Term 2 Week 10 Home learning 

Task 2:

Analysis of the poem

1) Point of view

This poem's point of view is from the author's perspective. The poet wrote this poem based on his experiences when he was a paratrooper as in the last line of the poem, the author wrote "Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir". The fact that the author was writing from his perspective gives us a first-hand experience of what it was like during the combat. The speaker's function in this poem is to give this poem a sense of realism.

2) Setting and situation

The author was writing this poem based on his experiences when he was a paratrooper fighting in Afghanistan. The author was deployed to Afghanistan during the year 2002. I know that this poem was based on experiences in Afghanistan as the poem says that the "Hindu Kush has changed so many lives". The Hindu Kush is basically a 500-mile mountain range stretching between north-western Pakistan and eastern and central Afghanistan. In the poem, tension is created by describing what the author did during the combat. For example, "We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not" and "I run as fast as I can through the lead rain" meant that the author was on a helicopter/plane and had to jump from it despite them not wanting to. After jumping, the author had to run through a "lead rain", which is actually means a lot of bullets flying around.

3) Language and Diction

The author used an object in this world to describe how it affects him and the other troops. The author related to the Hindu Kush, which is a 500-mile mountain range. The author wrote that "The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives ; Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod". The mountain range could change a person's life, either by destroying the life, or by restricting it (by injuring the person). The theme of this poem is survival. During combats, even when sleeping, a soldier must be prepared for any sudden attacks or ambushes. This is shown by "We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared". Another theme could be brotherhood. The poem states that "blood is thicker than water", but "lead is thicker than blood". This means that the soldier built up friendship by fighting alongside each other.

4) Personal response

Personally, I feel that this poem shows the reality of combat as this poem is written by a person who has experienced combat himself in the past. People die during the course of combat. So, in the future, war should be avoided at all costs.

References:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Steve

http://superdeetwinkle.wikispaces.com/IT+Home+Learning+T2W10+2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_kush

Term 2 Week 10 Home learning  


Task 1:

Background infomation about the poet.

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to 

D Company 1^st battalion 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82^nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He was deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He was later deployed to Afghanistan in December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.

References:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Steve

Term 2 Week 10 Home learning  


The poem I will be analysing today will be "We Slept With Our Boots On" by Steve Carlsen.

The poem:

They 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 shit
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

Game review of Imperial Ages

Well, above is a screenshot I took from a browser game I just quit. The name of the game is Imperial Ages. The reason why I decided to quit this game is because this game requires the player to be active. If a player is not active for even a day, he/she might be what the community call, "farmed". As I could not be active (i.e. Online playing everyday for at least 1.5 hours), I simply quit the game.

This is the...well, 3rd time I quit this game (I joined last year)

There is actually a story for the game but it is quite...long. Nevertheless, here it is:

Prologue -->

The world has changed. Under the heavy hand of history, land is changing its shape, people are changing their thoughts and words are changing their meanings. An older concept is being brought back to life: power – the measure of all things.

The same reason and force that once made people unite – creating tribes at first, large armies later – is now tearing families apart. Power makes a man gain a class, a place in existence’s vast memory; this is the best way for winning an identity.

For people are the weakest, when the illusion of power becomes their psychosis and the imaginary becomes their first nature. They become vampires – not the legendary ones – seeking a blood that gains the view of each one’s desire and they would joyfully give their lives for that purpose. In the altar in which Evil had made its moves onward world domination through swords and fire, there are also named the humans chosen to make this possible.

The Ancient Stones speak in great silence of an alliance of brave men, Fate of the Rose, ruled by four brothers that, hundreds of years ago, kept the flag of freedom against obedience to the tyrants of the world, the emperors of the Dark Empire. The alliance was flawless, for the spiritual dimension of its leaders were all the pieces needed for a glorious omnipresence: the Trader – well developed capacity of weighting not only goods, but also situations and a precise sense of numbers; the Priest – strong in his beliefs, caretaker of the beliefs of people seeking advice and direction; the Warrior – courageous and very skillful in battle, he enclosed within himself the knowledge of weapons; the last one is the Barbarian – resembling in some ways the Warrior, he was endowed with great physical strength and great impact over the enemies, due to his numerous armies, attacking with rage and lust for glory. These were the four element of a powerful mechanism that stood in chaos and anarchy’s way for years.

In their last great victory against human evil, they heard of a relic with great power, the Scepter of Ur, an artifact that could unite and disunite humans under a sole commandment. Right before the alliance got to the last bastion of the Dark Empire, one of the Dark Lords displaced the Scepter in four pieces and buried them in four corners of the world. Assuming that the destruction of this instrument will guard peace and freedom, the four brothers departed, one in each corner of the four.

After finding them, one after another, the brave knights succumbed to the desire of being for themselves rulers of the peace and freedom they desired. They have settled in each corner they looked for the components of the scepter and gave birth, from their own inner spark, on the one hand, to four great kingdoms: The Papal State, The Hanseatic League, Valachia and the Mongol Empire and, on the other hand, to an irreversible separation between them.

Old family ties are forgotten, ideas and feelings are put behind and the Four are now in quest for ultimate power but, unlike other times, for their own. Because none of them wanted to unite their kingdoms by will, a war is now imminent. The only good thing – but an expensive one – the war and the wish for more ever brought is evolution. Civilizations were forged and conquered inside war rooms, a certain kind of competition developed between opposite sides, making them climb higher on the scale of human life complexity. As time passes, the four kingdoms get bigger, stronger, they develop new standards of living and fighting and they permanently search for more.

The Scepter of Ur cannot be assembled, since none of the four leaders would give up his piece. But it has been heard of other relics which, found and put together, would give great mystical power to the bearer. Alas, no matter of how great that power can be or get, it does not last forever. And everyone seems to know that, because their kingdoms are getting prepared for war.

As this story is about to end and as reality is about to be unleashed to decide upon the fate of its participants, these words are mystified and enwrapped in an aura of auspicious times. The Ancient Stones are still the ones to observe and memorize the events to come…

Thus, the hunt for power begins!

Game review of Empire Craft:

I have just started this game called Empire Craft. You can use your facebook account (if you have one) to connect with the game, or you can just create an account. This game is similar to all other browser-based strategy game I have played before, only with better graphics. However, I feel that the user interface for this game still cannot compare with Evony's. Evony has the best user interface I have ever seen. Apart from that, the other functions of Empire Craft is still ok.

Well, the picture at the top is what you will see when you first enter the game. You can choose from 3 different types of characters, Human, Orc, or Elf. I chose Human :D. You will then have to build buildings, train troops, attack, spy etc. From those you will gain population, gold coins, diamonds and more. The gold coins are used to increase your apprasial, which is used to increase your rank.

About the time it takes to upgrade buildings, at the beginning, Empire Craft takes a faster time to upgrade its buildings compared with Evony. However, later on in the game, Evony actually takes a faster time to upgrade its buildings. One example of Empire Craft taking a faster time is the upgrading of its Level 0->Level 1 farmland. From the screenshot at the right hand side, you can see that to upgrade a Level 0 farmland takes only 8 seconds, which is fast, compared to its counterpart in Evony, which takes 30 seconds.

One example of Empire Craft taking a longer time to upgrade its building:

As you can see, it takes 2 hours 30 minutes to upgrade a Level 1->Level 2 barrack. However, in Evony, it only takes approximately 15 minutes, or less. This shows a vast difference in the amount of time required to upgrade this particular building.

Well, here are now some screenshots of the game: