I'm going to analyze Alina's blog:
She uses some capital letters within her blog as well as swear words and some military jargon/ expressions. What makes her blog creible ist that she is talking about feelings and that she is giving at least one link to further blogs. Moreover, her blog remindsme somehow on a conversation one would/ could have with good friends. Other characteristics are sentence fragments and informal language.
Hey it’s Alina, here is my blog:
Iraq, 5-29-08
Hey out there,
How are you guys doing? I am still sitting here in the middle of nowhere trying to survive. I barely know what’s going on out in this fuckin’ sick world. I barely hear news that are not about this war. I feel like I am on a different planet! Sanchez and Young are driving me NUTS! All the shit they have been seeing and went trhough makes them slowly go crazy. What else can you expect?! They are fuckin’ 19 years old…
Yesterday there was a sandstorm hitting our base. Made the boredom even worse. I should be glad that I don’t have to face an armed conflict every day, but hey?! I carry my M-21 5,56 mm every day. I can’t ignore the feeling of wanting to use it…I can’t ignore the feeling of wanting to feel excitement and adrenalin…
I’ll write more soon. Write back, guys! So that I have something to do in this goddamned place…
Oh and check out : http://www.iraqwarnews.net/
Now here some characteristics about Mirijana’s entry:
She uses
- Capital letters ( “I CAN’T DO THAT”)
- Informal langugae (“And I was like”)
- Swear words (“Fuck”)
- Military language (“the bird”)
- She mentions names
- Talks about his feelings
- Reference to other blogs
Hi, this is Marijana.
Here is my milblog:
Hey there… haven’t been here for a while. But today, I met this guy, Jason Miller, he was First Daddy – back then. Got shot. He just got out of the bird when the bastards threw a grenade on our camp. He started screaming, thought “That’s it, FUCK, not him.” But he stood up, started running, limping. His leg, his calf, blood, all over. And I was like: “Jeez, he’s alive!” I ran to him, he fell down, I grabbed him and he started laughing: “These m*fuckers won’t get me.” His right calf was missing. He showed me his calf today, and was proudly saying that this is his memory of the time in Iraq. He laughs – I CAN’T DO THAT! All I saw was the blood all over his leg from then. I told him that I had to go. I came home and read all the blogs from the others, I never did that before.
And here is the identification of characteristics of Miriam's milblog:
- use of military terms
- writing in capital letters (STILL)
- use of direct speech
- use of informal language
- use of brackets with "!"
First, I’ll try to identify the characteristics Stefan has used in his milblog:
- he uses the soldier name of the blogger and other military expressions like “war zone,” “USMC” and “comrad”, “unit” etc.
- personal edition of the facts he states in brackets
- oral expressions like “well…” & other infml. expressions
- talks about other comrades with reference to his own position
- talks about their feeling of discouragement (emotional)
- writes words in capital letters: “VERY” in order to stress
- cites direct speech
This is Stefan R. and I post my blog entry here again since the actual page didn't work until recently
(I dedicate this entry to SECNAV Hummel who was a great man of honor)
Hi there, PFC Rabb here. I’m truly relieved that today’s report from the Iraqi front line is a more ‘relaxed’ one. Thank God there were no serious incidents today (at least for our unit -- to all the other comrads fighting: God bless!), so we pretty much had the day off to sit back and relax -- well, if you can call it that in a war zone like Kirkuk. Actually, there is nothing bad at all about sitting back and thinking about things you normally don’t have time for. The only problem is: some Marines think absout stuff which bugs them afterwards (it’s mostly about the reasons for the invasion and the homefront which sometimes doesn’t seem to support us anymore). PFC Anderson is one of those comrads. At 5 A.M. this morning he came to me and wanted to know my opinion about him and his stay in the USMC. He kinda lost his faith not only in our nation’s engagement but also in his personla engagement. It was only yesterday when an RPG missed our camp by a few inches. PFC Anderson therefore was also worried about the stableness of our camp (and, of course, as every Marine: about death).
I carefully listended to him trying to join his thoughts and ended up walking over with him to the flagstaff. Luckily enough, it was our turn raising the flag this morning (if not, I would’ve asked our CO, because PFC Anderson seemed VERY worried and I so much wanted to help him) so while he gave me the Star-Spangled Banner I told him the following: “A great general once said: ‘You tell your men: you’re soldiers. That’s our flag. You tell them: nobody takes our flag. Raise your flag high so everybody can see it. Now you got yoursefl a castle.’” I could see the smile on his face when we both stood in front of the flagstaff saluting the flag while it was waving in the wind. Indeed, we’re: The few. The proud. The Marines.
Analyzing Miriam's blog entry:
Her entry uses slang language ("damned"), stresses things ("!!!"), and also contains military terms ("RPG"). I really like how she focusses on the soldier's emotions which she expresses in a very subtle way. However, in contrast to my entry, her's is not very patriotic at all. In addition, I really like the idea of posting a photo (although this would probably prohibited by the DOD respectively the CO).
Hi, this is Marc.
My milblog:
Hello everybody,
One month has passed since I got here and I have to tell you that it wasn't always pretty. I'm part of only a handful of additional troops that have arrived in Iraq. It's a total mess, a God-forsaken place. My time here is either affected by boredom or fear. We are based just outside Baghdad (the closest place to hell) across Iraq's western desert; literally in the middle of nowhere, miles from any other settlement. The only things we see here are herds of sheep and occasionally some camels. This is definitely not why I signed up!
Still, there is also an exciting part of being in Iraq. Every time we're driving in our humvees through the streets of Baghdad, we can feel the excitement. The true suspense lies in what awaits us behind each corner. It's both frightening and exciting, because we are aware that a suicide bomber could attack us any moment. But we're prepared for these godless people and we're willing to fight in order to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq. At the same time, we know that our motives are noble, because defending America’s future starts here.
Analyzing Martin's blog entry:
-he uses the location and the date (SHAIBA, IRAQ, 2008/05/25)
-he talks about another soldier (Rodriguez)
-strong display of the soldier's emotions ("What bugs me more", "What if? What if? What if?")
-slang (motherf***ers)
-patriotic tone ("The international community is willing to help")
Hello, this is Sascha.
Sand, sand, sand. It’s all over the fucking place; in your mouth, in your eyes, in your everywhere. I’m so sick of this place, this country. I mean, who really gives a shit anyway? I wanna go home, see my family again. I really don’t wanna complain (which I do anyway) since it was me who wanted to go here, but for fuck’s sake give us something to do that does not involve sitting around like some fucking retard or walking around in a bazillion degree heat to protect this wasteland. It’s so pointless. I hate it here. Also, I want real food. A burger, some fries and a milkshake. Send me some!
Yesterday, I saw a couple of kids playing hide and seek in the streets. Streets that we are supposed to secure because they are oh so dangerous. Dangerous my ass. Give me something real to do, not roam some fucking sandbox where nothing’s going to happen anyway. I repeat myself, I know. Then again, nothing’s new here, so what’s there to write about if not the same stuff all over again? Much like our days here…same shit, different day.
Analyzing Stefan's entry: