Subin Kim - Analytical Writing |
Subin Kim
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Analytical Writing
November 16, 2016
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Analytical Writing
November 16, 2016
The Movie of a Written Page
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung is an intense, yet hopeful non-fiction novel about a young Cambodian girl, who is the author herself, through the Cambodian Civil War of 1975. Ung’s novel is full of imagery that sets the mood of the moment; it is pretty much a scene from a movie translated into words on a page.
In the exposition of the novel, the calamity of the start of the Cambodian War is portrayed with details of the scene. “Everywhere, people scream their good-byes to those who choose to stay behind; tears pour from their eyes. Little Children cry for their mothers, snot dripping from their noses into their open mouths… They walk with short, brisk steps, yelling for their kids to stay together, to hold each other’s hands, to not get left behind. I squeeze my body closer to Keav as the world moves in hurried confusion from the city” (Ung 41). Here, the imagery used by Ung allows the reader to imagine a snapshot of the moment of misery. She specifically chooses to portray details handling the emotion of sadness and desperateness. To emphasize the effect of the imagery, Ung utilizes many other elements of figurative language. She inputs hyperbole such as “tears pour from their eyes,” which emphasizes the outburst of emotions. Ung also uses personification such as the “world moves in hurried confusion,” to show how most families, and even animals in the area, were agonized by the sudden outburst of gunshots and war. With these techniques, Ung successfully creates a mood of heartbreak for the readers.
Loung Ung’s ornate use of imagery in her novel shares the despairing mood of the war in First They Killed My Father. Although not explicitly stated, Ung sets a specific mood for the reader, which is delivered with her manipulation of words. The mood set creates an atmosphere of suspense of the obscure consequences the war creates for Loung Ung as the story proceeds. The synthesis of two elements -- imagery and mood -- allows the readers to maintain a connection with the author through emotions.
In the exposition of the novel, the calamity of the start of the Cambodian War is portrayed with details of the scene. “Everywhere, people scream their good-byes to those who choose to stay behind; tears pour from their eyes. Little Children cry for their mothers, snot dripping from their noses into their open mouths… They walk with short, brisk steps, yelling for their kids to stay together, to hold each other’s hands, to not get left behind. I squeeze my body closer to Keav as the world moves in hurried confusion from the city” (Ung 41). Here, the imagery used by Ung allows the reader to imagine a snapshot of the moment of misery. She specifically chooses to portray details handling the emotion of sadness and desperateness. To emphasize the effect of the imagery, Ung utilizes many other elements of figurative language. She inputs hyperbole such as “tears pour from their eyes,” which emphasizes the outburst of emotions. Ung also uses personification such as the “world moves in hurried confusion,” to show how most families, and even animals in the area, were agonized by the sudden outburst of gunshots and war. With these techniques, Ung successfully creates a mood of heartbreak for the readers.
Loung Ung’s ornate use of imagery in her novel shares the despairing mood of the war in First They Killed My Father. Although not explicitly stated, Ung sets a specific mood for the reader, which is delivered with her manipulation of words. The mood set creates an atmosphere of suspense of the obscure consequences the war creates for Loung Ung as the story proceeds. The synthesis of two elements -- imagery and mood -- allows the readers to maintain a connection with the author through emotions.
MLA Works Cited
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
Gina Lee - Descriptive Writing
Gina Lee
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Descriptive Writing
November 16, 2016
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Descriptive Writing
November 16, 2016
Met Bong’s and her Leeches
In the midst of palm trees and fruits, enclosed by a forest,
lays our work camp, on the borders of a rice field.
Eighty girls, merely ten to fifteen years old, toil from
Field work today, tomorrow the same-
it seems as our toil never comes to an end.
And there’s nothing to do about the leeches, black and slimy,
that stick on our legs with their ice-cold squishy suction cups,
and refuse to let go, as we trudge through the rice.
Even as the sun and moon play hide and seek, our labour doesn’t stop-
Met Bong, our supervisor, lights a nightly fire, and once again the propaganda starts.
“Agkar! Angkar!” us girls may respond in union,
but inside, rage for the Khmer consumes our every thoughts.
At last, the bonfire dies out, and darkness seizes the field, yet
the tingle of etching anger doesn’t seem to reside.
The moon wins over the sun, and stars bedazzle their heavily hope.
Our compact straw-roofed huts, we promptly hustle into,
signaling the sacred end to another day we’ve survived again.
lays our work camp, on the borders of a rice field.
Eighty girls, merely ten to fifteen years old, toil from
Field work today, tomorrow the same-
it seems as our toil never comes to an end.
And there’s nothing to do about the leeches, black and slimy,
that stick on our legs with their ice-cold squishy suction cups,
and refuse to let go, as we trudge through the rice.
Even as the sun and moon play hide and seek, our labour doesn’t stop-
Met Bong, our supervisor, lights a nightly fire, and once again the propaganda starts.
