Review of a guide to Blogging"
Since Jan. 16, when the entire class begin blogging, I have made good progress. I have reviewed my guide to blogging, only to find there are areas where I'm missing the mark. I have picked out some major areas of information in which my instructor has given me. The areas I will point out is sure to improve my blogging posts. I will be thoroughly in my review of good blogging information.
To engage literary text twice a week. I will not read the text passively: meaning without having a good understanding of the text. A good understanding of the text will require reading it twice, and asking questions about the text.
All post must be at least 300 words in length. Our group agrees that we can satisfy the word count by saving the post in Word, then check for the word count. Grammar is also an important area, which can be checked in Word. All post must engage the texts we have read for this course.
At mid term, each student will need to submit a portfolio, all of the blogs posted since the beginning of the course is required. The three best post will be submitted in the portfolio.
The instructor will assess the drafts on a quantitative criteria and a qualitative criteria.
The quantitative evaluation will include: were all of the posts on time, full length, and on topic. The qualitative evaluation is to assess the quality of the work. The post should suggest serious engagement with the texts and concepts of the course. The instructor is looking for creativity and intellectual risk taking. With each post, the work should suggest growth of the student. The post should suggest that the student is participating with the instructor and class members. The way to incorporate our findings in class is to take notes daily on what is being said in the classroom.
Our instructor had given us notes on how to write a blog post. A post should include at least one quotation from a course text. The post should demonstrate a variety of ways of engaging texts. They ought to incorporate discussion of the course concepts often. They ought to include quotations or paraphrases of things said by the instructor or other members of the class.
The instructor have given some suggestions of writing the blogs. Summarize the work by putting in your own words. Discuss a particular line or passage. Give a description of material historical context. Use Wikipedia for quoted material, you will also need to write something in your own words to connect the material to the text. Translate the work to another medium: paint a short story, write a short story, write a short story to a poem, write a song, make a video clip. Make sure that overall your blog displays variety, creativity, and intellectual risk taking!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
"Re-Read Blogging"
The activities in which we have done in class have been tools to help the students to write better blog post. Reading the text once and then going back to reread the text. This approach helps to understand the literature more. Painting with color helps to see the dynamics of the words that are being used in the text. Knowing the historical period of the writing helps to understand where the writer is coming from. When I don't take the writing so serious, but learning to relax and just enjoy the writing. The writer's job is to inform me from a different perspective!
Blogging allows me to put my thoughts in my head onto a piece of paper and see. Blogging pulls the thoughts out of me and forces me to pull out even more thoughts. Blogging allows me to be honest to myself whether I can see the writer's thoughts. Blogging forces me to think critically about what I am thinking about the literature. When I blog, I look outside of myself. In this process I began to see some of my weakness and my strengths. Blogging causes to read more actively and attentive to the text, that I may be better in writing about what I read.
I have been able to make blogging work well for me. When I'm at the computer typing my thoughts I feel free. My mind opens and I let the things out that I believe to be true. I can see my creativity forming in the words that I write back in response to the literature. Blogging has made me to be careful of what I write down. My fellow classmates are reading my information, I want to send on words of intelligence to them. Blogging is really serious business, not like a regular chat line, but a group of intellects, sharing thoughts and conversation. Its Amazing!
Having to write 300 words is a lot of thinking and writing. The more that I come to blog, I find myself able to pour out more and more words. Every sentence is saying what more can I get out of your subconscious, where you have all this information stored up. I mostly blog late in the afternoon or night. I will write a blog in the morning hours to see if I can pour out more thoughts than I do in the mid evenings. It is said that the mind is more relaxed in the morning after a full night of rest. I believe that there is more there for me. I will honestly check it out!
The key to really having a good blog is to read your text well. The more information you have about the text, the better you can write on. It is good to put oneself into the text, in order to write from more than one point of view. In the beginning, I may not be able to understand the text, but after I read it over a time of two, the understanding begins to come to me. Yes, some of the schemes take me into territory in which I have never even heard about. That is what makes life more abundantly, when you can learn about something that you have never known!
It is my goal to come out this introduction to Literature class with a skill of knowing how to read and enjoy good literature. I will apply myself to engage more in the writings and order to be skillful in writing out what the text is saying to the audience. I will pay more attention to the quotes, because the writer is saying something very important. I will also need to pull out my dictionary to look up words that I do not know the meaning to. Writers are very smooth people to be able to write something in what may seem to be a foreign language and make some one's day!
