The Things They Carried Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Things They Carried Analysis Essay The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien.   Specifically it will contain a brief analysis of the first chapter of the book.   OBriens use of metaphors of weight and lightness throughout the story develops the readers understanding of the situation the soldiers in the story find themselves in. Author OBrien fought in Vietnam and so he writes about the men and the war from experience, and it shows in this moving novel.    The opening chapter, The Things They Carried, introduces the men, and allows the reader a glimpse into the real, everyday war these young men fought in Vietnam.   Twice within the first few pages OBrien talks about the death of Ted Lavender while contrasting his death with the lightness of the things he carried with him in his rucksack. OBrien uses the metaphor of humped to show the weight of the things the soldiers carry, but he also uses it to show the emotional baggage they carry with them into the war, such as Jimmys Cross unreturned love for Martha back home.   OBrien writes of Jimmys love, Almost everyone humped photographs.   In his wallet, Lieutenant Cross carried two pictures of Martha (OBrien 4).   Later, he uses the metaphor again when he writes of Lieutenant Cross responsibility to his men. He writes, He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men (OBrien 5).   OBrien makes the weight of these responsibilities seem light, but uses the metaphor to show how weighty they really are.   Clearly, Cross quite understands the weight of his responsibility, and he does not take it lightly.   He knows his men trust him with their lives, and if he makes the wrong decision his men could pay the ultimate cost, they could give up their lives because he makes a mistake.   And that is the ultimate weight that rests on Lieutenant Cross, and it is much heavier than his rucksack. OBrien spends a lot of time on the guns and ammo they carried and the weight of these items.   That is because the soldiers lives depend on these items, which gives them additional weight in the story.   Showing the amount of ammo and other items they carry also shows their fear and some of the conditions they faced as soldiers in Vietnam.   Their situation is far from light, it is very heavy, and they know it. Any of them could die at any moment.   The Vietnamese knew the jungles and the terrain and the Americans did not.   They could be surprised and ambushed at any time.   OBrien shows the soldiers fear in the large amount of weapons and ammo they carry, and also shows they do not actually mean much.   Ted Lavender dies carrying more ammo than anyone else, so the weight of the ammo did nothing to help him save his own life.   That is the fear all the men face – that they have no control over the situation around them, and any of them could die, just like Lavender did. Most important of the things they carry is the weight of memory OBrien talks about in the chapter and notes that is one weight they share.   They cannot forget many of the horrible things they have seen, or that they could be the next one.   They cannot forget their situation because it is the only reality they know for now. That is also too weighty for some of them, so they make jokes about their predicament and try to escape by drinking, using drugs, or thinking about memories back home.   Jimmy Cross has his false memories of Martha that he carries with him, and all the others have memories of something, too.   These memories can weigh the men down if they let them.   Cross thinks his memories helped get Lavender killed because he was not paying attention. OBrien also uses descriptive language to show their surroundings.   He writes, They carried the sky.   The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus †¦ (OBrien 15).   OBrien puts the reader right into the jungle with the men.   Using metaphor, description, and language, he makes the reader feel the fear of the men and feel as if they know and understand these men and the things they carry.    References OBrien Tim. The Things They Carried

Hardships in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro :: Boys and Girls Alice Munro

