damon is an advisor. Throughout the book Damon is able to rise in the ranks thanks to political connections, audacity, and willingness. Through time Damon himself changes, becoming more self oriented, and looses some of his purity (for lack of a better description) as he rises in the ranks.

In the chapter “Selling the General” in the book “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan the main character, Dolly, comes off as relatable mother going through a tough time at first, but the line of work and the people she deals with makes us realize how she isn’t as much as an identifiable person. In the article “The Scourge of ‘Relatability,’” Rebecca Mead defines relatable as “describing a character or a situation in which an ordinary person might see himself reflected” (2014). Dolly is relatable because she is an over-worked single mother with financial problems and struggling to connect with her child, Lulu. On the other hand, she isn’t relatable because she is using her work to protect the image of a well-known dictator. In her article, Mead states that many people automatically see a work as a failure if they cant easily relate to it or the people involved. She goes on to say, it is our own failure to reject a work that we don’t relate to because we can still exercise our imagination to feel empathy and eventually relate to it (2014). Dolly for the most part is not relatable to us, but with a little effort to look past the evil, we can see that Dolly is a loving and concerned parent looking to emotionally connect with her child, which causes us to empathize and ultimately identify with her.

Rarely does a person come across a book with alternating points of view, an endless stream of characters, and powerpoint slides. Yet, all of those different structures intertwine within the novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Without its structure the novel would be unremarkable. The ever-switching points of view and types of prose carry the different perspectives of the main characters, and the division of the book into two sections symbolizes the flip sides of their lives. Ultimately, the structure unravels as its own character, which illustrates the main theme of the novel, that time is a goon tied to music.

As Tim’s hard work, he and his mother receive heartbreaking news that his father had died on a British prison ship (Collier, 1974). The news of his father never coming back made Tim’s coming of age even more serious (Collier, 1974). The countries coming of age continued as Tim and Susannah Meeker found out when Sam came home from the war with his clothes were all ripped, and he talked of both of the sides of the war were short of clothing and hungry (Collier, 1974). When they took an innocent boy Jerry Sanford Tim’s best friend to die on a prison ship was another sign of the countries coming of age. After they boy died all they did to bury him was throw him overboard into the ocean (Collier,

George, unlike the reader however, is unaware of Editha’s dishonest reasons for her support of the war and ignorantly goes off to war with the innocent belief that his girlfriend actually cares about the outcome of the war itself and not that it might potentially shape him into the man she secretly wishes he was. Howell’s use of Editha and her deceitful motives for supporting the war add a layer of realism to the story, as peoples’ motives in real life are not always pure.

The Wars, written by Timothy Findley, is a story about World War I, and consists of many shocking images passed over to the reader. Findley accomplishes to pull the reader into the narrative itself, so that the reader manages to feel an impact upon him/her-self about what is read. If it was not for this specific skill, or can also be seen as a specific genre, the novel would not have been as successful as it is now. Also, something that helps the book be so triumphant, there is the fact that Findley never overwhelms the reader with too many gruesome details about the World War I. Instead, he breaks the book down to help the reader calm down from everything that is happening. Throughout the essay, there is going to be some commenting on a

In the novel “Tomorrow When the War Began” written by John Marsden, one important idea that was developed throughout the written text was how life events change people. People develop the most during their teenage years which is when they are affected the most during their life.Major life events change people and teenagers need to understand this. In this novel, seven teenagers go camping and when they emerge from the bush there are fires everywhere, the power is out and the animals are dead. The small town of Wirrawee has been invaded by the army. The idea of how life events can change people is shown through the technique of characters. With the events of war, Ellie showed how she grew up and lost her innocence because of the choices she

Her Uncle, Emmet, is also sent to Vietnam only when he comes back to the United States he suffers from PTSD and becomes a hippie. After Emmet returns from War Sam’s mother, Irene, takes care of him and eventually lets Emmet be the caretaker of Sam and the house as she moves to Lexington to continue school and start a family at the University of Kentucky. During this time Sam and Emmet become very close and Sam spends time around some more time with some of Emmett's friends that are also vets. The story follows Sam as she searches for more detailed information about what exactly Vietnam was like, meanwhile trying to find out more about her father in the process. Not only is this a coming of age story, but also one of a loss of innocence. Sam ultimately discovers that the war was viewed in different ways and had differing effects in the soldiers morals.

The one-year Sam came home in a fancy military suit. He amazed everyone in his family; he was fighting for the rebels. Timmy had always admired Sam, and was very jealous. He also didn't know if he agreed with

“Tomorrow When The War Began” by John Marsden, is a novel of survival, friendship, love and war. He uses many language techniques (e.g. simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron, irony, symbol, allusion etc.) to get across to the reader the importance of each of the themes discussed. He also uses these techniques to set the mood in each chapter and to help emphasise each major point in the novel. “We’ve learnt a lot and had to figure out what’s important- what matters, what really matters.”- Ellie

“So prying and insidious were the fingers of the European War” suggests the all encompassing nature of the war. No matter how much people might think that they are sheltered, no aspects have been left untouched. Once the war starts even something as personal as the “geranium bed” is destroyed, nothing is spared. The most private as well as public spaces are intruded, damaged and scarred by the war. War affected not just soldiers but also civilians like the ‘cook’, Lady Bexborough and Miss Kilman. Miss Kilman had to struggle to