Tim O'Brien

I definitely admit to having mixed feelings toward Tim O'Brien's presentation.

Jackie left class early and met in the L Building at noon in order to make it over to the B Building in enough time to get decent seats. We met Mike when we got there and we all sat in the second row. Even though the lady who introduced him said she was not going to make an in introduction, I believe she still talked for several minutes prior to welcoming Tim to the stage.

I was glad to hear Tim's honesty when he said he left his speech in his motel room. I wasn't there to listen to him read from paper. I wanted to hear what he had to say: Unplanned, straight from his heart, and real.

I was disappointed that he read two sections from the book. The majority of the people in the room had already read the book (After all, the presentation was all based on and named after The Things They Carried) and I feel that it was wasted time. If he had given a brief, general idea and perhaps a few lines for examples, I would have been content with that.

However, I did enjoy his personal stories. The story about his neighbor and the airplane engine, attempting to nail the girl to the cross, throwing mason jars of gasoline at a Methodist church... I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. I had expected this presentation to be rather boring and for Tim to be a rather dry individual. It showed that he had personality and a sense of humor, which I have noted from time to time in TTTC.

I also acknowledged how he speaks as if he were writing. That probably doesn't make much sense, as I don't know how to explain what I mean. But an example would be how he described the blind man's eyes. It sounded as if he were reading it from one of his books. He mentioned how the lights bounced off of them and they resembled aluminum foil. He gives great imagery. I absolutely love vivid descriptions and being able to see, smell, and hear exactly what is going on. This is probably why I like his books so much.

Even though this was not supposed to be directed toward writers or the writing process, I did gain a little motivation from his words. The exact pieces of knowledge escape my mind, but several times throughout his speech, I found myself thinking, "Wow.. I wish I could write.." For this reason alone, it was worth attending.

My last peeve on this presentation was the length. The question and answer section dragged a little too long for my taste. It seemed as if he went off subject when answering questions and went on miniature tangents that were not so related to the original question.

I wanted to get my book signed, but I did not have the time. I had to hurry and get out of there so I wouldn't be late for work. Luckily, as I was coming around the building, Tim O'Brien was standing outside with some people who were smoking, and I asked him if he would sign mine since I was running late and didn't have time to wait in the line accumulating inside.

To make a long story short: I am glad we had the opportunity to see and, for some of us, meet the man who's book we have been reading and analyzing.

Questions.

I would imagine that your experience with Vietnam sparked your motivation to write. With that assumption, would you still have picked up a career in writing if you had not been involved with the war?


Your books are solely based on war. Have you ever thought about writing a non-war based book? Do you think it would be as successful?

Sources 2

I misplaced the handouts we received on Wednesday and they are not listed under the “handouts” section of the webpage, so I will have to edit this later and re-do the citations. I suck for actually being disorganized for once in my life. It figures they had to be homework-related. … It’s going to be a long night.

[Edit: Yay! I found the handouts! I'm an idiot.. They were right in front of me.]


http://www.lewrockwell.com/sheehan/sheehan39.html

“Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Soldiers”

Summary:
In the article “Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Soldiers,” Cindy Sheehan takes a strong stand on the anti-war side. She spends the bulk of her article discussing why the mothers of our country should not let their children go off into war. Sheehan finds war to be dishonest and a waste of human lives. She also stresses that the mothers of our country do not raise their children to be war criminals. Sheehan ends her article pleading to not let our babies grow up to be soldiers.
Review:
I found that this article resembles the speeches in our Power of Nonviolence books. It is very wordy and I had to reread a few passages to get the right idea. It was based mainly on her opinion on the situation and what she perceived of the whole war situation. In a way, I didn’t really enjoy it because it was not as informative as I had hoped for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sheehan
Summary:
(This website had been compiled from several sources and did not have one specific author.) This website begins by introducing Cindy Sheehan and giving some background information. It then goes on to describe her campaign against the war. This website gives reactions by the white house and congress. It covers the chronology of her activism in detail. This website also gives a tremendous amount of links to other sources, including speeches and interviews.
Review:
I wasn’t sure how to cover this since it consists of information from all over the place, but it gives the most information in one convenient location. I really liked how it went into detail on each of the sections and then gives many, many links and references further down the page. I have a feeling that this will be very helpful with finding sources for my paper.


