Ghost Soldiers pt4

I read pages 150 to 200. General Lee utters the words he has been putting off, "Surrender." AS he handed over his Colt .45 that tucked to his side, he didn't know what was ahead of them, but he knew it wouldn't be good, there was no hope left of rescue. They had a treacherous stretch ahead of them hiking deeper and deeper into enemy territory. The chance of being rescued was a zero percent chance. With so many men sick, wounded, and exhausted the hike to their concentration camp would be devastating. It would soon be called the "Death March." So many miles to walk, with such an environment, having no reason to continue to march if you were an American Soldier because you were marching to your prison camp. Meanwhile, even though the troops that had surrendered thought there was no hope, there was a secret mission of rangers, with captain Mucci, as there leader. A short but scrappy man who took no guff, and wanted to go on a mission. He selected these rangers because they rangers more than anything wanted to go on a mission, and they were just about to get there chance.

Ghost Soldiers pt3

I have read pages 100 to 150 in Ghost Soldiers and I keep continue to get wrapped up in the book. The story continues to become more and more of an intense feel. As the American troops begin to realize and understand that capture is inevitable. They begin coming out of the jungle's deep cover to surrender themselves to the Japanese. The troops General Edward King, before uttering the words of surrender, met with Imperial Japanese Army to discuss terms of surrender. He hoped that the Imperial Army would be terms from the Geneva Convention, basically stating that Prisoner of war treatment should be humane. The Japanese Imperial's Army, Nakayama their leader, even though nice to General King, did not seem to be very acceptive of the terms of somewhat kindness. The interesting part was as King discussed terms of somewhat kindness. The interesting part was as King discussed terms, the troops waited for several days to hear the word. General King, while at the Imperials Army Camp, taught Nakayama how to use some of the weapons and how to drive some of the cars that the Japanese had found. General King is holding off the words of surrender because he doesn't want to say it, not knowing the future. 

Close Reading Bingo

1. Long Quotation as the subject

“They were the free-standing kind: a pair of integral sins swooping upward between the two floors they served without struts or piers to bear any intermediate weight.”

 http://thelostmessageofwords.blogspot.com/ 
2. Discussing being vague
Baker draws a picture in your mind with his descriptions, "escalator of daylight" and "towering volumes."
http://almostfacebook.blogspot.com/
3. No Quotations in the whole post
The author describes his brother in very short concise sentences that tell enough about him but not too much. 
http://fifteen-to-twentyseven.blogspot.com/2011/10/catcher-in-rye.html
4. Avoid the verb "use"
Baker describes the appearance of the lobby of his work as a place with “towering volumes of marble and glass,” and he also uses figurative language when he mentions the escalator “as the handrails slid on their tracks, like the radians of black luster.”
http://mbutchko.blogspot.com/
5. The best example
In the first page of his novel Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger’s literal, blunt diction expresses Holden’s attitude towards his life and his surroundings. Holden describes his parents as “touchy as hell” and mentions his “lousy childhood.” The negative connotation of his words is straightforward, lending them to be easily trusted. Even when speaking of his brother, Holden says where D.B. lives “isn’t too far from this crumby place.” Though Holden is capable of positive emotions shown by his compassion for his brother, Holden has a negative outlook of his surroundings. http://freefifteen.blogspot.com/2011/10/practice-diction-analysis.html

Practice Diction Analysis

In the excerpt from the novel Catcher of the Rye, by JD Sallinger’s slightly irritated, harsh denotative diction conveys a sense of annoyingness with his parents and his current situation. Sallinger describes his parents has “touchy as hell” and describes with some sarcasm what would happen if he said anything about either one, “my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.” The harsh straightforward word choice conveys a negative view that makes his parents seem like they hold JD back. The backdrop of where he lives also seems to annoy him, “That isn’t too far from this crumby place.” Although he lives near Hollywood, the place suggests that you would want to lock all windows and doors before you go to sleep.

