Fire and Forget Response

“‘Everybody always says it’s like a bad dream’” (turner 55) This represents a Simile because it compares two things that are different and calls them similar. This helps me better understand the story because it shows how many soldiers see war, and describes what it feels like to be in war. This quote helped me understand the author's perspective on war because it shows how he feels when at war, as well as how others have said war feels.

“The turning of day nearly indistinguishable to night” (turner 56) This quote represents plot because it progresses the story further. This quote helps me better understand that no matter what time or place war is, it all feels the same. This quote helped me understand the author's perspective on war because it shows how he feels about war that no matter what it is all the same, no matter the time, place, or meaning for it it all feels the same.

The author's perspective on war is that war is bad all around, and is the same thing no matter the time, place, or meaning.

The message about war that I felt is that war is repetitive and it all feels like the nightmare soldiers say it is.

“Tips for a Smooth Transition/When engaging Targets, Remember,” This quote from Tips for a Smooth Transition does a good job of showing Imagery because it explains what types of bad things the author has seen in war. “I’ve seen kid toys loaded with explosives, snipers hiding in an elementary school. I've been in a Humvee with soldiers singing ‘Brown eyed girl’ and a second later it was upside down,” This helped me understand the story because it shows that anything can happen and war, and that it is unpredictable. The author's perspective of war in this section is that War can change people that you care about, and sometimes it might feel like they have lost a part of themselves on the battlefield, in this case, seeing and experiencing things like that will scar somebody. (Fallon 36) The next quote from When engaging Targets, Remember exemplifies the term POV in the second person because it tells the story to the reader as if they were the ones doing it with detail. “You draw a bead at the piece of concrete just in front of the BMW and depress the butterfly trigger…You struggle to keep the muzzle from moving up and right as it spits out five huge slugs per second.” This helped me understand the overall story because war can be very dangerous, the weapons used in war can destroy a person in a second. The author's overall message of war is that sometimes all the decisions that you have in front of you are bad ones, but you still have to pick one. It is shown here because the gunner of the vehicle had to decide either to kill a person in a car that could be an enemy, with the chance that they are a spooked civilian or risk his fellow soldiers. (Kovite 167) The overall message I took away is that war is unforgiving and the hard choices soldiers have to make can change them forever.

“Coughing as he falls spines twist before slamming into another body” (Turner 57) This shows imagery because he is describing what is happening or going on right at that moment.

“You will never quite be the same” (Kovite 171) This shows Character because it is describing the Character
The message I took away from this story was war will change people's lives forever.

When Engaging Targets, Remember
“The ROE is all about your personal subjective threat assessment, an assessment that, given al-Qaeda’s well-known tactic of impersonating civilians, is very hard to make” (Kovite 166) This quote shows conflict because it is hard to know whether your target is an enemy or a civilian so making a quick decision is difficult.
“. . . because he suspects (with what you imagine is near certainty) that the BMW was full of civilians, the driver maybe having been spooked by the IED. . . Possibly he was drunk, unusual at midafternoon, but who knows?” (Kovite 170) This quote shows understatement because it doesn’t answer the question of if the people in the car were civilians or enemies.
The message from this story is that in war you have to make difficult split second decisions.

The wave that takes them under 

 “Is running off sideways along the shear of the wind into the sound of gunfire. Something breaks inside. In some essential place of order far deeper than the architecture of the brain, the body discovers its rope-help panic and cuts it loose.”  conflict/plot, imagery  these two literary terms help me understand what the story is about, how the panic the henderson was feeling during the entire story finally broke loose.  It helps me understand what the author thought of war by describing how it felt when the panic hit, breaking down how it happened and how he just lost control as fast as he had it.

“As old man Kelman startled him with what he must of thought was a playful gesture. And Henderson, not knowing how to swim, fell backward wheeling in slow motion.”  understatement, imagery, plot, these three quotes are reflected in this quote,  it being a big deal he doesn't know how to swim and almost drowned because of a simple playful gesture. Henderson’s perspective of war is that you can't control others actions towards you. 