"Cindy Sheehan." Who2? Biographies. Who2?, 2006. Answers.com 13 Nov. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/cindy-sheehan-1
Summary:
This website gives a fairly brief biography of anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. It begins by describing how she was introduced into the media. It continues by discussing how she became more and more popular with time. It briefly mentions an arrest, followed by an encounter with President Bush. It ends by mentioning that she occasionally writes pieces for a filmmaker.
Review:
I found this website to be pretty helpful; however, I was disappointed with the length and wish it had continued and gave more information. It was all well worded and easily read. There are also some links posted about anti-war organizations, which may help me out further down the line.

Sources?

It was so much easier to do a summary on that speech, rather than these newspaper articles. My head is absolutely pounding right now. :o(

I am just doing what I can stay awake for. I only have so much time outside of working fulltime and school. If anything, at least I found sources, right?



Krauthammer, Charles. "Bad Choice for an Antiwar Voice." The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Sep 30, 2005. A19.

Summary:
In the article “Bad Choice for an Antiwar Voice,” Charles Krauthammer argues that Cindy Sheehan is making a bad decision by being against the war. He makes a point that there are other mothers out there who have lost sons in the war but still continue to support it, unlike Sheehan. Krauthammer describes Sheehan’s wishes for the US to withdrawal from the war and explains how it would be a mistake, seeing as the mission in Afghanistan has been successful, thus far.

Review:
After reading this article, it almost makes me want to change positions on this topic. At first, I was fairly against war because I have friends that are overseas right now and I pray to any existing God that they come home alive and safe. But to hear that there are plenty of mothers out there who have lost their children due to this war and still continue to support it, makes me rethink my initial position. What makes Sheehan so special? What makes her word stand above others’? Now I feel as if I must do some more background checking on Cindy Sheehan before I can actually make a solid decision to base my research paper.


Williams, Clarence and Allan Lengel. "Sheehan Arrested Before Speech." The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Feb 1, 2006. A16.

Summary:
In the article “Sheehan Arrested Before Speech,” Clarence Williams and Allan Lengel cover the situation that took place in front of the House of Representatives. Cindy Sheehan lead a protest and was given a warning by congress. She failed to abide by their wishes and was arrested. The protest continued through Bush’s speech with attempts to “drown out his lies” with excessive noise.

Review:
Out of these three articles, this was the one that had interested me the most. Not only did it interest me the most, but it also was the easiest of them to read. I could not believe that these people actually risked getting thrown in jail just so that they could get their point across. I was shocked that they actually tried to power over Bush’s speech with noise and loud chants and they were all not arrested.



Rich, Frank. "Someone Tell the President the War Is Over." New York Times. New York, N.Y.: Aug 14, 2005. 4, 13.

Summary:
In the article “Someone Tell the President the War Is Over,” Frank Rich covers the issues revolving President Bush’s war decision. Basically, the war was chosen for political reasons, as was Vietnam. Bush had even said that it was a mistake, but he did not learn from that.

Review:
To me, this was a confusing article. I should probably have chosen one which was more relevant to Cindy Sheehan and her anti-war campaign. This article threw around names and information that had my head spinning. I don’t think the “average person” would understand what was written unless he or she had been following the news closely for awhile now.

My Role

I have several roles. I am a woman, a daughter, a sister, a friend, etc. I am also a student in this community. As a student, I feel as if I am a role model to my siblings. I know I need to do my best and work hard so that I may pass on my work ethics and determination to others. I know that I need to learn as much as I can and work hard through my college experience so that I may get a job in the health field and make a difference by helping to save the lives of others. I am expected to be honest and not plagarize my work. I am also expected to take my education seriously and not ruin the experience for others.

