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.