The Recruit By Robert Muchamore

The poem ‘Migrants by ‘Bruce Dawe ’should be included for the core text for journeying as it portrays journeying through the perceptions and experiences of a migrant group. This poem depicts feelings of ignorance and disrespectfulness encountered by the migrant group as they are treated with a lack of concern by people living in Australia.

I was not really into reading at the time, but I remember that my teacher made us read for at least fifteen minutes at the beginning of every class. If we did not have a book there were many books from her library to choose from. I believe this was one of the first books that I read in her class, and think I chose this book in particular because it stood out. I mean the title itself already piqued my interest. I honestly did not think that I was going to enjoy it as much as I did, It was such a bizarre read with all the strange events and abnormal characters. And in a weird way, the strangeness of the story was what I really liked. I do not think I would have liked it as much if it was not for that. It was one of the first chapter books that I did not have to force myself to finish. This was also one of the first books I read that really got me into loving to read. I just loved getting lost in another world and I wanted to keep reading books that did that for me.

Discuss how your investigation of the generic conventions of poetry has influenced your understanding of at least one poem that you have studied in this unit.

"Battleground America," written by Jill Lepore, provides a strong history of guns and the way they have changed in the eyes of the American through the years. She proves her point with strong evidence throughout her article, sprinkling it with opinion and argument that is strongly supported. She presents her argument to convince her audience that the open availability of guns allows citizens to undeservingly purchase them by displaying the credibility in her sources, using negative connotations in her speech, and the strength and objectivity only a strong logos appeal can provide.

Overall, the characters are easy to get to know and understand. The characters are genuine and likeable and it is a good example of a realistic fiction novel for the teen

To the United States, World War II is believed to be a good war, and why wouldn’t it be considered as such? During World War II, in addition to stopping mass genocide and stopping the spread of Nazism and Fascism, the United States beat Japan after their attack on Pearl Harbor. As a result, the U.S. was no longer in the Depression and the United States became a world power. However, in “The Best War Ever,” Michael C.C. Adams argues that as a result of Hollywood’s glamorization of the war, government propaganda/censorship, and the widespread of economic prosperity, Americans were kept in the dark about the truth regarding World War II resulting in the popular belief and myth that World War II was a good war.

“My Son the Marine?” is a short story written by Frank Schaeffer and John Schaeffer about a father’s thoughts on his son enlisting in the military. The story starts off as two Marine recruiters visit the narrator’s home in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The narrator’ wife asks the Marine what John will get out of being a Marine. One of the Marine simply replies, “He’ll be United States Marine, ma’am!” Becoming a Marine will not guarantee college funds, signing bonuses, or great civilian opportunities, but it will help John find standards that had not been lowered (paragraph 5). The narrator goes on to describe the background of his family. He was born in Switzerland, he was the youngest of four children, he was home-schooled, and he was later sent to private schools in England and Wales. After contracting polio, the narrator’s parents became very overprotective of him. He married Genie in 1970 and 10 years later they had their youngest child, John.

In a world that continues to advance technologically machines titled “sociable robots” acquire life-like characteristics once exclusive to humans. They are able to express artificial emotions that seem real to the user. In “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle we see how sociable robots interact with children. They begin to feel emotions that were once exclusive to human interaction. In the narrative “An Army of One: Me” by Jean Twenge we see how prominent the generation gap is. Those under the age of thirty-five tend to focus more on themselves and making sure they feel worthy. Twenge appropriately titles this generation as “Generation Me,” highlighting the fact that boosts of “self-esteem” leads to a rise in individualistic focus. Parents expose their children to toys that industries manufacture to fill the emotional needs children have at a young age. This consequently decreases the need for human interaction. As technology develops and become more “alive,” researchers are able to find what children desire and are able to give those desires to them in a toy. These new toys shape how children think and grow, directly affecting them for their entire lives. By changing the notions of aliveness, sociable robots “cultivate” behaviors representative of Generation Me by manipulating values important to one’s well-being through their expression of life-like emotions and behaviors.

The first time I looked at the story I did so only because it was assigned to me as homework. I ultimately found myself reading quickly, and not actively reading in the slightest way. Eventually

The Slave Ship was written by Marcus Rediker and it tells several accounts of the African slave trade as well as the world of the middle passage. The author discusses the nature of the slave ship and the African paths to the middle passage. Rediker also mentions the lives of historical figures (Olaudah Equiano, James Field Stanfield, and John Newton) and the roles that they had during the Atlantic slave trade. For the African captives, the sailors, and captains, the slave ship was seen as a wooden, floating, traveling dungeon and a place of terror and survival, which are also the overall main themes of the book.

Some may argue against the book being understandable, descriptive and clear. Some may argue that this book is boring because it is non-fiction. The problem is, when thinking about non-fiction, people usually use stereotypes. They think non-fiction books have no storyline and that they are just full of facts. That is not true for this book. This is the story of James Longstreet’s life. We get to experience all the struggles and hardships he faced along with some of the exciting things that happened in his life. It is interesting. Other people may say that it’s too easy, but it’s not. There are very many characters and it’s hard to keep them straight. Also, there are some occasional vocabulary words that are difficult to understand. So neither of those statements are a valid argument.

In the book Revolutionary Characters by Gordan Wood, the degree in which he portrays the personality and personal philosophies that informed the politics of these early American leaders, especially Thomas Jefferson, shows that contrary to popular belief that these men were not some unflawed perfect beings, but they are just like us with their many fears and insecurities. These flaws appear in all of the founding fathers and this adds a level of realism to them. It also shows that flaws are a part of human nature.

John Keegan describes his book, The Face of Battle, as "a personal attempt to catch a glimpse of the face of battle." This personal aspect that Keegan mentions is essential to his book and is excellently articulated, driving home his point. Keegan, who taught at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for over 25 years, begins by acknowledging his uneasiness with the fact that even though he taught British cadets military history, "I have not been in a battle; not near one, nor heard one from afar, nor seen the aftermath . . . And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like." Keegan is clear to state his proposition that almost all military history has functioned simply as a “battle piece” description in which one can see all the larger moving aspects followed by the outcome. However, this sort of recounting fails to acknowledge the personal side of war, the experience of battle. What really ensues when a cavalry unit meets an infantry unit? What are the vital features in determining whether soldiers stand and fight or turn and run?

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a classic work of military science fiction depicting a war between the human race and an unfamiliar alien entity known as the Taurans. The overall plot line follows a fairly typical path, but Haldeman’s real genius is realized through the interactions that take place between the protagonist, William Mandella, and the Earth he returns to between military operations. Developing beneath the ever-present war of the two species lies a much subtler conflict between generations of human thought and culture. Brought about by the way troops are transported in space, time dilation creates an interesting dichotomy between the early soldiers of the war and the rapid evolution of human society and culture remaining on Earth. The Forever War questions the stability of human nature by creating a scenario where its fluidity is exposed through an invariable link to time. The expression of human nature changes as cultural and personal identities adapt to new situations; viewing these changes through Mandella, we begin to see how different expressions of human nature can impact human nature itself.

This book review is on Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. The book was very interesting but a lot of the information could have been cut because it’s a bit too long. Jared Diamond is a scientist, not a historian and he’s American. He upset many historians around the world by the way he bashes Europeans. However, he did win a Pulitzer Prize for the book so that says something.