Fire and Forget Response

“She thinks about the things she kept from him while he was away, things that would worry him, because of what she knew: A worried soldier is a soldier who is not focused on his mission; a worried soldier is a danger to himself and his fellow soldiers” (Fallon 29). This quote is an example of perspective because it is showing us what Evie was thinking when her husband was in the military. She didn't tell him about certain things because she didn't want to worry him and distract him. It gives people a better understanding of what it is like to be a military spouse. They do not share things they normally would for fear of putting their spouse in even more danger. 

“...She knows she ought to put as much distance as possible between herself and her husband. But Evie gets back into bed” (Fallon 38). This quote is an example of character because it shows Evie making a decision that could alter the story. Evie knows she shouldn't get back into bed because it could put her in danger if she were to act out unknowingly. But Evie decides to get back into bed because she wants to comfort him.  Evie’s character has developed and she is now acting on what she thinks is best for her and her husband. She may have been trained differently, but in the end, she knows what is going to be best because she knows her husband best. 

“‘Do what I can?’ Reyes tilts his head and tries to shake the sand grains out of his earlobe. ‘Right. Do what I can. Sure.’”(Turner 55) Understatement, Plot, Imagery
This quote mainly explains understatement due to him eventually being swallowed by sand. It also shows that he can see his fate due to his friend dumping sand from his ear and the fact that Reyes doubts it. The author was probably thinking that failure is not an option, because it leads to death. When he probably experienced war he primarily thought about success and not failure.
“Evie screams, rushes to the edge, feels Ishmael wrench her arm as if he thinks she will follow her husband… Both of you may need to discuss any issues you've had involving trust or jealousy” (Fallon 34) Perspective, character, hyperbole
This quote mainly explains perspective because Colin's perspective with Evie differed from the shark tank experience, as the book about war husbands talks about how they need to start talking about trust. The author may have had a husband that went to war and may have had some trust issues with him. Overall, being apart means that rekindling is required.
Overall, I think that war is an intricate thing as one slip and that's the end.

“... she knows she ought to put as much distance as possible between herself and her husband but evie gets back into bed” (fallon 38) this quote helps show character it shows how evies character has changed throughout the story in the beginning evie would have not gone back in beed she would have walked across the room but now she gets back in bed instead.

“Colin lurches upright, his shoulder hitting evie’s chin…it takes him a moment to realize where he is” (fallen 22) this shows pov with out the pov you might not have known that colin didn't know were he was if we were in evies pov she might not have known he didn't know were he was so we would not have gotten that information 

These to literary terms help me understand the authors message that war effects more then those involved even though you aren't the one going to war you can still be effected by it 

“...made her feel like a goldfish trapped in the bowl.”

Simile. This helped me understand how she felt while she was deployed by comparing it to a goldfish being trapped in a bowl with no way out. 

“She exists in the very same place that she exists in Iraq.”

Paradox. Since she was depressed from her friend dying, she felt the same as when she was in Iraq. This makes you realize that war will affect a person even after deployment, the feeling will truly never leave. 

The author's perspective would be that all the things people see and go through during war can give them PTSD for the rest of their life. These literary terms helped me understand that because she used them in a way to make me realize what people in deployment can go through and how it can have a long-term effect on them. The message I took away is the same as the authors; war can have long-term effects on people, like PTSD.

“His body an animal that must be tended, fed, groomed, and put out to run.” (Fallon, 24) This is an example of a Metaphor because it relates Colin who is a strong man to an animal that needs to be taken care of. I think the author wrote this story to show that war can change someone to a completely different person than you knew before the war. This helps me understand the story because it shows me that war has affected Colin in a way that his wife knows it's him but he's different after the war.

“Evie thinks that he must know about the man in Austin…” (Fallon, 22) This is an example of Plot because it's a climax of the book. Evie is hiding that she had an affair with a man she met and she thinks that Colin must know about him, it's creating suspense for the reader. I think the author wrote the story this way to show the after effects of war and the nightmares that come with the effects of war. This helps me understand the story because I can tell what kind of person Colin is after the war. He's much more agitated and scared after the war to where he has uncontrollable night terrors that can scare anyone, especially his wife. 