The activities in which we have done in class have been tools to help the students to write better blog post. Reading the text once and then going back to reread the text. This approach helps to understand the literature more. Painting with color helps to see the dynamics of the words that are being used in the text. Knowing the historical period of the writing helps to understand where the writer is coming from. When I don't take the writing so serious, but learning to relax and just enjoy the writing. The writer's job is to inform me from a different perspective!
Blogging allows me to put my thoughts in my head onto a piece of paper and see. Blogging pulls the thoughts out of me and forces me to pull out even more thoughts. Blogging allows me to be honest to myself whether I can see the writer's thoughts. Blogging forces me to think critically about what I am thinking about the literature. When I blog, I look outside of myself. In this process I began to see some of my weakness and my strengths. Blogging causes to read more actively and attentive to the text, that I may be better in writing about what I read.
I have been able to make blogging work well for me. When I'm at the computer typing my thoughts I feel free. My mind opens and I let the things out that I believe to be true. I can see my creativity forming in the words that I write back in response to the literature. Blogging has made me to be careful of what I write down. My fellow classmates are reading my information, I want to send on words of intelligence to them. Blogging is really serious business, not like a regular chat line, but a group of intellects, sharing thoughts and conversation. Its Amazing!
Having to write 300 words is a lot of thinking and writing. The more that I come to blog, I find myself able to pour out more and more words. Every sentence is saying what more can I get out of your subconscious, where you have all this information stored up. I mostly blog late in the afternoon or night. I will write a blog in the morning hours to see if I can pour out more thoughts than I do in the mid evenings. It is said that the mind is more relaxed in the morning after a full night of rest. I believe that there is more there for me. I will honestly check it out!
The key to really having a good blog is to read your text well. The more information you have about the text, the better you can write on. It is good to put oneself into the text, in order to write from more than one point of view. In the beginning, I may not be able to understand the text, but after I read it over a time of two, the understanding begins to come to me. Yes, some of the schemes take me into territory in which I have never even heard about. That is what makes life more abundantly, when you can learn about something that you have never known!
It is my goal to come out this introduction to Literature class with a skill of knowing how to read and enjoy good literature. I will apply myself to engage more in the writings and order to be skillful in writing out what the text is saying to the audience. I will pay more attention to the quotes, because the writer is saying something very important. I will also need to pull out my dictionary to look up words that I do not know the meaning to. Writers are very smooth people to be able to write something in what may seem to be a foreign language and make some one's day!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Better Understanding of "Walt Whitman"
The Class discussed the poem of Walt Whitman on Monday , February 15,. I got a better understanding of the play after we went into small groups. I learn that the historical background of the time and of the author is very important in understanding the writing. Walt Whitman is writing about Abraham Lincoln 's death. I did not not whether the poem was about a lady and her man until those facts were revealed to me.
Walt Whitman is a man who used very formal words to this writing. The image that he writes into your mind is very different to me. The poem kept my interest from beginning to end. The writing forced me to figure out what all those facts in the poem was about. I would suppose then that is what good poetry is suppose to do. Walt Whitman has a strong vocabulary of words to present to his reading audience. The writing was not at all boring.
Walt Whitman talks with words to death. I must be able to be pulled into literature in order to understand and engage into it. I must be able to forget about the norm, and enter into the abnorm of reading poems and literature. He spoke all through the poem "O Death", he was personally connected with death in order to write the things around him to relate to death.
Writing about Abraham Lincoln had to have been a careful selection of words for Walt Whitman.
Here this man is a President of the United States. One of the most important men of the entire world. The selection of words had to be selective. I saw honor throughout the entire peom.
Honor for the gray-brown bird that would sing. Honor for the hermit in the swamp. Honor for the Lilac and the perfumed aroma.
I saw death all around the poem. The military gives the look forward of death. Walt Whitman helped us to see other men who have and would in the future face death. Face death and know death with honor. There was a great responsibility for this poem. There was a great responsibility for the Civil War. I admire a man like Walt Whitman whom could write about it with dignity.
I am sure that after visiting the cemetary this week that I will see more signs of honor there. I will read the history of men whom lie in those grave sites. My father also was a military man and he is buried in Bushnell cemetary here in Florida. I remember the day my family went to his burial. The army men all dressed in uniform. The men carrying the body of a former military man. We kids were all walking with them with dignity and honor at the passing of our father. Yes I can admire a writer like Walt Whitman!
