Critical Analysis for "Fields of Honor" by Edwin Bearss

Fields of Honor by Edwin C. Bearss is a book that shows in great detail many important battles of the U.S. Civil War. In the book, the main idea is that the battles shown influenced the outcome of the Civil War or were important to make the outcome what it was. One example in the text that shows this is when the author writes "perhaps as many as 28,000 of Lee's 75,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. For the moment, Lee's invasion of the North had been a costly failure." Here, the author is writing about the battle of Gettysburg. The author shows how Gettysburg helped make the outcome be what it was by showing how costly Gettysburg was to the Confederate cause, by showing that around a third of Lee's army was killed, wounded or captured. A second example is when the author says of the battle of Antietam: "Five days after Antietam, taking advantage of the Union victory, Abraham Lincoln issued his peliminary Emancipation Proclamation... The war to save the Union was now also the war to free the slaves." In this quote, the author shows the importance of the battle of Antietam by saying how it allowed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln being able to do so affected the outcome of the war because it changed the war from the goal of preserving the U.S. to that as well as emancipation of the slaves.

In the book, the author wants you to think about how important the battles were to the Civil War, and wants you to feel like you were there, in the battle. To accomplish these goals, the author uses several techniques. First of all, he uses a certain organization and uses information to make it more evident that these battles were the most important. For example, the author selected only certain battles, generally in which important things happened, to go into the book. As for organization, they are chronologically ordered so it makes more sense to the reader. To show the importance of battles, the author gives many facts and statistics. For example, in the text, the author writes "By sundown more than 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers are casualities in what had become the bloodiest day in American history." Facts and statistics like these help the reader understand the importance of these battles. By saying the number of dead and the fact that it was the bloodiest day in American history alerts the reader to the importance of the battle (In this case Antietam). To make you feel like you're in the battle, the author uses a variety of methods. For example, he uses the present tense and future tense to explain what's happening in the battle. One example is when the author says "The Sunken Road is a natural trench for the Confederates, but if the Yanks can gain and hold the high ground overlooking the right flank here... the Rebs are going to be in deep trouble." Quotes like these make you feel in the battle more because it sounds like it's happening at that moment, or will happen in the future, not in the past. This makes the reader feel like it's actually happening to them, instead of making them feel like it's already done. Another way the author helps the reader feel like they're in the battle is by providing maps with captions. This shows the reader more accurate views of the battlefields and troop positioning and movement, so the reader better understands what's going on, if the text is harder to understand. The visual of the battlefield helps a reader know where everything is, so when a place or unit is talked about in the text, the reader understands what's going on with it and where it is. These examples help readers think about the importance of the chosen battles, and feel more like it's happening in the moment.

When I read the book, I felt like I was learning a lot, and was thinking about what I was learning. The book is very detailed, so it gave me a lot of information about some battles that I definitely didn't know before. I think the author did a good job of making me feel in the moment and thinking about the importance, too- I definitely saw those while I was reading.

Romeo and Juliet Literary Essay

In William Shakespeare's famous Romeo and Juliet, two themes, decision making and punishment, affect the characters both individually and both together.

Decision making is important in Romeo and Juliet because it affects the characters' futures. One example of this is when Romeo decides to go to the Capulet party. When Romeo agrees to finally enter the party, saying "Direct my sail. On, lusty gentlemen" (1.4.120), he changes his future, and the future of others, as well. The decisions each character makes is important because it affects them, and others. Another example of this is when Romeo decides to marry Juliet. When Frair Lawrence says "For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone/ Till Holy Church incorporate two into one" (2.6.36-37), and Romeo agrees to marry Juliet, their futures are drastically changed. Any decision made by the characters makes a change in that character and other characters' futures.

Punishment is an important theme in Romeo and Juliet because it serves as an important detterant that affects how characters act. One example of this is the warning of punishment made by Capulet when Juliet doesn't want to marry Paris. Capulet says "An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets"(3.5.204). This affects Juliet, becuase she knows if she doesn't please her parents, they will be extremely enraged. This threat of punishment leads Juliet to fake being obedient about the wedding, to please her parents, and therefore avoiding punishment. A second example of this is the warning the Prince gives to the Montagues and Capulets after their fight: "If you ever disturb our streets again,/ Your lives shall pay the forefiet of the peace"(1.1.98-99). This affects the actions of the characters later in the story, for example at the party, when Lord Capulet stops Tybalt from going after Romeo at the party. Becuase of this warning, the Montagues and Capulets are much less inclined to fight. Warnings, and punishments that lie inside them, act as detterants, which change how characters act later on.