Currently Week 9

I am reading Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. This book has been very good so far and I cannot wait to keep reading it.
I read pages 10 to 100. 
1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman is more denotative and specific however. His way of description is littoral, precise, and common.
http://ilikesoccer17.blogspot.com/
2. Much of the language Annie Pnoulx uses clashes with the words next to it and while some of it is not to be taken literally, most of it is fairly straightforward and common.
http://thoughtful-attempt.blogspot.com/
3. The words flow sort of like it’s a poem but the words are very harsh such as gnashing, thunderclap and bitter. 
http://daltonstuart.blogspot.com/ 
These were by far the best descriptive sentences that I found.

Ghost Soldiers pt2

I am still reading Ghost Soldiers and I have read pages 50 to 100. As the story begins to unfold, it tells how the soldiers got to be imprisoned in Bataan. Many soldiers were very ill, wounded, or exhausted as the Japanese troops continued to push forward, forcing the US troops to retreat. Disease was spreading, the soldiers bodies coursed with every worm and pathogen a hot jungle can visit, battling against dengue fever, amebic dysentery, bacillary dysentery, tertian malaria, cerebral malaria, typhus typhoid. The field hospitals were ripe, with gas gangrene, spreading from wound to wound. The medical center was so over packed people were lined up outside to wait to be treated, as the Japanese continued to push. The food supply, was what they could find, mostly grubs and silk worms. The men were exhausted to the point that one guy said even his hair was tired. It was crazy to the point, navy men had to be put in infantry, firing machine guns. The front lines had been broken so many times, there wasn't even a line to be broken anymore. As days went on, disease became worse, along with wounded, and fatigue. Before they were going to get captured they knew they had to get rid of anything that could help the Japanese. Their guns, grenades, jeeps, tanks, and whatever else. The capture was a fate that could not be changed, they had retreated, until there was no place to retreat. Although, they still hoped for a miracle rescue. The men were fighting for out freedom an they had to suffer. Them suffering has helped us be able to live the way we live today. I thank these men for fighting for us.

Style Mapping

Many authors use many different types of writing. Having these different styles allows us as readers to interpret the writing and helps us think about what kind of style it is. The first writing I looked is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. His writing has a low but musical style or language about it. "Days of riding where there rode no soul save he." and also "The sun that rises is the color of steel." These sentences provide a very picturesque tone. Also he way he writes creates a foggy meaning and when he writes he is talking about being hidden and fog hides things. The second writing that I went through was "The Mud Below" by Annie Proulx. This writing is more of a denotative and harsh kind of writing. "around the back of his hand and over the palm a second time," really showed to me that he was going to ride a bull. That excerpt is very straightforward and dull. The writing is very good at explaining but does not have the "pop" to it. The last writing that I looked at is George Orwell 1984 by George Orwell. His writing is more of a denotative and high diction type of writing. "It depicted simply an enormous face,"  and "On each landing, opposite the lift shaft," is explaining more of the setting of the first chapter. But the first quote is explaining a gigantic motionless picture hung by the stairs. He writes in more of a wooden way unlike Cormac McCarthy who writes with more of a marble tone. Orwell's writing is a literal style and an elegant style.

Ghost Soldiers pt1

I have started reading Ghost Soldiers this week and I have read the first 50 pages of the book. It is written by Hampton Sides. The book starts out intense setting up the the story by displaying what a Japanese prison camp was like as a prisoner of war (POW). It tells about how the Japanese wanted it to look as if American bombers, bomb their own prisoners at concentration camps. What the Japanese did was as American planes flew over head, they made the US soldiers get into their self made air raid pits. No more than a couple feet wide and about a hundred yards long, the Japanese forced about a hundred soldiers, knee to chain, four feet underground into these pits. The soldiers didn't know it at the time, that the whole scheme was to kill them all, no survivors. The Japanese enclosed the entrances, and as soon as the soldiers were trapped, the Japanese began drenching and covering the pits with gasoline and lighting it on fire. American soldiers forced there way out only to be killed by the machine guns spraying lead everywhere. It was chaos people burning alive, being stabbed, and shot. As soldiers ran they tried to, with their bare hands, tear through the barbwire fences, some made it only to be shot by more machine gun fire. Only eleven soldiers out of the 150 lived to tell the story, but they brave men, who after escaping the camp, went back to the Americas and obviously now tell the tale. The men that died gave their lives fighting for this country and our freedom. I am thankful that I am able to read this so I can learn about how we still have our freedom. 