In her story, Boys and Girls, Alice Munro depicts the hardships and successes of the rite of passage into adulthood through her portrayal of a young narrator and her brother. Through the narrator, the subject of the profound unfairness of sex-role stereotyping, and the effect this has on the rites of passage into adulthood is presented. The protagonist in Munro's story, unidentified by a name, goes through an extreme and radical initiation into adulthood, similar to that of her younger brother. Munro proposes that gender stereotyping, relationships, and a loss of innocence play an extreme, and often-controversial role in the growing and passing into adulthood for many young children. Initiation, or the rite of passage into adulthood, is, according to the theme of Munro’s story, both a mandatory and necessary experience.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alice Munro's creation of an unnamed and therefore undignified, female protagonist proposes that the narrator is without identity or the prospect of power. Unlike the narrator, the young brother Laird is named – a name that means "lord" – and implies that he, by virtue of his gender alone, is invested with identity and is to become a master. This stereotyping in names alone seems to suggest that gender does play an important role in the initiation of young children into adults. Growing up, the narrator loves to help her father outside with the foxes, rather than to aid her mother with "dreary and peculiarly depressing" work done in the kitchen (425). In this escape from her predestined duties, the narrator looks upon her mother's assigned tasks to be "endless," while she views the work of her father as "ritualistically important" (425). This view illustrates her happy childhood, filled with dreams and fantasy. Her contrast between the work of her father and the chores of her mother, illustrate an arising struggle between what the narrator is expected to do and what she wants to do. Work done by her father is viewed as being real, while that done by her mother was considered boring. Conflicting views of what was fun and what was expected lead the narrator to her initiation into adulthood.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unrealistically, the narrator believes that she would be of use to her father more and more as she got older. However, as she grows older, the difference between boys and girls becomes more clear and conflicting to her.

An Integral Part Of A Democratic State Essay

Elections are an integral part of a democratic state. The argument is sometimes put forward that participatory democracy should be the basis for a whole political system, a replacement for parliamentary democracy. Representative institutions based on one person one vote determine the principles and general direction of an elected government. Participatory democracy can monitor the work of the executive and state apparatus. The importance of process Take waste. The same principles of daily and ongoing democratic processes could be applied to education, transport, and social services. Formally, representative democracy does have the final say. Participatory democracy, in a complementary relationship to electoral power, thus has the potential to move societies further towards the democratic ideals of popular control and political equality. I believe that a strong and aware civil society keeps their elected representatives on their toes, by asking questions through organized interest groups all of whom press their causes on government, sometimes through political parties and through independent lobbies. Participatory democracy provides a real alternative, or complement, to elected power: a distinct and organized public sphere in which the demands of the people can be articulated, developed and negotiated between each other, and finally negotiated with the local or other relevant state institutions. Conditions for participatory growth In order for participatory democracy to attain legitimacy and reinvigorate democratic politics as a whole, certain conditions need to be in place. The aim for participatory institutions is essentially to share decision-making power with government, to exercise some control over the work of state institutions and to monitor the implementation of government’s decisions. The process must get results; in the sense that these parties are able to use their electoral legitimacy to emphasize the importance of the participatory process. If participatory democracy spreads, the institutions of representative government may lose some power to the new participatory sphere. The new systems of managing public resources through a combination of electoral and participative democracy bring an overall gain in democratic legitimacy and as a result, potentially, in democratic power. I believe that participatory democracy and the election process should be in the forefront in advocating transparency among government officials and their constituents. It is also important that citizens should be more aware and involved because the main argument of a democracy is the constant participation of people with regards to political debates and decisions. Without the people’s involvement, government leaders will not hold positions of power in the first place. Grassroots parties that are well represented inside the halls of congress should not just advocate the things that they think are important, but they also should stand as role models for the people who do not have the chance everyday to sit in a position of power. It is inevitable in a democracy that sometimes elections become an issue in itself. With this in my mind, I believe that people who go out to vote and those who pass on the opportunity to vote must always respect the final verdict whether it favors them or not. Yes, it is an issue because sometimes it is very easy for people to point fingers and start up a rumor that an election is fixed. For me, the only solution for this issue is to improve the way elections are being held. As a voter myself, it would also help if we encourage our society to go out and vote. Apathy sometimes can backfire on us. We should take care of our rights as citizens and voters to be more aware of the situation and act accordingly. By doing so, we protect ourselves from being short changed by the very institution, which the sole purpose is to protect us.