1. “... she knows she ought to put as much distance as possible between herself and her husband. But Evie gets back into bed.” (Fallon 38). This quote shows that Evie doesn’t follow the rules if she feels that the other option is best, which is how this quote shows character. By showing what Evie did you can better understand how Evie actually feels and what she actually wants, which is love. This shows that the author feels that you shouldn’t always follow the rules if they aren’t what the right thing to do is and also you need to show your true emotions sometimes.
2. “...never hesitating, he climbs up on the boat railing and… he steps off, right into open water, sinking into the center of the feeding animals.” (Fallon 34). This is kind of showing how Colin feels, more of how he acts. It seems he is trying to forget his time in the service and he’s doing it by being careless and reckless. You can tell this just by the way that it’s written especially considering it is from Evie's perspective and that’s how it shows perspective. This also shows the author’s perspective in a different way, more like it’s what he’s seen and what he knows is the right and wrong thing to do in these situations.

In the story “On the rainy river” by Tim O’Brien, the two literary terms that were most prevalent were character, and paradox.

“I found an envelope tacked to my door… The man knew.” (O'Brien 54)

This quote helped me understand that even without saying anything about his dilemma with the old man, the man still understood and helped him how he could.

“I was a coward. I went to the war.” (O’Brien 61)

This paradox helps the reader understand that war is scary and even though he overcame the fear and went, he still feels like a coward for going.

I think that the authors view on war is that war is scary and there is almost never a winner because no matter what happens there will be casualties, he expresses how he does not want to go to war but not going is just as scary because he will be abandoning the ones that love him, his friends and family.

For my short story, I chose “The Wave That Takes Them Under” by Brian Turner. The first quote I chose was, “‘Do what I can?’ Reyes tilts his head and tries to shake the sand grains out of his earlobe. ‘Right. Do what I can. Sure’.” (Turner 55). The literary term that I feel goes along with this quote is understatement. By using understatement it allows the reader to understand what is happening in this quote but not all of the emotions that are being felt during this moment in time. Along with this by adding understatement to this story it allows the reader to know the specific facts about what is happening to Reyes but leaving out all of the emotions that he is currently experiencing. The second quote I chose was, “The old band turned away… as deep into that blue unlivable world as his body could go.” (Turner 58). The literary term that I feel goes along with this quote best is imagery. Imagery helps the reader understand the specific physical details of what's happening. Because this story uses a lot of understatement, adding imagery into the text allows the reader to still understand everything that's happening and connect to the book without feeling the emotions that the characters are feeling. 

These literary terms help the reader understand the author’s perspective of war is that war can cause a disconnect with one’s emotions. By adding understatement to the story it allows the reader to understand what Reyes is going through but to a certain extent. It sets the mood making it seem like there is a lot happening to Reyes at that moment in time but he can’t really do anything about it so he leaves it be. Along with this leaving out the emotions allows for more imagery to be added in. Adding to this, Imagery addresses a lot of the story. Showing the reader what Reyes is going through and the sandstorms and seeing the dead man allows the reader to connect with the story more and helps the reader understand what Reyes is doing at war, without getting into his emotions. So I believe the overall message about war is that war can cause people to disconnect with their emotions. 

For “When Engaging Targets, Remember” by Gavin Ford Kovite, my first quote I chose was “You crouch down low, popping up for a quick scan every fifteen or twenty seconds. You might miss the telltale lumps of a roadside IED that didn’t detonate, but this also means you’d avoid taking the blast in your face if it does'' (Kovite 160). The literary term I feel goes along with this best is imagery. By adding imagery into the book it allows the reader to be able to see what is happening in the story or in this case it allows the reader to see what the soldier is thinking. The second quote I chose was “You shot them, regardless. You accept this, at first, as an unfortunate happenstance that is sort of the by-product of a landscape in which every enemy appears by design to be civilians…It will become small hard nut of guilt and self-pity that you carry around, and that will, in subtle ways, color your opinions about yourself and the government and the people around you”(Kovite 170-171). The literary term I think goes best with this quote is perspective. By adding perspective into the story it allows the readers to be able to further understand what the soldier is thinking and experiencing. Along with this, it also adds some emotion and feeling into the text by allowing the reader to understand what he is going through and how he is mentally dealing with it. 