“Agkar! Angkar!” us girls may respond in union,
but inside, rage for the Khmer consumes our every thoughts.
At last, the bonfire dies out, and darkness seizes the field, yet
the tingle of etching anger doesn’t seem to reside.
The moon wins over the sun, and stars bedazzle their heavily hope.
Our compact straw-roofed huts, we promptly hustle into,
signaling the sacred end to another day we’ve survived again.
Little Angel Loung
My father used to say, that I was smart and clever,
that I was his little angel girl, and would be so forever.
But what would he say now, when he sees what I’ve become?
Even I don’t seem to know, where my perpetual rage come from.
A thief, a liar, malicious enough to steal precious, valuable rice,
although I knew the consequential price.
With burns on my itchy scalp, covered with knots of greasy seaweed hair-
how I wish the gods could have been more fair.
My dreams the Khmer can take away, my hope and beauty too,
but my father’s darling angel, I wish to remain true.
that I was his little angel girl, and would be so forever.
But what would he say now, when he sees what I’ve become?
Even I don’t seem to know, where my perpetual rage come from.
A thief, a liar, malicious enough to steal precious, valuable rice,
although I knew the consequential price.
With burns on my itchy scalp, covered with knots of greasy seaweed hair-
how I wish the gods could have been more fair.
My dreams the Khmer can take away, my hope and beauty too,
but my father’s darling angel, I wish to remain true.
MLA Works Cited
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2000. Print.
Bryana Lee - Readers Response |
Bryana Lee
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Reader’s Response
November 16, 2016
Dr. Jain
Writing #3 Reader’s Response
November 16, 2016
First They Killed My Father Personal Book Review
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung was an assigned book for me. I wrote this book out as my number one choice because of the cover page but, this time I figured out why people kept saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’. Only looking at the cover, it was just another war book but it was more than that. Ung’s writing techniques had made the book more interesting as the book went on.
The first passage that I would like the mention is: “Tears stream out of my eyes as I whisper thanks to the gods that the soldier has blindfolded Pa. He is spared from having to see the executions of many others. “Don’t cry, Pa. I know you are afraid,” I want to tell him. I feel his body tense up, hear his heart race, see tears flowing out from under the blindfold.” (Ung 106). This passage was where Ung’s father was being killed by the soldiers. Ung italicized the parts where her father was dying. I thought that italicizing the main parts of the book, the important parts, was a good idea because always in books, authors usually don’t italicize the main conflicts so sometimes, if the wording of the author isn’t that great, then it would be hard to notice the main conflict. But since Ung italicized the main conflicts, I didn’t get confused and recognized the main conflicts easily.
The next passage I would like the mention is: “I turn away and look at the sky as tears roll out the corners of my eyes. “Oh Pa, I miss you,” I tell him in my head...” (Ung 171). I wanted to mention this because it was one of my favorite imagery Ung had created in the book. As I read this passage, I created pictures in my head and I thought of a little girl looking into the sky and her head slowly tilting down with water dripping from her face with a background with a beautiful night sky where it is full of stars and with a bright crescent moon. Not just this passage, but Ung described all her passages and actions thoroughly so that her audiences can create imagery.
The last passage I wanted to mention was quite confusing for me. “It’s a sin to look at dirty things. The gods have punished you to make you blind” (Ung 194). First, when I first read these two sentences, I said to myself, they are religious people with a lot of gods that they believe in. But as I reread the sentences, I realized that the author has mentioned the word “sin”. According to the dictionary, sin means an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. I believe that they did not have a specific law mentioned saying that people can’t look at “dirty things”. I reread this passage trying to figure out what that meant in the passage but still, I couldn’t find any answers to my question and still, I am very confused.
Although Ung’s descriptions had also made me confused with wordings, I thought it was a great book and I really liked the book. I would also recommend it to all of my peers around me because anybody would deserve an awesome book.
The first passage that I would like the mention is: “Tears stream out of my eyes as I whisper thanks to the gods that the soldier has blindfolded Pa. He is spared from having to see the executions of many others. “Don’t cry, Pa. I know you are afraid,” I want to tell him. I feel his body tense up, hear his heart race, see tears flowing out from under the blindfold.” (Ung 106). This passage was where Ung’s father was being killed by the soldiers. Ung italicized the parts where her father was dying. I thought that italicizing the main parts of the book, the important parts, was a good idea because always in books, authors usually don’t italicize the main conflicts so sometimes, if the wording of the author isn’t that great, then it would be hard to notice the main conflict. But since Ung italicized the main conflicts, I didn’t get confused and recognized the main conflicts easily.
