Beautiful WreckageBeautiful WreckageW.D EhrhartW.D Ehrhart
Presented by:
Raymond Herrera
BEAUTIFUL WRECKAGE
In Vietnamese, Con Thien meansplace of angels. What if it really wasinstead of the place of rotting sandbags,incoming heavy artillery, rats and mud.
What if the angels were Ames and Ski,or the lady, the man, and the boy,and they lifted Gaffney out of the mudand healed his shattered knee?
What if none of it happened the way I said?Would it all be a lie?Would the wreckage be suddenly beautiful?Would the dead rise up and walk?
What if I didn’t shoot the old ladyrunning away from our patrol,or the old man in the back of the head,or the boy in the marketplace?
Or what if the boy—but he didn’thave a grenade, and the woman in Huedidn’t lie in the rain in a mortar pitwith seven Marines just for food,
Gaffney didn’t get hit in the knee,Ames didn’t die in the river, Skididn’t die in a medevac chopperbetween Con Thien and Da Nang.
T
he poem is about the Vietnam War. It talks
about the things that happen in certain areas
of Vietnam and how war affected U.S soldiers.
WHAT IS THE POEM ABOUT?
WHO IS THE SPEAKER? HOW DO YOU KNOW?
T
he speaker is a male U.S soldier. I know this because
of the situation that is happening to his unit. Also,
the way he is telling the story is like a man
remembering things he regrets.
WHAT IS THE THEME OR LESSON OF THE POEM?
T
he theme of the story is for the reader to introduce a
couple of things that would happen in war.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS POEM?
T
he purpose of the poem is for the reader to
understand how war can affect a person emotionally.
WHATWHAT LITERARY LITERARY DEVICES AND SOUND DEVICES AND SOUND DEVICES ARE USED IN DEVICES ARE USED IN
THIS POEM?THIS POEM?(INCLUDE TEXTUAL (INCLUDE TEXTUAL
EVIDENCE)EVIDENCE)RR
epetition: “Would it all be a lie? Would the wreckage be epetition: “Would it all be a lie? Would the wreckage be
suddenly beautiful? Would the dead rise up and walk?”suddenly beautiful? Would the dead rise up and walk?”
CC
ontrast: “Would the ontrast: “Would the wreckagewreckage be suddenly be suddenly beautiful?”beautiful?”
MM
etaphor: “Would the dead rise up and walk?”etaphor: “Would the dead rise up and walk?”
WHAT IS THE TONE OF THE POEM? WHAT WORDS HELPED YOU FIGURE THIS OUT?
(CHOOSE 5 WORDS)
L
ie, rise up, beautiful, grenade, shoot.
T
he tone of the poem is a mix of confusion, and sadness
because the speaker talks about beautiful things but he is
sad of the things he did. Also, the poem is confusing
because the speaker is confused about the events that he
witnessed.
CHOOSE AT LEAST THREE UNKNOWN
WORDS
A
rtillery
M
edevac chopper
H
ue
HOW DOES THE TITLE CONNECT TO THE CONTENT
OF THE POEM? IF IT DOESN’T, EXPLAIN WHY.
T
he title connects to the poem because the speaker
talks about disasters and people dying to angels
healing the injured.
WHAT QUESTIONS DID YOU HAVE WHEN YOU FIRST ANALYZED THE POEM?
WHAT WERE THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS?
I
s the speaker injured? The speaker doesn’t seem to be
injured because he is remembering things.
W
hat war is it? The speaker is talking about the Vietnam war.
W
hat is beautiful about a wreckage? This question was not
answered.
IMAGE
I
chose this picture because the poem talks about the
Vietnam war. This can symbolize the speaker talking
because he is remembering what happen to his
friends.
SONG
“
The world we knew won't come back
The time we've lost can't get back
The life we had won't be ours again”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qOvNgEsZ9s
T
his song is related to the poem because many lives were lost
and many people saw how everything was turning around but
there was still hope.