Task 1 Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2. Be sure to include your references and credit your sources.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION?
What is the historical / social / psychological / emotional setting? What is happening at this setting? Is there an external or/and internal conflict? What is the nature of the conflict (ethnic, social, cultural, psychological, emotional, spiritual etc.)?
ANALYSIS: THE SITUATION & THE SETTING
How is tension created and how is the climax produced (through the use of contrasts, through incremental repetition of diction, through the variation or development of imagery, through question and answer etc.)? Is there a resolution to the conflict? What is significant about the way the conflict is created and resolved? What is the significance if there is no resolution of conflict? What are the fundamental causes of the conflict? What is the function of the setting: background for action/ antagonist/means of creating atmosphere/means of revealing character/means of reinforcing theme? How are the functions of the setting fulfilled in this poem?
We Slept With Our Boots OnThey unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your ****
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell
by Steve Carlsen
Background
Poet: Steve Carlsen
-born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan
-joined the United States Army in October 2000
-attended Infantry Basic Training and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia.
-reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
-was in the 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina
-deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations
-carried out combat operations in Afghanistan in December 2002
-discharged from the Army in 2003
Introduction
The setting of the poem most probably a raid made by the poet and his comrades. They were carrying out combat operations in Afghanistan in December 2002, flying on a plane to a place they "had not a clue". Soldiers making a raid on enemy territory will definitely face resistance from the enemy, thus creating an external conflict whereby both sides try hard to eliminate the other side.
Conflict
There are two types of conflict in his poem - physical and psychological.
Firstly, as mentioned previously, the poet was fighting enemies on the front line to capture enemy territory. This inevitably leads to shooting and killing, which can be seen "Bullets are flying" and "I kept pulling the trigger", so the poem faces physical obstacles (enemies) which he has to shoot down.
Secondly, we can note that the poet was feeling rather nervous and scared, with his "heart pumping adrenalin through his veins". He even used expletives which emphasizes on how desperate he was on the battlefield, with "terror he can’t define". It is evident that he was horrified by the carnage caused by war, whereby "hell was so close to God".
Climax
The climax was created when the fighting had began in an abrupt manner, without warning the poet was told to aboard the plane and fight their enemies. At the middle of the fighting, readers will be caught in suspense as they pray fervently for the safety of the him and his comrades.
Causes
There are no specific causes of the conflict, that is the nature of war, which is a nightmare of injury, death, fear and sadness. These causes are just inevitable in war, which could never be left out, revealing the ugly truth of the war - many types of intolerable predicaments faced by soldiers in the war.
Resolution
At the last line of the poem, he probably has given up all hope on the war he was fighting and willingly accepted death as the solution to all of his predicament by stating "Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell".
However, unlike "I had a rendezvous with Death", the poet actually survived the war, he was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003 and currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.
