VIDEO comparison to The Sniper

                       Black Hawk Down Video Clip

Out of all three texts that I’ve used to show tragedy and dehumanization in war, the video displays tragedies of war and the dehumanization involved in war most strongly. This is because with the video, there is clear and strong evidence of tragedies of war. This is basically shown throughout the entire video clip, but most importantly dehumanization is shown in a dramatic fashion. In this video clip of the movie “Black Hawk Down”, there is a battle between US Army and Somalian Guerrillas. This battle is generally tragic in the sense that it kills both US and Somalians. Also you can see how many others are affected by this conflict. Civilians and the soldiers themselves suffer through the destruction that the gun battles bring forth. I believe that the stronger theme that is played in this video is dehumanization. In one part of the clip, two US soldiers are in a helicopter and 50 or 60 Somalians surround them and start shooting at the two soldiers. Even after the soldiers die, they all rip the clothes of the soldiers and throw rocks at the dead bodies. This shows how atrocious people can be in war, and how they dehumanize their enemies. The Guerillas mortify the US soldiers into inhuman creatures. This way they can kill and get revenge on the soldiers without feeling any guilt upon doing so. It is similar to the theme in “The Sniper”. In the story it also gives us a message that war is tragic and can be dehumanizing. There are also some differences in the themes. In the story there is also a theme of brother fighting against brother. This is not seen in the video unless, you comprehend that the US soldiers and the Somalians are supposed to be brothers. This isn’t the strongest them in this video but can be considered a theme if that is the way you think of it. After watching this video, I take in how extreme the dehumanizing involved in war can be. The part where rocks are thrown at the dead soldiers shows how people in war think of their enemies as “things” that deserve no respect and should be killed at all costs. In conclusion I believe that the theme of “The Sniper” and the theme from the video clip have a similar theme, and is shown very strongly in the video.

LYRIC/SONG comparison to The Sniper

EdwinStarr

This song by Edwin Starr really captures the attitude that most people have upon war. It has a clear connection with the story, which has the basic theme that is about how war is devastating and tragic. For many war is something that will always represent the evil part of human nature, the part that makes us hate enemies, dehumanize enemies, and kill enemies. This songs lyrics focus on how war is good for nothing. The chorus that is repeated is “War, what is it good for?” The rest of the song however, focuses on how tragic war is. This is similar to the theme of “The Sniper”. “It means destruction of innocent lives,” is some of the lyrics from the song. The song exposes how heartless and tragic war really is, and by saying war is only friend to the undertaker, the artist compares those in support of war as monsters. People who by killing and being used to dead bodies, like an undertaker, have dehumanized themselves. The song describes various tragedies that war brings to us, shattering and destroying a young man’s hopes and dreams, unrest with the younger generation, and tears to thousand’s of mothers’ eyes. The tragic and pity making images that the artist uses in the song really makes us consider the consequences of war, and makes us realize that war is not the answer. However in the song there is no theme of brother vs. brother, this is contrasting to the theme in The Sniper. I really like this song because of the main theme or moral that it talks about. I believe that the message is put forth strongly because of the way that the artist gives us examples of how much destruction war can be. Overall I think that this song reflects the theme of “The Sniper” very strongly and both are very alike.

LYRICS:WAR,by EDWIN STARR

War, huh, yeah

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Uh-huh

War, huh, yeah

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again, y'all

War, huh, good God

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me

Ohhh, war, I despise

Because it means destruction

Of innocent lives

War means tears

To thousands of mothers eyes

When their sons go to fight

And lose their lives

I said, war, huh

Good God, y'all

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War, whoa, Lord

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing

But a heartbreaker

War, friend only to the undertaker

Ooooh, war

It's an enemy to all mankind

The point of war blows my mind

War has caused unrest

Within the younger generation

Induction then destruction

Who wants to die

Aaaaah, war-huh

Good God y'all

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it, say it, say it

War, huh

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me

War, huh, yeah

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Uh-huh

War, huh, yeah

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again y'all

War, huh, good God

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War, it's got one friend

That's the undertaker

Ooooh, war, has shattered

Many a young mans dreams

Made him disabled, bitter and mean

Life is much to short and precious

To spend fighting wars these days

War can't give life

It can only take it away

Ooooh, war, huh

Good God y'all

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War, whoa, Lord

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War, friend only to the undertaker

Peace, love and understanding

Tell me, is there no place for them today

They say we must fight to keep our freedom

But Lord knows there's got to be a better way

Ooooooh, war, huh

Good God y'all

What is it good for

You tell me

Say it, say it, say it, say it

War, huh

Good God y'all

What is it good for

Stand up and shout it

Nothing

IMAGE comparison toThe Sniper

Image of Warzone

This image displays a similar theme as the short story The Sniper. The basic theme that can be found in The Sniper is war is tragic and dehumanizing. The image I have found also shares this theme. The image displays a war zone in which soldiers or people have turned into demon like creatures. You can interpret this as dehumanizing because the soldiers who have went into the battle as humans, have turned into “creatures of war”. Also this image reflects how war can be tragic. It shows dehumanizing because when soldiers step into war, they must degrade their enemies and treat them as if they are inhuman. They will do this because no soldier would ever want to kill a human, even if it is for war. They would feel guilty of killing someone, so they must mentally dehumanize their enemies, and believe that they’re less than humans and don’t deserve to live. In the story, The Sniper the soldier is sniping an enemy, in the ending it turns out that he killed his own brother. This can show how war can be dehumanizing. You cannot treat the enemy like a human, you must kill them at all costs. I my opinion a soldier is viewing his enemies as how he would see them. They look inhuman because he feels that they are monsters that he must kill. You can clearly see how war can be tragic from viewing this image. It shows destruction of the city and also has a mood that shows tragedy and sorrow. There are however some differences between this image and the story. The story has an example of brother fighting brother, and this is not shown in this image. As I view this image, I get a sense of past wars that included dehumanizing of others, for example the Holocaust. Although humans initially intend to do good to the country, they end up causing negative events to occur as well. Overall war altogether, no matter what the reason will always bring harm to our world.

Blog ISU

Hello, we have recently been assigned an ISU, that involves posting my work on my blog. The assignment is basically to pick a story we read in class, and to pick three other kinds of "texts" that share the same theme as the one in the story. I chose to use The Sniper, and the theme in this story is war is tragic and is dehumanizing. There is also a factor of brother v.s brother in the story. I have chosen to use a song, video clip and an image to relate to the story. I have used the song "War" by Edwin Starr, a video clip about the movie "Black Hawk Down", and finally an image that someone drew about war. My general opinion about the theme is that war is very tragic and should be avoided at all costs. All events of war can be dehumanizing and shows how extreme people will be to win for their side or their opinion.

APA Reference Cited:

(IMAGE)
Alexiuss. “Aeons of Eclipse.” Online image. April 12. 2008. Deviantart. Oct.14.2008
<http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/Aeons-of-Eclipse-82668354>

(VIDEO CLIP)
“Black Hawk Down!” 2006, July 29. Online video clip. Youtube. Oct.14 2008
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtZYc-ERAw&feature=related>

(SONG LYRICS)
Starr, Edwin. “War lyrics.” Oldie Lyrics. Oct.14.2008.

<http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/edwin_starr/war.html>

WELCOME!

Hello welcome to my blog.  I will use this blog mostly for english class in high school.  I will share writing assignments, poerty and other work we do in our English class.

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