Facing It By Yusef Komunyakaa Summary

Rain began to lightly drizzle onto my shoulders as I passed the endless headstones. It seemed like the cement markers continued for miles, and for miles they did indeed. With my fellow freshman, I ascended the hill of Arlington National Cemetery; the expanse of graves produced a feeling of sorrow within me almost impossible to illustrate. Tears began to well within me, and I had to choke them back. It was not yet time to cry.

In the poem “Glory” the writer Yusef Komunyakaa is trying to explain that everyone can achieve glory. He starts out by saying that “most were married teenagers, working knockout shifts daybreak to sunset six days a week.” When he says this he is stating that not everyone is born into glory but can still experience it. Then he goes on to say. “They were all Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, a touch of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige.”

Many of his poems in this book are about his time serving in the Vietnam War “as an information specialist and later an editor for the military newspaper The Southern Cross” (Conley). However, many of these poems are not only about the Vietnam War but also about racial matters. One writer states that “at the beginning of his poetic career, Komunyakaa’s vision was rooted most often in his race…” (Mack). This shows that his race and roots were extremely important to him growing up and remained important when he began his writing career.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was a significant event in America because it stood as a symbol of recognition and healing for those who fought in the war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built as

Nicholas Capasso once said, “ The national Vietnam Veterans Memorial may have generated more controversy than any work of architecture in recent history”. Three parts make up the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which are “The Wall”, The Three Soldiers statue, and The Vietnam Women’s Memorial. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was a tribute which is in Washington DC. Maya Lin entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the wall and won. The wall is made of two black granite walls that form a V-shape and has the names of all 57,939 Americans who died during the war.

Ann Rinaldi, the author of the historical fiction novel, An Acquaintance with Darkness, recounts multiple historical moments, figures and monuments in order to depict her story. Many authors such as Rinaldi herself, modify the truthfulness of the information they’ve portrayed in order to fit their story. When writing a historical fiction novel, one must contemplate whether it is justified to crumble the factual basis of any historical accounts. Arlington National Cemetery is a particular monument that Rinaldi depicts in order to illustrate the grim times of the Civil War. Proof of Ann Rinaldi’s faithfulness to historical accuracy, for the most part, was this depiction of one of the most respected cemeteries in the United States.

Maya Lin, Vietnam Memorial. Green Museum, http://www.greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Issues/lin.php Lin began graduate school at Harvard University prior to the installation and she was forced to testify against the addition and for her design in general so many times that she withdrew from the college after one semester. Lin enrolled in Yale again to receive a Masters degree in 1986.The Art Story Foundation, 2016 
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The need to memorialize events or people is complex; in some cases, monuments honor moments of great achievement, while in other cases, monuments pay homage to deep sacrifice. A monument 's size, location, and materials are all considerations in planning and creating a memorial to the past. In any case, the need to honor or pay homage to a specific person or event is prevalent within society. A monument has to mean something to the society it is place in. The location of a monument is perhaps the most important aspect of creating a successful monument to honor and show respect to a person or event.

She also describes how wishes the Wall to assuage people. She says that her monument will console not by denying the horrible truth of the war, but by acknowledging it through peace and serenity. Moreover, when viewed from the sky the wall resembles a closing wound. It has sometimes been referred to as “The Black Gash of Shame” by Critics. This symbolizes how as a country this memorial has helped us close our wounds that were opened by the Vietnam War.

She didn 't want the actual memorial to be different from her design because it would take away from her hard work and effort and the memorial wouldn 't look like hers. When Maya Lin was not studying she was taking independent courses at the University of Ohio and spent most of her free time casting bronzes in the school foundry. The memorial was a black cut stone masonry wall that had the names of all 57,661 fallen soldiers carved into it. The wall was in the shape of a V and it was strategically placed so that one side of it pointed to the Lincoln memorial and the other side pointed to the Washington Monument. People voiced their negative opinions about Maya Lin specifically because of the fact that she was of Asian ethnicity.

This poem makes me feel proud and sad at learning the real things that armies have to face. Komunyakaa had served in the Vietnam War as a correspondent and he was managing editor of the Southern Cross during the war so he had first-hand experience of what really happened. I have learned that war is a genre of poetry that seeks to create meaning for an indefinite experience and Vietnam War poetry defines these experiences for the soldier himself, but also for a public which did not show great support for the war and had no true understanding at the time according to the History Channel. In Vietnam, the Viet-Cong used tunnels to evade American troops and their air bombings during the Vietnam War. Military was forced to clear these tunnels and many times, smaller soldiers called “tunnel rats” were forced to go inside tunnels by themselves to search and kill any enemies living underground.

Romanticism is a movement in literature from the 18th century. Qualities that romantic literature had is that they valued ideas and nature. They value nature and can find ideas in every single thing that happens. Romantic literature was not only happy but it was also melancholy. Romantic authors explored the good and the bad things of life.

Celebrates the achievements of FDR in black, big, words I see waterfalls which symbolizes the greatness of electricity flowing through America When I got to the next room I see sadness and despair Statues of people lining up for food. Quotes in big letters saying “I hate War!” etched in the big stones, Obstacles containing rocks and prohibiting progress.

Kaylyn Locklear Dr. Jesse Peters ENG 2200 14 Oct. 2016 A Story of How A Wall Stands Response Essay Simon Ortiz is a Native American storyteller and poet. Through his poetry, he discloses events from the past as well as memories. In his poem, “A Story of How A Wall Stands,” Ortiz discusses a time where his father revealed to him traditions and culture, to create a new appreciation of bits and pieces of history and events that have gained lesser attention in the past.

My shadowed face recedes into the dark richness of the granite wall as we blend as one. I am strong and will hold back my tears; pain begins to flow of years past and I am made human again. The opaque effects of my existence reflect back my imbalanced soul. As my appearance, onto this granite stone will one day let me leave; I find my innermost thoughts trapped forever in the waves of Vietnam.