I Agree

In “How to Write with Style” Kurt Vonnegut suggests that writers, whether by accident or intentionally, always reveal their personality through their style of writing.  The only exception to this is newspaper reporters and technical writers, who simply have to write the facts. Vonnegut encourages writers to examine their own style of writing for the sole purpose of improving their style and gives eight suggestions that will help to accomplish this. Vonnegut writes a very informative essay that, if followed, will improve the writer’s style but will also show respect for the reader.  

Vonnegut’s purpose in writing this essay is to encourage writers to improve their writing. He suggests that the writer must write about a subject that they passionately care about.  Over the last number of weeks, our readings have included powerful essays that are written with great passion or that the writer is very knowledgeable about.  One example is “On Dumpster Diving” written by Lars Eigbner, in which the writer takes the reader on a heartbreaking tour through his life of dumpster diving. Vonnegut states that success is accomplished by the writer if, after reading the article, the reader is convinced to care just as much as the writer does, or the writer has convinced the reader to change his mind about a subject. After reading Eigbner’s story on dumpster diving, my opinion on dumpsters will never be the same.

Vonnegut states that that all writing should be kept simple. I agree. Vonnegut gives some wonderful examples of simple but powerful sentences including examples from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the Bible. Simple sentences can invoke powerful scenes.  A complicated reading for me was the “Code Breaker by Jim Holt.  While I found this to be an interesting article, I got bogged down trying to read through his complicated description of the machines invented by Alan Turing. Vonnegut credits author James Joyce with putting “together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra,” and yet he reveals that his favourite sentence in Joyce’s writing is one with only three words (p. 66). Vonnegut also wants the writer to be true to his roots and appreciate the fact if he is brought up in a second language it is something to be treasured because it will add to the flavour of the writing.

Vonnegut best advice is that the writer should always “say what you mean” (p. 67).  He wants the writer to use the most effective words for the subject and continue to build on the writing with words that relate and connect as you go along. The writer is most successful when they write an accurate understandable writing. It is frustrating for the reader to have to go back and read over again in order to understand what the writer is saying. Vonnegut also reminds the writer to think about the reader, who in many cases has not mastered the art of reading. They are “imperfect artists” (p. 67).  Even if the writer can “soar high above the ground,” he must come back to the level of the reader to be effective (p. 67).

Through this writing, Vonnegut makes very valuable suggestions that will help the writer improve his writing style. He reminds us that writing does not have to be complicated.  If kept simple, a writer should still be able to draw the reader in, invoke powerful emotions or change the reader’s mind. His examples and suggestions will assist me in my writing.

Now that you have read Vonnegut’s essay, do you think you will make any changes to your style of writing?

Lost Lives

In “Japan’s Kamikaze Pilot’s and Contemporary Suicide Bombers: War and Terror”, Yuki Tanaka compares the mentality of the kamikaze suicide bombers, during World Ward II, with terrorist suicide bombers of today, noting the differences and the similarities of both.  While both forms of suicide attacks are considered to be “madness,” Tanaka reminds us that other forms of “strategic bombings” directed by countries like the U.S. and Britain, continue to kill thousand of innocence civilians and should no longer be regarded as “legitimate military operations,” but should also be considered acts of terrorism (Tanaka, 2008, p. 300).

Tanaka’s purpose is to examine the “psychological themes” and other factors that emerge when comparing these two groups of young men. The examples he gives are effective. Tanaka gives a face to the kamikaze pilots by explaining that most of these young men did not come from the “Air Force Cadet Officer System in the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army Forces, which recruited university and college students” (p. 294).  Rather these young men came from junior flight training schools and were non-commissioned officers. According to Tanaka, the reasons for their involvement and sacrifice in kamikaze missions were uncovered in the private records of these young men and show that the basis for agreeing to suicide missions comprised of five reasons.  These included the rationalization of the importance of giving one’s life for the defence of country.  This did not necessarily mean nationalism but place of family town.  Showing honour and duty to parents, particularly mothers, was considered to be the most important reason in accepting a suicidal mission. Other reasons included the solidarity and friendships formed among the pilots, a strong and sincere sense of responsibility and duty, the contempt for cowardice, and no sense of hatred for the enemy (p. 296, p. 297).  Tanaka explains that the similarities between the kamikaze pilots and contemporary suicide bombers include: “the imbalance of technological power between them and their foes, in the conceptions of those who dispatch them and in the mentality of those who sacrifice their lives” (p. 298).