The Class discussed the poem of Walt Whitman on Monday , February 15,. I got a better understanding of the play after we went into small groups. I learn that the historical background of the time and of the author is very important in understanding the writing. Walt Whitman is writing about Abraham Lincoln 's death. I did not not whether the poem was about a lady and her man until those facts were revealed to me.
Walt Whitman is a man who used very formal words to this writing. The image that he writes into your mind is very different to me. The poem kept my interest from beginning to end. The writing forced me to figure out what all those facts in the poem was about. I would suppose then that is what good poetry is suppose to do. Walt Whitman has a strong vocabulary of words to present to his reading audience. The writing was not at all boring.
Walt Whitman talks with words to death. I must be able to be pulled into literature in order to understand and engage into it. I must be able to forget about the norm, and enter into the abnorm of reading poems and literature. He spoke all through the poem "O Death", he was personally connected with death in order to write the things around him to relate to death.
Writing about Abraham Lincoln had to have been a careful selection of words for Walt Whitman.
Here this man is a President of the United States. One of the most important men of the entire world. The selection of words had to be selective. I saw honor throughout the entire peom.
Honor for the gray-brown bird that would sing. Honor for the hermit in the swamp. Honor for the Lilac and the perfumed aroma.
I saw death all around the poem. The military gives the look forward of death. Walt Whitman helped us to see other men who have and would in the future face death. Face death and know death with honor. There was a great responsibility for this poem. There was a great responsibility for the Civil War. I admire a man like Walt Whitman whom could write about it with dignity.
I am sure that after visiting the cemetary this week that I will see more signs of honor there. I will read the history of men whom lie in those grave sites. My father also was a military man and he is buried in Bushnell cemetary here in Florida. I remember the day my family went to his burial. The army men all dressed in uniform. The men carrying the body of a former military man. We kids were all walking with them with dignity and honor at the passing of our father. Yes I can admire a writer like Walt Whitman!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
"When Lylacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"
I see the writing about Death. Death in an honorable light. We have no power over death. We can be left with any lasting thoughts of the death. This story is about a military person who has died. The surrounding are a farm, a wooded area, a body of water . The farm is surrounded by lilac plant, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, and a perfume smell. Death is dark, which brings us to the memory of clouds.
In the wooded swamp area, a bird sings, a frog sings. There is a spring in the woods, and violets. There is a field of wheat grain, and an apple orchard. Someone is carrying a coffin. It does seem strange to be carrying a coffin in the woods. It appears to be a person who was a military person. A flower of Lilac is placed over the coffin. This significes the freshness and sacredness of this person's death.
I believe the story is giving information about the feelings of the alive person before the actual burying of the dead person. The nights are lonely and dark as to speak of a warning of a death coming. We are more aware of the nearby swamp. The singing of a bird nearby. The quietness of the atmosphere and the loved one who is now dead. How do we go on without them? What should we leave on the burial wall of our love one? What type of nature scenery?
We admire the land. There is a prarie of grass and corn. There is a large body of water nearby with ship. I think that the author is going back and forth from the homeland and the military life of the dead person. Sing grey-brown bird. This is a memory of the one love that holds us. You can still smell the lilac in the fields.
They sat in the day, and watch other farms nearby. They watch other farms nearby. The clouds remind them of the sacred love. I believe that the burial is over here. They are back to everyday life. They are back to taking walks in the woods and listening to the bird singing. The death of this person was a delicate death. Not all sure what that means, except that the person did not suffer a long and painful death.
Military life brings the possibility of death to all the soldiers who go out to war. The death of a military person is one that most all people look at as a honorable event. To give your life for your country is no better honor. Death in any form or fashion is hard on the people we leave behind to mourn. We all must except the fact that death is a part of living. We can look at it as something bad or something that all of us have to do in life. Death is a part of all of our lives!
I see the writing about Death. Death in an honorable light. We have no power over death. We can be left with any lasting thoughts of the death. This story is about a military person who has died. The surrounding are a farm, a wooded area, a body of water . The farm is surrounded by lilac plant, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, and a perfume smell. Death is dark, which brings us to the memory of clouds.
In the wooded swamp area, a bird sings, a frog sings. There is a spring in the woods, and violets. There is a field of wheat grain, and an apple orchard. Someone is carrying a coffin. It does seem strange to be carrying a coffin in the woods. It appears to be a person who was a military person. A flower of Lilac is placed over the coffin. This significes the freshness and sacredness of this person's death.