The overall message about war is that it is like drowning 

“Evie hates everything on Colin’s list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba… With a bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip.”(Fallon 24) Juxtaposition.

Juxtaposition helps me understand this story because it emphasizes the differences between the couple and how that can cause problems or create feelings between them. 

“Do not touch your soldier when he is having nightmares- get out of bed, turn on the lights, call his name from across the room until he is reoriented.”(Fallon 30) P.O.V.

P.O.V helps me understand the story better because it gives me an insight of what Evie has to go through when Colib gets back from war and how things are different for them both. 

Juxtaposition and P.O.V are really helpful literary terms because you get lots of perspectives of the character and their experience in war. I think the author used these characters to show how war can impact people's home lives and loved ones, not just them.  A message I took from this story is that war can change everything about a person.

This story's message relates to my novel because of the way the characters act when they return from the war. Collins' interests changed from when he and Evie got married, in my book, Billy compares himself to the ROTC boys and how they look younger than him because of what he's gone through. “Billy envied these kids the sincerity of their youth,” (Fountain 227)

“Tips for a smooth transition.” This quote from this story shows character. “Evie hates everything on Colins list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba… with a bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip.” It helps me better understand Evie’s feelings for Colin. She doesn't want to do the things that he wants to do. Another quote from this story shows juxtaposition. “It's safe, Evie. It'd be safe if we weren't even in the cage.” It helps me better understand their relationship. It seems as though Evie lost trust in Colin after coming back from the war and it messed up their relationship. I believe the authors perspective on war is that war can mess up relationships with family and friends.

“Tips for a Smooth Transition”

“Evie hates everything on Colin’s list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba...With a bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip.” (Fallon 24). This quote shows the plot of the story very well because it shows the conflict. After he returns from war she doesn't want anything to do with him. She realizes just how different they are and how they are still together. He is coming back from war and is struggling to come back to his life and being with her does not make it easier.

“‘It's safe, Evie. It’d be safe if we we weren't even in the cage.’” (Fallon 33). This quote shows Colin's character. He is showing Evie that he still cares about her and that he is still loving. He understands how hard this is for both of them. The ability to understand that is a very good characteristic of someone.

The message I get from this is, War is tough on relationships, and still rough when you are actually back together.

 “It’s safe, Evie, it’d be safe if we weren't in the cage” (Fallon 33) the literary I found fit this quote is character. This literary device helped me better understand Colins and Evies characters and this quote alone helps display how different their personalities are. 

“but Evie gets back into bed she touches him her hand on his shoulder, daring the military life consultant the complains” (Fallon 38) The literary term that goes with this quote is juxtaposition, this literary device helped me better understand Evie and Colins relationship and how it is still not so great. 

These literary terms helped me better understand war because they helped point out and justify what is really going in the story. The author's perspective on war is that war can cause infidelity. My perspective on war is that war can pull people apart. 

"Evie hates everything on Colins list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba...With a bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip." (Fallon 24) this quote shows character. You can understand that she does not want to do what he has planned anymore. The paranoia is difficult to handle and it affects her being his wife, although she doesn't have the ptsd it still affects her while he has it.

 "Do not touch your soldier when he is having nightmares-get out of bed, turn on the lights, call his name from across the room until he is reoriented."(Fallon 30) This quote is Juxtaposition. The author writing this helped me understand the difference between how you would normally wake someone up, and how you need to wake up a person with paranoia from war. Ptsd is real and even waking someone up from ptsd can give them a reaction. This made me understand how he feels when he is awake on this trip and they have to do stuff in an area where he doesn't know that he is, he has seen things that he will not be able to unsee and it haunts him.

The author's perspective on war is that even though war might be over the trauma stays with you. The message that i took away from war is that the trauma of war can separate you from others.

