Class freewrite

I.

a)

• war- red, bloody, loud noises, gunshots, shouting, dirt, mud, weapons, death, struggle, wounds
• gunner- green/brown (fatiques), sneaky, waiting, confident, focused, steady
• attack- loud, sudden, gruesome, bloody, red, sweat, dirt, pain

b) long, atomic bomb, destructive, life-changing/ world-changing, debt

II.

I still don't fully understand the first line of this poem. Seeing the ball turrets, however, did give me a much better visual. I understand now how the author would desribe him as "hunched" and "six miles from earth." He must feel so alone back there all cramped and by himself in such a small little compartment. He must have felt so helpless too, being stuck in that little ball while he was being fired at. The last line of the poem is very striking and now I can see why this would be necessary because of the little space he had inside the turret.

Randall Jarrel enlisted in the US Army Air Corps but failed to fly. He then worked as a control tower operator instead. After having a very successful teaching career at many different schools in the nation, he was hit by a car and died. He had been treated for mental illness and a previous suicide attempt prior to his sudden death.

This information is interesting because when I was reading the poem the first time, I figured it must have been produced by someone who was very familiar with having been in a ball turret and would know what it really felt like. However, Jarrel never made it in the Air Corps, so he does not have the inside background that I had expected from such a unique poem's author.

I don't think that the personal information about Jarrel would really help me write about this poem. I don't think it gives me any more incite to what the poem is actually about at all. I think the information on the ball turret and historical background would help a lot more.