Response to Panel Discussion (From Vietnam to Iraq: Parallel Conflicts?)

Since I was not scheduled to work and I had a free day I decided to attend the Community Book Connection’s panel discussion comparing and contrasting the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq. I invited my younger brother Dan, an eighteen year old non-student, to come along with me because I believed it would be of interest to him and he may learn something.

I had to pick Dan up from Randallstown and then drive back down to the Essex campus. It figures: I was running late and I forgot a notebook. I made a pit-stop at a 7-11, snagged a notebook, and was back on the beltway. I hate being late for anything, especially any type of lecture event. The idea of interrupting with a creaking door, amplified footsteps, and stumbling over seated students makes me cringe. But fortunately, slightly (*cough*) increased pressure on the gas pedal and favoring road conditions made it possible for us to arrive promptly.

Dan and I seized a pair of seats within one of the middle rows and we sat patiently through the introductions with our pens and paper at the ready. I glanced around the room and was somewhat shocked at the turnout. I didn’t expect to see as many people as I did. I wondered, “Are these people here because it is a requirement for a history course? Are they just in it for the free food following the event? Maybe this really is something important…” I was shaken from my ponderings as the first speaker began. Notes seemed like a good idea. Yes, it was time to take notes.

For the remainder of the panel discussion, I had several instances of utter confusion while Dan nodded his head in agreement after each point made. To state the obvious, I am not a history buff, by any means. I must admit: I barely made it through my high school courses on American and world history. During each of the speakers’ speeches, I struggled to comprehend the summaries of background information leading up to the wars. I wrote down as much as I could at lightning speed, but after looking back at my notes, they look more like the squiggly lines of an EKG. Good job, Erin… Note to self: Take a course in shorthand.

It wasn’t until the end of the discussion when things began to come into focus and things began to make semi-sense to me. This whole time, I had the impression that this whole war in Iraq was because the United States was trying to get back at the Iraqis for the tragedy that took place in New York on September 11, 2001. To my surprise, 9/11 had scarcely anything to do with the causation of the war. It is mainly about power and creating régimes that are friendlier with the United States.

To be completely honest, I am still incredibly confused. It was a lot of new information to process and register in an hour. When it comes to what is true about our current war situation and what are merely myths? The media is not going to tell our county the way things really are while President Bush is going to sugar-coat everything to make it seem like he is a hero and can do no wrong. I don’t believe anyone will be able to fully understand what is going on.

I am, however, glad that I attended. I now see how The Things They Carried has to do with today’s war. Dan thanked me for inviting him and said he thoroughly enjoyed the discussion. It figures that this is coming from a kid who took AP European History in high school. I wish I had half as much of an interest in history and politics as he.

Themes for Paper 2

I wasn’t sure which of these would be useful or appropriate for this assignment, so I have listed four to help increase the chance of something that fits the criteria.


1. Country Leaders
I could discuss Bush’s decisions during his term, the effects, and voice my opinions on his actions. I could interview just about anyone, but I would probably interview someone who is pro-Bush, someone not in favor of Bush, and someone neutral on the situation.

2. Gas Prices
I could discuss the rise and fall of gas prices, why they take place, where they may head in the upcoming months or years, and the effects they have on America. I could interview several people that drive and have opposing opinions or thoughts about the gas prices.

3. Personal issues / Stress
I could discuss my current struggles with school, work, and my home life. I could also cover my future goals and the stress I withstand to get to where I want to be in life. I could interview my mother (I do not live with her and she could provide her input from an outsider’s point of view), my father (I live with him, and he sees what goes on for the little time I am at home. He is also the one pushing me to do well), and one of my friends (My friends hear all, and know more about what’s going on than anyone else).

4. Effects of the Media
I am not really sure how to relate this to BB, but this is a broad theme. I could cover the issues that could be caused by the media, such as drug and alcohol use, school shootings, and eating disorders. I could interview both a boy and girl of a younger age, as well as a man and woman of an older age group for their opinions, thoughts, concerns, etc.