Online Lesson R&R War

Passage A

1) Sandburg is describing anti-aircraft gun that juts out from the sides of the ships.

2) The “jackies” in these lines refer to the common sailors on board the war ship. They were singing “war chanties” because they wanted to raise their morale and boost their confidence when fighting for war.

3) Both guns and shovel s are made of iron. When they use the gun to fight for war, they would have to use the shovel to dig a grave for the dead soldiers in the war. Thus, both are similar and brothers not only because they are both made from iron, but also they were interlinked and could not be separated. When there is war, there will inevitably be death and injury, as represented by the phrase “oblong vaults”.

Passage B

4) The significance of the poem title is to show that the citizens had no authority or no voice to speak up from themselves during war time. They could only listen and obey to instructions from the soldiers. Thus, it showed that the commanding people during war had very high authorities and the citizens were weak.

5) In stanza 1, the tone is serious and depressing, to see all the properties being destroyed. However, there is a contrast in stanza 2, where all the properties were rebuilt and it represents hope and peace. Therefore, it gave us the effect that the soldiers had a very nonchalant attitude towards the destruction caused by the war. It gave us the impression that the destruction and rubble caused could be cleared and rebuilt easily. The persona attitude was clearly shown in the last sentence of each stanza. They command people and the snobbish and arrogant attitude was shown clearly.

6) In my opinion, I think it is harder to rebuild a society than to tear it down. To tear down a society, you can accomplish it with easy means, by using your powerful weapons and the properties will be down and reduced to rubble in seconds. However, to rebuild the society and properties, it took years and years to clear the rubble and go back to square one. They will have to slowly rebuild the buildings again and that took years of hard work and foundation. For example, in the recent Japan earthquake, the properties and buildings were demolished and “swiped” away in seconds. However, to clear the mess and slowly remove the rubble one by one before rebuilding took more than years. Thus, it is harder to rebuild a society than to tear it down.

Passage C

7) In the ancient times, people rode on houses when they go for war and that caused the sound of hoofs and feet. However, now people rode on big tanks and vehicles, creating the sound of the motor in the machine. In the future, the “silent wheels” represent that the machines they used hover above the ground, probably teleporting machines as even air planes make sounds. Therefore, when teleporting, it is silent and swift.

8) In World War 2, General Percival was “kicked under the dust” as he was caught off-guard. The Japanese attack from Malaysia and caught the British by surprise. Therefore, General Percival surrender in the end due to the surprise and swift attack form the Japanese.