The next passage I would like the mention is: “I turn away and look at the sky as tears roll out the corners of my eyes. “Oh Pa, I miss you,” I tell him in my head...” (Ung 171). I wanted to mention this because it was one of my favorite imagery Ung had created in the book. As I read this passage, I created pictures in my head and I thought of a little girl looking into the sky and her head slowly tilting down with water dripping from her face with a background with a beautiful night sky where it is full of stars and with a bright crescent moon. Not just this passage, but Ung described all her passages and actions thoroughly so that her audiences can create imagery.
The last passage I wanted to mention was quite confusing for me. “It’s a sin to look at dirty things. The gods have punished you to make you blind” (Ung 194). First, when I first read these two sentences, I said to myself, they are religious people with a lot of gods that they believe in. But as I reread the sentences, I realized that the author has mentioned the word “sin”. According to the dictionary, sin means an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. I believe that they did not have a specific law mentioned saying that people can’t look at “dirty things”. I reread this passage trying to figure out what that meant in the passage but still, I couldn’t find any answers to my question and still, I am very confused.
Although Ung’s descriptions had also made me confused with wordings, I thought it was a great book and I really liked the book. I would also recommend it to all of my peers around me because anybody would deserve an awesome book.
MLA Works Cited
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
Jennifer Kim - Readers Response |
Jennifer Kim
Dr. Jain
Writing #3Reader Response
November 16, 2016
Dr. Jain
Writing #3Reader Response
November 16, 2016
Response to First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
As I first approached this novel, I was certain I had chosen another wrong, weird war story; however, when I began reading the first page, every single detail touched me by heart especially due to the innocent and childish mind the main character, Loung, had. This story evidently portrays the difficulties of surviving war and because the book was written in a child’s perspective, most scenes can easily allow connections and emotions to develop within the reader. Even the title itself triggers curiosity since the audience is forced to wonder why or how “they” killed Loung’s father first. When I saw the reviews upon the story, I was shocked by the positive remarks on how the author had written the story, and turned determined to finish the book.
The last paragraph of the book seemed not to be enough as the end was unsatisfying. I wanted more and more chapters to read about, simply because I loved the compelling story. I think this was one of the best war books because of the descriptive details, imagery, and sentence syntax that is utilized to create empathy. Every chapter, every sentence, and every word caused tension and never did I lose the nervousness for the main character. In one moment, Loung would be safe, and in another, she would be caught in danger and this was the first time I ever wanted to slip into the story and save the main character. Empathy was really the key force that pulled the me in and left memories in my brain. And, of course, I was able to relate to my grandmother who passed away. Every time Loung’s family member was murdered, the picture of my grandmother’s funeral was drawn and I was left with tears on the edge of my eyelashes. Although war was clearly more violent, my emotions exploded as I recalled the time when my heart paced at the hospital in which my grandmother died. I definitely loved this book because everyday, a detail of it pops up in my thoughts as if I am a book addict.
However, there was one specific line I was continuously reminded of. “Now I no longer have to pretend to be an orphan” (Ung 164). This statement suggested how Loung had pretended to be an orphan to grow as a strong individual, but had now truly become one. It is true the author doesn’t state this in an overly-empathetic manner, yet, this was the most memorable line for me. This child had lost almost everything at the young age of five and had accepted her faith. I was not only shocked, but also sorry for all the events that had happened to her. The empathetic feature of this book is what I believe truly touched me. First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung was one of the best war books I’ve ever read and possibly even one of my favorite books until now.
The last paragraph of the book seemed not to be enough as the end was unsatisfying. I wanted more and more chapters to read about, simply because I loved the compelling story. I think this was one of the best war books because of the descriptive details, imagery, and sentence syntax that is utilized to create empathy. Every chapter, every sentence, and every word caused tension and never did I lose the nervousness for the main character. In one moment, Loung would be safe, and in another, she would be caught in danger and this was the first time I ever wanted to slip into the story and save the main character. Empathy was really the key force that pulled the me in and left memories in my brain. And, of course, I was able to relate to my grandmother who passed away. Every time Loung’s family member was murdered, the picture of my grandmother’s funeral was drawn and I was left with tears on the edge of my eyelashes. Although war was clearly more violent, my emotions exploded as I recalled the time when my heart paced at the hospital in which my grandmother died. I definitely loved this book because everyday, a detail of it pops up in my thoughts as if I am a book addict.
However, there was one specific line I was continuously reminded of. “Now I no longer have to pretend to be an orphan” (Ung 164). This statement suggested how Loung had pretended to be an orphan to grow as a strong individual, but had now truly become one. It is true the author doesn’t state this in an overly-empathetic manner, yet, this was the most memorable line for me. This child had lost almost everything at the young age of five and had accepted her faith. I was not only shocked, but also sorry for all the events that had happened to her. The empathetic feature of this book is what I believe truly touched me. First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung was one of the best war books I’ve ever read and possibly even one of my favorite books until now.
MLA Works Cited
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2000. Print.