Phrases and Expressions Using the Spanish Verb Tener

If there were a Top 10 list for Spanish verbs made versatile through idioms, tener would certainly  be in that list. A wealth of phrases using tener are often used to indicate emotions or states of being, and in many of those tener can be translated as to be rather than the more literal to have. There are also numerous other idioms using tener. (As used here, an idiom is a phrase that has a meaning more or less independent of the words in the phrase). Youll run across them all the time in writing and conversation. Perhaps the most common is the phrase tener que (usually in a conjugated form) followed by an infinitive and meaning to have to: Tengo que salir. (I have to leave.) Tendrà ¡s que comer. (You will have to eat.) Keep in mind that tener is highly irregular in its conjugation. List of Tener Phrases Following are some of the other common idiomatic phrases using tener. Words in brackets indicate that less generic words should be substituted: tener ... aà ±os (to be ... years old) — Tengo 33 aà ±os. (Im 33 years old.) tener claro que (to clearly understand or realize that)  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Amelia tiene claro que irà ¡ a prisià ³n. (Amelia clearly understands she will be going to prison.) tener cuidado (to be careful) — Ten cuidado con lo que deseas. (Be careful with what you wish for.) tener ... de ancho/largo/altura (to be .... wide/long/tall) — Tiene 23 centà ­metros de ancho. (It is 23 centimeters wide.) tener a bien [hacer algo] (to see fit [to do something]) — Mi esposa tiene a bien comprar un coche. (My wife sees fit to buy a car.) tener a [alguià ©n] por ... (to consider or take [someone] to be) — Tengo a Roberto por tonto. I consider (or take) Roberto to be a fool. tener ganas de [algo] (to want to have [something], to feel like having [something]) — Es importante que tengas ganas de trabajar y aprender. (Its important that you want to work and learn.) tener por seguro (to rest or be assured, to take as a certainty) — Ten por seguro que vamos a Buenos Aires. (Rest assured that we are going to Buenos Aires.) tener prisa (to be in a rush or hurry) — Laura tenà ­a prisa por salir el paà ­s. (Laura was in a hurry to leave the country.) tener que ver con (to have a connection, to have something to with) — No tenà ­amos que ver con el incidente. (We had nothing to do with the incident.) tener razà ³n (to be right or correct) — En Amà ©rica el cliente siempre tiene razà ³n. (In America, the customer is always right.) tener sentido (to make sense) — Esa proposicià ³n no tiene sentido. (That proposal doesnt make sense.) tener sobre [algo] (to lean on [something]) — El paraguas tenà ­a sobre el coche. (The umbrella was leaning on the car.) tener un/una bebà ©/nià ±o/nià ±a/hijo/hija (to have a baby  boy/girl/son/daughter) — Tuvo una hija. (She had a baby girl.) no tener nombre (to be totally unacceptable) — Lo que dijiste de mis hijas no tiene nombre. (What you said about my daughters is totally unacceptable. This is similar to the English slang phrase There are no words for.) tener lugar (to take place) — Tiene lugar la fiesta en mi casa. (The party will take place in my home.) tener en cuenta (to bear or keep in mind) — No tenà ­a en cuenta la opinià ³n de sus hijos. (He didnt keep in mind the opinion of his children.) tener previsto (to expect, to plan) — Adà ¡n tiene previsto abandonar el equipo a final de temporada. (Adà ¡n is planning to leave the team at the end of the season.) tener suerte (to be lucky) — Carla tiene suerte de esta viva despuà ©s de que fue envenenada. (Carla is lucky to be alive after she was poisoned.) estar que no tenerse (to be tired out) — Estoy que no me tengo. (Im all tired out.) tenerse en pie (to stand) — Me tuve en pie para ver. (I stood up to see.) tenerse firme (to stand upright or firm, literally or figuratively) — Se tuvo firme a sus enemigos. ()He stood up firm to his enemies.) Key Takeaways Although tener often means to have, it is used in a wide variety of phrases that are best translated other ways.Tener has a highly irregular conjugation.Many of the tener idioms refer to emotions or states of being.