Alize Elsea AP English 11 “Al-Shaitan”
“The American Sniper” by Chris Kyle is an account of the deadliest American sniper ever. He was called “the devil” by the enemies he hunted and “the legend” by his Navy SEAL brothers. From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle 's kills (the previous American record was 109). Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him Al-Shaitan meaning “the devil” and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned
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Later on and after school, Kyle became a professional bronco rodeo rider, but his profession ended abruptly when he severely injured his arm. After his arm healed, he went to a military recruiting office, interested in joining the United States Marine Corps (USMC). A Navy recruiter told him about the Navy SEALS. Kyle signed up, but was rejected because of the pins in his arm. A little while later, he received a call and he had the chance to go to BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL school), and finally joining the United States Navy in 1999. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. Is Chris Kyle immoral based off of his actions? There are two primary views that rise from this question. The first argument claims that Chris Kyle’s actions are immoral because of his military service. The first reason is that military service, such that Kyle served in, does not allow us to exercise our moral freedom as human beings. One 20th century thinker wrote a book entitled “Moral Man, Immoral Society,” pointing out that people are often corrupted when they apart of institutions that pressure them to act in ways they might not choose to act as individuals. In comparison no military organization could operate if it respected human moral independence, that is, the capacity of individuals to take full responsibility for their
Columbine by Dave Cullen tells the events that unfolded on April 20th, 1999. That day, two boys, self-proclaimed rebels, armed themselves and proceeded to murder the same students they had walked the halls with for four years. As the stories of Dylan, Eric, and the victims of this tragic day came to light, many falsehoods also arose. Unfortunately, the myths and truths about Columbine still linger with us today. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold left a lasting impression on the world; but left behind the truth as to why they really did it. This leaves us to wonder what really happened on that fateful day.
While on active duty, Chris served as a Navy Seal, in a special forces unit primarily as a Scout Sniper. Chris was a highly decorated special forces operator with top secret clearance, who served 4 combat deployment to Iraq and is credited as the deadliest sniper in American history, with 160 confirmed kills. His exposure to combat has come from fighting in some of the major battles of the war in Iraq, in where he experienced the loss of fellow service members
The American Revolution, the effects it had on those who served and their families, the death, the unapologetic rawness, and what it left behind; all of these aspects demand to be felt in Joseph Wright’s The Dead Soldier. Wright, called Joseph Wright of Derby, a European artist of the eighteenth century, who is best known for his beautiful portraiture, scientific scenes, and sensationally lit landscapes, steps outside of his norm and composes a sorrowful piece expressing the misery and loss the war had on the people of the time. With his use of chiascurro, draping lines, and contrasting color palette, Wright evokes an immense amount of sentiment in the viewer while highlighting the dark misery of the American Revolution, which is rarely
The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.
Contradiction in the mind, we struggle between decisions. Whether it is correct or not, it leaves an indelible memory. In Tim O'Brien's confessional writing, Ambush, he creates a flashback and recalls his memory in Vietnam. With detail descriptions, Tim O'Brien expresses his guilt towards killing an innocent young man. Furthermore, reinforcing his opposition against war with the writing.
In 2011, Bill O’Reilly wrote Killing Lincoln. In this book he explains how the assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place and groundbreaking affects it had on the war and the country. O’Reilly had many reasons for the purpose in writing this book. He says he thought he knew what happened with the assassination and the effects it had on the country. I believe O’Reilly was truly intrigued once he started researching how the plot was planned and so forth. O’Reilly states that the plan itself had elements that have been unknown for quite some time. He states this book will have many effects on the readers. It will disturb-quotation marks the reader because of all of the conspiracies in the book. He also states that the book will advance readers knowledge on the assassination and its implication on the future of America. He states by reading this there are many lessons to be learned. He says realizing the heroes who have mad the country great-quotation marks and also the villains-quotation marks are vital to those who want to keep the country great. Lastly, while his main purpose is the thrill the reader, he makes sure not to spin any facts or compromise the integrity of the facts throughout the book. (need page number(s). Since there are no numbers on these pages you paraphrase/quoted from you can use roman numerals, which are i-ii)
In the book, Killing Lincoln, author Bill O’Reilly portrayed John Wilkes Booth as an obsessed assassin who recruited various conspirators. He described the events leading to President Lincoln’s murder and the hunt to capture Booth and his cohorts. Killing Lincoln is comprehensible to anyone as young as a middle schooler, although it would be best suited for an older reader with an interest in history and politics. Killing Lincoln could also be appealing to those intrigued by conspiracy plots and criminal motives. O’Reilly constructed an action packed thriller of patriotism and war to keep the reader engaged.
