Exploration 3, Sierra Shamhart

1.)  Personally my active reading is not going the best that it could be. I do try to annotate and highlight as I read but I do have some struggles. My biggest struggle is that I get so into the plot and the story line that I sometimes forget to be thinking of characterization, literacy, etc. Usually after a page or two I will realize I am not focusing on active reading, then I will go back and re-read so that I can annotate and highlight. Which isn't terrible to do it just takes more time.

2.) The story that has meant the most to me so far is the story Enemies. Although this story is roughly only two pages it has had the biggest impact on me. I think it is because personally I do not like conflict, I try my absolute best to avoid it. So when Dave Jenson and Lee Strunk physically fought each other and then had to return to being around each other every day it made me nervous. I felt that if I was Dave Jenson and I broke someones nose and then had to see them again after I would have the same anxiety that Dave felt. In the chapter O'Brien wrote, "Late that same night he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose." p.60 It may seem crazy of Jenson to break his own nose because of anxiety that Strunk was planning revenge. People may think why didn't Jenson just talk to him. I think that I would have done the same thing Jenson did because I can feel the anxiety he felt. I relate to his thinking process of a tit for a tat. That is why this story impacted me so much because in that situation I would be exactly the same as Dave Jenson.

3.) The character that stands out to me the most is Rat Kiley. I think that is because he is the most relatable to me because he is so young and he is always looking for ways to make the time at war fun. I think I would also try to make light of a terrible situation. Rat Kiley is interesting because he has been present throughout the stories but not really focused on until the story about Curt Lemon. That story made me interested in Kiley because of his nature towards losing his best friend. His actions were very disturbing but I can see why he hurt the baby buffalo. I can understand his pain.