The military as well as the police force have continuously abused their preeminent title of being a hero. The word is so broadly defined that even a newly recruited military member, who wears the uniform, but has not yet served still qualifies as one. No matter how they treat others or represent themselves; if they wear a badge they get the praise and approval of everyone. However, David Masciotra bluntly shows the true colors of our role models. By defining hostily what doesn’t qualify and bringing up emotionally furtive secrets, he effectively demands that the carte blanche interpretation behind the word hero gets a slimmer and clearly definitive meaning.
Masciotra wastes no time in what the reader should expect from his choleric tone. In
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Masciotra brings up the topic of rape, by using statistics such as, “According to the Pentagon, 38 men are sexually assaulted every single day in the U.S. military,” as well as “In 2003, a Department of Defense study found that one-third of women seeking medical care in the VA system reported experiencing rape or sexual violence while in the military.” He creates a credibility to give reason to fear the crimes committed by the soldiers. He then exploits another secret to show how disrespectful our troops are to civilians. “Keith Gentry, a former Navy man, wrote that when he and his division were bored they preferred passing the time with the “entertainment” of YouTube videos capturing air raids of Iraq and Afghanistan...” The heartless acts create pleasure for the soldier, but reflect poorly on them as they amuse themselves to others pain. Evidently, police brutality is running the media lately, this is not so secretive but rather painful to hear. “Michael Brown’s murder represents the tip of a body pile... several videos have emerged of police assaulting people... for reasons justifiable only to the insane.” He alludes to one of the biggest police brutality murder cases in the country and continues by bringing up other brutality cases similar to that; the heroes who need to protect everyone as their legal job, are the ones hurting those in need.
Why in America, if you put a white male in an uniform with a gun, is he considered a hero? David Masciotra, author of You don’t protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracy, uses various rhetorical strategies; primarily appealing to ethos and pathos. He denounces those who join the armed forces, because not all of them deserve or have the right of being titled as “hero”. He utilizes ethos by using renowned figures all from different backgrounds to depict credibility in his argument. Masciotra also appeals to pathos through his usage of imagery and diction.
In The Book Secrets In The Shadows There Was This Regular High School Student Named Roylin Bailey . Him And His Family Lived In a Small Apartment Building . He Had A Job At A Restaurant In The Town And With The Money
Claims are made throughout the entire documentary by various people surrounding sexual assault in the military. The United States military works around hidden corners to avoid having a bad reputation due to assault or rape, was the first claim made. This is revealed by victims willing to share their stories. They were all told to “stop crying and realize that they brought this onto themselves”by their commanders. Therefore, his gives insight into the larger picture because the commander did not stop the sexual assault nor did they receive empathy after surviving a life changing event.
In this article, “Why We Love TV’s Anti-heroes,” the author Stephen Garrett argues that in today’s society our whole perspective of heroes has changed since the mid-twentieth century. Garrett is appealing to all American’s who love watching their favorite TV heroes and heroines. In addition, Garrett’s main focus is the fact today’s heroes entirely different from what the idea of a “hero” was two or three decades ago. The author relies on generally accepted ideas from the American public to base his main idea; he uses sources from popular TV shows and movies which have anti-heroes that draw the attention of their audience.
Tim O’Brien views heroism much differently than most. His comrades in Vietnam may base a hero upon his accomplishments in war; however, O’Brien’s version of a hero comes in the most casual aspect. O’Brien’s message on heroism communicates the simplicity of wisdom through the rhetorical elements of diction, tone, and ethos. In O’Brien’s acceptance speech, he uses effective diction to describe his hero, Elroy Birdall.
Ever since 9/11, Americans have felt vulnerable to another 9/11-type attack. Even today, all that is on the news are terror groups wreaking havoc all over the world. Susan Faludi wrote The Terror Dream that outlined how America came to the impression that manly men are needed to protect our nation/women. After 9/11, America needed heroes, someone to look to for inspiration. As 9/11 played over and over on television for weeks after, America found that the first responders were the heroes they were looking for.
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a science fiction novel. The novel is about a boy named Luke Garner who lives in a futuristic world where the Government has supreme control over everyone's lives. There is also Population Law in place in which tells everyone in the country that they are only allowed two children. Luke, who is an illegal third child, spends most of his days at home with his mom protected by the woods around his house. Then it all gets torn down to build houses for the Barons, or super rich people.
This incident led to a soldier being dead at the scene and two missing. The bodies had been taken hostage; they were mutilated, beheaded, burned and booby-trapped with explosives. A few weeks later, March 2006, four U.S. soldiers had been part of a rape of a fourteen-year-old girl. During the rape the girls, father, mother and six-year-old sister were all killed. This crime was terrible, the girl had been raped, was murdered and her body was then burned by the U.S. soldiers.
A hero is any person who is admired for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. You may not know it, but there are many heroes that are just like you. One hero is Temar Boggs, a 15-year-old that saved a little girl from being kidnapped. 5-year-old Jocelyn Rojas was playing outside when she turned a corner to get her bicycle and vanished. After her mother called 911, police and firemen soon swarmed the area to search the suburban neighborhood.
Susan Griffin’s story Our Secret seems to be about a small boy living in the terrible world that is Nazi Germany, but the story is more about the pain and heartbreak that both citizens and soldiers carry with them still to this day. It was an event that changed the course of history all those years ago, and Griffin chose to reflect back on the world-tilting events of compliance to artificial selves that Nazi Soldiers did to fellow German’s and people from many other countries. They abused, both physically and mentally, by making these people commit acts that were both emotional and violence. This story shows that there are many different ways to write a story about history, and WWII journalism. When I was reading the story it put a different
“The Man in the Water” knew it was he last chance to do anything before he had possibly been gone, gone in the possibly hypothermia water of the Potomac River. This man was helping others before even trying to protect himself in the first place. It just confused the onlookers of why he would put his life second out of strangers he has never seen before. He was a hero, a brave, considerate, noble man, and last but not least a sacrifice of his entire life, as what the survivors had thought of him. First question for most of the onlookers was who he actually was and why did he put other people’s lives before his?
Debi Mazar is an actress who stated, “A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tried to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really, deeply cares.” Heroes are relevant to everyone, because at some point, everyone has had a hero. Sadly, today’s society degrades the meaning of the word “hero”. Heroes are an important aspect of life, but famous people are not always heroes.
[ Imagine this scenario: you are complying with the police that are screaming at you, guns pointed at you, screaming “please don 't shoot” and trying your best to do what the police are asking. Daniel Shaver was an unarmed man fatally shot for no good reason. He was complying with the police officers orders and was begging for his life, screaming “please don’t shoot,” before he was fatally shot 5 times. Unfortunately, this is just one example of police brutality, an instance when police use unnecessary force when either they are unarmed or are complying with orders. Today I want to tell you of the injustice of police brutality, the people it affects, and how just asking the right questions could make sure that police are punished for their crimes.
Burning houses, robberies, murders, and suicides are things that we face in today’s society. Without having “true heroes” in the societies in which we live, tragedies like this could never be stopped or prohibited. Many people question what makes a hero? Is it superman like powers? Or is a cape and a top-secret identity?
Throughout history, people of all cultures and beliefs have created stories of great and mighty heroes containing the virtues admired in that age. In times long ago, when the Anglo-Saxons were at their height, one of these stories was the tale of the mighty hero Beowulf, depicting the very image of the age's virtues and ideas. Now, in this booming age of technology, we've turned to heroes such as Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione. Not only strong, courageous, and honorable, but also being the very mightiest of all warriors on the earth