"As a kid growing up, I used to think about the medals and glory.  Everybody treating you like a hero and welcoming you when you come back home....I don't believe that anymore.  When the vets came back from the war, they were'nt hailed as conquering heroes...they were spit on and called "baby burners."  It was difficult to adjust to society after being trained to kill and blow up things.  You're never 'normal' again after you've been in a war.  My dad was blown up twice and still suffers from post-war syndrome.  When you see your buddies get blown up and you're only 17...it changes you...when I saw my cousin come back from Vietnam with both legs gone...you know (I knew) it's not just about the glory and the medals."

"Now, I see war as a big waste:  a waste of money, time and people.  But sometimes it has to be done because of defense of a country or defense of an allied country that's been attacked...I pray for President Bush every night...I'm in support of the troops over there. That's why I won't retire...because the job's not finished yet...(my neighbor works for the government) athough twenty years from now I'm not going to still be working.  (he heh, laughs)"

"It was about keeping the US as one country and also to abolish slavery...but there were many auxilliary reasons, too"  (more interesting info here--see me for details)

"It all started with the North Vietnam wanting to keep the French out of South Vietnam..."  (more interesting info here--but too lengthy to put on my website!!)  EXCELLENT INTERVIEW (if I may say so myself :))  Thanks, neighbor!

     "Why are we reading "The Red Badge of Courage?  It's too difficult to understand!"  This novella has bits of almost every writing style from Realism to Naturalism, Impressionism to  Romanticism---even Edgar Allen Poe's style of Gothicism is in it! I know you're going to buy a copy for every room in your house---especially after you listen to this: Crane also masterfully utilizes primary literary techniques that we have just covered, including simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.  We found over 50 similes and metaphors in only five pages!  Even though the vocabulary may be a little higher than your typical teenage novel, spend a half an hour on reading and taking notes when assigned.  Don't stop upon every word that you don't understand and don't get frustrated.  Likewise, if you have spent your half an hour and don't understand everything that's going on---but you've taken notes on the literary terms and looked up vocabulary words, then I'll accept that.  At least I'll know that you're trying, and you may have picked up some new vocabulary words in the process.

What would really help you if you are struggling to understand the plotline is reading the summaries I printed off for you, and looking on the website, www.sparknotes.com; then try returning to reading the chapter.   In-class time has been/will be spent focusing on excerpts of the novella and discussing key points in class.  The themes in Red Badge of Courage are common themes in today's postmodern literature---relevant to our culture, and useful for debate.  If you have any questions about the novella please feel free to email/call  me!