I believe the story is giving information about the feelings of the alive person before the actual burying of the dead person. The nights are lonely and dark as to speak of a warning of a death coming. We are more aware of the nearby swamp. The singing of a bird nearby. The quietness of the atmosphere and the loved one who is now dead. How do we go on without them? What should we leave on the burial wall of our love one? What type of nature scenery?
We admire the land. There is a prarie of grass and corn. There is a large body of water nearby with ship. I think that the author is going back and forth from the homeland and the military life of the dead person. Sing grey-brown bird. This is a memory of the one love that holds us. You can still smell the lilac in the fields.
They sat in the day, and watch other farms nearby. They watch other farms nearby. The clouds remind them of the sacred love. I believe that the burial is over here. They are back to everyday life. They are back to taking walks in the woods and listening to the bird singing. The death of this person was a delicate death. Not all sure what that means, except that the person did not suffer a long and painful death.
Military life brings the possibility of death to all the soldiers who go out to war. The death of a military person is one that most all people look at as a honorable event. To give your life for your country is no better honor. Death in any form or fashion is hard on the people we leave behind to mourn. We all must except the fact that death is a part of living. We can look at it as something bad or something that all of us have to do in life. Death is a part of all of our lives!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
"Joel"
Locusts destroy the crops. The prophet Joel speaks to the older leaders. Tell your children about the cutting and swarming locuts. There will no longer be wine for the drinkers of the land. Awake, and cry. On top of that, soldiers have come to take over the land.
It seems that the Priests in the temple have been charged with drinking wine. Men of the land are being kill by the soldiers. The coming day of Judgement. This day is described as a dark gloomy day. Not to forget a powerful army spread over the mountains. There is fire in the city.
Chariots of war horses rumbling over the tops of the mountains. The soldiers charge and climb over the wall. No opposition can stop them. They enter houses through windows.
The Lord's day of judging is overwhelming. No one can stand up against it. The Lord is saying change your hearts, because he is kind and shows mercy. "Blow the Trumpet in Jerusalem".
Gather the people together along with the priest. The priest shall cry out to God for mercy. Don't let people in other nations ask, "Where Is their God?
Then the lord became concerned about his land and felt sorry for his people. The Lord will force the army to leave the land. The Lord restores the land. The grass will grow again for the beast of the land. The problem with the swarming locust lasted for years. The Lord's army. The promise of the Spirit. The Lord will pour out his spirit on all men.
The day of the Lord. To call on the Name of the lord and be delivered. The nations will be judged for the selling of children. The Gold and the silver has been taken from Jerusalem. The Lord will arouse the place where the people were sold and return recompense on their head.
Judah will be blessed.
This is a passage of great judgement on the people of this nation. The way that I would relate this passage to this century, is to be mindful of sin. Our God is a God of judgement. I also see a message about alcohol drinking. I'm sure that drinking brought some of the problems in this land. It is good to know that God does warn a nation before he sends destruction to it. My
prayer is that I know my spiritual eyes open to when I am going down the wrong road. I don't want to feel the judgement of God's fire!
Locusts destroy the crops. The prophet Joel speaks to the older leaders. Tell your children about the cutting and swarming locuts. There will no longer be wine for the drinkers of the land. Awake, and cry. On top of that, soldiers have come to take over the land.
It seems that the Priests in the temple have been charged with drinking wine. Men of the land are being kill by the soldiers. The coming day of Judgement. This day is described as a dark gloomy day. Not to forget a powerful army spread over the mountains. There is fire in the city.
Chariots of war horses rumbling over the tops of the mountains. The soldiers charge and climb over the wall. No opposition can stop them. They enter houses through windows.
The Lord's day of judging is overwhelming. No one can stand up against it. The Lord is saying change your hearts, because he is kind and shows mercy. "Blow the Trumpet in Jerusalem".
Gather the people together along with the priest. The priest shall cry out to God for mercy. Don't let people in other nations ask, "Where Is their God?
Then the lord became concerned about his land and felt sorry for his people. The Lord will force the army to leave the land. The Lord restores the land. The grass will grow again for the beast of the land. The problem with the swarming locust lasted for years. The Lord's army. The promise of the Spirit. The Lord will pour out his spirit on all men.
The day of the Lord. To call on the Name of the lord and be delivered. The nations will be judged for the selling of children. The Gold and the silver has been taken from Jerusalem. The Lord will arouse the place where the people were sold and return recompense on their head.
Judah will be blessed.
