All Quiet On The Western Front

Each chapter in All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, has a different story, or idea. The chapters each talk about one battle or settlement, or some memory of Baumer's. The seemingly flustered way the chapters are arranged are symbolic of the chaotic bustle of war, and the thoughts of a young soldier in the midst of it. Each chapter isn't supposed to tell one large story, it's supposed to show the horrors of war and how it seeped into Baumer's mind. However near the end, when Baumer gets hurt and sent to the hospital, things are a little less horrific, so the chapters are more put together, and tells a larger story. The tone of this novel is mostly sad and foreboding, and he is always talking about how he will never be a normal person with normal feelings. Remarque uses a lot of ethos and pathos, to intrigue the reader and making them feel sympathetic towards the characters. There is very little imagery, sticking to the ultimate terrors of war is bad enough, there was no need to add more vicious images. The diction of All Quiet On The Western Front is cropped, blunt, however it is somewhat poetic at the same time. The way Remarque writes illustrates a man damaged by war, yet still has a deep inspiring mind.

AQ from Olivia Oppelt

In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, each chapter having a different focus gives the reader a sense of how much disorder occurs during a war. It helps the reader get a feel of how the soldiers felt during the time of the war because we didn’t know what to expect out of the next chapter just like the soldiers never knew what they were about to face battling in the war. The book creates a sense of mystery for the reader. Without the chapters going in chronological order can also be confusing for the reader which can be considered a negative effect of the book. Throughout the book Remarque uses very descriptive imagery to describe the war which helps the reader understand how brutal the war was especially for the soldiers who risked their lives everyday and all the suffering they had to endure.

MC from Olivia Oppelt

In The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, the humans try to colonize Mars in a way similar to the Europeans trying to colonize America. In the beginning of the book there are four expeditions in which men are sent from Earth to Mars to see if there is potential for humans to live on the land similarly to the way Europeans sent men on many expeditions to America to see if the land would be profitable for them and suitable for their living situations. Both of these expeditions involved sufficient decreases in the natives’ populations and exploration of the new found land. Within the first four expeditions to Mars, the humans accidentally killed most of the Martians; bringing with them chicken pox to the land. Likewise while inhabiting America, the Europeans brought over a variety of diseases that the Native Americans had no way to protect  themselves from. Over time the Earth men forced their culture and ways of life upon the Martians just as the Europeans made the Native Americans conform to their way of life. The earth men changed Mars in many ways similar to the ways Europeans changed America.

ND from Olivia Oppelt

In the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author goes under dramatic changes to change her lifestyle in order to discover the harsh conditions of the lower working class. She undergoes a series of working minimum wage jobs such as a maid, waitress, and an employee at Wal-Mart to observe the reality of unfair working and poor housing conditions. Ehrenreich notes while working these various jobs, her coworkers’ living conditions and how she struggles to live on a minimum wage budget to pay for food, shelter, and transportation to support herself. Ehrenreich argues that that the low-class wages are not enough, considering the high costs of living expenses. Ehrenreich chooses to blame the middle and upper class societies for the poor conditions that the lower class have to put up with. After experiencing these struggles, she proposes more health benefits should be in place for low-wage workers and employers should have to pay their employees more per hour for their hardwork.

17. After reading Nickel and Dimed I believe that having any job is better than having no job at all because at least I would have some way of supporting myself and can make do with what I have with a little income than having no income at all and trying to support myself without living in poverty. While reading this book I felt angry because in the beginning Ehrenreich seemed like she took things for granted and thought living off a minimum wage job would be easy so she could just calculate it and that would be the end of the story, but little did she know unexpected things happen and expenses are hard to keep up with when people live off of minimum wage. I now feel better informed about the poor living conditions of people trying to support themselves and their families off of minimum wage jobs, and I feel like I sometimes take the little things in life for granted and am happy for even being employed. I feel that something needs to be done to improve the living situations of the poor.