In Romeo and Juliet, the themes of punishment and decision making combine because characters make decisions based on their knowledge of the consequences. For example, Romeo makes the decision to kill Tybalt, even though he knows that the Prince forbade Montagues and Capulets from fightng. Benvolio attemps to stop the fight, saying "The Prince expressly hath/ forbid this brandying in Verona steets" (3.1.89-90), but Romeo fights him anyways, killing him, so Benvolio says "Romeo, away, begone!/ The citizens are up, and Tyblat is slain"(3.1.138-139), telling Romeo that he should quickly go away before people catch him and discover that he killed Tybalt. In this part, Romeo has to make the decision of killing Tybalt to get revenge, and face the punishments (or try to avoid them), or not kill Tybalt. Even though he knows the punishment is supposed to be death, he still tries to kill Tybalt. Another example of characters making decisions with knowledge of possible consequences is when Romeo and Juliet decide to marry. They both know that their families are enemies, and that this would obviously be forbidden and would come with punishment if caught, but they still decide to marry anyways. In this way, the characters in Romeo and Juliet make decisions, which affect their future and others', and this effect is sometimes due to the punishments set.

Overall, in Romeo and Juliet, the characters' decisions are made usually based on a judgement call from the characters. They ask themselves if it would be better to do something they want to do and face the consequences or try to avoid them, or not do what they want to do. This is a choice that is very evident not only in Romeo and Juliet, but also in the everyday lives of normal people. And like the characters in the play, normal people have to do what they think is the best option for them in the moment. This can sometimes, like in the book, lead to worse-than-intended conflicts and problems, but this is not always true- the opposite is just as common and normal.

Critical Analysis for "Putin's Power Play" by Patricia Smith

Putin's Power Play by Patricia Smith is an Upfront Magazine article about Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent movement of troops into the Crimean region of the Ukraine. In this article, Smith's main idea is that this move is an interesting one, being that it is risky and frowned upon by most of the world, but other countries have done little to prevent it. One example of this is when the author says "Vladimir Putin seems to have squandered all the good press Russia recieved from the [Winter Olympic] Games... by sending troops into Ukraine. It's a move that calls to mind the Soviet Union's agression during the Cold War." This quote shows that the author thinks that this move is undoubtably risky. The author states that it cost them a lot of the good imput from the media because of this, and many people are remembering the Cold War. Another example is when the author states "Despite all the moves to pressure Russia, most experts say that the U.S. has little leverage". This means that the U.S. is doing some things to try to stop Russia, but they can't do much more, and obviously what the US has done so far hasn't been enough. These connect to the main idea because in the article she talks about the limited actions of the US and the risky agression of Russia, both of which are central ideas in the passage.

In the article, the author really wants the reader to agree with her point of view- that this move by Russia could be potentially hazardous either to Ukraine or to the rest of the world, depending on if anyone decides to not help or help, respectively. The author also takes a fairly blatant pro-Ukraine and anti-Crimean takeover by Russia. The author gets the reader to think and feel her side by using several craft techniques. For one, she uses a political cartoon. In this cartoon, a Ukranian person standing next to the grave of the USSR is held by the hand of Putin, coming from underneath the grave. This cartoon agrees with the author's stance on the issue because she doesn't like what Russia is doing, and this cartoon puts Russia as a very pro-communisim and pro-USSR country, and puts them in a bad light. Another craft choice made by the author is organizing the article into sections that answer a specific question. For instance, one section is called "How has the US responded?" The author goes on in that section to say "When Putin sent in troops... the US imposed sanctions on high-level Russian officials and suspended military ties and trade talks". By doing this section organization, the author is able to answer specific questions that relate more towards what she wants the reader to feel and to think, and also match her point of view.

When I read this, I thought that Putin made a risky move, much like the author. However, I feel that the author was wrong to say that the US cannot do more to aid Ukraine. More cooperation with the United Nations and the EU, who Ukraine was considering joining, could help put more influential sanctions on Russia that could hurt their economy and force Putin to remove soldiers from Ukraine. He recently achieved what he said was his goal- the annexation of Crimea, but there's no telling what he'll do next. The U.S., as the world's leading superpower, has the obligation to defend the intrests of smaller countries, and stop Russia from making the USSR again.