TOW #7 - "The Most Extraordinary Scenes"

(taken from Letters of Note)

This letter from Captain Jake 'Jack' Armes to his wife describes his experience as a soldier in World War I on Christmas Eve in 1914. The title of this letter comes from his own words when he says that he was a spectator of one of "the most extraordinary scenes." The Germans and British were shooting at each other, but once seven o'clock hit, the Germans stopped fighting. Long story short, the British and Germans met in the middle and declared peace that lasted into Christmas Day, engaging in carol-singing, prisoner swaps, and football games. This really interested me because I am a big history buff and I remember learning about this in ninth grade. All you hear about wars are the terrible tragedies, so it is so fascinating to find out about these little stories. The captain does a really great job of explaining the events really well, and he does this by using imagery. This is captured when he utters, "It was a curious scene, a lovely moonlit night, the German trenches with small lights on them, and the men on both sides gathered in groups on the parapets" (Armes 22). His main purpose was to try and capture this beautiful moment that was probably never going to happen again, and report it to his wife. He wanted to make her understand how amazing of a scene it was, and I definitely think he achieved. Captain Armes references the troubles of the war before Christmas Eve in 1914, so that she could compare, and one thing that helped was his vivid description of the current situation. His audience is obvious because it was written to his wife, but I also think it could be directed towards every military wife or person who stays home during wartime in general. At home, you hear about the horrible war stories and the death tolls, but this brought hope and an incredibly interesting spin on what could happen in such a horrible situation. 

TOW #6 - "All My Exes Live in Texts"

This essay was published in the New York Magazine in 2013. It is now found on their website (nymag.com).

In "All My Exes Live in Texts," O'Connor compares what it is like to have an ex-whatever in this generation versus before social media was invented. She describes an ex as anyone that could be in your past, like a boyfriend, friend, or someone that you met and embarrassed yourself in front of. When I first read it, I thought it would just be about how you can't get away from past relationships anymore, but when O'Connor used repetitive diction to describe all of the different people she could be talking about, it made the essay so much more interesting. She says, "The ex you follow so you know how to avoid her in person. The ex you watched deteriorate after the breakup.The ex whose musical taste you heed on Spotify. The ex whose new girlfriend sent a friend request" (O'Connor 14). The author writes about so many different exes that I would have never thought of it, and it helps to establish her purpose. She's trying to say that since it is so easy to find people and keep tabs on them after you've left them behind, you need to chose wisely about who you want to spend time with. Every person that you have had issues with in the past can come back into your life so quickly, which is so unlike what it was like for the generations before us. This leads to another device that O'Connor uses which is juxtaposition. Throughout the essay, she explains the differences between modern communication and what it was like twenty years ago. It helps to emphasize how important it is to be careful on social media and to reevaluate our dependence on it. She definitely achieved her purpose because she was able to make a personal connection about it and educate at the same time.

TOW #5 - "We the People Corporations"

This political cartoon shows the "real" first amendment to the US Constitution by the Supreme Court. It changes the iconic first three words from "We the People" to "We the Corporations." This sends the message that instead of being one unit as people of the United States of America, it has turned into corporations trying to run everything. The authors of the Constitution made it clear that they were not special in rank, just people who wanted to make a difference, and this takes that idea and destroys it. I think the main purpose for the author would be to show how America has changed since the writers of the Constitution lived. It is no longer run by the people, but instead run by the desire for money and corporations who are trying to take over each other. By using the Constitution and the words every American knows by heart, it catches the readers' attention, even if they have no clue what the author is writing about. I actually do not think that the audience is towards anyone specific. It could be intended for corporations, but I think it is mostly for the everyday American that knows the severity of what they are doing. This political cartoon is an allusion in itself, and it definitely uses this device to get their point across, and in such an effective way, since it can catch a person's attention immediately. They would not be able to convey such an idea with two people talking about how corporations run the country now. The author presented it in such a way that makes you actually think about what it is trying to say, but it is also not confusing enough to make it difficult to figure out. The author definitely was able to achieve his/her purpose because of that specific allusion that is in the hearts of every American.

TOW #4 - "The Nazi Officer's Wife"

The Nazi Officer's Wife started off with a bang, and Edith Hahn Beer in no way decreased her efforts throughout the first half of the story. It started off with her working in a German hospital as a young nurse pretending to be 21 instead of her 29-year-old self. She is hiding her real identity, which is an Austrian Jew and a certified lawyer. If the Germans were to get any idea that she was intelligent and/or a Jew, she would die. It was so interesting to horrifying to hear her fears, and she emphasized these through the use of juxtaposition. After the initial pages about her current life as a nurse and her secret identity, she described her childhood in Austria. Edith (called Grete in Germany) lived her life with loving parents, horrible sisters, and an occasional religion. She didn't really go to synagogue but she loved her life. Edith had many friends, boys were interested in her, and school came very easily to her. This was drastically different to her current life which consisted of being a complete different person and as she liked to call it, "hiding in plain sight." This juxtaposition between her two unique lives really depicts the struggle that she is facing right now and how hard it was for her to adjust to this new lifestyle. I think Edith Hahn Beer's main purpose in writing this story is to show the war from a completely new perspective. Yes, it's about Jewish people during the Holocaust, but it's not about concentration camps or many people dying. She wants to show that it wasn't just the outcasts, or what the Germans considered as those people, being taken out of their homes. There were some people that were in Germany fearing for their lives, and taking so many risks.