This is a passage of great judgement on the people of this nation. The way that I would relate this passage to this century, is to be mindful of sin. Our God is a God of judgement. I also see a message about alcohol drinking. I'm sure that drinking brought some of the problems in this land. It is good to know that God does warn a nation before he sends destruction to it. My
prayer is that I know my spiritual eyes open to when I am going down the wrong road. I don't want to feel the judgement of God's fire!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
"Summary of the Literature I read"
I liked the story of Frankie and Johnny. It sound like it could have been western. I like western movies. It would have been nice if Frankie could have went on with her life , never mind a cheating man. They happen all the time. This story kept my interest cause it was about love and war. I liked it. This story is a real life story even though it seems to be some fiction in it. We all love some untruth I think because it makes life interesting. As Christians we must leave the drama and go on to truthful things. Thank God for renewing of the mind!
What do I talk about when I talk about Love. The story was very good. It had lots of conversation. I had a little trouble keeping up with all the information. Nevertheless it did keep my interest. As I become a better reader I will be able to absorb more information in a piece of Literature. I don't talk about love very much. The bible is reteaching me about love. I know that Godly Love is the Agape Love. I have begun to believe that Agape Love can only be achieved by two people when the two have given their lives to the Lord!
"A Grief Observed". The literature is a very serious one. Definitely not a boring story. The story kept my attention. The writer was able to get into my mind. Death is not an easy thing to hear or talk about. The words that the writer wrote captured my mind. I read and I listened. I have experience death when my daddy died. I did not ask myself any questions about my relationship. My dad was not a very close and personal person with me. I was somewhat passive about how I loved him. About once or twice a year I think about him and it sometime brings me to tears because I miss him!
"The Things They Carried". This story is a very serious one. I myself was like a soldier. I was attentive to ever word written. This story had much detail to it. The thing that the story left me with is a visual of what it could be like for a man in the military. My brother, James, was an infantry man in the US Army for ten years. I now know what it was like for him on any given day out in the field. The writer of this story really was detailed. Since James have been home from the military he is a Baptist Preacher. I can still hear the soldier in him in his sermons!
The chapter in which we read on "Theme", was very good. With our next reading , I will have notes on how to absorb and pull out more from the literature. Reading literature can be hard to comprehend if you don't know how to understand it. I also find that true about a movie. At home I often watch a single movie over and over again for the understanding of it. When I complete this class I will have the tools to be able to comprehend much more out of what I read and see.
Now getting to the Book of Joel. This piece of literature will be much more serious. But a good challenge to read and comprehend. I know we will be looking into the very mind of God. You know I must be able to understand and comprehend scripture. I know to be mindful and careful to read each line with clarity. What an awesome direction that we are headed to in reading the book of Joel. I don't think that I have read this book in the past. I will open up my spiritual ears and eyes. I will hear what the spirit of God is revealing to me!
I liked the story of Frankie and Johnny. It sound like it could have been western. I like western movies. It would have been nice if Frankie could have went on with her life , never mind a cheating man. They happen all the time. This story kept my interest cause it was about love and war. I liked it. This story is a real life story even though it seems to be some fiction in it. We all love some untruth I think because it makes life interesting. As Christians we must leave the drama and go on to truthful things. Thank God for renewing of the mind!
What do I talk about when I talk about Love. The story was very good. It had lots of conversation. I had a little trouble keeping up with all the information. Nevertheless it did keep my interest. As I become a better reader I will be able to absorb more information in a piece of Literature. I don't talk about love very much. The bible is reteaching me about love. I know that Godly Love is the Agape Love. I have begun to believe that Agape Love can only be achieved by two people when the two have given their lives to the Lord!
"A Grief Observed". The literature is a very serious one. Definitely not a boring story. The story kept my attention. The writer was able to get into my mind. Death is not an easy thing to hear or talk about. The words that the writer wrote captured my mind. I read and I listened. I have experience death when my daddy died. I did not ask myself any questions about my relationship. My dad was not a very close and personal person with me. I was somewhat passive about how I loved him. About once or twice a year I think about him and it sometime brings me to tears because I miss him!
"The Things They Carried". This story is a very serious one. I myself was like a soldier. I was attentive to ever word written. This story had much detail to it. The thing that the story left me with is a visual of what it could be like for a man in the military. My brother, James, was an infantry man in the US Army for ten years. I now know what it was like for him on any given day out in the field. The writer of this story really was detailed. Since James have been home from the military he is a Baptist Preacher. I can still hear the soldier in him in his sermons!