Quarterly

I have really enjoyed the reading I have done this year. I am really liking the war stories and as of right know Lone Survivor is by far my favorite. My reading habits have been pretty good I would just like to read more. The reading I have done has challenged me and that is why I like it so much. I read at really any parts of the day as long as it is quiet and I can focus. Sometimes I even read at my job when I have down time. Next quarter I would like to read more books and maybe get out into different genres. I have enjoyed reading and this is the first time in a long time that I have read a substantial number of books.

black Hawk Down pt7

I have continued reading Black Hawk Down and i read pages 300 to 350. Maechal Durant was a pilot of the 2nd Black Hawk that crashed. He was captured by a mob and carried away. He was taken to an unknown location his captures looked at him not as a prisoner of war but as a hostage. They knew that they could get money in return for him. While he was in captivity on one occasion someone pointed a gun into the room and shot, but only did minor harm to him. It wasn't until 9:30 PM that rescue force headed into the city. Monuvering through the city was not going to be easy, with so many vehicles. Involved in the convoy were Malaysians and Pakistanis. The soldiers in the city were becoming impatient for the rescue forces to come. One of the rescue forces to come. One of the soldiers, whose last name was Smith bled to death. Eventually the convoy started to approach the pinned down soldiers in the city. the men are putting their lives on the line and that is what the military is about. The military drills that into their soldiers and that is what makes America the greatest country on the planet. The men were putting their lives on the line and the men excepted this challenge. I hope that these men get out alive.

Response

I have continued reading Black Hawk Down. It keeps getting better and better with every page. the Black Hawk went down and know the men are trapped. They are having to fight their way out. One of the Black Hawk captains has been taken captive by the Somalians. the men are fighting very fiercely and are trapped. This is what I have been reading the last week.

Currently

 The pages I read last week was 100 pages. Overall I have read 300 pages the past 3 weeks.
My favorite sentences of the quarter were.
"But there was a terrible reality about Mikey's words. Was I afraid of these guys? No. I was afrain of their possible buddies in the Taliban? No. I was afraid of the Liberal media back in the U.S.A.? Yes."
I really liked these sentences becauase they go along with what I believe in. They just helped me really realize that some men die when they dont have too and that really hits me.

Sentences

"Take this setup in Mogadishu, for instance. It was asinine. At the base, the huge hangar front doors wouldn't close, so the Sammies had a clear view inside at all hours day or night."
"Every time they scrambled to gear up and go, word was out in the city before they were even in the helicopters."
Pg. 206

Black Hawk Down pt6

Two more 10th Mountain Companies were en route, and the UN's Pakistani and Malaysian forces had agreed to add their tanks and armored personnel carriers to the fight, but the logistics of assembling this polyglof rescue convoy would be daunting, and would take hours. In two more hours it would be dark. The men fighting for their lives out in the city knew nothing of the bigger picture. They could not see beyond the increasingly desperate struggle on their corner, and each still fought with the expectation that rescue was just minutes away, that's really the only reason they had the fight left in them because they knew they were trapped, but if thinking that rescue was on the way was the only way to keep surviving and not give up, then that was the only real option they had. It was either die or live by rescue/

Black Hawk Down pt5

Too many things were happening at the same time, all of them bad. Task Force Ranger was two hours into a mission that was supposed to have taken only one hour. For General Garrison and his staff in the airfield JOC, watching and listening on the TV screens and radio, and to element commanders Harrell the awful recognition that events had spilled out of control. As the battle raged on, outnumbered and trapped, their force was now stretched beyond its limits. Durant's crash site was an imminent danger of being overrun. Most of the original assaulter s, about 160 D-boys and Rangers, were now either cut to pieces on the limping ground or strung out on the foof between the target house and the first helicpotor crash site. They belonged to the strongest military power on Earth, but until some additonal force could be brought to bear, they were stranded, fighting for their lives on the city streets surrounded by thousands of furious well-armed, crazy, Somalians.