These literary terms help me understand the author's perspective of war by allowing the reader to imagine what is happening and what the soldiers are thinking while at war. Along with this by adding some perspective into the story it allows the readers to feel what the characters are feeling in the way of what they are mentally feeling and in some parts physically feeling. This allows me to understand that the overall message about war is that in war you have to defend yourself and make hard decisions. I feel that this is the overall message about war for this story because it explains how the soldier had to make decisions about whether or not he should do something. An example of this is when he was deciding between shooting the BMW or letting it by and risking it hitting the tankers. This story shows a lot of decision making throughout the whole thing. 

By allowing the reader to choose what happens in the story can change the whole timeline of the story. If the soldier did’t shoot the BMW and it was a bomber car it could have killed a whole bunch more people, so by allowing the reader to make the decision it can change how the story ends. In conclusion by allowing the reader to choose their own adventure it allows the story to go in a different directions making the authors perspective completely change.  

English III

7 November 2022

The wave that takes them under

¨do what I can? Reyes tilts his head and tries to shake the sand grains out of his earlobe. Right. Do what I can. Sure¨ ( Turner 55)  Imagery is shown in this quote describing how he is trying to get out of this and that is burying him alive. Allowing us to imagine how this is happening to him, and being him in the moment. 

¨The old man had turned away… and deep into that blue and unlivable world and his body could go¨ (Turn 58) Understatement is shown in this quote because this quote is declaring that what he is saying is what the character is seeing as he passes away while being buried alive.  These terms helped me understand the perspective on war because it is putting us in the mind and understanding of how the character is feeling, and thinking while being flooded over by sand. The perspective the author is trying to tell us is that people apart of war need to be taken into more care emotionally because of their trama. 

In the Story “ Tips For a Smooth Transition” By Siobhan Fallon It talks about  Colin (A soldier) comes back from deployment and his wife takes him on a vacation and his wife all she can remember while on this break is her kiss with a man from Austin while Colin was away.  Colin starts to have nightmares about the war and Eve (his wife) decides to help him through it.  In the story it uses imagery devices like  Imagery, Metaphor, Simile, Plot foreshadow/ flashback. 

On page 24 it says “His Body an animal that must be tended, fed, groomed and put out to run.”( Fallon 24) This is an example of Metaphor because it is comparing two things without  using like or as. This helps me see that one of the messages the  author of the story Siobhan Fallon wants us to see is. Even after the war is over or their  deployment is done. It may not feel like it is over for them. 

On page 22 it talks about what happened to Evie  while Colin was away. “  Evie thinks that he must know about the  man in Austin…”( Fallon 22). This is an example of Plot or foreshadow / flashback. Evie was in constant worry about Colin finding out what happened while he was away. This can also show another message in the story. War can affect everyone even if they were not there to see it happen. It can cause stress on the loved ones and make them do stuff they normally wouldn't do. 

“He came home to a wife in a thong and high heels, frying up pork chops”

• Imagery 

• This helped me really create an image in my brain to set the scene of the scenario going on in this story.

“His body an animal that must be groomed and be put out to run”

• Metaphor
• This helped me understand the character and the setting of the story.

The author's perspective on war is to show the reader that war doesn’t just affect the soldier, it affects the person who witnessed it as well. The similes, imagery and metaphors helped me see that. 

The message I got from this story is that war is scary and can cause mental problems.

