Instead of class:
● Select one prompt from among the list below and use the respite from class to write a few paragraphs in response
● Be sure to identify which prompt you are writing on at the top
● Submit your response to Mark through email (PVDClementeVets@gmail.com)
Iraq/Afghanistan unit writing prompts
Write on one. Please indicate which one, when you submit it.
1. What lessons do you think this nation should draw from our experience in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan? Name at least 3 lessons. Try to use at least one thing we read or watched in the Vietnam unit, and one from the Iraq/Afghanistan unit.
2. Do you see similarities between the combat and/or homecoming experiences of Americans who served in Vietnam, and in the post-9/11 conflicts? Try to use at least one thing we read or saw from each period.
3. If you served in Iraq or Afghanistan, is there something you've taken away from our exploration of these conflicts (and of returning home) that has been meaningful for you? If so, explain. If a particular set of readings, images, or discussions really resonated, include that.
4. What role can/does art play in destigmatizing disability and the disabled body? Discuss two examples of works (film, photograph, painting, sculpture, building, e.g.) to make your point.
5. Drawing on some of the writings of Brian Turner, Phil Klay, Siobhan Fallon, as well as the “Soldier On” film (as well as your own experiences, perhaps), what do you see as the most pressing or complex challenges of Homecoming after single deployments or extended military service? What resources has our course provided to help veterans meet one or more of those challenges?
6. How might engaging with Paterson, other films, poetry, stories, songs, visual art, memorials – ANY of the creative material we have used this semester – allow you to synthesize your military identity with others aspects of your life that you value and want to explore?
7. Reflect on what you see as potential points of overlap and divergence between PTSD and moral injury. In your experience, how can either or both of these fan out into families, communities, or society?
8. Is there an idea, a question, a discussion, a reading or a film/image that we’ve explored in the last 2 units (Vietnam; Iraq/Afghanistan) that has helped you to better understand your own experiences? If so, how?