While Tanaka readily admits that there is less information available on the psychological and ideology of the terrorist bomber, he effectively describes the Palestinian bomber, who differs from the kamikaze pilot. Young Palestinians see no hope in the future. “They talked about having no hope, no jobs, and no dignity, and they each nodded when one of them said they were all suicide bombers in waiting” (Friedman 2008, p. 177). Tanaka states that the Palestinians are a people whose lives are controlled by the Israeli.  For a nation to have witness so much torture, death and degradation, terminating one’s life does not seem so frightening because there is no hope.  “It is a natural psychological extension for one who no longer finds meaning in his or her own life to slight the lives of others as well” (Tanaka 2008 p. 299). Religion may also be a way for suicide bombers to justify killing their enemies and self-sacrifice (p. 299). Tanaka reveals that a major difference between the kamikaze pilot and the suicide bomber is that the terrorist bombing “is generally planned and authorized by organizations outside a state structure” (Tanaka 2008 p. 298). The kamikaze suicide missions were encouraged, put into action and legitimized by the military.   

The gaol of the kamikaze pilot and the suicide bomber is similar.  The killings are more “ritualistic” because the victims, whether civilians or the military, are unimportant to the pilot or bomber (p. 298). The killings are intended to frighten and terrorize their enemies so dramatically that it will change the course of action of their enemy.  For the Palestinian suicide bomber, the belief is that the enemy will leave their country.  For the kamikaze pilot, it was believed that their actions would cause the enemy to make concussions and end the war. 

Tanaka’s last paragraph is the most powerful because it reveals what he really feels about war and violent conflict. He makes the point that we cannot look at kamikaze-style or suicide attacks as being committed by fanatics without examining the indiscriminate bombing of civilians by powerful military nations.  As he suggests, these are two kinds of terrorism that must be addressed.

Do you consider bombings of cities by the Americans acts of terrorism?

Friedman, T. (2008). 30 Little Turtles. In K.A. Ackley, G.K. Blank, & S.E Hume,

            Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Reading Across the Disciplines (pp. 176-

            177). Toronto, ON: Thomson Wadsworth.

Jobs for Grateful People

In “30 little turtles,” Thomas Friedman makes a very compelling argument that outsourcing low-wage, low-prestige jobs to poorer countries makes the world a more prosperous and safer world for young people who accept and appreciate these jobs while also improving their economic status and that their families in their own country (Friedman, 2008, p. 177).  One example is the call centers in India where this is considered to be a very appealing employment opportunity for young enthusiastic Indians.

The purpose of Friedman’s essay is to demonstrate that while jobs at call centers are considered to be low prestige jobs in countries like Canada and the United States, they are highly regarded in poorer countries like India. Friedman gives some powerful examples to back up his position. He demonstrates that these jobs provide life changing opportunities for many young people and in some cases address far reaching social issues.  One of the best examples provided is that “a majority of these call center workers are young women, who not only have been liberated by earning a decent local wage (and therefore have more choice in whom they marry), but are using the job to get M.B.A’s and other degrees on the side” (p. 177). For the young people who do have college degrees, there are no opportunities to obtain employment in their profession or to make the type of salary they do working at the call centers. As many of these young people still live at home, their wages provide support for their entire family and make a better life for many people under their care (p. 176).

These out-sourced jobs provide another valuable benefit to younger people in poorer nations.  These young people gain self-confidence and self-worth working at jobs where they feel valued and are solving problems even on an international scale. Friedman writes about an Indian engineer who worked for an American Software Company and expressed the pride he felt helping Americans navigate through their software (p. 176).  It also provides hope for these young people; hope that life can be better for them. When asked by Friedman who his role model was, one young person said it was Bill Gates and he dreamed of “starting his own business and making it big” (p. 177). Friedman also makes a powerful comparison to young people in countries where there is “no hope, no jobs and no dignity” (p. l77). These young people are waiting for death as they contemplate their future as “suicide bombers in waiting” (p. l77)

Friedman presents one side of the issue that outsourcing jobs to other poorer countries has economic and geopolitics value. Friedman suggests that it is inevitable that low end jobs like the ones offered at call centers are given to people overseas.  These jobs provide a better life for many young people in poor countries where opportunity for good jobs and high wages are very limited.  By providing a valuable service to the world, young people develop a sense of pride and hope which in turn benefits the whole nation.

What other opportunities could America offer countries like India in order to assist them economically?