“Do what I can,'' Reyes tilts his head and tries to shake the sand out of his earlobe. Right, do what I can sure¨ this shows imagery because of the way he is shaking his head to get grains of sand out of his earlobe. This helps me and the author outstand that sometimes war can be uncomfortable because things are never always going to be comfy and or feeling comfort when at war.(Turner 55)

“ she thinks about the thing she kept from him while he was away… a worried soldier is a danger to himself and his fellow soldiers.” this is base on perspective because the way she keeps hiding information of what she does and he finds out the hard way than it will not be good because she will be putting his team and his life on the line because when your mad you do stupid stuff that can not always be takin back. This helps me understand how this shows perspective because she is scared because she made a mistake and doesn't know how it will turn out so she is just keeping it a secret.

“ ‘Do what I can?’ Reyes tilts his head and tries to shake the sand grains out of his earlobe. ‘right. Do what I can. Sure’ “ (Turner 55) - understatement

This shows understatement because they are making the situation less than it is. This better helped me understand the story because it helped me see how desensitized people become to situations. This helped me see the author's view on war because of how he put they're reactions. 

“The old man had turned away….and deep into that blue and unlivable world and his body could go” (Turner 58) - imagery 

This helped me better understand how he was feeling when he was leaving because of how he describes how he feels after the old man leaves. This helped me understand the author's view on war because of how they used description so we could feel like we were in the situation with them. 

The author's perspective on war is that war changes people a lot and affects how they react and feel. The message I took away from this story is that war can affect how they act afterwards and their perspective on things. 

“She thinks about the things she kept from him while he was away… a worried soldier is a danger to himself and his fellow soldiers.” the literary term for this quote is the character this helps me understand the whole of the story through telling the reader some of the internal conflicts in the character it shows that she cares about her husband and how their marriage is going and how he is doing as a person it shows that she cares.

“Both of you may need to discuss any issues you’ve had involving trust or jealousy, even if infidelity was not a problem.” the literary term shown in this quote is plot and it helps me understand that in the story Evie is not as confidant as she wants to be with her husband and how he will react to the world that he is coming back to. The quote helps me understand the 

uncertainty of Evie.

The literary terms help me understand the author’s P.O.V. on war by showing how someone who has not been to war sees someone who has at all hours of the day.

The author's perspective on war is that war affects more than just the soldiers that go off to fight. It affects a soldier's family just as much as it affects the soldier who goes off to fight. The message that it took away is that war has a very large effect on the soldiers and the people that they interact with. That in war no one is left out and that in war we are all involved and a part of it no matter who we are.

Tips for a Smooth Transition

“Two bodies snapping together like puzzle pieces, still fitting, new and familiar at once.” (Fallon 26) - Simile. 

This quote shows simile because it gives a term of how their connection works, like two puzzle pieces connect and join together. That Evie and Colin can still work out together and still have that existing relationship bond between them both, even though they’ve been apart for so long. The author wanted us to know that even after a while after no communication, and not seeing each other, things can still work out like two puzzle pieces. 

“..she knows she ought to put as much distance as possible between herself and her husband. But Evie gets back into bed.” (Fallon 38) - Character

This quote shows character because it’s showing how Evie is growing and how different she’s taking things now compared to how she was taking care of stuff in the beginning of the book. We’re able to see the character change in her actions. At first she ran when he was having nightmares, and now she’s there to accompany him while he’s having nightmares, which is growing her character and improving her character. The author wanted us to know that people’s actions can change, and can grow from their past. And importantly to be there for your lover while they’re struggling. 

The author’s perspective on war is that relationships can still work out coming back from war, you just have to try. It takes effort, time, care, and patience. It’s important to understand each other and to discuss feelings and the relationship's comfortable boundaries.

“He doesn't know where it came from, but as he sits hunched over, the wind and sand shape a dune around him, a transient barchan moon. He takes off his helmet, sets it in his lap. It is a bowl of shadow filling with the inscrutable world. “(Turner 57) imagery  this quote shows that through descriptive imagery he has given up and succumbed to the inevitability of his circumstances.

