My Life as a Soldier in World War I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Life as a Soldier in World War I - Essay Example Life in the trenches was extremely horrible for me. The possibilities of enemy attacks and diseases were haunted me and many other American soldiers who were in my battalion. Trench life prevented us from proper sleeping, bathing, and taking foods. The disturbance of rats, lice etc caused more trouble during my trench life. Some of the rats which caused disturbances to us during WW1 were of the size of a cat. Life casualties were more in WW1 and dead bodies of the soldiers were coming to our army camp quiet regularly. It was difficult for us to give a proper funeral to our colleagues who fought bravely for the country. American government was not much interested in giving respect or paying homage to the dead bodies of the soldiers at that time. Many of the dead bodies were burned using petrol since it was difficult for us to give more attention to the normal funeral activities. I was a commander in American army during WW1. So I forced to take many decisions during the war period. In fact it was difficult for me to allocate different missions to different soldiers. Different emotions that were passing through the faces of the soldiers while getting dangerous tasks were horrible experiences for me. It was evident that many of the soldiers who were sending for the dangerous missions may not come back alive. Being a commander, it was impossible for me to consider humanitarian issues during the war period. I remember many occasions in which I forced to compel even diseased soldiers to engage in some kind of works. On many occasions, I forced to advance further leaving the seriously wounded soldiers behind. It should be noted that giving care to wounded soldiers at the time of intense fight may cause more casualties. Relatives of the soldiers who suffered death never got the information about their death in time. In fact, we had received many letters from the wives of the soldiers who were killed many weeks before. It was really a horrible experience to read all the se letters and send any reply to them. I remember one instance in which I received a letter from a killed soldier’s wife. I realised the depth of their love and intimacy from this letter. She was actually pregnant and the real intention of this letter was to convey the good news to her husband. Some tears filled in my eyes, and decided to send a reply to this woman. It should be noted that communication channels were not much developed during WW1 and sending letters was the major communication activity performed by the soldiers and their relatives. In my reply letter, I described her husband as a brave one and informed her about his death. I asked her to be proud of the heroics done by her husband and expressed the gratitude of American army to her for the great services extended by her husband. It was really a touching moment in my life. At the time of wring the reply, I struggled to get suitable words. American society has changed a lot after WW1. Before WW1, many of the Am ericans supported wars. It should be noted that the first time use of sophisticated weapons caused more death casualties than anticipated in WW1. The loss of beloved ones forced American society to revise their views about wars. The huge destruction of properties forced Americans to think about the necessities of avoiding wars in future. â€Å"In the 1920s, people seemed to be less interested in progress and were more interested in hedonism. It is like

Chasing Matisse - Art Exhibit Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chasing Matisse - Art Exhibit Critique - Essay Example The essay "Chasing Matisse - Art Exhibit Critique" states the art and life of Henri Matisse. The subject (scene) of the art exhibit can be described as a woman seated on a chair and there are some flowers that have been placed on a table at her left hand side. The woman seems to be in thought – she could be thinking of something important due to the reason that her head is positioned facing downwards. As a result, this is the main factor that contributes to the scene of the painting. Every scene is prone to have objects that have contributed to its final look. The painting â€Å"Chasing Matisse† has a number of objects that have contributed to its general outlook. These include: the chair- where the young woman has sat on; the table – where the flowers have been placed on. The combination of different objects in a painting scene is to portray a particular impression that an individual (the audience) can make out of it. As a result, the first impression that an in dividual can have from the painting â€Å"Chasing Matisse† is that the artist was portraying a woman who was sad, lonely or deep in thought. This is vividly revealed in the manner that her body has been positioned and the way that her face looks like. Colour is very essential in every art scene. The lack of colour may reveal a number of factors such as lack of feeling, lack of life etc. Additionally, the colours that have been selected matter a lot. This is due to the reason that colours are categorized into either warm colours or cool colours. Warm colours indicate depth while cool colours indicate the lack of depth. Some of the examples of warm colours that can be used in a painting include: Red, orange, brown, maroon, yellow and green. On the other hand, cool colours that can be used in any painting include the likes of blue, pink, light blue and violet. Based on the art exhibit â€Å"Chasing Matisse†, the colours that have been used include: red – for the wo man’s hair; blue, orange and black – for her clothes; maroon and blue – for the flowers. In every artistic work, there are elements of shape, line and texture. Shape can be related to the use of space in the artistic work. It can also be related to the use of geometrical shapes such as squares, circles, rectangles etc. In addition to that, shapes can also be determined by attributes such as lines, texture, colour and value. Another element in art is the use of lines. In its simplest definition, lines refer to marks that are drawn in a bid to connect two points. It is also important to note that lines are characterised by aspects such as thickness, length and line direction. Texture refers to the feel of the surface under consideration. Texture always goes hand in hand with lines and colours. In the art exhibit, it can be stated that the element of shape has been used to reduce on space. For example; the chair that the woman is sitting on has occupied a majority of the space in the painting. In the art exhibit, lines have been used to give an in depth outline of the objects in the painting such as the flowers, the vase, the surface where the vase has been placed (table) and the chair that the woman has sat on. Lastly, texture is very critical in every piece of art. With that said, the art exhibit has a smooth feel. Just as colour is an essential element in an art piece,