The chapter in which we read on "Theme", was very good. With our next reading , I will have notes on how to absorb and pull out more from the literature. Reading literature can be hard to comprehend if you don't know how to understand it. I also find that true about a movie. At home I often watch a single movie over and over again for the understanding of it. When I complete this class I will have the tools to be able to comprehend much more out of what I read and see.
Now getting to the Book of Joel. This piece of literature will be much more serious. But a good challenge to read and comprehend. I know we will be looking into the very mind of God. You know I must be able to understand and comprehend scripture. I know to be mindful and careful to read each line with clarity. What an awesome direction that we are headed to in reading the book of Joel. I don't think that I have read this book in the past. I will open up my spiritual ears and eyes. I will hear what the spirit of God is revealing to me!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"THE THINGS THEY CARRY"
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha. She was not in love with him, although he was in love with her. I have saw this happen a lot with guys in the military. They need something to hold on to and low and behold a female fits that need. I do believe that a man's family is about the best thing to hold on to because you already know where they all stand with you and you can trust those relationships more than a hopeful woman.
Each man in this group carried items of necessity. To carry something was referred to as "hump it". Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps.
He would day dream about her along the march in Vietnam. As dangerous as it was in war, that was hardly the place to fantasize about a relationship with the opposite sex, but people are human beings. Humans have the natural desire to be loved!
Ted Lavender was shot and killed. Lieutenant Cross felt the pain. He blamed himself. He was grieving for Ted Lavender but mostly it was for Martha and for himself. War is a hard thing. The feeling are loneliness, fear, and cold. I believe that Cross wanted to know that this woman loved him, but he did not have this assurance. He felt also that it was his duty to protect Ted Lavender and he was killed. These factors all together can be confusing for anyone.
The Lieutenant's in some deep hurt. They were waiting for the chopper to pick up the body of Ted Lavender. The rest of the troupe carried all the emotional baggage of men who would die. They carried these things in side. The things that the men carried inside were items needed to stay alive, fear of being the next one dead, and was being in Vietnam fighting a war was the place to be at this time. The things they carried!
On the morning after Ted Lavender died. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross burned Martha's letters and her photographs. Lavender was dead he could not burn the blame. He took out his maps and began to plan the day's march. From that point on when he thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belonged elsewhere. She was not in a war in Vietnam, Cross was.
Cross needed his whole mind to be there at all times, his men depended on it.
On the march Johnny Cross would impose strict field disciple on the men. He would accept the blame for what happened to Ted Lavender. Cross would not tolerate laxity from the men. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved, but to lead.
In this piece of literature I really saw what being in war in another country is like for soldiers. I will carry the right type of respect in the future of our men!
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha. She was not in love with him, although he was in love with her. I have saw this happen a lot with guys in the military. They need something to hold on to and low and behold a female fits that need. I do believe that a man's family is about the best thing to hold on to because you already know where they all stand with you and you can trust those relationships more than a hopeful woman.
Each man in this group carried items of necessity. To carry something was referred to as "hump it". Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps.
He would day dream about her along the march in Vietnam. As dangerous as it was in war, that was hardly the place to fantasize about a relationship with the opposite sex, but people are human beings. Humans have the natural desire to be loved!
Ted Lavender was shot and killed. Lieutenant Cross felt the pain. He blamed himself. He was grieving for Ted Lavender but mostly it was for Martha and for himself. War is a hard thing. The feeling are loneliness, fear, and cold. I believe that Cross wanted to know that this woman loved him, but he did not have this assurance. He felt also that it was his duty to protect Ted Lavender and he was killed. These factors all together can be confusing for anyone.
The Lieutenant's in some deep hurt. They were waiting for the chopper to pick up the body of Ted Lavender. The rest of the troupe carried all the emotional baggage of men who would die. They carried these things in side. The things that the men carried inside were items needed to stay alive, fear of being the next one dead, and was being in Vietnam fighting a war was the place to be at this time. The things they carried!
On the morning after Ted Lavender died. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross burned Martha's letters and her photographs. Lavender was dead he could not burn the blame. He took out his maps and began to plan the day's march. From that point on when he thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belonged elsewhere. She was not in a war in Vietnam, Cross was.
Cross needed his whole mind to be there at all times, his men depended on it.
On the march Johnny Cross would impose strict field disciple on the men. He would accept the blame for what happened to Ted Lavender. Cross would not tolerate laxity from the men. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved, but to lead.
In this piece of literature I really saw what being in war in another country is like for soldiers. I will carry the right type of respect in the future of our men!
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