This short work compares to my novel with traumas of war. The trauma that the doctors in the 4077th had and the stress was the same as the stress and trauma that the soldier was going through in this shortwork.

  Tips for a smooth transition 

“ Evie hates everything on Colin’s list. She doesn't like to kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba… with a bitterness that surprises her. She suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip.” ( Fallon 24) - This quote shows juxtaposition because this shows two different peoples opinions on the same thing. This helps me understand the story better because it describes what they like and how different they are.  This helped me understand the author's perspective because it tells me that Evie doesn't like to do anything on his list and wished she did agree with the trip.  

“ Do not touch your soldier when he is having a nightmare-Get out of bed, turn on the lights, call his name from across the room until he is reorginited.” ( Fallon 30 )- This quote Represents plot because she sees that Colin is having a nightmare and tries to wake him up in a certain way so he wouldn't be scared. 

The message of war is that  it changes the way people feel about each other. 

“The Wave that Takes Them Under” by Brian Turner

“He touches her face” (Turner 57) This is showing imagery because he is being covered in sand but sees his wife as he gets covered.

“Curling back over to push him down” (Turner 58) This is showing character, as he is just giving up and letting it happen he does not try and fight it. He lets the sand cover and kill him with no effort to stop that from happening 

This shows that war is a storm that will haunt you for the rest of your life even if you like it or not. Thats shown in this text as his wife will have to live knowing that his husband is buried alive in the sand and the body will never be found.

Tips for a Smooth Transition 

“Do not touch your soldier when he is having nightmares - get out of bed, turn on all the lights, and call his name from across the room till he is reoriented”(Fallon 30).   This is shown as POV because Evie is having to go through this and trying not to startle Colin while he is having his nightmares. He was in the war so this could cause ptsd and panic attacks. This helps me understand the book and how Colin deals with things after the war and how Evie is somewhat willing to learn how to deal with his nightmares. 

“Evie hates everything on Collins' list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba… With bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip”(Fallon 24). This is shown as juxtaposition because it has two different people's opinions on something. This helps me understand the author's perspective because it tells me that Evie is very picky and doesn’t like to do anything on the wish list that Colin wants to do. This helps me understand how they both are during the story. 

The message of war is that it's repetitive and denial and can be hard at times. The author's perspective about the short story is that they both are different people and don’t always agree on everything together which can be difficult. 

This short story relates to my novel because it's both repitition and trauma. Kate and Naema both go through trauma during the war as two girls and repetition is for Kate how the soldiers act around her because she is a girl. Naema has to deal with her family getting taken away from her. 

“In that moment, Evie thinks that he must know about the man in Austin, and she leans away from her husband, her hand over her mouth.”( O’Brien 22)-- Plot 

This quote explains plot according to the whole story because it is hard to be with one person while they are still in war. With Evie she had an affair with another man that wasn't her husband because he was away at war and it was hard for her to just wait for him while she was alone. 

“...the true return boiled down to two bodies snapping together like a puzzle pieces, still frying, new and familiar faces.” (O’Brien 26)--Simile

This quote explains simile because it talks about how Evie and Colin are coming back together like two puzzle pieces and they are boiling down to new and old faces.

These literary terms helped me to discover the author's perspective on war because he is talking about the fact that coming back is hard and that it will never be the same after coming back from the war. With a smile he is comparing how some things relate to war and how some things are different, with plot he explains how she is different because she had an affair while Colin was gone and how she came to the point where she was lonely enough to have to have an affair because her husband was at war leaving her alone.

I think the author's perspective on war is that leaving someone behind can be hard and it can break people apart but when you get back together things can go back to normal like nothing happened when you were away. The message I got away from this is that when people can become lonely when there spouse or family goes off to war which can lead them to find other people to connect with to have affairs with. 

