Freewrite & Research

I.)
a.) WAR - dark, cold, angry, loud noises, winter, blood, yelling, smoke, strong emotions, uniforms, dirt, pain, feeling scared

GUNNER - one who uses guns, a strong person, someone hunting someone down

ATTACK - suprise, powerful, angry, blood and dirt, emotional, someone creating dominance, weapons,

b.) World War II - black and white photographs, nurses with the oldfashioned uniforms, Red Cross, small planes, Nazi's, the Holocaust, German culture, Hitler, nuclear bombs, a gray setting, moustaches

II.) Reflection:
a.) After researching a ball turret, I better understand why he would freeze. After maybe being forced into a tiny space, I can also better understand how easily it would be to zone out and become lost in your own little world. The gunner is so far away from civilization, but there is still so much going on. Seeing the tiny space helped me better visualize the washing with a hose. Hunching in its belly is also easier to visualize. The ball turret is literally in the belly of the plane.

b.) Jarrell was not qualified to fly. This could have made him feel resentful, and this may be why his poems tended to be more critical of war. He understood how the process worked and how it was to be a gunner because he saw it daily. His poem seems sympathetic also. He is describing the job of a gunner in a way that the reader feels pity for the gunner.