“he thinks the world feeds on us all” (Turner 57)  character  this quote has shown that the character whose name wasn't stated has finally realized that he isn't getting out of the war alive and he thinks back about his wife and the world as he dies 

These lit terms helped me understand the author's message that war is not rewarding and where there is war there is death. My message about war is that war is the short end of the stick.

“He came home to a wife in a thong and high heels, frying up pork chops, and that was all the ‘healing’ he needed…” (Fallon 22)

In this example of imagery, returning from his first tour, which is rough for anyone, Colin came back to his wife. Just seeing his wife had made him feel so much better and helped him forget what had happened during his first tour. But this euphoria doesn't last for very long. As soon as the deployment ends, the government has a close eye on their veterans, looking for signs of drug abuse, head trauma, suicides, and PTSD. 

“Her husband is a man full of energy, his body an animal that must be tended, fed, groomed, and put out to run.” (Fallon 24)

This quote shows examples of personification and a metaphor. While the couple are on vacation in Hawaii, Colin wants to take the adventurous route, while his wife wants to sit on the beach and relax. Ever since Colin was in the war, he has loved doing adventurous things, such as cliff jumping, rock climbing, and things of that nature. Since he and his wife are interested in different things, she assumed coming to Hawaii would combine their interests so they could both enjoy themselves. She wishes she would have never agreed to come on this trip.

“She thinks about the things she kept from him while he was away… a worried soldier is a danger to himself and his fellow soldiers.” the literary term for this quote is the character this helps me understand the whole of the story through telling the reader some of the internal conflicts in the character it shows that she cares about her husband and how their marriage is going and how he is doing as a person it shows that she cares.

“Both of you may need to discuss any issues you’ve had involving trust or jealousy, even if infidelity was not a problem.” the literary term shown in this quote is plot and it helps me understand that in the story Evie is not as confidant as she wants to be with her husband and how he will react to the world that he is coming back to. The quote helps me understand the 

uncertainty of Evie.

The literary terms help me understand the author’s P.O.V. on war by showing how someone who has not been to war sees someone who has at all hours of the day.

The author's perspective on war is that war affects more than just the soldiers that go off to fight. It affects a soldier's family just as much as it affects the soldier who goes off to fight. The message that it took away is that war has a very large effect on the soldiers and the people that they interact with. That in war no one is left out and that in war we are all involved and a part of it no matter who we are.

Quote 1: “...she knows she ought to put as much distance between as possible between herself and her husband. But Evie gets back into bed.” Colin was having a panic attack and instead of Evie rushing and turning on the lights because she was scared, she hugged him because that’s what she knew he needed. This quote represents character because Evie is too focused on their relationship because it has changed so much since Colin left for war, that she forgot how Colin needs support and for her ton just calm down. 

Quote 2: “Her husband groans and Evie wonders what images wrack him: cars that won’t stop at checkpoints, the hiss of a mortar too close, smoke and gunfire.” This quote focuses on character as well because Colin is experiencing major PTSD. He gets triggers from normal things in the real world, that seem similar to things that happened in the war. 

A message I took away from this story would be that Evie is too focused on the relationship and fixing it, when she should be focused on Colin and his mental state. When Colin came back after a year in the war, everything feels the same to him because he hasn’t had time to change and do different things like Evie, so they have different priorities. Since Evie hasn’t seen him in a year, it’s like they aren’t even together anymore. 

“There was some silene before he said, ‘stop staring.’” (O'brien 128) The literary term I chose is character. This quote shows how war can be traumatizing.  

“... in 1964 the young man began attending classes at the university in saigon, where he avoided politics and paid attention to the problems of calculus.” (O'brien 128)  The literary term is P.O.V. It brings in how everyone fighting in this war has some sort of life they aren’t just there to kill. 

I’d say that the author's message is that war is traumatizing. They showed how taking someone else's life can really mess you up. It shows how war also takes a lot of sacrifice.