Fire and Forget 

 “Her palm on his skin has the opposite effect. His breathing slows, his body stills,his sleep is quite again.”(Fallon 38) This quote shows imangrey and what they are seeing. Colin and his wife went on an anniversary and that's when they realized that they have different priorities regarding their trip. This reflects on my novel as well because soldiers and family have different opinions on things and see their world differently. “TV’s toy-soldier scale doesn't do them justice,these blown-up versions of human frames with their beer-keg, heads and redwood necks and arms packing softball sized bulges,..” (Fountain 172) In this quote it shows a lot of imangrey and compairsing. This quote compares how soldiers are looked at by the toys that are supposed to reflect them.  The message about war is broadcasted through both of these stories on how soldiers view everything different and have different thoughts about things compared to everyone else.

In the wave that takes them under they are in a sandstorm which they get lost in and have to find a way to their extraction point “If this is all a dream there'd be all kinds of weird shit out here, y’know? like your fucking mom would be out there or something.”(Turner 55)  This quote shows imagery and this quote really helped me understand the story better. It kind of showed what was going on around them and their total attitude towards the situation that they were in. Another quote that stood out in The Wave that takes them Under is Half buried in the sand, the body is curled up on itself  When Henderson pushes him over, he discovers it's radio man Griggs”(Turner 57 ) Understatement really stood out in the story because when was taking fire and trying to not be covered by the sandstorm he found radio man Griggs dead and half buried in the and he didn't have much a reaction to it. I think the author's message on war was that war is very chaotic. What I took away from the story is that war can change very quickly and crazily.

“You’ll be chewed out but good for letting some random car come right threw.” This quote  represents a Perspective because it gives us a little information about the story and what's gonna happen. That's called Perspective. This helps us better understand what might happen in the story if the person lets the car come through or does not let them come in. 

“Everyone always says it’s like a bad dream.” This quote represents a Simile because it gives us multiple meanings and that's a Simile. This helps the reader understand the story because everyone that goes to war and comes back and some don’t they all have different ways of dealing with it when they get home.

This means that war is bad and if you do anything wrong and over think it you could get yourself and your teammates killed or something else could happen.   

“Tips for a Smooth Transition”

“Do not touch your soldier when he is having nightmares- get out of bed, turn on the lights, call his name, from across the room until he is reoriented.”(Fallon 30) This quote represents p.o.v because being in that situation where your husband is having terrible nightmares almost night, This helps me understand the story better because its the main part of the story and how the husband struggles with his trauma throughout. This quote helped me understand the authors perspective of war because he seems like he knows that people in real life struggle with things like this so you can tie the story into real life so it makes the story better.

“ ‘ I almost forgot what its like…’ He hesitates, as if realizing whatever he is about to say is as much an insult as a compliment.”(Fallon 36) This represents character because the quote is showing how much he is struggling with him being in the war and everything he's seen and a lot of things that happen throughout the story triggers memories of him being in the war. This helps me understand the story better because it gets into big detail of how much he struggles mentally and how other people help me through it. This quote helped me understand the author's perspective of war because he gets into really deep detail throughout the story and he wants you to feel how he feels about what's going on so it hooks you into the story more.

The author's perspective on war is that war is scary and you need people to help you get through it.

The message I took away from the story is that even if you aren't currently at war if you have before you will always be affected.

“Tips for a smooth transition”

“Evie hates everything on Cohn’s list. She does not kayak or hike or rock climb or scuba…with a bitterness that surprises her, she suddenly wishes she never agreed to this trip.” (Fallon 24). This literary term that fits this quote is plot. It shows the issues they ran into when he came back from war. It shows what the war did to their relationship, she doesn't want to do anything with him anymore. 

“Her palm on his skin has the opposite effect. His breathing slows, his body stills, his sleep is quiet again.” (Fallon 38). The literary term for this quote is imagery. This helps me better understand what they are going through and how he feels. 

The Message I got from this was that war can ruin relationships at home.