The mystery of how John Wilkes Booth pulled off the most influential and notorious assassinations in history is revealed in Killing Lincoln. The author of this book, Bill O’Reilly, built up the plot of the story through vivid historical details and pieced them together like a thriller. He tries to explain all of what happened on one of the most interesting and sad days in American history. Many conspiracies and Civil War ideals are on full display in the book. I agree with most of O’Reilly’s ideas but there are some that I am not really sure about because of his point of view like many of the conspiracy theories. Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly was a very compelling read which described the Civil War, lives of
John Yossarian is a bombardier in world war II that believes everyone is trying to kill him. His only goal is to stay alive and in doing so fakes an illness to avoid flying missions. The missions the men fly put all of their lives in jeopardy time and time again and as the novel progresses we find that the purpose for the missions is to take good aerial of the explosions. Yossarian is haunted by the memory of his snowden who died in yossarians arms. Yossarians squadron gets bombed by the mess hall officer and his men are forced to participate in a deadly mission in order to make the commanding officers look good. Throughout the novel the term Catch 22 is used. It is a paradoxical law that uses circular reasoning to trap the characters in
The Killer Angel is a book elaborating on the history of the American civil war authored by Michael Shaara. The book has gained popularity among American citizens as it covers one of the deadliest battles in American history that took place at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, hence the title of the battle of Gettysburg (Shaara 5). The crash involved two major groups, the Confederacy, and the Union. The Confederacy constituted of seven secessionist states from the South who advocated for slavery while the Union consisted of the northerners who advocated for the abolition of the slave trade and recognition of black men as legitimate American citizens. The book widely covers the course of the battle for the three primary days of the war, which were between 30th June 1863 and 2nd July 1863 (Shaara 32). According to the author, the Confederates are headed by General Robert E. Lee and General James Longstreet. On their part, the Union army is spearheaded by General John Buford. However, the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is considered as the worst battle in the American Civil War as the two groups lost a significant number of their soldiers (Shaara 37). It is also clear that the two groups had different reasons for participating in the war. Soldiers from the two sides also had different motivations hence the morale and willingness to fight on despite the risk of death. The given essay aims at elaborating on the main reasons why men from the two different groups
The beginning of the nonfiction, Columbine by Dave Cullen, takes place four days before the Columbine massacre at Columbine High School’s assembly in Littleton, Colorado, just before the weekend of Prom. Ironically, Principal DeAngelis, the one who had hosted the school assembly, provides a lecture of everyone coming back alive and safe after prom. Soon after, on April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at Columbine High School with two bombs based on portable propane bottles, decoy bombs in their cars and across town, and dozens of small pipe bombs, along with guns and ammunition. Their original and only plan was to shoot anyone and everyone who escapes from the building after the bombs detonated, and they had expected to be shot to death by police; however, their plans partly failed when the bombs planted inside the school did not go off. Although their plan of distraction did not succeed as expected, Harris and Klebold entered the school and began shooting and firing pipe bombs for a little over fifteen minutes. Afterwards, after roaming the school for a short amount of time, they returned to the library where most of their victims had died, set off one final bomb, and committed suicide by shooting themselves. Although their bombing failed, the ensued shooting resulted in a new era of school violence and had left “a lasting impression on the world.” However, by the end of the day, the horrifying incident was falsely blamed on bullying, the popular “Goth”
In reality, according to multiple sources, he was a hate filled killer. Kyle reportedly described killing as “fun”, something he “loved”; he was unwavering in his belief that everyone he shot was a “bad guy” (West). Now, every soldier loves his or her job, it's why they re-enlist, or enlist in the first place; but no man or woman enjoys, really enjoys the act of taking another person's life. Some believe he was brainwashed by the military to become a "killing machine" and although most everyone supports their military, their troops, there is proof that the system is flawed and there are things the American people are blind too, and it is a possibility that Chris Kyle's intentions are one of those
Chris Kyle and William James are both dedicated warriors that had spent hundreds of hours training for a war in a foreign country overseas. Both individuals enjoyed their work during training and craved to fight for their country, however they became addicted to the dangerous and exhilarating thrills of battle. Kyle had written about his journey from high school to becoming a Navy Seal in American Sniper using oxymorons, symbolism and emotional language from the perspective of himself, as well as his wife. Kathryn Bigelow presented the story of James’ experience in Iraq by implementing stylistic features such as music, cinematography and atmosphere. These texts revealed the life of the protagonist in their perspectives showing their frequent close encounters with death, but continue to return on multiple deployments despite the fear, but for the ecstasy of combat. Kyle and James do not care for politics; James represents the ordinary soldier on the ground conducting an extraordinary job whereas Kyle represents the stereotypical hero conducting a secret job. But, both individuals suffer from the same dangerous addiction where they savour fighting in combat. Chris Kyle dedicated his life to staying fit and continuing his military education so he could fight overseas. “I wanted to fight. I wanted to do what I’d been trained for. American taxpayers had invested considerable dollars in my education as a SEAL. I wanted to defend my country, do my duty, and do my job. I wanted more
Military history with a confirmed 160 kills. Over his ten-year enlistment, he deployed to Iraq four times and survived six Improvised Explosive Device (IOD) attacks, and multiple gun shot wounds. He was also nicknamed ‘The Legend’ by other U.S. soldiers by his remarkable sharpshooting, and the Iraqi insurgents named him, ‘The devil of Ramadi’, ‘al Shaitan’ translated in Arabic. Insurgents put a US$80,000 bounty on his head, dead or alive.
The literary element setting includes the time when the story happens and location where the story takes place. Some stories use variety of settings to initiate an interesting beginning. However, the 12 Angry Man has only one fixed setting – the jury room, which is not commonly used in a novel. The author, Reginald Rose, overcomes the limitation in setting by describing changes in weather, initiating different types of character and imitating the events of the murder.